Buying a Pre CBS Jazzmaster in Europe

[Towomba]

Hey to all you wise people

I‘m about to sell my 65 Sunburst Jaguar, L Series, still unbound August neck - all original.

Why? Well, I always wanted a Jazzmaster and the shorter Jaguar scale isnt to my liking really.

I see the prices pretty much went crazy, wow. Vintage market seems pretty empty. Shops selling vintage Fenders and Gibsons literally in minutes and hours after listing them over here in germany/europe.

Anyway, Im totally fine with a refin 63-65 player Jazzmaster, I dont need an collectors item.

I saw a listing of 63 Jazzmaster. Refin in black, new decal, refret, green guard (so it was custom colour probably), pots 61 and 63, bridge pickup is from 1973 for about 3790€. Its „on hold“ currently... Wouldnt buy it without playing of course, but the price seems „okay“ for the current market?

Would it be better to wait some weeks/months and do you think the market will calm down a bit? I have like 5k-6k to spend for an original or refin player 63-65...

Thanks in advance!

[graceless]

The market isn't going to calm down. Just buy it if you see it and like it. I mean, what if it 'crashes' 30%? That's only like a year or two of growth. Then it will climb again.

[bterry]

I wouldn’t wait, either - the guitar market might be a bit hot in general but the Jazzmaster market has been heating up for a few years now and it’s really about Jazzmaster supply/demand more than Covid supply/demand.

Just my .02 cents, if you are buying now find the most original guitar you can afford that you love as a player as well, no point in buying a refin or parts guitar you don’t love the sound and feel of. If you find an all-original JM with the same criteria that you can ‘afford’ don’t think twice...

[mgeek]

The market isn't going to calm down. Just buy it if you see it and like it. I mean, what if it 'crashes' 30%? That's only like a year or two of growth. Then it will climb again.

Things don't just go up in value indefinitely, forever. Vintage electric guitars are a bubble that's gonna burst once the boomers are are all dead. Most expensive guitars aren't rare, they were mass produced in huge amounts to cater for a new trend.

[bterry]

^^^ With all due respect that is a really bad take, especially concerning Fender and Gibson guitars.

[mgeek]

^^^ With all due respect that is a really bad take, especially concerning Fender and Gibson guitars.

When I say 'with all due respect' I mean 'this is easily the stupidest thing I've read this week, are you crazy', so - noted, thanks!

Only time will tell whether I'm right or not regarding the values dropping, but I'm not wrong about the quantities. Who made more guitars than Fender in the mid sixties? Some of the old gear I'm after, it's really a question of waiting 5, 10 years for one to turn up and getting lucky. If you want a pre cbs JM you just need to rustle up the cash and take your pick. At the very least it will be interesting to see if/how that demographic shift changes things.

[gishuk]

I think while the market overall may dip for a while when boomers gear comes onto the market as you say, the price of Jazzmasters could also be normalizing against the price of Strats and Teles, which if thats the case they could still rise a lot even if the overall trend is for prices to dip.

[Highnumbers]

I think while the market overall may dip for a while when boomers gear comes onto the market as you say, the price of Jazzmasters could also be normalizing against the price of Strats and Teles, which if thats the case they could still rise a lot even if the overall trend is for prices to dip.

^^ That's just it.

Fender probably sold 4x as many Strats in the first half of the 1960s (I'd love to see actual numbers, but just going by what the used market reflects and the fact that Strats were cheaper).

Yet Strats sell for 3x the price of a Jazzmaster (let's just use sunburst-to-sunburst)?

You either make the argument that Strats are a massive bubble, or more realistically, it's that Jazzmasters have been historically underpriced and are just starting to pick up momentum.

I fully expect to see the price of basic 60s Strats to come down while prices on Jazzmasters come up to about the same level, within the next 5-10 years.

Personally I would not wait to see if prices drop on JMs, because all signs point to that NOT happening. I'm not a gambling man but it sure seems like a fairly calculated risk buying one right now, I wouldn't hesitate.

[mgeek]

I think while the market overall may dip for a while when boomers gear comes onto the market as you say, the price of Jazzmasters could also be normalizing against the price of Strats and Teles, which if thats the case they could still rise a lot even if the overall trend is for prices to dip.

True - even ten years ago good vintage Jazzmasters still sold for less than they cost new in real terms. Those relative values sites are pretty useful for that sort of thing.

[supersonicjazzmaster]

Ah, yes, the black one. I have seen it also.
I was also thinking about this one. But I don´t buy it.
The price is not bad I would say.
I already have a 1964 Jazzmaster and a surprisingly good CIJ from 2002.
The neck on the black one looks very nice.
The refin doesn´t effect the sound.
If it´s not what you expected you also can sell it for the same price (or more) I guess.
I would also say: Get it!!
Ah, it´s reserved I have seen ( hope you are the one!).

[Towomba]

Hey guys, thanks a lot to everyone replying.

Short update: I looked at two cool refins (with some changed parts) that got sold pretty quick. Otherwise vintage JM dont really show up at the moment, at least not in shops.

Had some contact to private sellers:

- played a beast of a 62 player, really cool and beat up. Was a little to pricy (though a good price, but quite above my limit) and I didnt take it. Seller had a 64/65 Sunburst that was a hell of a guitar, to my mind better neck and sounded different/more beautiful to me. Price was right but he couldnt part with it, understandably. Such a cool guitar

- got offered a 63 all original in olympic white. Looked cool, but I passed.

- maybe I will try an early 65 in the next weeks which looks promising and the price seems „okayish“ I guess. No OHSC but Im fine with that.

I do tend to fall in love with 64s/65s, the pickups and necks of these seem to be really great for my taste and the bursts are generally beautiful.

Maybe I can present a NGD to you in the near future

Cheers to all