Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Pepe Silvia
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Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by Pepe Silvia » Tue May 23, 2017 5:33 am

I've wanted a vintage JM for the past 7 years but they were always out of my price range. They went up a bit in price since then, but it seems prices have exploded in the past few months. It seems it's $5k minimum for a guitar. I remember mint CBS sunburst JMs were $3000 not that long ago. Seems a player grade guitar for $3500 is out of the question anymore, just as I finally could afford one.

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by Despot » Tue May 23, 2017 5:46 am

There are still deals out there. If you look in the craigslist section of the for sale part of the site you'll see a refin'd/issues '61 JM for 2k in Belgium. It would need vintage parts ... but those could be slowly picked up over time and it would probably be a reasonable enough price in total.

Two years ago I was able to pick up a refin (but apart from repro tuners otherwise all original) B&B '66 JM for 1,800 euro. Those deals exist, still.

But the asking price of JMs has gone crazy. I paid 3,800 for my '62 JM from a forum member through our own sale section about 2/3 years ago ... that was a fair price in my view at the time for an original/well worn Jazzmaster. I've looked at reverb to price the guitar for insurance valuation purposes ... I would need to price it at 5k to be able to replace the guitar in the event of anything happening. That's quite an increase!

I think there are few reasons for the increased prices:

1. More recognition
When I was a kid I had no clue what about Jazzmasters. Now you have Jazzmasters at every price point, and they're used by a lot of bands. It's the old "I want to use the same guitar as my hero" thing. See also...

2. Gen X are older/have more money (in theory) now
Like the baby boomers pushed up the price of Strats and Teles, Ye Olde Gen X-er (i.e. whose childhood heroes played jazzmasters and Jaguars) is now old enough to have a bit of disposable income and to be able to buy old Jazzmasters. I can say that this was the case for me - I bought mine because I had a bit of spare cash that I wouldn't have had ten years earlier when I was just out of college.

3. Seen as a 'cheap' full scale pre-CBS Fender
As Strats and Teles are pushed up to silly money, if you're buying guitars as a collector/player Jazzmasters make sense. A Jazzmaster, properly set up, is a stable work horse of a guitar, and unlike a Jaguar (with it's slightly plonky sound and shorter scale), Jazzmasters are more accessible to anyone who has played full scale Fenders. So you're looking to buy a pre-CBS Fender and you don't want to spend over 10k ... where do you look first? Jazzmasters.

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by PJazzmaster » Tue May 23, 2017 5:49 am

my 2 cents:

a) Internet hype that dealers (yet even even some tele and strat players) have jumped on, hyped boutique aftermarket bridges have a lot to do with that.
Dealers were not interested invintage offsets up until some point in the late 00's ... not to mention how it was during the 90's or in the early days of ebay ...around 2000

b) there was an offset revival that has started appx 10 years ago. Some people who were teenagers back then are now in the position to afford a vintage piece and/or have saved up enough to afford one

c) Vintage Strat and Tele prices affecting Jazzmaster prices more and more...

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by eggwheat » Tue May 23, 2017 5:50 am

Well the most obvious factor is CITES, that's blocking the free cross-border movement of guitars. In the UK at least, the pound is very weak making everything look overpriced overseas..that's also causing inflation.

Thirdly I'd say it's the age of the buyers...IE: Grunge-lawyers.

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by PJazzmaster » Tue May 23, 2017 5:50 am

side note: I was writing my respose before I read the one from Despot. So quite interesting what came to his mind vs. what came to my mind ... 1,2, 3 and A, B, C

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by bencrit » Tue May 23, 2017 5:53 am

eurotrashed wrote:I've wanted a vintage JM for the past 7 years but they were always out of my price range. They went up a bit in price since then, but it seems prices have exploded in the past few months. It seems it's $5k minimum for a guitar. I remember mint CBS sunburst JMs were $3000 not that long ago. Seems a player grade guitar for $3500 is out of the question anymore, just as I finally could afford one.
Jazzmaster prices have gone up, but a lot of that asking prices a little inflated (naturally so). Most of those have been up for sale for some time and probably won't sell in the near future. If you are patient, you can find pre-cbs examples from 63-64 for 4K or less. You need to be on the ball because they sell pretty very quickly (eBay, reverb, etc.).

Jazzmaster prices have gone up a bit, as they are continuing to gain in popularity and as vintage strats and teles are still unnattainable for many.

They are out there at decent prices, you just have to be on the hunt and ready to pounce!

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by Despot » Tue May 23, 2017 5:59 am

PJazzmaster wrote:side note: I was writing my respose before I read the one from Despot. So quite interesting what came to his mind vs. what came to my mind ... 1,2, 3 and A, B, C
I was thinking the same thing!

