Vintage Guitar Values:
What is Your Guitar Worth?

Determining the value of a vintage guitar is a complicated process. Here are some basic steps to follow:

1. Determine the exact model of your guitar and the year of manufacture. The year of manufacture is indicated by the serial number. There are several sites that offer serial number look ups. Just do an internet search for "Fender Serial Numbers" or whatever brand your guitar is.

2. You need to know whether your guitar is in original condition. Replacing tuning pegs, bridges, pick-ups, etc. will lower the value of your guitar. Refinishing a guitar is the worst offender in this respect.

3. Determine the condition of your guitar. Is it Almost like new with very little evidence of wear? Or does it look as if it has been played a lot--a few dents and scratches.

4. You need to find out what kind of demand there is for your particular guitar. If this demand outweighs the available supply, the value of the guitar will be more.

Once you have this information at hand, you can attempt to find the value of the guitar by doing research. A good place to start is eBay. There you will be able to find out what others are asking for similar guitars. You can also do an internet search for your model and year. You may be able to find reviews which mention now much an owner paid for a guitar similar to yours.

The downside is that this research requires a big expenditure of time and a wide knowledge of guitar pricing resources.

The best way to find an accurate value for your guitar is to go to the experts. You need not spend a ton of money to get an expert opinion.

My advice would be to go to the Blue Book of Guitar Values.

The information is accurate and complete and you can look up a single model for less than $5.00. I use the Blue Book for all of my evaluation needs and I have found it to be accurate and extremely useful.