Good thread! Certain instruments get a cachet because [1] they are, in general, excellent in quality -- materials, design, sound (pre-war Gibson flat-head Mastertone banjos, Loar F-5 mandolins, pre-war Martin "herringbone" D-28 guitars, late '50's sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitars, Stradivarius violins, Wheatstone Aeola concertinas); [2] they're played by certain influential musicians (Scruggs, Monroe, Mike Bloomfield, Clapton, etc.); [3] there's a very limited supply, and many potential buyers (they're not being made any more, the "secret" of their unique sound has been lost, materials are harder to get, etc.).
Possession of one of these instruments confers instant status upon a musician, or a collector. For example, we keep a roster of all the Lloyd Loar F-5's whose location we know. The limited number of Martin herringbone D-28's, pre-war D-45's, OM's etc. is known from factory records, so their rarity is documented. An interesting sidebar is that some manufacturers (Fender and Gibson, e.g.) are now making top-line models deliberately "distressed" to mimic older instruments, and confer some of the glamor of the originals on their owners.
The question keeps being raised, "Aren't we producing instruments now that are the equals of these 'grail' instruments, and are available at much lower prices?" Quite possibly the mandolins made by Monteleone, Gilchrist, and other exclusive contemporary luthiers are equal to those produced 80 years ago by Lloyd Loar's Gibson shop. Martin regularly turns out "vintage" and "reissue" models that seek to duplicate the materials, workmanship and sound of pre-war guitars. Whether there is still an undefinable quality in the older instruments, that newer ones cannot match -- or won't be able to match until they're played for 75 years -- is a question that cannot be objectively settled. It's up to the individual ears of the prospective buyers, as to whether the new instruments are "just as good."
But it's clear that the vintage instrument market has already settled that question, as far as prices go. You can pay more for an old guitar, banjo or mandolin than you'd pay for a house, and as for old violins, don't even ask. I doubt that any contemporary luthier could get six figures for the instrument he's building today (although Martin's D-100 guitar lists in that range). As in so many areas in our "free market" society, supply and demand set the prices. A fixed supply, a series of objective and subjective criteria (rarity, sound, materials and construction, reputation), and a constantly expanding number of prospective purchasers -- the formula for a "bull" market. What something is "worth," ultimately, depends on what you can get someone to pay for it.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
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