Blue book price guide

[mandosonthemarsh]

Does anyone have any great resource tips for publications I can purchase on blue book values for mandolins and acoustic guitars? Thanks, Bruce.

[Big Joe]

Most of these guides are not very accurate. They usually are at least a year behind on values. In the current economy you can get burned bad by trying to use a guide like that. In addition, the guide does not see the particular instrument you are looking at and cannot determine the tone and playability of the particular instrument you are interested in.

They can be a bit of help if you don't try to use it a gospel. They are only a particular person's (or very small group of people) on what their opinion of a particular instruments value is. There is usually a lot of personal opinion in their likes and dislikes as well. They can be a guide, but nothing more.

That being said, I have no idea where you get one. I have never relied on them and can't see I ever will.

[JeffD]

I did not know they existe.

[Barry Platnick]

The vintage guitar guide has a mandolin section. But as Big Joe said its just a guide and the value of an instrument may be wildly different than whats in the guide..especially the way prices are changing these days.

[Rob Gerety]

I had a vintage guitar guide once - there is no way I would rely on it. I thought it was way off base and out of date even though it was the current version at the time. I put it away and never looked at it again. Waste of time in my opinion.

[zombywoof]

Best way I know is to do a search of completed eBay auctions.

[RBMB]

I recently purchased a 1947 Martin 00-18 at a guitar show. I bonded with the guitar and luckily the person selling it let me show it to some of the vendors so that I could discuss condition and what they thought a fair price would be. I could tell it needed work, but needed to know how much and how soon. The vendors explained to me that the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars (12th Edition) is a good guide for getting an estimate of what used Martin should sell for, particularly between folks like us who aren't dealers. The Blue Book shows an "average" and an "excellent" price. The guitar I purchased needs work and I was able to get it in the "average" price range, which I think is a fair price since I will eventually need to invest some money to get into the condition I'd like. I took a quick look at the "excellent" price and "fair" price for a Martin 000-21 vintage 1947-48 and I think the numbers are in line with what I've seen at local vintage dealers. There is also a vintage Guitar book (I think I have the name right) and that book didn't show the "average" price comparable to what is listed in the Blue Book. The dealers I who looked over the guitar for me explained to me that guide is mainly useful for determining the price of a vintage guitar in very good condition from a dealer. I would certainly be willing to pay the prices listed in that guide for a very nice vintage guitar in excellent condition from a reputable shop. Overall I think the Blue Book was more in line what with the prices the dealers thought I should pay for the guitar I purchased. My view was they were being very honest with me, as they showed me some guitars that they thought should sell for the higher excellent price because they were very clean. The Blue Book I purchased only lists acoustic guitars. I think the other books lists mandolins, amps, etc. I suggest you check Amazon. If you want to get more advice on the books I'd recommend calling Marv's music, Elderly or any other reputable guitar store. I'm sure some of the stores that sell vintage instruments will comment on whether they consider these guides reasonable. There are also a few very reputable guitar stores that post prices on-line. Check out, for example, Vintage guitars in Philadelphia. I think his prices are very fair and he is excellent to deal with. You can also check them out on ebay by selecting "watch" and you'll see that folks who ask to much often get ignored.

Read carefully when looking on-line. Sometimes I see guitars with very high prices that should apply to guitars in excellent condition with original parts on guitars with lots of repairs and even sometimes on guitars that have replacement tops, significant refinsihing, etc., that might dramatically lower value. That's why I pointed you to Vintage Instruments, as he seems to price according to the condition of the guitar and my experience is that his prices are fair.

[Buttonwood Bob]

Please excuse an aside, but you sent me off into nostalgia. I dated two fine sweet honeys in younger days, both had flawless 0018's. What wonderful packages I enjoyed during that period. Didn't marry either, and boy do I miss those 0018's. My old D-18 didn't and doesn't compare, but either blamed my instrument that I can recall.

BB

[Willie Poole]

There must be something that insurance appraisers use, But as Big Joe says they don`t take sound into consideration....Willie

[red7flag]

I remember a vintage guitar lecture given by George Gruhn who stated that tonal quality had very little to do with collectability. Most of the vintage guitars are priced, he said, by their collectability. If they sounded great, so much the better, but that it was not a requirement.

