Tuesday, December 17, 1996
Buying Instruments
by [email protected]

I took my banjo back to the place I bought it seven years ago. The nut for the fifth string was broken. The repairman says, "this looks like a neck that I might have made." And, in fact it was; he had recycled a sixty-year-old rim by building a new neck for it and created a beautiful, semi-new, semi-old instrument.

Old-time banjos, if cared for, will outlive their owners. And they appreciate in value over time. The store had a marvelous old Vega for sale with the carved neck and original case. They wanted a lot of money for it. I thought about buying it but that would leave me with two since I don't sell instruments after I buy them.

My banjo has value to me because I use it. The more I use it, the more value it has for me. So I'm happy that it is worth more than I paid for it, but happier that there is someone who knows the history of my "investment" and will help me care for it for years. So on days when my stocks go temporarily into the dumper, I try to remember my instruments, both musical and financial, and their different types of value to me. And I hang onto both.

---Craig Brandis