someone said: just wait, in 20 or 30 years, or till some hotshot puts one of these guitars on the map
Hey, it happens, maybe I'm being too specific, but many guitars get "their day in the sun". Usually due to someone who gets attention, or sometimes multiple someones. What if J. Mascius, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, and Elvis Costello never touched Jazzmasters - what if Kurt Cobain chose to play only a Stratocaster for his whole career instead of Mustangs and a Jaguar, and designed a signature strat instead.
Generally, a lifecycle of a guitar model is......
Was created as this in 195x/6x - Pretty much the basis of everything solidbody electric
Was updated in 197x to keep up with the importers (or abandoned due to lack of sales) - blocks and binding, wiring changes, black pickguards, earthy colored finishes, heavy brass hardware....etc...or cheaply found in pawn shops and modified for punk thrashing
Was either super cheap or modded to be super pointy and neon in the 80's - Stuck on a rack for $250, picked up by underground bands and garage bands - or cut for better fret access, with pointy headstocks, high output humbuckers, locking trems, fancy paintjobs with naked women and glitter.
Was dirt cheap or was now reaching 30-40 years old and was popular in the 90's, or modded to be a hybrid of vintage features. - Allthe glittery glammy guitars of the 80's were banished to the bargain racks now (Kramer, Charvel, Ibanez), and out from the bargain rack came all the wacky, wild, and crazy 50's and 60's models, inspiring hybrids based on them to get around the problems some people had with them (ie Cyclone, ie. Jagmaster....)
Was brought back in the last 10 years in 3000 versions including cheapened imported versions that sound nothing like the originals but cater to a segment of the young population who want guitars. - Ie, Squier Affinity, the MusicYo! Kramers, and other plywood, agathis, and so on guitars that were made really cheap but well enough to be a serious musical instrument for someone starting out or who wants to decorate their house in guitars.
So of course everything is a hybrid of something these days. It's almost impossible to be original with all the different designs, so nobody really tries to be, they just borrow the "best" elements (in their minds) of an individual model and put it out there. Jeff Beck once said "the best has already been invented" - and everyone's best is different.
And as for the celebrity endorsers, and guitars gaining value due to some person playing one, it happens, and my comment was mere speculation on how prices could rise in the future, but may not as well. Remember, the Mustang and Jaguar were pretty well hated through the 70's and 80's by most players, but now have come into their own. The Explorer and Flying Vee did not take off for over 20 years until the metal bands picked them up. For all we know, the Jag-Stang could be like the Vee and Explorer, except in some other genre that's not been invented yet. Maybe it'll never happen.
Either way, this danged thing has gone on too long, but that's just my view of guitar sales and pricing.
