What`s the latest on the up and down 50`s LPjr market ?

[WahmBoomAh]

HI experts .... Well , I might make a complicated trade for an all original 59 lp jr ...it`s incredible ...,! WOW~!
Market wise I know these suckers shot up the past few years but i`ve seen several that moved slow at much less than your neigborhood vintage dealer .
Basically , it`s all over the park ... between 8k and 18k !

Anyone with enough experience to risk spotting a trend ?

Might I get in over my head and regret it ?.. i`d probably be forced to sell it after reality sets in . I`ll post pics soon .... thanks , Paul

 

[Timmo]

Wait another 6 months.........you can thank me later.

:BEER

 

[cmatthes]

Agreed w/Timmo.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Wait another 6 months.........you can thank me later.

:BEER

hmmm. I believe you ...just that this particular opportunity won`t be around in 6 months ..if I get in cheap enough ,,I`ll be crazy not to land this great a guitar .
I do catch your drift ....things may be turning around finally on the boom on these
oh .,,,,pics

 

[treeofpain]

That's a very faded example in average condition. Probably the least desireable (and least expensive) of the original 50's Juniors, other than modded/repaired/refinished examples.

I have seen guitars like this sell in the $6k range recently. It was closer to $8k a year or so ago, but the market has really softened up on Juniors, except for really pristine collector examples.

These are consistently great guitars, and they have ridden the 50's Les Paul wave. The question is where they will go from here. I don't think original examples, even faded ones in average condition like this one, are going to go much lower. They will probably creep back up when the economy gets out of the current funk.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Wow ! Quite a fluctuation ...These seem to be really "adjusting" to the market moreso than other vintage guitars ..I guess they had to top out somewhere , Thanks so much for the info ....paul

 

[tonedaddy]

I have seen guitars like this sell in the $6k range recently. It was closer to $8k a year or so ago, but the market has really softened up on Juniors, except for really pristine collector examples.

+1
Specials, too. And your right, as always, the player grade instruments are dropping the farthest.

TV Yellow singlecut Specials have really dropped. They seemed to be leading the market up to the mid $20K range at their peak. I've seen some 40-50% off that over the last few months.

 

[treeofpain]

Don't get me wrong. I have owned 7 or 8 50's Juniors. They are great guitars. But they were designed as a 1 pickup beginner guitar, and when they start fetching this sort of money, a lot of guys call "time out".

 

[surfshack]

i don't know the numbers of how many were made thru the late '50's and early '60's, but you do see quite a few for sale at any time.

 

[treeofpain]

Yes, the sheer number of Juniors manufactured compared to Specials, Standard, and Customs must come into play regarding market price. Great point, surfshack.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

The dealers are still posting higher numbers than we`re talking about here ....don`t know if that`s realistic on their part
Oh ,, did I mention this guitars rings and sings and stings....what to do ??

 

[The Golden Boy]

Don't get me wrong. I have owned 7 or 8 50's Juniors. They are great guitars. But they were designed as a 1 pickup beginner guitar, and when they start fetching this sort of money, a lot of guys call "time out".

I called "time out" when they hit $1k.

When you go around seeing $400 "players" for years and then find people selling THOSE guitar for 6-7-8-900... The game was too much for me.

 

[treeofpain]

I don't think we will see 50's Juniors back down to $1k. They are pretty iconic, and they are consistently great instruments.

I think the strats are a little softer on eBay because they are so easy to fake. That's a lot of cake for what could be a bogus guitar. The Gibsons are a lot more challeging to fake well.

 

[57special]

If it's a great sounding and playing guitar i would pay 6 G's for it, maybe a bit more.

 

[surfshack]

i noticed a price hike on them about 2 years ago.
they went from 3 - 4K to like 6K all of a sudden.
i think they might go back down to like 4K , for people that need to sell. it depends what the person paid for it.
if i was going to take a 2-3K hit on something i wouldn't sell , unless absolutely neccessary.

 

[soldano16]

Wow ! Quite a fluctuation ...These seem to be really "adjusting" to the market moreso than other vintage guitars .

They were the last great price runup. Anything goldtop became real money so jr's were the only 50's LP game left. While Jr's are very cool guitars, not a lot of folks actually gig them.

I'd be hugely careful buying jr's today. It's very possible we have seen the absolute high for vintage guitars with the exception of the exceptional stuff like bursts.

The ten years of cheap money and cheap interest rates that floated the housing boom and let everyone take out equity loans on their increasing value houses so they could buy what they liked is over.

The wild appreciation game is over for now and maybe forever.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

I wonder what`ll happen with the `90`s R9`s that seem to go up into 5k and more with a BRW board ... I mean . I `d rather have an old wood LP jr or special if I could get it for a similar price .... Maybe the RI`s will follow this trend . Could that be why Henry made a deal with TC?

 

[frank62]

There was a supurb 59 Junior on EBay at 12k and it did not sell. They are a favorite of mine and I have had a few but that was when as GB says they were 400 dollar players. I think the fact they were in shops all the time when I was young at 200 or so would be why I could never pay 10k and up for one no matter what. The VOS Juniors are great and reasonable. Even the standard production Juniors are good.

 

[Groovey Records]

Hey Man its a Junior Man Let me get a bundle AND a 8 ball Man

 

[treeofpain]

I don't think we can make generalizations about the vintage guitar market. Some stuff rises while other stuff falls. The most well made and expensive guitars - like a 50's Gibson L5 or Super 400 - has not tracked nearly as well as a LP Jr. or pre-CBS Strat.

I do agree that we are seeing some fallout for 1st tier guitars with mods, as well as lower tier stuff. Since when is a Fender Musicmaster worth $1000 to $2000? Only to rob the parts for restoration of its big brothers. How about cheap cool 60's Japanese guitars that have risen in the past few years? Late 70's Strats? I think these types of things are the most susceptible to fallout when times get tough.