Guitars, especially ones that hold much value for collectors, vary in prices depending on a few key aspects. Guitar collectors are well-versed in the specifics of what makes a guitar collectible, and know how an item is to be priced.
There are many different guitars that are of good value. And similar to many other products, they all start with a good brand. In guitars, there are two brands that stand out in the market more than any other guitar brands: Fender and Gibson. The two brands are the benchmarks for what makes a good guitar, and other guitar manufacturers tend to base designs on what these two brands have put out in the market.
Fender is known for their Stratocaster and Telecaster series of guitars. Many of their guitars are collectibles not only because of their exceptional quality but also thanks to the widespread use of their guitars by artists that defined their generation of music. Artists like Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jeff Beck are all known Fender Stratocaster users. Fenders are also notorious for making the most out of single-coil pickups, something that many guitar collectors applaud to. Fender guitars can go from a cheap few hundred dollars to more expensive collectibles like a ‘59 Jazzmaster that can go to almost $2,000.
Gibson guitars on the other hand, are known mostly for their Les Paul series of guitars. Gibson mostly uses humbucker pickups, which are perfect for their heavy, solid-bodied units. Gibson Les Paul units will start from about $600 to a few thousand dollars more, like in the case of the signature Zakk Wylde Les Paul that can total to over $4,000.
There are many other guitar brands that you can add to your collection. Paul Reed Smith is another great manufacturer that has consistently given quality products. More popularly called PRS, Paul Reed Smith guitars that are known classics include the McCarty Soapbar model and the Standard22 models. They also have signature guitars like the Mark Tremonti Single Cutaway guitar. PRS guitars don’t come cheap though, and range from $1,500 to $3,000. It will be money well-spent though, as the brand has been in the market for a few decades now and is heavily played and endorsed by many of today’s artists.
Other guitar makers that have infiltrated the collectors market include Peavey, Hamer and Ibanez. There are also vintage collector brands that are not easily available like National Dobro, Danelectro and Jerry Jones guitars.