Expanding the Collection With Little-Known "Rarities"

[Brainfertilizer]

Piggy-backing off of this thread.

 

I'm not in the same situation...I don't have any high-end traditional (LPs and Strats) guitars. I had always been looking for the lesser-known, excellent quality sleeper.

 

The result was a pretty big Hamer USA stable.

 

But I recently got a bunch of old early '80s Guitar Player mags as part of a magazine lot that had some songs and specific articles I wanted. I've been going through them to see which I want to keep or which I want to resell.

 

And as I've been going through, I've stumbled across some great old guitars I never knew existed. A quick check on eBay has revealed that there are enough of them around that you can get 'em on eBay.

 

So I have a mint Vantage Avenger X77 and an Ibanez JTK1 Jet King on the way.

 

This is in addition to the Aria Pro II Thor Sound TS-500 and Floyd Rose Redmond Speedloader I picked up 2 weeks ago.

 

None are guitars anyone is thirsting/lusting after...but none are exactly commonplace, either.

 

Pictures will be posted tonight of everything but the Vantage.

 

The point? I guess I don't have one. I'm just buildling a little quirky collection of lesser-known guitars. Maybe in 30-40 years it might be worth something. Until then, I plan to have fun playing 'em. So I hope you don't find this post a total waste...if anyone has owned a Vantage or Speedloader or Thor Sound or Ibanez JTK guitar and has any comments or nostalgia they want to share, please do.

[Special J]

I'm with you. Although I do have some mainstream Fender love in my little collection, I really dig the off-beat stuff. You can find some great used guitars and amps for not a lot of money, if you look beyond the big names. And I've always had a couple of Hamer USA's in the mix. Best quality/price ratio in the used market today.

[ashtray]

Offbeat stuff is pretty cool, but rarely satisfies a 3rd party showoff factor. When you tell someone what you have, and they don't know it or just think the brand is cheap junk, then you'll just get a strange look like "why don't you get a strat?". Also, values of rare oddball guitars don't really appreciate much... for the same reason.

 

I've got a bunch of oddball guitars. Roland G707 maybe the oddest of all. Was $1,500 back in the mid 80's (!!) but people just look at you funny or say "what's with the bar?". As for value, they seem to hover around $500 these days for just the guitar. Fantastic instrument but odd for sure.

 

I have a 70's AriaProII Urchin - great playing guitar. Never see them anymore. Used to own the flametop deluxe model too. Sold that for $300 years ago. Don't think there's a great market for these instruments.

 

Sometimes you come across an oddball that is worth some coin, but usually only bc some famous person used to play that back in the day. Not valued based on the merits of the instrument.

[Solid_State]

Basically, I mostly play oddball guitars. Guitarists tend to be very conservative, so anything that deviates from the Strat/Les Paul paradigm too much gets shunned.

 

That's cool. I enjoy playing lesser known instruments a lot. Never been too worried about the brand name showoff factor as long as the axe feels and sounds good . I let my hands do the talking, not the logo on the headstock .

 

There used to be a cool column in Guitar Player magazine authored by "Teisco del Rey" that was all about offbeat makes. Also, Michael Wright wrote two good books about guitar oddities that are worth reading.

[Brainfertilizer]

Offbeat stuff is pretty cool, but rarely satisfies a 3rd party showoff factor. When you tell someone what you have, and they don't know it or just think the brand is cheap junk, then you'll just get a strange look like "why don't you get a strat?". Also, values of rare oddball guitars don't really appreciate much... for the same reason. I've got a bunch of oddball guitars. Roland G707 maybe the oddest of all. Was $1,500 back in the mid 80's (!!) but people just look at you funny or say "what's with the bar?". As for value, they seem to hover around $500 these days for just the guitar. Fantastic instrument but odd for sure. I have a 70's AriaProII Urchin - great playing guitar. Never see them anymore. Used to own the flametop deluxe model too. Sold that for $300 years ago. Don't think there's a great market for these instruments. Sometimes you come across an oddball that is worth some coin, but usually only bc some famous person used to play that back in the day. Not valued based on the merits of the instrument.

I actually know what the Urchin is!

 

You know, I think at least part of the attraction of getting these little known guitars is the blank look followed by the "why don't you get a strat?" puzzled query.

 

But another large part of it is having a great guitar that I got cheap because it didn't have "Gibson" or "Fender" on the headstock.

[Kid Klash]

How about this - my 1965 Alamo Fiesta! As featured in the infamous "The Wayds Movie".

