I began collecting instruments two decades ago and it’s been a fascinating journey. In the beginning I was only interested in purchases for playing, but later I realised that these could also be great investments!
In recent years most folks will know me more for my ukulele purchases and I admit to becoming totally seduced by these wonderful instruments. I love the simplicity of a small bodied acoustic instrument and am fascinated by how great these can sound. I have settled mostly on Shimos, Collings, Kanila and Rob Collins ukes. Each of these is unique and inspire different kinds of playing. I recently released a video talking about these different instruments and how they each have very different sonic properties.
The two biggest investments I have made to date are on the Stefan Sobell New World guitar and the Shimo Comet 3. Below you can see these side by side. In my view these are pretty much as good as it gets in terms of custom built instruments. The choice of woods, construction, playability and sound are quite extraordinary. I view these as being my best investments to date and although some folks might have a heart attack at the price ticket, in the world of instruments these are really not that expensive! If I was buying keyboards, saxophones or double basses, the price would be far greater.
In terms of electric instruments the Collings i35 is also about as good as it gets, especially as it is now fitted with the terrific Tom Holmes pickups. I bought the i35 in New York a number of years ago when the dollar was two dollars to the pound, excellent timing. My view is that Bill Collings has created the finest standards in building musical instruments. His electrics, acoustics and ukuleles are all superb. I have never played one that is anything other than excellent. I can’t say this for any other production built instrument and both Gibson and Fender could learn a great deal from Bill’s superb attention to detail and quality control.
Sometimes an instrument can appear out of the blue. Five years ago I spotted a Parker Bronze on ebay six days before X Mas. These were rare back then and even rarer now as the company has been taken over by Washburn and these are only available as custom orders. Both the Collings i35 and the Parker have greatly appreciated in value and remain superb playing instruments.
In an era when you might at best obtain 3% from an ISA there has never been a better time to buy great musical instruments.