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What's the going rate on the old Sabre 6-string Electrics

J

jazzyitalian

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Apr 15, 2005
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97
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Minneapolis, MN
Hello-

I was wondering if anyone knew off hand or had a decent range on the value of the Pre-EB Music Man Sabre I or II's. I realize this is a general question. So I'll try to narrow it down. Assume that we're talking about a 100% stock electric guitar, and the condition is clean. Like 8.0-9.0 clean. What would be the typical price range for those?

thanks,

jeff
 
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J

John C

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Aug 16, 2004
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Kansas City
Yep - MM had the Sting Ray Bass & Guitar and the Sabre Bass & Guitar back then. Wish I still had an old 1979/80 MM catalog to scan for everyone, but that sucker is long gone.
 
J

jazzyitalian

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Apr 15, 2005
Messages
97
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Minneapolis, MN
Thanks for all the input guys....

I'm seeing different asking prices. But it would appear that the refinished ones while they all look nice are not selling for as much as the ones where the original finish was untouched. Possibly $1,100 to $1,300 or so for 100% original Guitars, and for the refinished ones that are still in good shape and clean, in the $900 range.

That's about what I thought they would be priced at...
 
J

jazzyitalian

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Apr 15, 2005
Messages
97
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Found One.

Well after speaking with a few folks and blue book people here in MN and searching the internet to compare prices I got a ton of those "it depends". Why am I not surprised to hear that qualifier.

1. It depends on the overall condition
2. It depends on how much of it is still original
3. It depends on the color
4. It depends upon whether it is still in production

What I found out from surfing and speaking was that a MM (or any guitar for that matter) that has undergone a change that materially alters it's original state has literally little to no collector value. A glaring example would be someone that changed out the pickups, or swaps the original neck for something different. No matter how nice the refinish job is or how great the pickup mod was, the more it is altered, the greater the effect on the value.

Refrets, or replacing pots and wires while possibly expected for older instruments, don't have as much of an impact on the value. Wear and tear repairs are one of those more forgivable things in the vintage world as long as the repair provides a similar value. Like replacing 250K pots with 250K pots, or replacing brittle cloth wiring with new cloth wiring, or replacing .55 fret wire with .55 fret wire. Stay as close to the original as you can.

As a matter of fact, a vintage with the original finish (even if it's worn and checked) will hold it's value better than ones that were stripped and repainted. Even at the very basic level, if you were to replace a natural clear coat finish (that might have been checking and wearing) with a natural clear coat finish the value would be negativly impacted.

Having said that, I was given a range of $600 - $1200 for any original EB Sabre I & II and the range depended upon condition. $600 for good condition and $1,200 for immaculant. Anything below good I was told would not be worth buying.

Well I bought an immaculant one and I paid $1,500 for it. It was literally brand new, and unplayed. It might as well have been buried underground in one of those time capsules. It came with case, candy tages, polish cloth and even that mirror sticker. Many would question the decision to agree to that higher asking price and I can completely understand why this would be the thought from many. I'm sure that even among the MM bro's here, I know many would question this buy as not too prudent.

But I liked the guitar. It was what I wanted and I don't intend to sell it anytime soon. So even though I'm minus $300 on the value today, I know it'll catch up to the price I paid for it. Call me nostolgic or just a middle aged dude trying to recapture his youth in the 1980's. I'd have that coming too.

I've been playing it and the damn thing has crushing tone. It's like night and day to my 1999 AXIS Sport. It's got some real guts that I have never heard before. The phase switch coupled with the volume turned 75% up and the treble / Bass at half mast churn out this tube like overdrive that is the most unique thing I have heard. Well...Maybe not...The sister "Sabre Bass" has some pretty unique power tones as well. The two Sabre sisters really are related! They're both just off the wall...If more Sabre bass players had the chance to hear or play this guitar live, even they would be scrambling to get one.

Okay and now for the Guitar pictures:

Sabre2Ba.jpg


Sabre2Bc.jpg



Thanks all...

Jazz
 
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paranoid70

paranoid70

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Feb 9, 2007
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Location
Long Beach, CA
Nice one bro. Quite honestly that is the best looking Sabre I have ever seen hands down. From the pics it really does look new. I have never played one myself, but I am sure it's gotta be a great guitar.
 
J

jazzyitalian

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Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
97
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Thanks guys...I don't have the equipment to put up sound clips. But I think a buddy does. So when the day comes for me to pay him a visit, I'll have him set me up to do that.

It is very clean very new looking. It's really incredible how well kept this guitar has been over the last 31 years. It's really been dormant.

I am still choking over that $1,500 payment. I was even tracking a few sabres on the bay and seeing those sell between $540 and $620 was really giving me some remorse.

But hey, mines like new....

Thanks again guys for the comments.
 
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