Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Mechanical Birds
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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:53 pm

Depends on what you’re spending out the door. In August I sold my 8.5/10 66 Jaguar for $3,000, though it took a while and only happened because the buyer was replacing a stolen guitar with insurance money. Otherwise, I got a whole lotta ~$2,000 offers. Now, to me, even $3,000 for a vintage Fender that happens to have my favorite appointments is still a fuck of a deal, but you could definitely get away with spending much less. I don’t see the value of one of these, or any vintage guitar, dropping to such a degree that we’ll be getting them for a few hundred bucks or anything. Custom Shop replicas of these guitars often sell for, what, $4,000+? That’s not to say the market won’t tank, but it definitely has a floor of how low it’ll fall, and if it doesn’t, and Fender ceases to exist? Well, let’s just say that the resale value on your old guitar will be the absolute furthest down on your list of things to worry about.

Also, a 66 Fender is solid as fuck, I’ll forever regret selling mine, and if you can afford it you should take a shot. True, there were dogs from every era, but 66 is still on the very cusp of the CBS takeover and, as several boarders said in an attempt to ease my concerns when I made a similar thread, for all intents and purposes, still a ‘real’ Fender.

I want a LPB 66 worse than anything.

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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by zhivago » Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:26 am

Some great points in this thread, let me also weigh in to say this:

Buy it because you love it, not because it may make some money one day. My advice to anyone looking at vintage guitars is to only use money that you can take out in the garden, set on fire, walk back in and forget it ever happened. It is very likely that many of these old guitars will depreciate as the demographic changes.

At 42, I feel my generation is the last one to truly lust after these old guitars. Personally, I have four vintage guitars at different price brackets. Two of them especially are very expensive. I never, ever, ever open up their cases and think of the money I spent, or the guitars I sold to afford them. I truly love them and they make me very happy indeed.

Can't put a price on that. 8)
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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by Paul-T » Tue Mar 24, 2020 6:07 am

I own a 63 Jazzmaster, a 59 Melody Maker and a 52 Tele.

They are good investments as far as being wonderful to play . No one can say, definitively, any more than that.

It's exactly like houses. THey're a good investment if you love living in them. Otherwise they're not.
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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Tue Mar 24, 2020 2:56 pm

zhivago wrote:
Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:26 am
Some great points in this thread, let me also weigh in to say this:

Buy it because you love it, not because it may make some money one day. My advice to anyone looking at vintage guitars is to only use money that you can take out in the garden, set on fire, walk back in and forget it ever happened. It is very likely that many of these old guitars will depreciate as the demographic changes.

At 42, I feel my generation is the last one to truly lust after these old guitars. Personally, I have four vintage guitars at different price brackets. Two of them especially are very expensive. I never, ever, ever open up their cases and think of the money I spent, or the guitars I sold to afford them. I truly love them and they make me very happy indeed.

Can't put a price on that. 8)

Wanna back this up as well. In case I wasn’t clear before, also, a 66 Jaguar (along with old Mustangs) is like the last great deal you’re like to find in vintage guitars. Having said that, I totally agree that looking at these things as an investment should be secondary to like every other reason you’d buy one of these guitars.

Having said that, you could buy two Jaguars for every one Jazzmaster in almost any case I can find online right now.

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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by simonhpieman » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:36 pm

The best Jazzmaster I ever played was a 67, blocks, binding and nitro finish. Must've been one of the last before they went poly.

I've also played a great sounding 66 (or was it 67, I forget) Jag at the New Kings Road but that had a lot of question marks hanging over it.

If you like that particular look then go for it, though if you're worried about investment then get a minter from 62-64 and don't play it. A 66 will always have a more limited appeal due to CBS, be that rightly or wrongly.

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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Tue Mar 24, 2020 6:53 pm

I’m 100% confident you could find multiple examples of a 66 Jaguar for right around $2,000, which is less than you’d pay for a currently produced reissue/replica version and to me, that’s awesome. Brass tacks, if you’re smart and you find a good deal, it’s never going to end up with you losing money.

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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by sookwinder » Tue Mar 24, 2020 7:27 pm

During the aftermath of the GFC and the subsequent (almost) recession in the USA, the Aussie dollar went up to almost US$1.10 (today it is about US$0.60 and was in the 50s a couple of days back). This gave me the opportunity to buy a shit load of vintage guitars I would (in normal circumstances) never have thought I could ever afford. But like Yannis I do not look at those guitars each days and determine what they are worth ..I just play them.

Likewise at the moment there maybe some good deals on vintage items because people need to sell or shops can't sell at their normal prices so they discount.

But you should never think about a vintage instrument as a investment methodology.
If you want evidence just look at the 3x costs that Japanese sellers are still trying to get for instruments that they purchased at the high water mark in the 90s.
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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by gringopig » Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:55 am

They are better investments now that the stock market has crashed. My pension now is worth less than had I just stuffed cash into a showbox.

So if you want to buy something like a '66 (and these are collectable in their own right) then do so. Or stick the money into an ISA right now and hope for a short to medium term recovery. Then of course you don'y get any fun out of playing the guitar! How much is that worth?


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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by sir h c » Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:10 pm

Compared to investing in beer and pot, it is a great investment. It shouldn't lose value unless you trash it or if the world goes to hell in a handbasket or synths become all the rage.

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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by eggwheat » Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:45 am

Depends...I paid $6k for my shoreline gold 64 Jaguar 3 years ago on Reverb. Now take a look on Reverb! Insane price gouging going on. But thats a rare custom colour.

A 66 sunburst Jaguar is one of the most common vintage guitars you can find..there are probably 30 on Reverb at any time..so price competition is always fierce.

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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Tue Mar 31, 2020 11:12 am

i think if you're buying a guitar as an investment, you shouldn't be buying the guitar. if you're buying the guitar because you love the guitar and can see yourself using it regularly. then yes.
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Re: Is a '66 Jag a good investment?

Post by cestlamort » Tue Mar 31, 2020 11:34 am

I'll probably just be echoing the common sentiment here, but "no." Speculating on guitars / playing the headstock market (groan) isn't a good way to build capital.

Or more precisely, it's not an investment that is going to appreciate (or maybe even keep up with inflation).

As something that you'll enjoy for a while and be able to sell later without losing too much money? Yes and maybe.

A good rule of thumb is to only buy the stuff that you enjoy and like. If are later able to move on or trade it up for something you like more, great. Otherwise, you can try to buy low and get "free rental" on stuff for a while before moving on. For example, I got a 64 jaguar (body refin but original white headstock) a couple of years back and I totally love it. I scored a great deal on a Marr Jaguar last fall and maybe even like that particular one more than the "real" vintage one (or at least it's closer than I expected). If I were to sell them, I'd probably make a better profit (sale price minus purchase price) on the Marr than the 1964, so the Marr is also probably the better investment. (I don't intend to sell either though).

Is the 66 better / more enjoyable than a CS model? (maybe) Would there be less of a hit from buying a vintage guitar and selling it (still vintage, still used) than buying a new CS model and selling it (now used)? Is the 66 worth the extra from an analogous used reissue (AV65, thin skin, whatever)? Would you be okay with losing money on it? (which includes selling it for what you bought it for when you consider fees etc).

In general: Buy the guitar if you want to own (and play) the guitar, don't buy the guitar simply to sell later.

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