Seagull acoustic future value

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by ollaimh

th seagull folk models are great beach guitars, and i've found them over time for under 200 canadian, and as low as fifty cad. i passed them all on to young guys. but great players, but not going to be collectable

Wow, you got a better price than I did. I paid $225 CAD, which was $186 USD with that day's exchange rate.

I've liked those Seagull Folk models for a long time. They were my favorite Seagull model, in fact, until Seagull came out with their MJ (mini jumbo.) It was the MJ that I was actually looking for when I snagged the Folk model. I'd asked my buddy in Coquitlam to keep an eye out for a used MJ for me, and he found one. But when we got there, the Folk model sounded much better.

That MJ was, in fact, the only crappy-sounding Seagull Mini Jumbo I've played. Most of them sound great.

I wanted an inexpensive guitar to play on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry ride up to Whittier, Alaska, which was supposed to take six days but took longer because we got weathered in in Yakutat on the way. So snagging that little Folk model was a good score for me.


whm

[Jim]

Hi Murman.

I agree with the others, Seagulls are great guitars for playing but not as investments. Likewise with your Ibanez Concord and MIM Telecaster Standard. If you want a Fender that will retain its value and possibly increase a bit you should look at moving up to any of the MIA models, or especially a Custom Shop model for a bit more value retention and possible slight appreciation over time. You mention you have a 72 ES-335. Would that be a Gibson or an Epiphone? The Epiphones will not increase in value faster than inflation, but the older Gibsons will normally do a little better than inflation over time.

Much of this is driven by what people who play a lot of guitar tend to go for the higher end guitars which are in greater demand and less supply than the entry level workhorse guitars. However, overall guitars are normally not very good investments compared to things like the stock markets and real estate. But on the other side of the coin, you can play your guitars and enjoy them every day - try doing that with a stock certificate.

[Earl49]

I have a really old M6 (mahogany body / cedar top) pre-dating the S6. It is a fine guitar, but I could never get more than $250-300 for it used. I have bought and sold a couple of S6's and an S12 twelve string when I wanted something temporarily for an experiment. Bought for $300, re-sold on CL for $300 with OEM hard case & pickup. New they run about $500 these days, so used about 60% of the new price. Apart from inflation affecting the absolute dollar amounts, I don't see that ratio changing much.....

[Nyghthawk]

With rare exceptions, guitars are not monetary investments. They are tools with which to make music. Not very many of us even use them as tools for our own livelihoods. Enjoy the experience. Live in the now. If you want to invest, buy coins or guns, or stamps.

P.S. Just don't take them out at night and play with them...people will look at you funny!

[Oldguy64]

While my mom was dying, I went looking for a guitar to leave in NC for my trips back and forth.
My wife eventually talked me off the ledge.
But while I was looking, I found a Norman (basically a Seagull with a square headstock).
It was the best sounding guitar under $200 in the Greensboro GC.
And had I had my head together, instead of worrying about my mom, I probably could have talked them down because the pick guard was lifting significantly.

Also...in the quest
For my fiftieth birthday guitar (The Masterworks listed below) I ran across the ugliest all mahogany S6.
I didn't want to play the thing. It was scungy, and beaten. It had buckle rash, and black grime on it.
The asking price was also kinda high for an old Seagull $300.
But my son basically insisted that I play it.
I wish I hadn't. It was one of the best sounding guitars in the store. And the best under $500.
But as has been said, it would have made a great tool for making music, and preventing a need to worry about traveling with a guitar.
I'm glad now that I didn't buy it on the one hand,
But it would have made a good "knock-around" on the other hand.

[Mooh]

It's been my observation that guitars are a lousy investment. The very few that are virtually guaranteed to gain value are heavily outnumbered by the very many that are virtually guaranteed to lose value. Tone quality, appearance, and playability are not necessarily an indicator either way.

As for Seagulls, they're very well constructed, decent playing, and good looking instruments. Generally understated cosmetics, no tacky bling, the cost of manufacture seems to be concentrated on making good quality available to the market at reasonable prices.

My own Seagull is all solid mahogany dread, sounds and plays great, and if I ever decide to sell, whatever I lose will have been more than worth the use I get out of it. Same goes for an S&P folk.

[TBman]

I can't see mine appreciate in value, but I've bonded with mine. It's not going anywhere.

[Birdbrain]

... but how it does at resale is another question, harder to predict. My Mini Jumbo w/Walnut B&S pleases me like nothing else this side of $1000. Online, it's $420 new, $350 used, and my eBay deal was $270. The new ones are so cheap and plentiful, that depresses the value of used ones. If Seagull ever shut down, perish the thought, we'd probably see a wave of appreciation, in reputation and price.

I see plenty of Seagulls in the used shops, but I think that's a sign of how many beginners give up early. They do aim for lightweight construction, with a free-moving top. The lack of a heavy poly finish means that heavily-played ones may look more worn than,say, a Takamine or Ovation.

Originally Posted by murman

Do you think that Seagull guitars will appreciate with time? I mean like 10 to 20 years.

Sadly, not likely. They'll never carry the resale cred of a Martin, Taylor, Gibson.

[menhir]

Originally Posted by Ex-Nashvillian

The new ones are so cheap and plentiful, that depresses the value of used ones. If Seagull ever shut down, perish the thought, we'd probably see a wave of appreciation, in reputation and price.

That's the truth. There are people, not just guitar players, who will ante up a lot of money for almost anything that's become rare.
I think it's going to be a very long time before Seagulls become rare, though.

Just for fun yesterday I was looking up old keyboards that I used to perform on. The ARP Odyssey synthesizer and Wurlitzer Electric Piano* are two examples. Both are now worth far more than the paltry sums I sold them off for when they were then considered outdated. Of course, adjusted for inflation, they probably still wouldn't have been a good investment if someone had bought them new just to wait for them to appreciate in value.

*The Wurlitzer was the one stage instrument I really wish I had kept. Low tech and clunky by today's standards, but there was just something about it I loved and miss.)

Incidentally, I will never sell my Seagull.

[Rodger Knox]

10 or 20 years, I'll agree with everyone else. On the other hand, who knows what will be popular in 50 years. There's guitars from the 60's that we thought were crap when they were new, and now they're "vintage" selling for big bucks.

[sutherland]

Purchasing a musical instrument with the intent of appreciation? It's a silly and risky venture. If you want appreciation, invest your money in stocks/funds or real estate.

There is no guarantee that a modern Seagull, Martin, or Taylor will appreciate in value. None. You can point to the vintage market as reference, but to assume that nostalgia will create a substantial demand that influences the price of the 'new vintage' is risky.

It's better to buy and enjoy. If you love the Seagull more than <insert any other guitar brand>, then congratulations. It's an amazing guitar.

If you want an investment, don't seek it in consumer goods.

[AllThumbsBruce]

I bought a Seagull S6 for my dad and then inherited it when he passed. It was a very fun guitar to play with a nice sound. My dad loved it! I never had any illusions about it increasing in value. I donated it to a guitars for vets program.

[tippy5]

I grabbed a nice Seagull 12 string for 175$ on CL.
I love the strong sitka and maple wood the Canadian's have.
Perfect for 12 strings which need that stiffness.
It sounds fine. Not dead at all, very nice.

[mtdmind]

Originally Posted by Frozen Rat

Sadly, not likely. They'll never carry the resale cred of a Martin, Taylor, Gibson.

I don't believe Taylors are that resellable