The fact that you're 42 episodes deep provides all the proof we need to prove that people are extremely unreasonable with their expectations for their gear's value
I bought an original Ibanez Universe back in 2016 on Reverb for 1600 dollars. I contacted Ibanez and sent them the serial number attached on the back of the neck. They responded saying it was one of the prototypes they sent to Steve Vai. The guitar was in pretty rough shape, rust and paint chips all over, but everything was original and it still played amazingly. I love that guitar, and seeing what used to be a Universe turned into a custom job brings me pain and anguish.
Zion guitars were costom guitars built out of North Carolina in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, by Ken Hoover. They normally sell used for about $2000-$2500 and are excellent. This one, sadly, looks original and shows that whoever ordered it couldn't be talked out having it built that way. $5,665.92 + $181.67 Shipping is insane.
I vaguely remember the ads and reviews. Zion was aspiring to attain Anderson levels of superstrat-dom, don't think they made it. I saw the ads for those pickups, supposed to be the next thing. Rainbows were just rainbows back then. Miss those simpler times...
Zion Radicasters are actually very good guitars on par with Tom Andersons - I happen to have both a Zion Radicaster (in the same config as above, except for the paintjob and the Bill Lawrence Ultrasonic pickups) and a Tom Anderson Drop Top. USD 5600+ for a Zion, even if it's hand-painted - nah. I agree that this can possibly fetch somewhere around USD 2-2,5K, but that's about as far as it can go.
yep - I grew up in Greensboro and always wanted to own either a Zion or Roscoe. I'm sure both Ken and Keith were ready to charge me for the amount of time I spent hanging out in both shops in high school. LOL!
If those are the original Pickup set it's actually worth more as a parts guitar to restore one that had the pickups die. Also it looks like the headstock got mangled and the carve might have been to clean up other damage - I would actually look at this as a Universe that got restored to the world after being played after it was a write off as fully destroyed on an insurance claim. That's my guess, what I'd say when someone asks "WHYYYYYYY". 99/100 someone rescued this from a trash bin, got it running, and played it - with shipping, it's a cool kbuck; I would also further guess they probably didn't want to sell it.
When OJ left football he got bored and thought he would take a "STAB" at playing guitar, but you'd a thunk he would have been a bass !! Sorry, couldn't resist !
Didn't realize you were in Western WA, you need to find some Bunker Guitars stuff one day which was out of Puyallup; the did some of the original headless designs before NS I believe. I think Warmoth ended up getting the zero tension neck patent from them as well.
That first axe, i don't even know how someone could tune it without busting strings every other time when using heavy gauge strings and tuning standard.
In 1984, during the Ingvie craze, I ruined the neck on my '72 Telecaster Thinline trying to scallop the fingerboard. So I got a lousy Schecter aftermarket neck (which had to be replaced with the one that''s it now.). To add insult, I mounted one of those Washburn Tremolos (its actually very good to this day!! Its gawky but arguably one the best ever made as each component is adjustable). The original PUPs had been replaced before I got it in 1982 (That's kind of a consolation). Not for any reason in particular, I installed a single coil Seymour Duncan and a DiMarzio humbucker for the bridge. The only original part is the body! BUT SHE PLAYS AND SOUNDS SO BEAUTIFUL IN ANY GENRE!! I WOULD NEVER SELL IT!!!
Awe but Tom Petty played a bass like that long horn bass. but it wasn't covered with blue jean material. it can be seen in The Traveling Wilbury's video "End of the Line". that Tiax Space Invaders guitar looks sort of similar to Dave Hill's Yob guitar for those who don't know Dave Hill is the lead guitarist for the group SLADE.
Gotta say, I'm taking some issue with this video. The Triaxe is a extremely rare guitar that IS worth $10,000.00 Yes, they are a bit much to look at, but if you find one for sale, absolutely get it if you can afford it. Zion guitars are monster guitars. Ty Tabor from Kings X played one for a lot of years. May not be worth five grand, but to say no one has heard of Zion guitars is wrong. Keep up the good work. BTW, your Amp Roots 5134 amp sim is my MAIN tone. Awsesome!
The triax never actually went through the Kramer factory. It was designed and built by Floyd rose for the namm show. Definitely weird but there's not many!
I remember Zion guitars back in the 80s, they were higher end Super Strats usually with unique paint jobs. At the time seen as a "shredders guitar" for people that where too cool for a Jackson or Kramer. As for that Valley Arts Tele, for 152k it better come with Larry Carlton (yes he's in his 70s, but probably still would be a valuable part of anyone's collection).
Love the channel and am here all the time so dig ALOT what you do, but.... 1) Love the Helige longhorn bass - at $375. That's the same price as a night on the town, might as well add a kookie bass in jeans with a smugglers' pocket as opposed to a couple steaks and a bottle of wine at the local Fine Dining Establishment, right? ... 2). Buy the Steve Vai Universe and paint it black. May not be perfect but would look normal and sound great for around $1000. Thanks, your perspective is greatly appreciated :)
At 3:56... right on. This looks like it should be the kit for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. So if you wrap your drums with carpet scraps they suddenly become more valuable? Maybe this was an idea from the bandmates of an obnoxiously loud drummer. I realize that's a redundant statement.
I wonder if the sellers of the 'previously owned by...' type listings, like the Larry Carlton one here, actually expect a sale or just list it to show off...
You’ve probably had some on this series before, but John Petrucci’s old Ibanez guitars go for unbelievably stupid amounts of money on reverb. Idk how many of them actually sell for that price though.
The furry blue drums look like mid 80s Pearl Export. I have an 89. This looks older that that when I look at the tom mount on the kick drum. I hate those steel kick drum hoops.
I think they're needs to be a disclaimer about the term "rare," and it's exact implications. There's one way something is rare: they produced a finite number of something that became coveted, and as a result people who own them want to keep them, and so when they are occasionally up for sale they command a high value. The second type of rare are things that no one wanted and so they stopped producing them. The are also rare, but still aren't desirable. Two very different things. "To be continued" Tune in next time for when we go over "Vintage," where we discuss how not everything that is old is always going to be considered vintage…sometimes they're just old. Like skid marks in the underoos you wore as a 4 year old.
The Valley Arts at Listing 4 is very cool - and actually has the "regular" Tele headstock (rather than the Valley Arts stump headstock, which is less than alluring), which is something that grabs my attention. USD 152K+ AND a further ca. USD 1K in shipping (even if it is coming from Cologne, Germany)? Not in this market and certainly not on Reverb. Will it fetch something along these lines at a celebrity auction? Difficult to say, since Larry Carlton isn't quite as widely-recognised as say Eric Clapton, David Gilmour or EVH.
Buy the Ibanez, restore the finish back to original spec and make sure the reshaped heel hasn't affected the neck or action. Play it for about 5 years, resell it for $2,500.
Like the Kramer body...for a once-a-night theme set. The headstock, though🤢 $400 for the drums? I have wasted way more, on way less in the music world over the past 40 years since HS.
375 for a dano bass is actually a pretty decent price, and with the denim, I could see some bassist in a country band rocking it. You could literally go triple denim
That universe makes me want to cry, although if you were on Jemsite back in the early 00’s then one might remember the Hulk green dot where someone took a chisel to theirs to make claw marks all over the body and filled them with green paint. Just Google it Lolol