 

[diceman1000]

i dig oddball stuff too:thu: the only thing in my collection that is fairly rare is my Westbury Standard.

[Brainfertilizer]

Pictures of the JTK1:

I'm loving this guitar! I love the finish! I love the tone! I love the nifty original hard-shell case! Previous owner swapped pickups for Breeds and disconnected the coil taps. I like the tone so I probably won't change the pickups back...but I really *do* want the coil taps.

 

[Brainfertilizer]

[Brainfertilizer]

 

As Always, Click to Embiggen

 

...I really dig this guitar!

[Brian Krashpad]

Cool! That Jet King I looks nice. There's a II at our local large mom&pop, but I'm out of space and out of dosh, so I won't be getting it.

 

I have some Fenders and Gibsons, but plenty of oddballs and off the beaten path guitars too. Click link in sig to see, if you want. I just buy what I like and what is available at a great price.

[Special J]

There are a couple of JTK1's on my local CL right now. Very intriguing, indeed. What are the necks like on them?

[Brainfertilizer]

There are a couple of JTK1's on my local CL right now. Very intriguing, indeed. What are the necks like on them?

 

I'd call it a thin medium. Not vintage carve, certainly...but not wizard- or shredder-thin, either.

 

It seems like a "C" carve to me, too...but shallow enough it almost feels like a "D". But not *quite* flat enough to be a D.

 

I hope that helps.

[Ralph onion]

Sadly, 20 years from now you will wonder why you bought this crap. You are a nice guy and you dont want to make money off of any of your guitars! Right?

[Philphine]

i think if you get them because there's something about them that appeals to you personally, that's all that matters. if they appreciate in the future, that's gravy (maybe even meaty gravy). if ebay is any real indication, a few of my off the beaten path guitars have appreciated some.

 

most of mine aren't going to excite most players or collectors (i'd say maybe 4-6 out of what i have would universaly be considered worth having), but there was something about each one at the time i got it that appealed to me. i can only think of one that i brought thinking at that moment i could get more for it later, but even then i still liked the guitar it's self and i've made no attempt to sell it.

[DavidMgT]

 

I'm with you. Although I do have some mainstream Fender love in my little collection, I really dig the off-beat stuff. You can find some great used guitars and amps for not a lot of money, if you look beyond the big names. And I've always had a couple of Hamer USA's in the mix. Best quality/price ratio in the used market today.

 

 

 

I am a huge fan of USA Hamers. Ive got a Studio Custom that I love. I plan on obtaining a Newport, Monaco, and Standard in the future. I really think that USA Hamers will be very much sought after and valuable once they are mostly gone. As it is, they are getting increasingly hard to find.

[Grantus]

Jet Kings were pretty common a few years ago. Ibanez pumped the II, the III and others hard for awhile, then just stopped.

 

I owned a II for a short time.

[Brian Krashpad]

 

Sadly, 20 years from now you will wonder why you bought this crap. You are a nice guy and you dont want to make money off of any of your guitars! Right?

 

 

Not sad at all.

 

I couldn't give a flying {censored} whether I "make money off of" any guitar I buy. And yes I've been buying them for well more than 20 years. I buy guitars to play, for fun. Not as an investment.

[dmc69]

I own 2 Vantages: a VS695 and a VP700.

Really awesome guitars that I got for 200 each.

They're beat as hell, but man, they get the job done. And then some.

Will I ever sell these? Nope.

[vivid2012]

 

Looks cool stuff.

[GAS Man]

Sure a lot of preferences when it comes to collecting.

 

Some folks are all about "vintage".

 

Some are all about low numbered in a ltd edition series

 

Some folks are all about a particular niche (Les Paul, Strats, Dano's, whatever)

 

Me, I'm all about eclectic.

[EllenGtrGrl]

I buy guitars because I like to play them - not for investment potential. I'm a musician, not an investor. Besides, most investors suck at playing guitar (probably because they spend too much time buyng guitars, that have a potential for appreciation of value, instead of practicing! ). I have decent mainline guitars (Fender Jazzmaster, and Rickenbacker 360), but I've had my oddballs over the years. I have this one at the present time:

 

Danelectro MOD 7

 

 

Yes, Danelectro made a 7-string guitar! The MOD 7 was made from 1998 to 2001, and was never very common. I scored mine from an online search on Guitar Center's website, for used gear, for $250 from a GC in Fayetteville, AR. Normally they go for about $500. The neck's great, it sounds cool, and when the blow switch is activated (which wires all 4 coils of all 3 pickups in series, to produce a big humbucker), has insane pickup output to an amp.

