Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

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Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby ChetKid91 » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:07 pm

Was talking to my grandfather about the value of my Gibson Country gentleman.

I've got two questions

1. How much is the guitar worth (mint condition/ and market value not sentimental)

2. When did Gibson stop all production of the Country Gentleman?

Thanks

Brett
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby thenorm » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:41 am

Can't help you.

The Gibson CG's never interested me even when Chet played them. Hardcore Gretsch guy here.

Don't get me wrong, Gibson makes a fine guitar but even when I worked at a music store for ten- eleven years and had my pick of the litter there was something about the Filter Tron gretsch pickup tone that I preferred.

This is from my Archive of Paul's posts:

"...The Filter-Tron pickup is 4k ohms which is the main reason it has the sound it has. It doesn't have a great amount of output compared to a Gibson humbucker. Ray Butts designed them that way. Ray was a musician and was concerned about how things sounded. A Gibson pickup is about 8k and has a thick heavy sound with a lot of output. If you want tone the Filter-Tron has it. If you want output the Gibson has it..."

I'm not a guy to ask what a guitar is worth anyway. The rare times I ever wanted to buy a guitar I would just wait for Opportunity in the form of what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay to come along.

sorry I couldn't be of more help...
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby BillB » Fri Mar 25, 2011 7:54 am

Brett,
I'd watch eBay for a while and see what they are selling for there. I don't know, but I'd say they stopped production somewhere between 2003-2006. The reason I say that is because Gretsch started making the Nashville Classic from 2003, and after 2006, they renamed it Country Gentleman and started putting Chet's name back on their guitars. I feel sure that someone here on the Chetboard can tell you when the last year was.

Bill B.
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby RonBloor » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:59 am

Doing what Bill suggested.. I took a look on ebay and there are a couple listed right now. There is also one in the completed listings that didn't sell. It seems that 3k is too much. It also depends on the year and condition. Probably closer to 2500 is reasonable, but that is a pretty small sample to base it on :)
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby thenorm » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:54 pm

I really don't think they'll ever be a monster collector guitar. If you had one in pristine, absolutely brand new condition and kept it in storage for thirty years, maybe, but when Chet went to Gibson his main focus was on the CE series. Those, as you notice, do command increasingly hefty prices on e.bay. And we all know why. That was a well thought out guitar.

They of course put out Chet Atkins electrics but , as noted, no attempt was made to recover the Gretsch tone. Chet had one Gibson CG that he apparently used more than the others (MAMG pg 149). It has fine tuners near the bridge and the wire handle has seen some rough usage but neither Chet or Paul ever made any distinct reference to a Gibson CG having any special qualities as did his singularly accurate noting '59. He used his '59 for over twenty years and the MAMG photo (MAMG pg 89) of it shows a comfortalbe, attractive guitar with few visible battle scars. The CG Gibson on page 149 looks like a warclub.

So, the Gibson CG, while a nice guitar, will be a while before it gains Real Status in used guitar marketing.

That's how I see it anyway...
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby guitarchuck » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:26 pm

From my experience, you could expect a Gibson Country Gentleman to bring anywhere from $1800-2400 in todays market. The price has held steady for several years now, even in this bad economy. As with any good high end guitar you can expect it to increase in value if it is well taken care of. I've owned 5 Gibson CG's, 2 of which were my personal guitars. The other 3 I bought to re-sell. One thing that I can say about the Gibson's they were much more consistent than the Gretsch guitars used to be. I think that's why Chet found a Gretsch he liked and stuck with it. The new Gretsch guitars are very consistent. My Gretsch G6120-CGP is the best guitar that I've ever owned, and I've owned many Chet Atkins endorsed guitars. The Gibson CG is probably 3rd on my list right after the new Gretsch G6122-1959 CG/NC. The Gibson was well thought out in my opinion. Chet had a lot of input. It has the 1 3/4" neck, solid center block and it's a beautiful guitar. I don't think Gibson wanted it to sound like a Gretsch. Prices depend on color, condition and amount of flame in the wood. Oh, I'm pretty sure the last year for the Gibson CG was 2005.
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby thenorm » Fri Mar 25, 2011 4:26 pm

I respect Chuck's opinion. He's had personal experience with the gibson cg and I have not.

As for "Chet found a Gretsch he liked and stuck with it..." that particular guitar was held onto because it noted more accurately and cleanly than the other guitars Gretsch sent him. He held onto that one and tinkered it until he finally went over to Gibson. That guitar (and the D'Angelico) is the tone most of us have in our heads when we talk about "Chet tone". True, he sounded like himself no matter what guitar he used there is still a marked difference between his '59 and any of the Gibson electrics he used. Paul noted once that Chet's recording tone changed over the years too as he used different mics and changed out his recording hardware.

It really doesn't matter... there are only a handful, less than that, of guitarists who come anywhere close to Chet's tone. Paul is one of them. Guy Van Duser is another.

But there is only one Chet.

Getting back to selling guitars... it's like anything else. Two people have to agree on a price. That's it. Good luck and keep us posted how it goes...
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby David Elliott » Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:19 pm

Hi Brett,

The Gibson Country Gent is a fine guitar, beautiful workmanship (for a factory instrument), and has a sound 'all it's own'!

Like Norm, I also prefer the Gretsch tone and sound, but for what it's worth, here's what Paul Yandell had to say about it, (in 2005) when I made a similar inquiry as your's, about the guitar.

Posted by Paul Yandell on March 14, 2005 at 16:23:25:
"The Gibson CG is a great guitar I played one for close to 10 years I have 3 of
them one of them a thick one, the NC is a great guitar with a great sound and a
great neck, it's a matter of taste, thanks Paul"


I'd concur with Chuck on the value of these...I sold a 1993 Gibson CG, mint condition, (brown) for I believe $1700.00 about three years ago, and I'm sure they're worth more today.

David
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby Vidar Lund » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:33 am

Norm said, "It really doesn't matter... there are only a handful, less than that, of guitarists who come anywhere close to Chet's tone. Paul is one of them. Guy Van Duser is another." I think Richard Hudson may be added to the list.
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Re: Pricing Gibson Country Gentleman FOR NORM!!

Postby Terry McArthur » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:07 am

Vidar Lund wrote:Norm said, "It really doesn't matter... there are only a handful, less than that, of guitarists who come anywhere close to Chet's tone. Paul is one of them. Guy Van Duser is another." I think Richard Hudson may be added to the list.


We all have our favorites - and I think Ray Cummins comes as close as anyone. But this is another topic.
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