Value of L10

[Johnhamdun]

I am not really looking to sell it but a friend of mine asked and I don't actually know. Do Avalons actually appreciate with time?

I have a feb 04 L10 (according to JB) and was wondering if anyone has sold an L10 recently and if they had any idea what they are worth.

[Jimbo]

The RRP of your L10 was probably around £2000 when you bought it new, but if you shop around you can get them new for around half of that price. I've had a quick look on ebay and theres a S25J which is not very much like an L10 TBH and the buyer want's £999 for it so make of that what you will.

[stevemac]

The current list price in the US for a new L10 is $4950, which is about GBP2500 - it costs about US$250 to ship a guitar from Ireland to the US and Uncle Sam takes a 9% cut, all of which is covered in the US$ price. After discount, it's very likely that an L10 could be bought new in the US for under $4000.

As for holding their value, there's always going to be some depreciation (no lifetime warranty on a pre-owned instrument for example), but I believe Avalon's have a good residual value compared to factory made brands, because there are fewer instruments on the market and as genuinely handcrafted guitars, they age well and the quality stands the test of time.

Word of advice: don't have a hole cut in the solid, high-grade tonewood side of your guitar to accommodate a pickup control unit that will be out of date in 5 - 10 years!

[David]

Would you go for a sound hole pickup?

[stevemac]

Absolutely! I use a Shertler and there are plenty other options!

[Johnhamdun]

Word of advice: don't have a hole cut in the solid, high-grade tonewood side of your guitar to accommodate a pickup control unit that will be out of date in 5 - 10 years!

Haha yeah, I am looking at a an OMC-15E Martin because I don't want to change the avalon at all (I don't know what it is that makes that guitar sound so sweet but im not shaving off an ounce of wood for fear I'll lose it) but I want something with electronics.

Ive been told that when you are using a pickup (not the fishman ellipse or anything with a condenser, just the pickup) it doesn't really make much of a difference tone-wise what guitar its on. Any thoughts on that?

[Ross A]

There is some truth in that. Some guitars, such as Maton Guitars, can sound better plugged in than they do unplugged. The difference with a good guitar when plugged in is that it plays better, feels better, and thus makes what you play sound better.

[stevemac]

Sad to say, but it does seem to be true - a pickup can make a poor guitar sound good and a good guitar sound average. We worked very closely with Roby Duke over several years to find the best performing pickup for Avalon (aside from his work as a performer and musician, Roby was a guru of music technology). He often talked about the 'holy grail' of finding a pickup that would 'transfer the personality' of the guitar, not spoil the guitars natural acoustic tone. Regrettably, he never found it and when we were finalising the details of his signature model just before he passed away, his verdict was that he would have to invent the perfect pickup!

[Ross A]

The pickups like the Fishman Rare Earth Blend and the K&K Trinity Western, that include a condenser mic, are very good at allowing you to capture the sound of the guitar. The problem is that they are a little impractical when playing through an amp or PA because you have to turn the mic output right down to avoid feedback.

My personal opinion is that if you are playing to an audience, they usually have no idea of what your guitar sounds like when played acoustically, so as long as they like the music you should be ok when plugged in.

The nature of the acoustic guitar makes it very hard, if not impossible, to reproduce the sound via a pickup. Using a proper mic (or two) is the best way to go, but is not that practical either.

[Darach]

interesting and eternal topic...the bane of all guitar users the world over...how do I project what I hear out over the PA.

when it comes to solo or singer/songwriter, a poor pickup can definitely make a good guitar sound like a piece of laminate, but conversely, a good pickup is restrained by the limits of the guitar.

I was at a gig last night, just 2 guitars, yamaha compass and avalon A32 and although the Avalon is head and shoulders above the yammie as an acoustic, there was no magic when it was plugged in and the yammie fit the bill much better as they are engineered as live guitars with the pickup being an intrinsic part of the design, tying directly to Roby's quest and explaining why Tommy "Enamel" chooses to play a deadwood guitar, he's effectively playing the pickup, not the guitar.

I would recommend you try out the new breed of undersaddle transducers that are based on condenser mic strips rather than piezo.
I have a schertler bluestick, expensive, but much more natural sounding.
Little more feedback responsive, but a soundhole cover can go a long way to taming that.

B-band's UST/AST combo with a dual input pre also sounds pretty good and has got pretty good reviews.

for situations where you can't really hear the guitar and just get a chugga chugga rhythm to "cut thru the mix" (takamine/taylor), a bog standard fishman undersaddle normally does the job.

the quest continues....