[fretmonster]

 

Piggy-backing off of this thread. I'm not in the same situation...I don't have any high-end traditional (LPs and Strats) guitars. I had always been looking for the lesser-known, excellent quality sleeper. The result was a pretty big Hamer USA stable. But I recently got a bunch of old early '80s Guitar Player mags as part of a magazine lot that had some songs and specific articles I wanted. I've been going through them to see which I want to keep or which I want to resell. And as I've been going through, I've stumbled across some great old guitars I never knew existed. A quick check on eBay has revealed that there are enough of them around that you can get 'em on eBay. So I have a mint Vantage Avenger X77 and an Ibanez JTK1 Jet King on the way. This is in addition to the Aria Pro II Thor Sound TS-500 and Floyd Rose Redmond Speedloader I picked up 2 weeks ago. None are guitars anyone is thirsting/lusting after...but none are exactly commonplace, either. Pictures will be posted tonight of everything but the Vantage. The point? I guess I don't have one. I'm just buildling a little quirky collection of lesser-known guitars. Maybe in 30-40 years it might be worth something. Until then, I plan to have fun playing 'em. So I hope you don't find this post a total waste...if anyone has owned a Vantage or Speedloader or Thor Sound or Ibanez JTK guitar and has any comments or nostalgia they want to share, please do.

 

 

Not a waste of time at all. I hate cookie cutter anything. My collection is very ecclectic, but I'm not quite as impulsive as some. I have a friend that really goes crazy for 70s and 80s Japanese electrics. He loves his univox ripper and recently got an Electra Les Paul with maple board and square black markers he has been lusting after forever.

 

I personally try not to get too preoccupied with the look of a guitar and instead concentrate on finding sleeper guitars that are just really fine instruments. My Gibson is a Studio Lite from 2000 and because of its diminished width and Grover Tuners, will never be a big hit with the collector crowd. I have a Fender (Squier Series) Strat that after a few tweaks here and there (shim, nut and trem block) is a total beast, but will never mean anything to a collector because it has a one ply pickguard, minipots and different tuners. My other Strat is a custom job for a sponsored act that has US pickups and electronics in an MIM body - again worth much more as a player than a collectible. (I actually prefer MIMs generally because their string spacing at the bridge is more uniform with Gibson spec.) Beyond that, I have a very strong attraction to Chicago made Hamers (two), older model US Washburns (two) and 60s vintage US Harmonys (1). I also don't have any predilections against imports if they meet my standards. I have a Chinese made Silvertone acoustic that is a fine instrument and actually projects better than a friend's vintage Martin and I love my Korean made Brawley and Washburn P290 as much as my other guitars because they sound and play fabulously.

 

Don't really know much about the guitars you mentioned, but I do know that Aria Pros are really fine guitars from my experience.

[Brainfertilizer]

 

i think if you get them because there's something about them that appeals to you personally, that's all that matters. if they appreciate in the future, that's gravy (maybe even meaty gravy). if ebay is any real indication, a few of my off the beaten path guitars have appreciated some. most of mine aren't going to excite most players or collectors (i'd say maybe 4-6 out of what i have would universaly be considered worth having), but there was something about each one at the time i got it that appealed to me. i can only think of one that i brought thinking at that moment i could get more for it later, but even then i still liked the guitar it's self and i've made no attempt to sell it.

 

This is probably closest to what I'm thinking.

I doubt ANY of my guitars will be worth thousands any time in the future (aside from the Hamers, maybe).

But if I got 'em for $200-300, and they end up rare, they'll end up being cool and worth *something* more than I paid for them just for being rare. Consider what some of the rare 60s guitars get these days, after being $40 pawn shop rejects for more than 2-3 decades.

 

But it isn't a get-rich scheme, nor is it really even so I can brag about getting 'em.

 

It just makes me happy to look at them and play them.

[richey888]

Used to have a Univox Hi-Flyer (Mostrite copy), loved that thing. Gave it to a deserving young student / Ramones fan. While I don't have anything that would be considered offbeat ATM (my Squier VM Jazzmaster, would be the closest thing I have right now), I am not averse to something in the future. I love those Electras and used to have an Aria Pro II LP-type that kicked all kinds of tail. Viva le Strange!