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Collectors.

Buying by taste is a different exercise from buying to play. The questions change from how does it feel to what exactly is this, and what has been changed on it.

Originality is the whole game

On a collectible instrument, value tracks how much of the original object survives. A changed pickup, a refinished body, a swapped tuner, the wrong case — each one moves the price, and on the most collected models a single non-original screw is enough to be worth mentioning in a listing.

  • 01Neck and body stamps — the date codes that decide whether two halves belong together
  • 02Pot codes — the week a control was made; a hard check on a claimed year
  • 03Finish checking — lacquer cracks with age. A refinished body does not have it, or has it under the paint
  • 04Case candy — tags, receipts, the original case. Provenance you cannot recreate later

Player-grade is the affordable door

An instrument with a changed pickup or a repaired neck is worth a fraction of an all-original one and plays the same or better. If you are buying to use rather than to hold, this is where the value is. The premium on perfection is paid by people who are not going to play it.

Made in 1970 or earlier

Defunct and historic makers

Brands that stopped, and Japanese instruments from the period when copies got good. Both are where the surprises are, and both need the checks above more than a known model does.

  • 190Burns London (Bison, Marvin) — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 191Eko 290 / Camaro — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 192Harmony H44 / Jupiter — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 193Kay K-161 Thin Twin — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 194Mosrite Ventures Model — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)1958/1963
  • 195Regal resonators — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 196Silvertone 1449/1457 amp-in-case — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)1962
  • 197Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 198Stella (by Harmony) — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 199Supro Dual-Tone / Valco — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 200Teisco del Rey / Spectrum series — Historic & Defunct Brands (Kay, Silvertone, Teisco, Mosrite, Burns, Harmony, Supro, Eko, Airline)
  • 233Bacchus Handmade Japan / Woodline — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)
  • 234Burny RLG — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)1970s
  • 235Fernandes Sustainer models — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)
  • 236Greco EG / EGF — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)1970s
  • 237K. Yairi — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)
  • 238Momose — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)
  • 239Tokai Love Rock (LS/LES) — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)1977
  • 240Tokai Springy Sound / Breezy Sound / Goldstar Sound — Japanese Classics (Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandes, Bacchus, Momose, K. Yairi)1977

By decade · All makers · Construction

Further reading

A cross-section of the archive — sampled across the catalogue