Ltd Ed Jeff Beck Esquire - Justified or Joke?

[darc]

I saw the "Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Jeff Beck Tribute Esquire" in a mail order catalog this weekend and my first reaction was to laugh out loud. I mean, it's cool, but $15K for any variety of brand new tele... I can't see it. And limiting the run to 150 guitars doesn't change the value IMO. It's still the same wood, parts and (since the tooling is probably similar to any tele) hours to the buyer whether they make 10 or a million.

So what do you think, is there some justification or is Fender taking marketing cues from Gibson now?

[sw686blue]

I have no doubt in my mind that these guitars will all be snapped up.

[darc]

I have no doubt in my mind that these guitars will all be snapped up.

I don't doubt it either, and I'm sure some of those buyers will even profit in the long run. But that doesn't exempt the whole thing from being laughable IMO.

[silentman]

For 15 large, JB himself better personally deliver it and include a lesson.

[sw686blue]

But that doesn't exempt the whole thing from being laughable IMO.

Oh, so true!

[Hackubus]

I think it's just a bit much in all regards.

In the end it's a beat to shit looking guitar that's too valuable to play (to some). Although I wouldn't let that stop me.

[MCChris]

$1500 is my ceiling for what I think a bolt-on guitar of any kind is worth. Although I do have a soft spot for Tylers, ugly headstocks and all.

[riffpowers]

I think it's just a bit much in all regards.

In the end it's a beat to shit looking guitar that's too valuable to play (to some). Although I wouldn't let that stop me.

I've never understood the relicing thing anyway, but as you so rightly said, there will be people who , despite the fact that they've bought a guitar thats beat to shit, its still to valuable to play.

To me theres just something wrong with paying money to someone to ruin your guitar, then being too scared to play it in case you SCRATCH IT!!!

[Steve Haynie]

150 guitars is way too many at that price. There may be 150 people who will pay that, but if Fender starts a collection of overpriced signature guitars there is a limit of people who will collect them all. In the end, these guitars are going to be hard to sell.

Martin has had some limited edition guitars in the five figure range. After 15 years the Gene Autry model seems to stay up there, but I just don't know about all the other "celebrity" models that have been made in the $5000 range.

Think of it this way, the elite guitar snobs can go chasing the Jeff Beck Esquire and Jimmy Hendrix Flying V while the rest of us look for great guitars that we can play without worrying about losing money on an "investment."

[Punkavenger]

it's just like with cars ... my Dads got a friend with around 50 classic vettes, a Nomad, a few 57 Chevys etc. ... some are in mint condition worth over $100K

This guy has belongs to several car clubs and has "functions", where people come to look at the cars he never drives

On one hand ... it is a good investment, but on the other hand it seems like such a shame!

Having a 68 vette with a 427 and a 4 speed just sitting there and not driving it!

[Hackubus]

It's a LOT like cars.

My family owns a small Ford dealership. (don't be hatin on me, now!) We won the President's Award for Excellence earlier this year. Instead of the usual pat on the head, a nice plaque & a trip for the boss to sunny California, we were given the opportunity to have a '06 Ford GT 40 & two '07 Shelby GT 500 Mustangs. This is NOT normal for a itty bitty small town Ford store.

Anyhoo....the GT40 stickers for $167000. There ain't enough road around here for that car. It's tits on a boarhog to me and 99.9996% of the people around the great state of Oklahoma. But, we sold it to a fella this Saturday, and it's a dream come true for him.

He literally couldn't fit in the car for his eight mile wide shit eatin' grin.

I guess same could be said for these fancy guitars like the JB Esquire.

[darc]

Anyhoo....the GT40 stickers for $167000. There ain't enough road around here for that car. It's tits on a boarhog to me. But, we sold it to a fella this Saturday, and it's a dream come true for him.

I guess same could be said for these fancy guitars like the JB Esquire.

Same but different. I mean the GT40 is a very different beast than any car you could buy for $16,700 (and compares more readily to something you might buy for $300K from an Italian mfr.) But the Beck signature is, essentially, a telecaster. Putting a little faux Beck stink on it shouldn't increase the price 10x (+/-)...

In other words, with the guitar, it's not a question of not needing it, it's a question of there being functional equivalents at massively different price points.

