Valuing a signed guitar....?

[Nautilus]

The title really says it here. How do you value a signed guitar? I suppose it's going to depend on the quality and the base value of the guitar, who's signed it (duh) and the condition of the thing.

The main reason is that I currently only have one guitar, which I was lucky enough to have signed by the entire cast of Periphery . As fond as I am of these signatures, I'll be soon making the rounds gigging quite frequently. Usually up to several times a week.

I don't want to take this guitar with me to tour- in fact right now I have the money to grab myself a pretty high-end ERG. What I wanted to know is how the heck do I value this thing?!

And for reference.....

ESP EC-1000 (Ltd Korean), *left handed*. I'm not looking to sell this thing, just to value it.

[JamesM]

Probably not much different than the value of a used left handed LTD EC-1000.

[Mehnike]

I had a friend who did the same thing with one of his sevens. He claims it will be worth a fortune. I keep telling him that it probably will not. But there's always that one guy willing to pay an arm and a leg...

[jymellis]

actually prolly lowered the value. none of them even use that type of guitar, so your periphery fanbase just dropped. your basically only gonna be able to sell it to a lefty thats looking for an lp shaped guitar. so say normal used value. now add to the fact that more than likely the person buying this guitar will have NO idea who they are. add the fact that it looks like some kid scribbled on the front of the damn body (always have then sign the plates for the electronics or something man, not the damn front of the body) and you actually took away valeu. i say hang it on YOUR wall its value is highest to you, because they signed it for you.

[MetalDaze]

I watch alot of Pawn Stars, so this would be their advice...

Let's assume one day Periphery hits it big and you find someone just dying for a Misha autograph. The first question will be 'is it real'?

Anything you can get that would authenticate the signatures will help protect the value. These could be:

1. A picture of the guys signing the guitar
2. A picture of you with the guys holding said guitar
3. An email from Misha confirming that the signing did take place

It's also good to document when and where it happened.

Now, as the others have mentioned, having a signed guitar doesn't necessarily mean you've hit the jackpot. In most cases, it will just be a fond memory for you.

[jymellis]

/\ im not saying ANYTHING bad about your guitar or the and (for the record). im just trying to explain the market.

you have to think of who would buy it.
periphery fans would want a guitar like the ones used by the band. i dont think anyone in the band uses 6 string lefties. so that kinda drops that market base majorly.

your other market is people wanting a left handed guitar like the one you have. more than likely they are gonna think of the signatures as something they will have to remove.

plus, dont know if you have noticed. but sigs arent worth much unless the person is dead, not in the band anymore and band is MAJORLY big. or the person is really famous and barely signs anything.

[Konfyouzd]

I had a friend who had an Ovation signed by Steve Vai... It probably wasn't worth much, but he wiped off the sig and I thought that kind of defeated the purpose of ever having gotten the sig.

However... If you're worried about selling it, just wipe em off like my friend did and ppl will never know. Honestly, the signature only means something if the person buying it really gives a rats ass about the person who signed it. Value is always relative.

[beneharris]

i agree with jym. you're not going to get any more than normal used value for it. definitely an awesome thing to have, but it doesn't increase the value of it at all, unfortunately

[jymellis]

about 2 years ago i sold a bunch of autographed manson stuff. i sold it ALL in one lot. i got alot more than the stuff was worth. the reason is. i had them sign RARE stuff in the first place. it was the ORIGINAL lineup, i also sold along with the autographed items, the all areas pass i used on multiple stops for the tour WITH the items.

[Nautilus]

Yeah, I figured as much when it was signed. It was certainly a big thing for ME. I know Periphery *do* use 6's from time to time, but then again, the signature guitar for the Accacia Strain and Parkway Drive isn't exactly the 'djent' dream......

At the time of buying the EC-1000 there were only 2 (new) lefties for sale in the EU market. Which kinda says a lot about how many people are buying these things lefty.

I could probably get in touch with Misha for verification, as I tend to rub shoulders with guys in his circle from time to time...but in my opinion it's pretty disrespectful to be asking him to value his signature.

