In collaboration with Robin Hiemstra - Guitar Expert at Catawiki
Does the idea of investing in a guitar sound like music to your ears? The classic guitar as we know it has been around for about 130 years now; since then many incredible models have been built. Some have become very wanted and valuable today… So if you have a love for music and you are looking for a good investment, our guitar expert, Robin, recommends keeping an eye out for one of the following 5 guitars that are increasing in value and investing in them now, before their values increase even more!
The pre-1965 Stratocasters and Telecasters have become especially popular and valuable today - including the Esquire and Broadcaster, as the Telecaster was called in its early days. If you are looking for a more affordable investment, the team of in-house musical instrument experts recommend looking for a pre-1965 Jazzmaster, Mustang or Jaguar, which are slowly increasing in value as well.
2. Guitars built with Korina wood
A guitar made from Korina wood is like the holy grail for guitar players. Korina wood creates a great tone - even brighter than mahogany - and is lightweight, but few Korina guitars are manufactured. Why is that? Well to start with, Korina wood is hard to come by; it grows only in Africa and there is limited availability of quality pieces of wood. Since manufacturers prefer producing large quantities, Korina wood just isn’t the right choice of material for most. So what about small productions of handmade guitars? Many guitar builders generally dread working with Korina wood because it's incredibly difficult to work with.
The limited number of Korina guitars is part of the reason why they are a good investment; another reason is that Korina was used to build the legendary Gibson Flying V and the Explorer. These are particularly sought after among collectors, so if you can get your hands on one, take it! One of the most expensive guitars ever sold was a Gibson Explorer Korina, for almost €1 million.
3. Japanese 'lawsuit' guitars
Sometimes replicas can become very valuable. In the 1970s, Japanese manufacturers such as Ibanez, Greco and Tokai produced exact replicas of Gibson and Fender guitars. While the quality of these Japanese replica guitars improved, the quality of the American guitars they were based on actually declined due to several factors, including Fenders take-over by CBS in 1965. When Gibson threatened Ibanez with a lawsuit they were forced to change the design of the guitars to make them different from the original guitar designs. These Japanese 'lawsuit' guitars from the 70s are a great investment, but be careful what you buy: sellers don’t always use the term 'lawsuit' rightfully. Our guitar experts check every guitar submitted for auction to make sure what you buy is genuine...or a genuine fake in this case.
4. Pre-WWΙΙ Martin guitars
A great collector’s item is the acoustic Martin guitar built before World War ΙΙ - these guitars are very desirable and therefore valuable. One of the reasons Martin guitars are so respected is because the ones built in the early decades of the 20th century influenced many American steel string guitar builders. Martin guitars of those years are famous for their astonishing quality and the pre-war dreadnought is seen as the finest bluegrass guitar ever designed. Only around 100 guitars of some models from the early decades of the 20th century were built, which makes them even more rare and valuable.
5. Owned and played by an (upcoming) legend
Last but not least, a guitar that was once owned and played by a legend is always in demand. For example, a 1964 Rickenbacker played by John Lennon sold for over € 750,000 in 2015. And Kurt Cobain’s signed left-handed Stratocaster sold for €15,211 on our Guitars auction. So make sure to follow upcoming artist, their guitars might be easier to catch than those of well-known artists. Give it a few years and when the artists are widely known, you have done a great investment!
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