Re: [CR]ebay PX 10 / guitars and bicycles

(Example: Framebuilders:Dario Pegoretti)

From: "nath" <ferness261@voyager.net>
To: "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, <rfitzger@emeraldis.com>
References: <200110231537.LAA04787@jade.emeraldis.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]ebay PX 10 / guitars and bicycles
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 11:17:49 -0500


Russ & CR folks,

I think Russ makes some good points about why this particular Peugeot went for so much.

The Martin reference caught my eye, too. Older things are more rare, and that makes a difference. But while the new Martins--and Bozeman-built Gibsons, hand-made Collings, and all sorts of other fine guitars out there today--play wonderfully and sound great, there's something about an old guitar that a new one can't match. For one thing, the wood itself is older and all the parts have had more time to get to know each other and work together really well; that's one of the reasons that good guitars (steel string, not classical) really do sound better with age. A Collings today will sound really good (ask Lyle Lovett), but it should sound even better 30, 40 years down the line--and think what it will cost then!

I don't think a new quality steel frame will actually ride better four decades from now, but most of them will have stories behind them by that point. Which is true with guitars, too.

An older guitar will have lots of character: the color of the wood will have changed some, the finish will have checking or such, there may be worn spots on the top (my Gibson LG-1 is a prime example, though not as prime as Willie Nelson's classical guitar). Some of these signs of age can be removed without adversely affecting the instrument's sound or value--worn frets can be replaced, fingerboards can be resurfaced--but major work to the finish or body can lower the value of a vintage guitar.

I think there will always be more difference in guitars than there is in frames. Wood isn't the uniform material that good steel is, so even if a dozen guitars were made to exactly the same specs (I doubt this is possible even with the most stringent auto-manufacturing processes), each one would sound and play different (mostly based on the soundboard, top braces and bridge). I suspect that a dozen frames built to the same specs would be far less distinguishable from each other. Of course, I'm talking production models, and hand-made models are going to be inherently different anyway.

How all this dovetails (bad pun, sorry) with the current classic bike state of affairs on eBay and elsewhere is up for interpretation, I think. But generally, as good things age, they'll be worth more, I think. And sometimes not-so-good things, too. After all, no one can make a pre-war Martin or Gibson. Sure, you can replicate it, as both manufacturers have done in recent years. But it's not the same. A Hetchins replica, however lovingly crafted, is still a replica. It may ride as well, but it's still not a Hetchins.

I hope all this makes sense. Though I don't think anyone here will think it makes sense to pay $7100 for a 1963 Peugeot. Unless, of course, it's a 404 Cabriolet. . . .

nath "you won't find my old Gibsons on eBay" dresser