What is Case Candy?
Hello guitar fans! Welcome to the Online Guitar Genie blog.
Everyone knows that a genie’s main purpose is to grant wishes right? Well that is what I am here for. Although I can’t realistically grant your wildest wishes or make things magically appear, I can help you on your way to finding them, which is half the battle. So hang on to your hats guys and gals and hop on to my magic carpet for a ride around the amazing world of the guitar!
In my first post I will be answering a question that many players and enthusiasts ask me. What is Case candy?
“Case candy” is a term which is getting quite a bit of mileage these days amongst vintage guitar collectors and guitar buyers in general. Basically “Case candy” consists of hang tags, bills of sale, warranty papers, owners manuals, straps, guitar pics, strings, string envelopes, guitar jacks, spare parts or other various items that would have originally belonged to any particular guitar or were used by the owner(s) in that guitars lifetime.
Original “Case candy” items from the golden vintage era (1950s to 1970s) are commanding quite high prices on the vintage market and online sellers such as ebay. Of course condition is king and the better the grade the higher the price. Many vintage sellers add case candy items to vintage instruments to make them more attractive to buyers and to increase the price. To know if they were original to the instrument in question can be difficult to determine unless there are specific model/serial # references on the tags or old photos of the guitar and case interior which can be dated and connected. That being said “Case candy” definitely can add value to your instrument not to mention the “WOW” factor. You can just imagine yourself saying ” I just bought a really nice all original 1962 Stratocaster and can you believe it, it had the original bill of sale and hangtags with it” Now that’s cool!!!!
In the early 1980s when USA vintage reissues were beginning to hit the market, “Case candy” kits were included along with period correct cases and they also were vintage replicas or a close approximation of items that would have been included back in the day. Included in these kits were, straps, jacks, manuals etc
Many players discarded these items over the years and much like vintage comic books that ended up in the trash can, no one really imagined that they would eventually become so valuable.
I am not really sure who coined the phrase “Case candy” but one thing for sure is that collectors and players alike have developed a sweet tooth for it. If you have purchased a vintage guitar, vintage reissue, custom shop model or any generic guitar, make sure you hang on to the “Case candy” It adds value to your instrument, makes it more attractive to potential buyers should you want to eventually put it on the market, and even just as a historical biography of the instrument.
Stay tuned for my next post where I will explain how to build a nice “Case Candy” kit from scratch to compliment your guitar without breaking the bank.
That’s all for now my friends see you next time for another magic carpet ride around the amazing world of the guitar.
You can visit the Onlineguitargenie on ebay to purchase Case Candy for your vintage or modern instrument. Onlineguitargenie carries many hard to find parts and accessories for collectors and players alike. Here is where you can find the Genie http://www.ebay.ca/usr/onlineguitargenie