The Electra Forums

Well, normally that model tends to go on ebay for 200-350$ maybe, but I have to admit that purple is a rare color and who knows what the demand would be. I'd love to have one myself. Same with the green one. You're right, it's 82.

Can you provide pictures of yours? We'd love to have them posted on the models page.

Sure I will try to get a picture in the next couple of weeks......Christmas being pretty busy and all. It is nice to know that the purple metal flake is a little more rare. I always called it the "Purple Haze" guitar.
I might end up keeping it....one never knows if their kids might want to play someday. But in another sense it would be nice to sell it to someone who really appreciates it and will use it.

Either way, I will try and post a pic.......and try and find the original receipt for it. Thanks for the reply.

I'd give you the same advice as most people asking this question-

Look at your own wishes and realize what you want.


Realize too that things have changed with starter instruments. Cheap starter guitars used to be bad and unplayable, now you can get a pretty good Squier for $100. SO in the old days having an actually good guitar hidden away for someone to play was quite an advantage. Which means an old Electra is what it is: an interesting and good quality vintage piece.

I personally care most that they belong to someone who recognizes thier value and protects them so that they survive. Just like used cars, they go into a period where they're considered worthless before their collector value rises again. Now I think eveyone recognizes that an old Dodge Dart is a vintage collector car, but not long ago they were not so well regarded.

Likewise I don't think it matters so much whether its owner actually plays it. I"m a serious player myself (I said serious, not good :) and I do like it when an instrument gets to live up to its potential as a tool in an artist's hands. I have been occasionally lucky to find great instruments in amazingly good condition, and it was because the previous owner didn't play it but valued and protected it for years- that's good too!

One other reason besides antique appreciation to own a guitar like this is because you yourself might find that you want to play again. I know people who hadn't played in years who heard some concert or recording that got them all excited and playing again- that sort of thing. We are all children enough to rediscover cool toys we'd forgotten we enjoyed so much. I didn't play for years, but kept my Electra Phoenix, and sure enough when the time was tight I took to it again like never before.

I don't want to presume your age but there's a pattern that happens that I see at the blues jams. A lot of guys that come play are 40 and over- call it midlife crisis but I do think at that age a lot of people starting taking a harder look at where they spend their time and what they really want to be doing. And then having a good old instrument that speaks to you means way way more than the cash price you could have gotten for it at some point along the way. And undeniably, if someone you love is bitten by the music bug it is nice to hand them something good that carries a bit of your own taste with it.

At one point I tried to repair guitars and donate them to kids who wanted to play, but I realized that they're so cheap now that any kid who wants a guitar can get one in some condition- what they can't or don't afford is the price of lessons. $100 of lessons to a beginner of any age is way more valuable than the guitar you hand them- it makes such a difference in progressing further along.

I really appreciate this website and forum on Electra Guitars. I've owned an Electra SG 2259 for 15 years or so. My dad picked it up at a yard sale for $5.

I plucked around on it for years before I became interested in guitars and let my kids play with it thinking it was just a cheap knock-off guitar. It's in pretty good shap considering it's age and the lack of care.

I have only replaced the tuners because they were shot. It needs some electrical work because the pick-up selector does not work in the up position. Other than that it sounds great.

I have thought about selling the guitar thinking that I would only get about $50 for it if I was lucky. Then I noticed that Electras bring a pretty good price on Ebay and people seem to like them.

Now that I have seen this website, I plan on keeping the guitar. Are the SG 2259's a good model? I have only seen one for sale currently on Ebay bid at $99 just as a project guitar.

Hi I posted in the omega section. Can you fix it?? and I have a typo (to not tp) Thanks more to come.

I can't edit, i can only delete, so if you make a mistake go back and repost again and let me know aftereward so i can delete the others.

oops wrong section ha ha.

On a related note: how come most of the Electra models haven't appreciated much, even those made in Matsumoku? There should be at least some correspondence between price and build quality, even in a collector's market? Are the Electras simply too low-end?

Case in point: I'm looking for an LP-style guitar to play (not a collector), and right now I'm looking at an X210 on the Bay, which I suspect is priced rather high at $350. Still, that's not much compared to the Greco, Ibanez, Burny etc. of the same era.

I think it's because they had such a deep association with 'import junk' of the late 60's. Their heyday was jsut at the time when people were most hostile to anything not Fender or Gibson (if you think people are prejudiced now, you should have seen it in the 80's). Then Electra disappeared, with no real spokesperson for them. By contrast, Ibanez had Steve Vai and others as their self-declared proponents- Electra had only some 70's pop stars rather unfortunately reflecting the hipness of SLM management.

If you look at Electra catalogs, and recall that SLM was in St. Louis and sold primarily in the midwest, you realize that they were also marketing largely to a country and southern rock audience, at least in the 70's. They were worlds away (image-wise) from punk and new wave when it hit, and by the time they got on board the 80's metal bandwagon, it was mostly glam popstars they associated with. All really an unfortunate combination.

Greco (which is still around as a brand in Japan) was the fond favorite of japanese youth who today are wealthy enough to collect them as nostalgia. I suspect Greco's marketing was better able to appeal to their audience than Electra did in the US.

Ibanez and Greco also benefitted from association with Fujigen, who manufactured for Fender Japan and commenced making the standard Fenders of the 80's, thereby cementing their reputation as quality in the minds of Americans.

Ibanez alos took decades to slowly acquire the good reputation they have today, and Electra simply wasn't around long enough.

One thing is that Electras also do hold their value pretty well, so if you don't like it you can turn around and sell it and basically be out the cost of shipping.

X189player,

Again, thanks for your excellent reply. That all does sound very plausible. I should only add that I don't think Fujigen changed their name; lately it's even being marketed as an independent custom-shop brand.

The low price point of Electras is certainly great for someone in financially hard times like myself. I hope they stay that way for awhile.

The low price point of Electras has -always- been a major part of their appeal- and that's a two-edged sword: for the serious musician it's a heavensend to have serious quality for alow price; for the person who cares more about prestige and snob appeal (so common among guitarists) they want nothing to do with it. I kinda think it's going to stay that way for a while.

You're right, Fujigen acquired the Fender Japan contract but Fender Japan was a disctibution company.

Just to add, all the Ibanez guitars that are made in Japan are still being produced at the Fujigen plant. If you see an Ibanez with an F to start the serial number you know it's a good one.

btw- I'll move from this thread questions about specific guitars. They should have their own message topic and response. If you're looking for your question here about your cool Electra, look in the forum for a new topic about it!

I can't comment (intelligently) about the market, pricing and the quality of Electra's. But I can comment on their tone.

I bought one at a pawn shop for an entirely frivolous reason. It was an Electra Phoenix (X175JB I found out later at the Model Index here) and being sold at Dave's Pawn Shop. My real life name is Dave Phoenix. So I just HAD to have it.

At the time, I had a Fender Highway 1 Strat that I consider to be, imho, the very height of Strat tone available today... at least at anything resembling a reasonable price / value. The Electra compared very favorably to it. The reason I am considering the purchase of one again. The one I had... "walked away"... shortly before my Fender Strat did the same... GRrrrrrr...

Yes, some Electra models (like the Electra Phoenix) are superb. All the modern '77+ models were made by Matsumoku and are superb. It's the earlier ones, when different models came from different sources, that are more variable.