Conference napalm::guitar

    Well, it's pretty obvious with hindsight that Leo Fender was on to
    something.  His guitar and amp designs have lasted nearly forty years.
    Martin continues to dominate the flat-top market, and Gibson is still
    looked to for hollow-bodies.
    
    As for newer stuff, I would guess Steinberger, possibly Alembic,
    Mesa/Boogie, that's about it.  Most of the rest of the stuff on the
    electric market is pretty me-too-ish.
    
    Probably some of the small, semi-custom stuff like B.C. Rich (the
    California made ones), Warwick, Pedulla, Modulus, etc. will be worth
    something.  It's hard to tell.  Look at poor Travis Bean, his guitars
    are pretty rare but they haven't become big collector's items as you
    might have expected.
    
    As far as amps, tastes change.  Otherwise, tuck and roll Kustoms would
    be sought after by more people 8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    						Brian

    I don't know much about them, but I have read that Paul Reed Smiths are
    considered by some (people like George Gruhn) to be future collectables.
    In fact I read that some earlier ones (don't know which) are already
    commanding collector prices.

    I also think that if you want a safe bet, present-day reissues of
    currently collectable pieces (like the '59 Bassman) are destined to
    retain a lot of there value and eventually become colloectable
    themselves.

    Just my 2 cents worth.

For acoustic guitars, anything with Braziliam rosewood should be highly prized
especially ones from the major makers such as Martin, Santa Cruz, Ramirez, etc.
These will be sought after because there will be (for practical purposes) no 
more of the wood left in existence.  Some players will go for these instruments
because they think they sound better, most will be snarfed up by non-playing 
or marginally playing collectors because of their rarity.  To a lesser degree 
this may become true of Indian rosewood acoustics.  With the continuing pressure
on conservation of the rainforests and the rapid use of existing stocks of 
many kinds of premium quality wood, we may see increased use of man-made 
materials in making acoustic guitars.

Collector series instruments will likely be valued such as the 25/50 anniversary
Strat, Adamas with bird's-eye maple top, limited edition Martins, etc.  These 
will be prized more for their limited availability, historical and/or special 
materials rather than their playing quality.  All IMHO of course.

Jim

    Nothing too cerebral, but I agree that the "standard" Gibson Les Paul,
    ES-335, Fender Strat, and Martins are a given to hold their value and
    always "have a market".  I wish there was a way to predict the other
    stuff!  
    PRS might be a good candidate... I wonder what makes something turn out
    to be a "classic"?  Is it the intrinsic design, or the people who
    popularize it?  In the case of Rickenbackers, it could be both.
    
    Good topic, Sakman!
    \Gary

How about a vinatage Mp1 ??
Waga...Wagagagagaga...

jc (Who has a Vinatage PC/Metaltronix Sp1000 too :)

    A couple of items come to mind... Ibanez made some fine guitars. The
    "Professional", "Musician", and "Artist" series come to mind. I never
    cared for the electronics, but the guitars were well crafted. The 
    binding, hardware, and wood were of the finest quality. A lot of nice 
    inlay work was done, and a lot of brass was used (gawd they were 
    heavy!). With the possible exception of a few green necks and some
    skimping on electronics, these guitars were kicking Gibsons' butt
    for a while (IMHO).
    
    Pedals- Musictonics or Mutron made the very best envelope filters
    and octave dividers available. These AC powered behemoths were 
    bullet-proof, quiet, and well engineered.
    Emmett (sp?) Chapman of Chapman Stick fame made a pedal called
    Patches of Shades that is just incredible. I just aquired one :').
    I believe that these are already collectable. They are an amazing
    devise. With the exception of speaker emmulation and amp voicings,
    I can do anything with my effects loops that any rack-puke unit will
    do. My presets are limited to just before a song, however I can
    adjust the parameters on the fly. In a live and dynamic situation,
    (i.e.) in the middle of a song, it's handy to be able to make
    adjustments. The unit has envelope filter capability, but I believe
    that its' highest and best use is as a controller. It operates off of
    a touch sensitive pad to create volume swells of your various effects
    loops. You can mix in at equal volume level, or with use of
    line-drivers/compressors/limiters, come in at lead-level. Basically
    you're mixing your voicings in at any parameter you want. Beats the old
    stomp/preset routine on/off voicings (IMHO). It's also AC powered and
    built to last.
                     
    
    Scotty - who's been to the rack and gone back to the basics.

Collectable stomps...

MXR "Distortion +"
Phase 90

    CB just nabbed a mint Phase 90, too!

    You know what is a collectable MXR box...the MXR Blue Box...original
    logo

    MXR _ collectable? Yikes, why? Just because that's the way the market is?
    I had an MXR+. It was OK, never did me wrong, but just didn't have the
    tone I wanted. I think I brought mine into Daddy's and got $15 off the
    price of a Digitech Programmable Distortion. 
    
    And whatzis about the Phase shifter. Seems to me Phase shifters are
    regarded as too cliche. Although I must admit I do like the like the 
    sound, especially on an amplified acoustic, especially on a 12 string.
    
    "sakman"
    
    

    >I think I brought mine into Daddy's and got $15 off the
    >price of a Digitech Programmable Distortion. 
    
      _    /|   
      \'o.O'    
      =(___)=   Aack!!!
         U      
    
    Blashphemy!!  8^)
    
    >And whatzis about the Phase shifter. Seems to me Phase shifters are
    >regarded as too cliche. Although I must admit I do like the like the 
    >sound, especially on an amplified acoustic, especially on a 12 string.
    
