Appraisals

Jonathan Berg, a 2006 graduate of Newark and Sherwood College in Classical guitar making, works for Artpèges as a maker and restorer of all types of guitars.

With today’s high demand and interest of collectors and enlightened musicians some pieces are now hitting significant monetary value, namely, guitars designed by the first major guitar brands that pioneered industrial production.

In our work, we mainly appraise instruments that have a story to tell: from a guitar broken by a big rock band to a touring musician’s fetish bass, Artpèges strives to show that the instrument and the artist have an inseparable bond. Far more than just being an object, it is the heritage and legacy of our pop culture.

In addition to this work, we showcase guitars of exceptional condition and age, both electric and acoustic, from major brands such as Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, or more specific ones such as Danelectro, Burns or Jacobacci.

If you are interested in selling your guitar, you can start by emailing us some photos and an accurate description. After that, you can bring us your instrument so we can further our expertise:
– To begin with, we will have to date and define the historical context of the instrument by establishing the period, place and mode of manufacture or the origin of the materials.
– Then, we will have to verify the condition: this concerns the cosmetics, the structure, the statement of possible modifications, the temporal coherence of the different parts, the restored elements of the instrument’s make and finish and finally the search for unique and distinctive signs.
The synthesis of these observations will allow us to establish a precise identification and profile of the instrument.

For the sale and appraisal of records, Artpèges has partnered with the independent record store Bigwax Records. Arthur Perault’s participation in the Radio France and Europe 1 vinyl auctions allows us to manage the sale of large stocks. We manage large collections, store and label stocks and radio station catalogs.
We are interested in all kinds of music but we privilege the styles appreciated by both the public and the collectors like 60s and 70s rock, pop, indie, soul, punk, psych, folk, blues and reggae (we add dub because it is
Much appreciated by Dave). We also work with professionals specializing in more specific styles such as classical music or jazz.
We assess all types of records: LPs, 7″, 12″, CDs, tapes, but also acetates, unreleased tapes, demos and promos. Finally, the condition of the media is an essential element for a sale: the better the quality of the record, the higher the final price.
The auction format is ideal for the sale of records since it allows to value a collection by breaking it down by style and by artist. This classification, in the form of a lot, is the best way to attract the most bidders and thus to obtain a maximum price.
Our partnership with Bigwax records allows us to offer a meticulous expertise: this work involves defining the condition, an essential element of expertise to assert the quality of the object.
The record will be sold according to an international grading defining the condition of the cover and the record.
Finally, if your stock is too large, we can offer you a short-term sale. Since the return of vinyl, this type of event is very popular with fans. It makes it possible to sell large quantities of records of all formats at a fixed price. Generally, we classify by order of rarity and let the buyer dig out his record.
We also appraise memorabilia: they are the testimony of a specific moment in the history of a band. This may include concert posters, flyers, programs, tickets, recordings, unreleased tapes, acetates. Collectible items may even include the musician’s personal effects such as a piece of stage clothing, a letter, an object or a musical instrument.

The expertise of the professional audio equipment concerns all the objects intended for the sound system of a musical recording location. Examples include static or dynamic microphones, analog or digital consoles or mixing desks, amplifiers, “boxes” (front and rear speakers).
We have also decided to group together other objects related to this musical universe, such as synthesizers or effects equipment.
For vintage synthesizers, we find all the analog equipment from the 1970s and 1980s that had once fallen into oblivion. But their unique sound has earned renewed interest among musicians and collectors, with a special interest in some now considered «cult » models such as the Moog Minimoog Model D, the Sequential Circuits Prophet V or electric pianos from the big brands like the Yamaha CP70 revived by British pop.
The effect material is used to create all the sound variations during a recording. This is the case of the echo chamber with, on the one hand, the real echo chamber installed in a recording studio and, on the other hand, tape echo machines intended for a more nomadic use. The famous Binson Echorec, immortalized in Pink Floyd’s live performance in Pompeii belongs to this second category.

Thanks to Aurélien Turbant’s experience in the studio and to his many years of professional equipment restoration, we offer you an expertise that affirms the quality and verifies the authenticity of each lot. This process is accompanied by a control of the cosmetic condition, an examination of each internal component and, finally, any restoration and cleaning work.