Lance Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 well, if you figure he has a few j-45's and other assorted gibson acoustics, as well as two pre-war martins, the santa cruz, as well as god knows how many effects and amps and electric guitars...such as vintage Casinos, Barney Kessels, SG's, Telecasters, apparently a white strat, etc...i'd say close to maybe 100 G's? just throwing out a figure. I've seen the pre-war shaded top Martin 000-18, what would the other pre-war Martin be? That other 000-18 I've seen him photographed with? By the way, Jeff, if you're reading this I have a minty standard bridge 1956 J-45 I'm looking to sell. PM me! Lance Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhc Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Fender 60's Relic Guitar Interesting - I wonder if he did a little extra relic-ing himself.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lance Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Interesting - I wonder if he did a little extra relic-ing himself.... I wonder if the strat isn't one of Nels' guitars? From the looks of Nels' jazzmaster he seems to have that body chemistry that eats away nitro finishes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Theobscureart Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Great question... I'm not sure.. NPR just did an expose on the subject. A couple of points stuck out. Baby boomers trying to relive their youth. They are now retiring, or have extra money to plop down on these things. Another is the poor performance of the stock market. When i quit my "real" job I liquidated my small 401k and bought a few guitars that have outpaced the dow... It's an investment you can play, which I think is kind of cool! It does seem completely outragous though and it looks like there is no end in site!!! You're right, but just to add another $.02, there were a lot of collectors in the asian market (mainly Japan) who started buying up vintage guitars like mad in the late 80s-early 90s. This is when you saw the price of a nice '57 strat shoot to a potential six-figures from 4-5 figurs in a matter of just a few years. If you dig the economic side of guitars (or if you just wanna get mad that you'll never be able to afford that 1936 D'Angelico New Yorker you've always wanted) check out some of the stuff that the big-yet-old-school guys have written - its all over the net - the likes of appraiser/dealer George Gruhn, repair-main extraordinaire Dan Earlewine, and the collection of the late Scott Chinery (perhaps the worlds biggest collector.) Even if you don't care about the money, googling these names and checking out photos will leave you with at least a half a chub. Well worth it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hixter Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 From the looks of Nels' jazzmaster he seems to have that body chemistry that eats away nitro finishes. He's been slashing away at that guitar with whisks and other objects for many years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sean Patrick Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 to answer your question...i have a recording by their guitar tech when they were making yankee. i think it was from sam jones.anyway, he said that they had 168 guitars, about 50 amps, 20 of which were bass amps, and 10 hammond b3 organs. he said that it was close to $500,000. and to tell you the truth, it doesnt seem that out of the ordinary. i am in a small post rock band, just 2 of us, and we are adding up all of our equipment for insurance purposes. we have been collecting equipment now for about 5 years, and we just broke $20,000. yikes. thats a boatload for college kids, you know? i guess its better spending it on guitars than beer... cheers. sean. p.s. my band... www.afnpmusic.com we are neat... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BolivarBaLues Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 to answer your question...i have a recording by their guitar tech when they were making yankee. i think it was from sam jones.anyway, he said that they had 168 guitars, about 50 amps, 20 of which were bass amps, and 10 hammond b3 organs. he said that it was close to $500,000. and to tell you the truth, it doesnt seem that out of the ordinary. i am in a small post rock band, just 2 of us, and we are adding up all of our equipment for insurance purposes. we have been collecting equipment now for about 5 years, and we just broke $20,000. yikes. thats a boatload for college kids, you know? i guess its better spending it on guitars than beer...cheers. sean.p.s. my band... www.afnpmusic.com we are neat... I'd say that Warner Brothers bought a lot of those guitars for them. A sometimes band-mate of mine played in a group that was signed to Elektra in the mid-90s. They were still toting around their pawnshop specials and cheap transistor amps when they went to L.A. to record their first record. The producer complained about the guitarist's sound and told him that they could include the cost of new guitars and amps in with the bill the studio sent to the label. The band broke for lunch and their guitarist returned with $8,000 worth of new gear. It's funny that after buying the new gear and trying virtually every guitar/amp combo in the studio in a day-long effort to get a good tone, they eventually used his el cheapo guitar and amp that he brought in to begin with. Only in L.A. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a.miller Posted July 2, 2006 Author Share Posted July 2, 2006 It's funny that after buying the new gear and trying virtually every guitar/amp combo in the studio in a day-long effort to get a good tone, they eventually used his el cheapo guitar and amp that he brought in to begin with. Only in L.A.As the guitarist giggled while looking at his $8000 of new gear... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AWOL Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 given that B3s alone go for between USD8-14k, 500k would most certainly be an under valuation when including all guitars and amps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhc Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 given that B3s alone go for between USD8-14k, 500k would most certainly be an under valuation when including all guitars and amps. And what the hell does any band need 10 B3s for? I wonder if the numbers were slightly exaggerated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ginandcigarettes Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 And what the hell does any band need 10 B3s for? I wonder if the numbers were slightly exaggerated. Hell, if I could get 10 B3 organs, I would. I wonder if it isn't the model that's misidentified. I know that they were touring with an A100. A100s run somewhere around $2k to $5k. Hammond M3s, which also have tonewheels and drawbars, run about $200 to $500. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhc Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 A100s run somewhere around $2k to $5k. Hammond M3s, which also have tonewheels and drawbars, run about $200 to $500. Is there a noticeable sound difference? Does the price of the A100 include a Leslie cabinet? I might be able to afford $200 at some point, $2K not so much for a long time. PS- I miss Jay Bennet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ginandcigarettes Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 (edited) Is there a noticeable sound difference? Does the price of the A100 include a Leslie cabinet? I might be able to afford $200 at some point, $2K not so much for a long time. PS- I miss Jay Bennet The conventional wisdon will tell you that, internally (electronically? mechanically? electromechanically?), there is no difference between the B3 and A100. The A100 has an internal speaker but is otherwise the same as a B3. $2k to $5k is without a Leslie. The M3 has fewer keys and pedals, sets of drawbars (2 rather than 4), and I think it has a different chorus/vibrato mechanism. It also lacks foldback whereby notes that would be demanded by the high drawbars but are higher than the highest tonewheel are folded or dropped down an octave so that they still sound (this gives the B3 a screaming character in the highest octave when using the 2' to 1' drawbars). The M3 doesn't have this feature (the notes just disappear) but can be modified to do this (they sell foldback kits on eBay). I mentioned the M3 it because it's pretty cool and cheap (though still a piece of furniture), but I have no idea whether Wilco owns any of them. I miss Jay Bennett, too. His next album is coming in September, though. Edited July 4, 2006 by ginandcigarettes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jdlee23 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 I wouldn't doubt that they have $500,000 worth of gear, but I would very seriously doubt if they had 10 B3's. What would be the point? Especially considering they don't even have a true B3 player, or didn't at that time. But as far as the total dollar amount goes, not that hard to do for a group that has been on a major label for 10 years. All that stuff can be written into contracts, paid for with record advances, etc. I mean let's assume they get a $100,000 advance for an album, these guys aren't runnin out buyin' Mercedes. They are buyin' gear. Lucky bastards. Like someone else said, I've probably got around $30K worth of stuff, and that is all paid for by me, myself, and I, and I ain't rich. Just collected over the last 10 years or so. $500K would be doable by them for sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
memphisto Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 (edited) My guess would be in the tens of thousands, easily. Yep. I have a friend who works at Tom Lee music in Vancouver. Last time I was in town I went and visited him at work. Window shopping in the vintage section I spent at least 50k There was a 1949 Martin d28 for over 10k alone that I wanted. Edited July 8, 2006 by memphisto Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sean Patrick Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 the little clip mentioned that they have 10 b3's because they break down.you need back ups. its nice to have a few of something, also because as you can see they used to bring one on the road. they talk about this in the wilco book as well. sean. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 One shot of Jay at the loft in IATTBYH has 53 guitars and about a dozen various Fender, Peavey and Vox amps, (not to mention what seems to be a bicycle) in the background. I'm more interested in WHAT the gear is than how much it costs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 to answer your question...i have a recording by their guitar tech when they were making yankee. i think it was from sam jones.anyway, he said that they had 168 guitars, about 50 amps, 20 of which were bass amps, and 10 hammond b3 organs. he said that it was close to $500,000. and to tell you the truth, it doesnt seem that out of the ordinary. i am in a small post rock band, just 2 of us, and we are adding up all of our equipment for insurance purposes. we have been collecting equipment now for about 5 years, and we just broke $20,000. yikes. thats a boatload for college kids, you know? i guess its better spending it on guitars than beer...cheers. sean.p.s. my band... www.afnpmusic.com we are neat... $500,000...and that was before the gold selling YHF, the grammy winning AGIB, and the top 5 charting SBS. Who knows what figure it's upto now. And I can't even afford that 65 Twin Reverb I've always wanted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I wouldn't doubt that they have $500,000 worth of gear, but I would very seriously doubt if they had 10 B3's. What would be the point? Especially considering they don't even have a true B3 player, or didn't at that time. But as far as the total dollar amount goes, not that hard to do for a group that has been on a major label for 10 years. All that stuff can be written into contracts, paid for with record advances, etc. I mean let's assume they get a $100,000 advance for an album, these guys aren't runnin out buyin' Mercedes. They are buyin' gear. Lucky bastards. Like someone else said, I've probably got around $30K worth of stuff, and that is all paid for by me, myself, and I, and I ain't rich. Just collected over the last 10 years or so. $500K would be doable by them for sure. Exactly. Not to mention all of the microphones, Christmas lights, couches and other things that they have in the loft. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rockinrob Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Someone earlier asked why the prices jump up like they do. It is a cycle. Right now we are in a down stage of the cycle, the prices have stabilized a bit, and it is relatively easy to find vintage instruments. Eventually (when the economy comes back) this will reverse, and there will be a price jump again. Prices were relatively stable from around 76 to 90, and we are in another one of those periods. Another thing that happens is something I call "sorta like" price raises. For instance es 330's. They are super cool guitars, but I remember in like 2000-2003 or so, you could get them for around 1500 or so. People realized they were similiar to es 330's, which are very expensive. So because they could not get a 335, they started buying 330's. Also, they are the same as epi casinos, which were made famous(expensive) by the beatles. famous guitar players also bring obscure models out from obscurity, and once the general public realizes they are cool, the prices freak! Radiohead quadrupled the prices of 70's tele deluxes, and took fender's ugliest duckling, the Starcaster, and made it expensive as well. So that's kind of how it goes. I think Tweedy has a substantial guitar collection, but it is important to remember he has been buying guitars for a long time, so alot of them probably were not as expensive as they are now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 famous guitar players also bring obscure models out from obscurity, and once the general public realizes they are cool, the prices freak! Radiohead quadrupled the prices of 70's tele deluxes, and took fender's ugliest duckling, the Starcaster, and made it expensive as well. So that's kind of how it goes. Another great example; Kurt Cobain with the Fender Mustangs and Jaguars. Those guitars were considered largely unusable, but now they sell for thousands of dollars. I've seen 1960s Jaguars going for upto 5,000. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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