I always figured that there was almost nobody out there looking to buy a left handed 6 string promoted by metalcore bands, signed by Periphery. It's a huge hodgepodge of different markets.

...but you know what? I never had it signed with the intention of selling. Sure I'm curious about what price it could potentially fetch, who wouldn't be? It's no loss, I'm super proud to have it. I'll just wrap the damn thing in bubblewrap till I can get things sorted out with a decent luthier.

[SirMyghin]

Jym has it, to me a signature always devalues a guitar, don't care whose it is. I don't want scribbles on my guitars. Signatures and such to me are completely meaningless. It is the memories that count (hence also not understanding collectors of such things outside of ones they procured themselves).

[Ribboz]

Signatures are more about sentimental value. Atleast i think so.
But some good points were also mentioned above.

[Stealthdjentstic]

Not to rag on Bulbster and crew, but they honestly aren't a big enough band who's signature really merrits paying more. 99% of the time a signature lowers the value, especially seeing as you had them do it across the front. If you get siggies done and might sell it in the future get them done on the back of the headstock.

[Overtone]

Whatever you do, don't be this guy:
Buddy Guy Autographed Squier Stratocaster

[BucketheadRules]

Originally Posted by Overtone

Whatever you do, don't be this guy:
Buddy Guy Autographed Squier Stratocaster

First phrase that came to mind:



$1200? For a SQUIER? A Squier that isn't an all-original, mint-condish 1985 JV on a bed of swan feathers and gold leaf?

[Ribboz]

Originally Posted by Stealthtastic

Not to rag on Bulbster and crew, but they honestly aren't a big enough band who's signature really merrits paying more. 99% of the time a signature lowers the value, especially seeing as you had them do it across the front. If you get siggies done and might sell it in the future get them done on the back of the headstock.

[steve1]

As you don't plan on selling, the value is purely sentimental.

If you want the value for insurance purposes, the value is whatever the guitar costs.

For resale i'd say the actual value is now less, however the perceived value could be higher, you'd have to find the right buyer.

[GRUNTKOR]

Adds no value and frankly it would devalue it to me and probably most other buyers

[Laxdude67]

bought an ltd mh-1000nt couple years back which was signed by slayer.

Fanboys are your only real chance of making money on the guitar, as most folks could care less who signed it. Keep in mind they are usually looking at the guitar as an instrument in the first place on commonly sold sites.



By the way, I had all those signatures removed.

[WickedSymphony]

Originally Posted by Laxdude67

Fanboys are your only real chance of making money on the guitar, as most folks could care less who signed it. Keep in mind they are usually looking at the guitar as an instrument in the first place on commonly sold sites.

Yep. The only people who are going to be looking for guitars with signatures are collectors of that artist's stuff on the exact type of instrument they tend to play. So Periphery signatures on a lefty LTD won't really do much to help the value, and like others said, will probably even hurt it because most people would be looking to buy a guitar they can actually play rather than be afraid of playing for the sake of preserving the signatures.

[ibbyfreak13]

I had an ibby 7321 that I customized signed ( back of the head) signed by head, I have plenty of pics proving the event happened. He took pics of he said he was sending to ibanez so his next custom would look like mine, at present it's priceless to me as he was my guitar hero as a teen, to others not worth much. Now if he comes out with a custom that is based on it then might be worth more( as I have a pic of him taking a pic of it) but not too likely it will be worth much other than to a huge fan like myself.

[SenorDingDong]

Unless they have unfortunately passed away, the value will either remain the same or lower.

[-42-]

Unless your guitar has been signed by truly big names (not to belittle Periphery in any way) the signatures do nothing to increase value.

[maxoom]

I personally deem any guitar with signatures as undesirable regardless of who has signed. Others may see it differently.

[CrushingAnvil]

I'd tell you to get that shit off my guitar if I were buying it. Who gets someone to sign the face of it instead of the cavity covers?