Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Silver vs. Laquer


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 26, 2003 at 16:09:23:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Silver vs. Laquer posted by Graham W. on February 26, 2003 at 15:33:47:

Using it for a week and then selling is not the scenario I was describing.

I've seen used 5/4 Hirsbrunners offered in the $10-12K range. I've seen used Yorkbrunners sell for more than their owners paid for them. I've seen 70's Miraphone BBb's sell for $3000, which is more than what they cost new. A 1960's King 2341 in pristine condition will fetch perhaps as much as $2500, which I'd bet is more than what it cost new.

I bought a Vespro tuba as a demonstrator for $3000, and sold it five years later for $2500. I could sell my Yamaha F tuba for what I paid for it (bought as a demonstrator), and that has been true for the whole time I've owned it. I'd bet that the King 2341 that you buy for $3400 this year will be worth $3000 ten years from now, if it's in pristine condition.

The tricky part is knowing which tuba, bought new, will be the desired horn five or ten years from now. And that is tricky, because it's entirely based on subjective perception. Lots of unfortunate Kalison owners have learned that lesson. But I don't understand why a tuba like the G-50 would depreciate more than other tubas, unless the initial price was just too high. They are wonderful instruments and still seemingly desirable, though they were undercut a bit by the Conn 56J.

As you say, the resale value drops somewhat and then stabilizes. A five-year-old CB-50 will get the same price as a two-year-old G-50, if it's in the same condition. So, the longer you keep an instrument, the less it's costing you to own it if you subsequently sell it. If you sell your CB-50 for $1500 less than it's new price after owning it for five years, then you paid $300 a year to play it. That ain't bad!

Rick "who thinks more affordable good tubas have less to lose" Denney


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