1980 Gibson SG

[SGJ]

What would be ball park value of a 1980 SG with cosemetic damage but structurally sound with all electronics working. Binded neck, trap inlays, coil tap switch. input on side of guitar

[VintAxe]

Hi SGJ,

Assumming we are talking about an SG Standard, the 2008 Blue Book places value between $900 (90% Excellent Condition) to $625 (60% Good Condition).

I guess you'll need to judge the extent of your cosmetic damage. Figure about a $100 increment in value for every 10% increment in condition.

[SGJ]

Thanks. I just bought the guitar in question on an impulse. I didn't find out til after I bought it that the pickups aren't original. Not sure if that devalues it alot, although I'm sure it does somewhat.

Would a guitar like this increase in value over time? I'm assuming a 1970 SG is worth alot more than a 1980. Does this mean in 10 years a 1980 will be worth alot more than itis now? I don't understand how the whole "vintage" thing works.

[cheepaxes]

Well, here's my opinion on the value of vintageness. People value older guitars for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

1. There's a perception that older is better. In some cases this is true, because some older guitars were made more carefully with better materials and better designs. E.g., solid pieces of wood rather than plywood bodies. As musical instrument companies got sold to larger companies, accountants made cost-saving decisions that undermined the quality of the instruments. For this reason people have said that Gibsons made after '68 are nowhere near as good as those made in '68 and earlier. OTOH, sometimes these practices were corrected later, e.g., Fender's guitars of the mid-late '70s had some serious quality control issues. At some point they got their act more together. I think my '76 Strat is inferior to lots of '90s and '00s Strats I've played, yet (before the economy went south) Strats like mine were going for crazy money - more due to the perceived value of oldness than any actual superiority of those instruments.

2. People have come to associate worn, dinged up instruments with having character, aka "vibe" or "mojo." This makes them worth more in those people's minds. That's how a phenomenon like Fender's "Relic" series and private owners "relicing" of guitars could come about.

3. People associate older guitars with music of that time period, or music of artists they admire who played at that time. People generally agree that much of Fender's big-headstock era '70s output was not good, but pictures of Hendrix playing a big-headstock Strat sells '70s Strats and drives Fender to put out '70s reissues.

I suspect a 1970 SG will always go for more than a 1980 SG in comparable condition. Whether, and how much, the prices of 1980 SGs go up in the future will depend on the quality and price of future instruments, future attitudes regarding the value of vintageness, and future buying power (i.e., the economy).

-Scott