[Jim Garber]

I have been using the VG Price guides for years. I have also checked into the Blue Books as well but the last time I looked they seemed out of whack for the most part. VG basically surveys a group of dealers asking them what they would charge for a particular instrument in excellent condition (no repairs, all-original, few cosmetic problems. Then they eliminate a percentage from the top and bottom to get their price range.

As Big Joe noted, the big problem is they are often out of date since they only come out once a year. Also the mandolin section is pretty slim and does not cover every model etc. Use it as a guide.

I suppose that combing eBay auctions is another way, tho very time consuming.

[JGWoods]

For common instruments- a Gibson A4 for example- I use ebay completed auctions to give ma an idea of price. Be careful to only look at completed sales though. There are many, many ebay auctions that end without a sale because the owner wanted too much for the instrument.
It's fairly easy to make up a search and then save it. I track a particular model instruments sales for a month or so and then I can be pretty sure I know what I might get for one, or what I might have to pay for one.

[testore]

I think the best way to use these guides is for insurance purposes only. The given pulse of any market can vary a lot and there's no way a publication can be current as that. But if you have something of value and it is insured by the guises standard then you will be able to replace the item more easily in any market. There are rare exceptions to this rule. Also, we all know that insurance values and street values are always different, and they are two different things.

[Nick Triesch]

This is a terrible market for homes in America. When that happens, all collectables also go way down. Folks just do not have a ton of money to buy an expensive instrument. Hard to really say what an instrument is worth. I guess what you can get for it. Best just to hold on to it for a few years. Nick

[William Grant Macdonald]

A friend just showed me a Wurlitzer mandolin, ser. # 573163. Where can I look up its age? Thanks.
Does anyone have any great resource tips for publications I can purchase on blue book values for mandolins and acoustic guitars? Thanks, Bruce.

[JeffD]

I could make an argument for the relative accuracy of a blue book for guitars, in that there is such a huge market for guitars. Incomparibly larger than the total mandolin market. So every anomolous guitar sale has less impact on the average.

But even there, I can see there is not much trust in the guitar price guides.

[bmac]

Combing eBay auctions would be the most accurate guide for a used instrument... But all it tells you is what someone would pay for a particular brand and model, sight unseen, and usually poorly described with no guarentee. From a dealer figure maybe a third to one half the ebay price more. But from a dealer you can see it, play it, and return it if not satisfied.

Dealers sometimes use eBay but usually it is to dump stock which is too expensive to repair and make a profit on so they just want to get it out of their showroom.

All a blue book tells you is the auction price and you can often get that easily from the internet. Keep in mind that asking price (or starting figure on eBay) has nothing to do with selling price or $ value of the instrument. Only the amount paid plus shipping costs has any relevance.

[allenhopkins]

A friend just showed me a Wurlitzer mandolin, ser. # 573163. Where can I look up its age? Thanks.

Wurlitzer was a major music store/distributor, didn't build instruments, but bought them from a variety of manufacturers who would build to Wurlitzer specs and put "Wurlitzer" labels on them.

I doubt that there exists a comprehensive guide to Wurlitzer serial numbers, which might well vary depending on which company actually built the instrument. Posting a pic might give a better clue to the approximate age of the mandolin, but it could be difficult to get an exact year.

[Mandobart]

I sold an old electric guitar early this year. A member here was kind enough to send me the vintage guitar price guide value for my guitar. I also checked e-bay listings. E-bay sales were much closer to the actual price I got, which was more than double what the guide said I should get. I also got much more than what music stores locally and on the coast had offered me for it over the years. I googled my guitar model and found a vintage guitar site where I asked around about value, etc. More tedious, but if you want to know what the approximate market value of an instrument is, do a google search and wade through the results.

I did the same thing when attempting to sell an octave mandolin which is no longer being produced. Got a few bites, but no one wanted to buy. Its now on loan to friend who may decide he wants it.

[JeffD]

There must be something that insurance appraisers use, But as Big Joe says they don`t take sound into consideration....Willie

Some of the music focused insurers, Clarion, Heritage, and others, are able to do this, and do a much better than average job of paying attention to what the client feels its worth and why.