I Got My Guitar A Birthday Present

My acoustic guitar is 20 years old this year.

My wife bought it for me from the guy who built it, Alex Wylie. When he worked for Lowden Guitars (now Avalon Guitars) - he took what was then one of their top-line models (L32CP) and customized it with some alterations. It has a different neck profile, headstock shape, abalone inlay and fret board markers.

For all you other guitar acquisition sufferers out there here's the spec; it has a sitka spruce top with the Lowden bracing pattern, brazilian rosewood back and sides (all solid of course) 5 piece mahogany neck and ebony fret board. Back in 1988 the L32CP retailed for £1600 ($3200).

Anyways, with all my international travel last year and more to come this year it took a bit of a battering at the hands of some, otherwise reputable, airlines. If seemed that every trip produced another hairline crack somewhere despite being housed in a decent Hiscox hard case.

This year I don't want to take any chances so I got my hands on this RockCase I got from Germany



There is a downside though - when it's empty it weighs more than my previous case + guitar + accessories combined!

The extra shipping charges may turn out to more than the cost of repairs in the long run - ah well, c'est la vie!

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Guitar Acquisition Syndrome - I'm a sufferer!

Yep, I'll confess it publicly - "my name is Andy and I suffer from Guitar Acquisition Syndrome"!

My condition is not made any easier when the likes of Gibson invent yet another object of desire - the Gibson Robot Guitar.

I kid you not - http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/index.html

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Here's a Day 3 Update

Well, I'm about 3 days into my 10 day auction guitar asset stripping experiment.

First thing to notice is that the bid amounts haven't changed on the listings for the Fender Precision Bass Body and Neck or the Seymour Duncan pickups.

This is not a problem. Typically the bidding pattern means that bids come in at the early stages, go quiet then return again towards the end of the listing.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. The listings are most visible at both the start and the end. There are a couple of frequently used browse options on ebay, one which shows newly listed items and one which shows items ending today. This means that listing will get relatively more traffic, and more bids, on these days.

2. Savvy bidders on No Reserve listings often either wait to near the end or use a sniper service to get their bid in at the very last few seconds to attempt to snap up.

The REAL indicator of how the listings are going is the number of watchers that have 'bookmarked' these items to keep an eye on them.

Check out the screenshot of my account below - this number of watchers normally means a bidding frenzy is waiting to happen.

If you own the Guitar Arbitrage System (www.guitararbitrage.com) you'll know of the techniques being employed for maximum exposure.



<--See the number watchers for each item

Til next time...

Andy

48 hour update on the guitar asset stripping experiment

Well, here we are after just 48 hrs into the Fender Precision Bass asset stripping experiment and as you can see from the screen shot below the body, neck and Seymour Duncan pickups are attracting some interest...

All the listings have been started at 99p with No Reserve so that, in theory, the end price should reflect what 'the market' will pay. However if you haven't yet got a copy of the Guitar Arbitrage System (www.guitararbitrage.com) you won't be aware of the marketing techniques being employed behind the scenes that ensure we have the best chance of getting 'top dollar' for our gear.

Til next time... Adios Amigos,

Andy

Bass Guitar "Asset Stripping" Experiment

I'm constantly looking for tips to pass on to customers of my Guitar Arbitrage System (http://www.guitararbitrage.com/) which teaches the nitty gritty, under the radar, stealth techniques for selling guitars and music gear on eBay.

As part of that process I'm conducting a bold experiment on one of my own beloved guitars: a Fender Precsion Bass 1962 re-issue model.

In stead of selling it as a complete guitar I have dismantled it (which took about 20 minutes) and am listing it as seperate items i.e. body, neck, pickups etc.

I want to prove a hunch that it will generate a higher overall price than it would have if I'd sold it as a complete guitar. Each item will be listed with a starting price of 99p and NO RESERVE. This will reflect what the 'market' is actually paying.

I'll keep you posted on progress on this blog