software

Does anyone have any ideas on what quot;currentquot; Fender guitars might have any appreciation in the next 15-20 years? Mainly i'm talking about the current Classic Series, Deluxe Series and even Standard Series. I know the American stuff will start to go up in value in probably 10 years or so, but will the MIM guitars be right behind them or be left in the dust and be selling on Ebay for $250 from now on?

I have 2 MIM Fenders and would love an opinion on this to help me decide whether to hang on to them or not ThanksFenderBender

No, they're entry level guitars, and will be lucky to stay at face value, even years from now. The Americans will stay at face value at best, and the only collectible ones will be limited editions like Anniversaries, discontinued signatures, and Custom Shops.

The days of American strats rising in value are basically over, with the advent of Custom Shops. Only the 50's, 60's, and a few 70's will continue to fetch collector dollars.
There wasn't much in the way of Fenders in the 80's significant enough to fetch high dollars, except for the 57 and 62 reissues from the early 80's, and the reason for that is because they're now aging into the same kind of tone as the actual 57/62's.

Even the custom shop models are not holding vaue as well as some collectors were hoping they would.

Fenders will hold value to a cetain extent simply due to name, but one of the main problems with modern fenders is there's so damn many of them made, in all kinds of models.

Well, if the Hurricane destroys our whole country, they'll all be worth the same.......whatever the going rate is for a boat oar. hahaha

Weren't Fenders entry-level guitars when they came out in the 50's? Personally, i call all the dozens and dozens of Fender copies and the Squires out there the ones that are entry-level guitars before i'd call an actual Fender an entry-level guitar. Just my opinion FenderBender

Whether you call 'em entry level or not, there are way too many of 'em out there to have value as collectibles.

I'm about to order a Natural Ash Standard MIM Tele from Muscians Friend in a few days....... does anyone think those will have any value later on?FenderBender


Originally Posted by FenderBender03Weren't Fenders entry-level guitars when they came out in the 50's?
FenderBender

NO!

The short answer is quot;none.quot;


Originally Posted by alecleeWhether you call 'em entry level or not, there are way too many of 'em out there to have value as collectibles.Yep, if the market is flooded they won't be as hard to obtain, and therefore won't be collectibles. Look at Peavey Wolfgangs for example, no longer being made but there are so many out there that even after several years their values haven't really jumped.


Originally Posted by FenderBender03Weren't Fenders entry-level guitars when they came out in the 50's?

The Strat debuted at $249.50 in 1954. That comes out to around $1722.74 in today's money. Hardly quot;entry-level.quot;

im guessing that with Fender basically using their company to reissue old guitars, the modern ones won't go up much, if at all. They probably make more guitars in a week than they did in all of 1954-1955. They certainly have flooded the market at every price point. What makes a 2005 Strat unique? There aren't innovations like there used to be. In fact, Fender's fan base is a pretty conservative bunch- they want new guitars to look/sound like old ones, so Fender keeps making lots of them.

The last drastic deviations would be the immortal classic quot;THE STRATquot; as popularized by such rock heroes as Steve Howe and... and... umm... Well, it's often seen at local bars being played by... umm... well...

What great innovations in guitar world are there? Lace Sensor pickups... done that... Floyd Rose trems... done that... failure. Buzz Feiten system... sounds like ass if you're the only one using it.

The traditional Strat and Tele sell. That's what people want now. That's what people have wanted for the past 50 years. If there's an innovation in guitars that people want, it'll be reflected in Fender's offerings.


Originally Posted by The Golden BoyBuzz Feiten system... sounds like ass if you're the only one using it.

You sure? I've heard many, many people say that's not the case.

I figure there's a slight chance with the limited editions. Maybe the 50th Anniversary Strat?


Originally Posted by ratherdashingI figure there's a slight chance with the limited editions. Maybe the 50th Anniversary Strat?

Again, they have to be real quot;limitedquot; editions.

At best the very high-end Custom Shop ones would fall into that category. But with it being known that they're a limited run the odds are that there will always be a few on the open market at any given time because they've been bought by collectors rather than players.

The Standards are probably not worth much more than what was paid for them.

When I say a MIM is an quot;entry-levelquot; guitar, it's not a stab at non-American guitars. It's purpose was to hit an affordable price point. To put it in perspective, an American strat would have been $230 in the 50's/60's, which means a Fender Mustang or something equivalent to a MIM strat would have been less than $50.

I heard that Hendrix's white strat was bought for $240.


Originally Posted by FretFireYou sure? I've heard many, many people say that's not the case.

If you're the only one using the Buzz Feiten system, you're the only one really in tune.

Think of you playing a song with a band. The first 3 notes of the song are G-A-B. So you play G-A-B, but the rest of your band plays E-G-A. It doesn't matter that you're playing the right notes, everyone else is playing something different and it sounds like ass.

quot;Three of these kids belong together
Three of these kids are kind of the same
But one of these kids is doing his own thing
Now it's time to play our game
It's time to play our game.quot;


Originally Posted by The Golden BoyIf you're the only one using the Buzz Feiten system, you're the only one really in tune.

If you're only playing with other guitars. If there are any keyboards/pianos/horns (basically anything other than a guitar) then you'll sound fine. The Buzz Feiten system doesn't get the guitar perfectly in tune anyways, just as close as it's going to get .

I think in 30 years or so that all of today's Fender Strats and Teles will be worth more than they are now and will be quot;collectablequot;. The reason I say that is because I was around and playing guitars in the late 60's and early 70's when CBS took over Fender and started making very rushed and poorly made guitars. I thought many, if not most, of those early to mid 70's Strats were junk! But these days they all go for $1000, $1500 and up and are (wrongly) regarded as quot;vintagequot; instruments. To me the quality of todays Strats is much better than the quality of those 70's Strats and Teles...and in 30 years the guitars made today will probably be regarded as quot;vintagequot; too. Only this time you'll actually be getting a nice guitar if you buy a 30 year old Strat in 2035 AD. Lew