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by Despot » Tue May 23, 2017 6:01 am

I'm probably in the minority (in terms of players) in that I value a Jazzmaster above any other Fender. I've tried all models, I've owned a few of them ... but Jazzmasters are 'it' for me.

I'm lucky enough to have a good pre-poly Tele as well ... but there's no way I'd have bought the Telecaster if I didn't already have the Jazzmaster at home.

The music I liked growing up was largely played on Jazzmasters ... so it's the 'grunge-lawyer' effect as stated above. :)

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by thedude99 » Tue May 23, 2017 9:34 am

I think finding deals outdside the US is a lot more challenging though. I've seen prices in local shops in Toronto skyrocket, and haven't seen anything remotely approaching a deal in ages.

The stuff on eBay that comes up gets expensive quickly with exchange and the whole CITiES things adds a further degree of concern.

Jags are following suit (at least around here)

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by Mad-Mike » Tue May 23, 2017 1:14 pm

eggwheat wrote:Thirdly I'd say it's the age of the buyers...IE: Grunge-lawyers.
LOL, Yep, that's what's coming next. All those kids from middle-high school who had bowl cuts, In Utero shirts, and pictures of Cobain and Thurston all over their walls with JAguars/Jazzmasters galore now are old enough to throw some serious money at their vintage favorites as an investment piece or a true workhorse. That's going to eventually drive these guitars up just like what happened to Telecasters and Strats.

I'm expecting by the time I'm an old man, if I make it that far, I'll see a period where everyone uses reissues because the vintage stuff is too far out of reach to the common man, kind of like a Stradavarius or a original Spain built Flamenco guitar from Centuries ago.

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by windmill » Tue May 23, 2017 2:19 pm

It's OSGs fault.

:)

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by Telliot » Tue May 23, 2017 2:32 pm

windmill wrote:It's OSGs fault.

:)
Actually, I would not be surprised if there was some truth to that!
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by zhivago » Tue May 23, 2017 2:38 pm

Despot wrote:There are still deals out there. If you look in the craigslist section of the for sale part of the site you'll see a refin'd/issues '61 JM for 2k in Belgium. It would need vintage parts ... but those could be slowly picked up over time and it would probably be a reasonable enough price in total.

Two years ago I was able to pick up a refin (but apart from repro tuners otherwise all original) B&B '66 JM for 1,800 euro. Those deals exist, still.

But the asking price of JMs has gone crazy. I paid 3,800 for my '62 JM from a forum member through our own sale section about 2/3 years ago ... that was a fair price in my view at the time for an original/well worn Jazzmaster. I've looked at reverb to price the guitar for insurance valuation purposes ... I would need to price it at 5k to be able to replace the guitar in the event of anything happening. That's quite an increase!

I think there are few reasons for the increased prices:

1. More recognition
When I was a kid I had no clue what about Jazzmasters. Now you have Jazzmasters at every price point, and they're used by a lot of bands. It's the old "I want to use the same guitar as my hero" thing. See also...

2. Gen X are older/have more money (in theory) now
Like the baby boomers pushed up the price of Strats and Teles, Ye Olde Gen X-er (i.e. whose childhood heroes played jazzmasters and Jaguars) is now old enough to have a bit of disposable income and to be able to buy old Jazzmasters. I can say that this was the case for me - I bought mine because I had a bit of spare cash that I wouldn't have had ten years earlier when I was just out of college.

3. Seen as a 'cheap' full scale pre-CBS Fender
As Strats and Teles are pushed up to silly money, if you're buying guitars as a collector/player Jazzmasters make sense. A Jazzmaster, properly set up, is a stable work horse of a guitar, and unlike a Jaguar (with it's slightly plonky sound and shorter scale), Jazzmasters are more accessible to anyone who has played full scale Fenders. So you're looking to buy a pre-CBS Fender and you don't want to spend over 10k ... where do you look first? Jazzmasters.

This ^^^^

And Kev, thanks for saving me from typing the same! :D



I am 39 years old, and my generation is finally paid enough at work and out to buy every single bleeding vintage Jazzmaster we saw on MTV's 120 Mins back in 1991-94!! :w00t:

It is absolutely crazy what these things are fetching at the moment, but in all fairness, they are incredible guitars. :-*
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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by zhivago » Tue May 23, 2017 2:42 pm

Despot wrote:I'm probably in the minority (in terms of players) in that I value a Jazzmaster above any other Fender. I've tried all models, I've owned a few of them ... but Jazzmasters are 'it' for me.

Ok, I'll do it again. This ^^^ too. :-[

I like playing Stratocasters and Telecasters, but my favourite Fender is a JM...they just feel right.
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Re: Why are vintage Jazzmaster prices through the roof?

Post by zhivago » Tue May 23, 2017 2:43 pm

windmill wrote:It's OSGs fault.

:D
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