

If you want to educate yourself to identify guitars, the first step is to become familiar with the histories of some of the larger companies. But if you randomly drop by a store that you’ve never been to before and ask for this kind of help, they might not take the time to look carefully at what you’ve got. The shop employee may be glad to look up the approximate value of your ax in a book and give you an opinion about what it’s worth. While most shops charge a fee for an official appraisal, it may take an experienced retailer only a second to realize that your old Epiphone is actually a Nova 390, produced from 1976 to 1980 in the company’s short-lived Japanese factory. While it may be tempting to call every store in the area in order to save a few dollars when you’re shopping for something, developing a loyalty to one or two shops pays off when you need service that goes beyond a simple purchase. It’s so important to establish a working relationship with these folks. One of the most valuable and often overlooked resources to help you identify and appraise guitars is your local used instrument dealer. You’ll also need to know exactly what your guitar is worth for insurance purposes. Prices for certain vintage models vary by thousands of dollars depending on whether it’s a 1963, for example, or a 1964. The most important one is probably pricing the instrument appropriately when you’re looking to sell it. There are many reasons for determining the precise age of your used guitar.
