Value of Gibson Citation with repaired crack

[JazzNote]

Hi,

I've recently been invited to try a 98 Gibson Citation. The guitar plays well but has a professionally repaired crack reaching from the lower f hole to the binding at the cutaway.

Now i wonder if a repaired crack would decrease the value of the instrument. I see some late nineties Citations on the market for about $ 12'000 - obviously they have no cracks.

regards,
JN

[Steve DeRosa]

Kind of a long one, but if it's been professionally repaired (find out exactly who and when) it shouldn't be a problem down the line; without pics and a hands-on I'd say $9-10K depending on condition...

[Jabberwocky]

A professionally repaired crack will not hurt its functionality as a guitar. But it does take away the value of the Citation. My guesstimate is a loss of 50% of the value of a used one in pristine condition.

So, my Jabberwhacked estimation is $6000 at best. A Citation is really a showcase guitar. With a long repaired crack like that it is no longer fit for the showcase and becomes a 'player's'. That is not a bad thing if you are buying it to play it.

You didn't ask but for $6000 I would rather look for a used Gibson Le Grand with no cracks anywhere.

[kayakman]

Pass it up,get a Campellone.."Deluxe".

[JazzNote]

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

A professionally repaired crack will not hurt its functionality as a guitar. But it does take away the value of the Citation. My guesstimate is a loss of 50% of the value of a used one in pristine condition.

So, my Jabberwhacked estimation is $6000 at best. A Citation is really a showcase guitar. With a long repaired crack like that it is no longer fit for the showcase and becomes a 'player's'. That is not a bad thing if you are buying it to play it.

You didn't ask but for $6000 I would rather look for a used Gibson Le Grand with no cracks anywhere.

Actually i thought of buying it as an "investment" which also could be played occasionally.
As it happens i do own a Le Grand which is one of two guitars which i use frequently for gigging. The other is a L5 CES and i do love both instruments very much.

[StixDweller]

I agree with jabberwocky that professional repairs don't hurt functionality. Professional symphony string players have tens or hundreds of thousand dollars invested in their fiddles, often ones that are hundreds years old. Crack repairs are commonplace - in fact nearly all of the high end fiddles made before 1800 have had neck replacements. Be silly to think a Guarnari drop 50% value with a repaired crack (or half dozen cracks).
Back to valuating a Citation with a crack what a great question. If it was an L5 the value would not drop in half. However this is supposed to be a glass case instrument not a player, perhaps part of its "functionality" is to look pretty while holding a perceived value of investment. A crack repair in the eyes of the beholder (the investor) is a red flag, so the Citation gets kicked out of the investment/collectors/museum circles and welcomed readily by the players. Most players don't have a lot of money to spend on guitars esp. jazz guitars because there are few paying jazz gigs. I think if you really like the guitar that $6K figure doesn't sound too bad. My browser won't show your pics so I don't know if the repair is visible or takes away from the aesthetics of the instrument.