“Rare and Unusual Musical Instruments” - Daryle Lambert – Do you have an old xylophone?

Xylophones aren't for Everyone - Thanks to www.flicker.com

Believe it or not there are collectors for every musical instrument you can think of. I was just thumbing through the Antique Week and came across an ad for xylophones. { God makes the most beautiful music but man isn't far behind } Now how many of them would you like to own? If you are able to locate the rare and unusual of anything then the market is wide open because of the limited opportunities these collectors have to acquire new items for their collections. When was the last time you saw a xylophone?

I carry a gentleman's card in my wallet because he has ask me to call him anytime I find an accordion. The thought never crossed my mind that I would ever be buying accordions but now I would never pass one by without calling him. I don't even know how to Polka. There are other instruments to search for. Did you know that harmonicas can sell for as much as $5000 or more? Neither did I but I do now.

It is easy to identify with guitars and violins because reading the auction records you know they can bring from $10,000 up to $100,000 or more for Gibson or Martin Guitars and Fender Stratocastyers aren't bad either. Violins can be in a class of their own like the Stradivarius that sells for millions. Even a medium quality violin can sell for $10,000 or more. Here is a story you will like. A man brought a violin to an appraisathon and was told the violin was worth about $1000. You could tell by his expression he was disappointed. As he began preparing to leave, the appraiser asked if he had any idea what the bow was worth? Since the violin was worth only $1000 his answer was "maybe $100". The appraiser almost made him have an heart attack when he announced that the bow's value was $25,000.

Here is another one. I was at a local auction and saw an early Martin sell for $12,500. The crowd went crazy but at the next auction two weeks later I asked him what he had done with the guitar. “You won't believe this but I hung it in my shop the next day and it sold for $25,000", he said. The stories keep coming. Have you heard of Bill Monroe? Probably not, but he is the father of Blue Grass. In fact he is from a small town, near where I grew up, called Rosine, Kentucky. His mandolin sold for $1,000,000 and I can assure you that never in his mind did he think that old piece of junk that he played music with could ever sell for over $1000.

If you think hard enough I am sure that you can come up with some strange instruments that have been used for making music and today it may surprise you what they are worth. Let's see if we can come up with some of that foot-stomping music like I remember from back home and make a lot of money at the same time.

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