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Vintage Guitar Ebay Search (Restorations and Treasures)

Hello,

I spend too many hours searching on www.ebay.com, but being a flea market fan, I am addicted to this virtual marketplace. I have found many wonderful instruments over the years, but even though, I am not buying like I would in the past, I still enjoy the hunt.

So, I thought I would post active auction of item that might interest my friends.

Unfortunately, I cannot remove the posts, so please start with the most current post to view current auction items.

Considering many of you have gained good building skills from making CBGs, refurbishing vintage instruments could be a very lucrative next step.

Please feel free to add a link if you want to share. Enjoy, Keni Lee

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 11:32am

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-VINTAGE-GUITAR-DOBRO-RESONATOR-ACOUSTIC...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 11:35am

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Collegiate-Parlor-Guitar-/220671856388?...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 11:36am

http://cgi.ebay.com/1931-NATIONAL-DUOLIAN-RESONATOR-GUITAR-GREAT-CO...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 11:38am

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-1930s-NATIONAL-DOBRO-RESONATOR-GUITAR-/...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 11:42am

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1935-SANTACILLA-CONCERT-PARLOR-ACOUSTIC...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 11:50am

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Regal-4-String-Guitar-Circa-1950s-/3704...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 21, 2010 at 12:21pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/old-vintage-1930s-Supro-electric-Guitar-serial-...

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on September 21, 2010 at 2:34pm

I too have been a big fan of window shopping on Ebay. I've purchased a great many things but am always weary of vintage instruments sight unseen. Of course there are many that are in nice shape but at a price out of my league.

A couple of weeks ago I was in NY and stopped by Umanov's Guitars on Bleeker St. He had 5 nice tenor guitars in the shop. The lowest price one was $1800.

I picked up a vintage tenor banjo about a year ago on Ebay. Not horrible shape but still more issues than I would have liked for the price. I made a nice player out of it but it will never be worth much due to the type of repairs needed. I picked up another one local for a little less that needed nothing. So if you look enough, local deals are still to be found.

Right now my job has me traveling all over. The first thing I do is look up where the music shops are during my down time.

Flea markets have been a mixed bag, although I have a cousin that buys, sells and trades a lot and has done far better than I. There are a few local guitar shows but the prices tend to be inflated as is much of the vintage market. Too many collectors and not enough players been buying for the last 20 years. It has driven the prices to insane levels.

It's enough to drive a guy to just decide to build his own. Just sayin.

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 22, 2010 at 8:53am

Thank you Don for your response. I can sypathise with everything you said. I am fortune to have a good friend who is a professional builder and he performs restorations relatively cheaply. He recently moved out of state so I am getting out of the buy, restore, sell market.
I did quite well over the years buying old 1930 Stella, but recently I bought an expensive wallhanger. Yikes!
Restoring Is really is a labor of love that can be a money pit.
You can find them cheap and may have the smarts to restore, but like you said, buying sight unseen is a shot in the dark.
I just thought I would post some finds from time to time. Maybe to stimulate builder's imaginations or help them find a treasure worth bringing back from the brink of death. Parts may be useful. Patterns can be made. Etc.
I just have a romantic love affair with old guitars. They may have issues just like old people, but I love them just the same. Something about holding the same guitar, that was played in the period is very empowering. Having said that, a brand new guitar is great too, just like a hot knife cutting through cold butter.
Thanks again for sharing. Enjoy, Keni Lee

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on September 22, 2010 at 9:19am

Just in case there is any question, I love these posts. Certainly saves me some search time. Like I try to do with all my posts, I only want to contribute in positive ways.

I've bid on a variety of instruments over the last couple of months. Haven't won anything mainly because I won't pay what things are going for right now. There seems to be a disconnect with what I think things are worth and what they are going for. I've been on Ebay for many years and this seems to go in cycles. Any kind of collectible's obsession requires constant vigilance and patience. Great deals come every once and a while.

Any way, love the post and agree with you about old instruments. They just hit you in an emotional way like little else. History is a powerful part of vibe.

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on September 22, 2010 at 10:31am

this is a killer guitar!

Keni Lee Burgess said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/old-vintage-1930s-Supro-electric-Guitar-serial-...

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on September 22, 2010 at 2:36pm

Thank you 3 string guitar for your comment. I plan to post my finds once in a while. There are certainly some real treasures out there. My object is to inspire builders and supply opportunities for winning a great project guitar. Enjoy.