[BadgerDave]

Darc,

I think you're making a mistake in thinking that a normal telecaster, or even a Custom Shop relic Tele is the functional equivalent of the JB Tele.

I don't think the primary function of this model is that of a musical instrument. It's function is more in the area of industrial art and limited edition collectables. The JB Tele is not at all appealing to me, despite the fact that I am a huge Jeff Beck fan, a huge Tele fan and I understand and appreciate relic'd guitars.

I can understand, however, that there is a very small group of individuals who will buy this model, either as a "trophy" or an investment. My personal opinion is that the investors will be dissapointed. I'm not aware of a single limited edition "collectable" run of guitars that has increased in value. In fact, I can't think of anything that has ever been sold as a "collectable" that hasn't declined in value over time. I'm sure there's the odd "Geekoid Christmas Village" figurine out there, but virtally all of that stuff ends up like the fifty cent garage sale beanee babies that collectors were hoarding ten years ago.

So, I think of the JB Tele as being similar to a limited edition art print. Overpriced to me, but worth it's price to someone out there who is driven by completely different motivation.

BTW, I wouldn't be surprised to see these being sold at significant discounts soon. I think Fender has pushed the envelope too far in terms of production numbers and pricing on this one. Would ten people drop $15K on one of these? Probably, but 150?

[darc]

I see your point. I guess I have a blind spot where non-functional collectables are concerned. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Even with fine art - I appeciate art of course, but I'd just as soon visit my favorite painting in a museum where it will be properly maintained, appreciated by others, etc, than assume the cost and liability of owning it myself.

Now compound this by making something I reflexively regard as a tool into a collectible, and it just strikes me as absurdity. Especially when 95% (per my random number generator) of this "art piece" is coming out of a factory which regularly and mechanically produces thousands of extremely similar units (eg. teles.)

I hate tchotchkes and knick-knacks and collectable doodads of all sorts. Stuff to dust. Even worse if they empty your wallet LOL.

[Submariner85]

I saw the "Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Jeff Beck Tribute Esquire" in a mail order catalog this weekend

I take it you're a subscriber to the Music123 catalog also?

[darc]

I take it you're a subscriber to the Music123 catalog also?

Yep. But I didn't know it until this weekend.

[JohnnyB]

I don't think I admire any millionaire artist enough to pay $15,000 to get this in return:

Seems to me that this amount of relic-ing would impair its playability:

[Submariner85]

I take it you're a subscriber to the Music123 catalog also?

Yep. But I didn't know it until this weekend.

That's some good crapper reading material. That and my Musicians Friend catalogs.

And that Jeff Beck Esquire is one God Awful looking thing.

[burningyen]

Definitely not worth $15,000 to me, but that does look like a hot guitar!

[Brooks]

I guess I have a blind spot where non-functional collectables are concerned. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Even with fine art - I appeciate art of course, but I'd just as soon visit my favorite painting in a museum where it will be properly maintained, appreciated by others, etc, than assume the cost and liability of owning it myself.

Now compound this by making something I reflexively regard as a tool into a collectible, and it just strikes me as absurdity. Especially when 95% (per my random number generator) of this "art piece" is coming out of a factory which regularly and mechanically produces thousands of extremely similar units (eg. teles.)

I hate tchotchkes and knick-knacks and collectable doodads of all sorts. Stuff to dust. Even worse if they empty your wallet LOL.

wow darc, you just took the words right outta my mouth. really.

[kizanski]

this... appears to be a more affordable alternative.

And I think I recognize the seller.

[Matt Mattson]

is coming out of a factory which regularly and mechanically produces thousands of extremely similar units (eg. teles.)

Of course you realize people here regularly get into arguments over which beer, Budweiser or Miller, is quality . . . (I mean, look at the date on one of the bottles -- it was made 3 days ago -- tops . . .). Same deal here, how much extra care goes into something supposed to look like crap? On a more serious note, how many of the young folks in today's mosh pit know who Jeff Beck is? The youth of today will be the buyers of all this stuff at a premium and they have to think it valuable if it is to remain valuable. They'll have their own guitar heros (probably of the mid-80's/90's), tastes and views on what is collectable and what is garbage by the time the boomers start trying to unload these things (and the youth are in their 40's). That $15,000 "collectable" may gain (if the young want to play the collectable game), or may just be another item at the garage sale if they don't. Hard to tell right now how it will go.