    They're neat in certain circumstances.

I have an MXR blue box

YEECCCH!!!

anybody want to collect it?

I found this to be interesting:

Victor Litz mail order has MXR phase 90's (NEW) in the last mailing.

MXR has been dead for years....what was left of MXR became ADA.

dbii

    
    Belisle Music in Manchester has a couple of Leo Fender signature G&Ls
    for sale.  One is a natural Tele and the other is a sunburst Strat. 
    These will probably be collectibles, and the prices reflect that.
    
    Sandy
    

	I have a MXR flanger and an MXR Phase 100 (is that right, Greg?).

	If'n you wanna hear some righteous phase, check out Bridge of
	Sighs by Wobin Twowah.  Don't use the phase, but use the flanger 
	quite a bit.

    re: .13
    
>MXR has been dead for years....what was left of MXR became ADA.
    
    No, what's left of MXR became ART.  They touted the analog effects in
    the SGE as being of older MXR designs.
    
    re: Pat
    
    Yeah, that's a Phase 100 that you got from me.  Like a Phase 90 that
    lets you vary the waveform.  Pretty cool unit if you're into phase
    shifters.
    
    gh
             

    	Another cool phase shifter of yesteryear was the Mutron Bi-phase.
    	Anyone remember this unit?  A friend of mine loaned me his for
    	a home recording I did, and it sounded wild!  It was essentially
    	2 phase shifters built into one large stomp box, with a variety
    	of settings possible.  You could get the waves to work with or
    	against each other in such a way that was incredibly dynamic.
    
    	When I first heard Eric Johnson's Avia Musicom, I was sure that
    	he was using one of these on that heavily phased tune (now I can't
    	remember the name of the tune). 
    
    	- Jim

Jerry Garcia uses a LOT of Mutron stuff... FWIW.

jc 

    Speaking of Mutron,.. and Jerry Garcia,.. I'd give my left arm
    for one of their old envelope/dynamic filters. It has a name something
    like "Mutronics (Mtronix?) envelope follower.
    
    I haven't seen any of these for sale anywhere for like two years. If
    anybody has one they want to unload, or knows where I might score one,
    I'd be most appreciative.
    
    							/Bill
    

   At my local Fender dealer, I've seen all these new Fender guitars, the
"Heartfelt" (or something similar) line.  They're interesting guitars, but
nothing really wild from what I've seen.

   Anyone think these might be the next classic line?  They're very clean
looking and in my opinion have a nice tone.  It's quite a new shift for Fender
from what I've seen in their past.

   (Perhaps this belongs in the generic Fender topic, but they seem to me to be
the only recent potential entry into the list of future classics...)

					-mjg

Bill - I saw one at McDuffs in Shrewsbury last year...  He's ALWAYS got some
cool stuff in there.  Give him a call.

jc

    Coop,
    
    I wouldn't say Garcia uses a lot of Mutron stuff, just the two that 
    I had mentioned in 2414.6 . He has been using them for a long time
    though. He also still has an MXR Dist + , MXR Phasor, and MXR Anolog
    Delay in his rack. In the last few years he's been doing a lot of 
    experimenting with midi sampling, various multi-effect units, and even
    a Boss HM-2. I haven't been around that circus for a while, so I don't
    know quite what the "Old Man" is into at present.
    
    Scotty
    

    The "old man" has gone MIDI for most of the "wacked out" noise he
    makes these daze. (Is this why Coop is willing to discuss him??? :-)
    
    Anyway,.. Coop,. thanks for the pointer,.. I'll give 'em a call
    
    							/Bill
    

No, Coop is will to discuss him cuz Coop was once massively into The
Dead...  But, FWIW, "Capt Trips" has ALWAYS had state-of-the-art sh*t
in his rig...as a matter of fact, ALL The Deads gear is SOTA !

jc (Who's never heard a finer PA system!)

    Well,...its nice to see that *someone* is willing to discuss him
    in this notesfile without puking
    
    .. or is that assuming too much...??? ;^)
    
    							/Bill

    
    Well, I own shitloads of Dead music if it matters.  I think the 
    guitarist in Edie Brickell's band has a Garcia tone and style.  
    So does the guy in Toy Matinee.  

    First time I heard Edie-baby I thought it *WAS* The Dead with a guest
    singer (they've done that before).
    

    Whos The Dead?

    
    
    :^)
    
    

    MusicMan basses should be future classics, IMHO.

    
    I believe that anything coming out of the Fender custom shop will
    eventually become highly desirable. I also believe the reissued
    Bassmans and Vibraverbs will be hot, especially if Fender decides
    to discontinue them.
    
    There is a lot of new gear that is destined to become very desirable:
    For example, I think most new Martins, Santa Cruz and Taylor acoustics
    are great investments. Dobros and Nationals will hold their value 
    especially since they are produced and sold in relatively small
    quantities. I think in a few years, people will be looking to "relive"
    the 70's and many instruments made during that time will be desirable.
    I also think that all Rickenbackers (new or old) are good investments
    that will hold their value.
    
    Mark
    
    
    
    
    
    

    I agree with everything in -1 (except I'm not too sure about
    reliving the 70's part.)

    
    Fender Mustangs - cheaper than a strat, plays like a fender, you can
    find 'em for $200 or less - and American made!