Hi folks,

New to the forum. I'm not a guitar player ,but my dad was and a collector. He passed away two months ago. I have about 12 various Fender Strat's and Tele's to sell. One being significant. It's a no-caster, exact year I don't know. I'm just starting to research it. As far as I know the neck is in good shape and has all hardware. Body was in process of a restoration from when his mother antiqued it (furniture stained it) when he was off to Vietnam. I was a centennial baby so around 1976 he painted it Red/Blue and put a white pick pad on it. The original black pad has been lost.
The second half of the story is... not too long ago he wanted to bring it back to it's original life and being not in the greatest of health and not able to do things as well as he did hurt it a little more. In the process of getting the stain out it split. He got that repaired pretty well, but during the pressing it back togather he had a heart attack and stayed in the clamps for who knows how long. I'm assuming...?? Anyways the moister softened the fiber board between the clamps and body leaving some clamp marks in the body of the wood.

So far, I've been told to invest 2k in it and get it restored by a true professional and it should easily bring 10K and as much as 15K.

Wondering what you Guitar buffs think I should do.

I've sent pictures of it to a place in Nashiville and pretty quickly they offered me $3500 and to come get it.

Thanks,

Chadflys

I would think if you had it pro restored it would bring more than 10 to 15 thousand. I have no idea what a restoration would cost though. I would tell whoever offered you the 3500 to make it 5000 and come and get it or really look into a proper restoration.

Thanks! I'll definitely consider that. What if I can't find all the hardware? What could I expect to lose?

Chadflys

Being not all original would def affect the value. It would depend what was not original. If you can post pics of the guitar.

If it's a real nocaster it's from 1951. Is there a date stamp on the neck?

If you're missing any parts it's gonna cost more then $2000 to get it back in shape.

The body sounds pretty messed up. And that's gonna make a huge difference on what it's worth.

Find a good vintage dealer like Gruhn or Dave Rogers at Dave's Guitar and work with them to get it restored. If you've got all the parts using a custom shop reissue nocaster body might be the best course of action. Include the original body with the sale but it might not be worth trying to fix it up.

Kinda depends on if it's a real nocaster, what shape the neck is in, if you have all the original parts, etc. Even messed up a real nocaster can bring quite a bit of money, but you'll need an expert to help you out and to vouch for the originality of the parts.

I have one fellow that really wants it. Up'd his first bid from 3K to 4K even without the hardware. I'll try to upload the pics I currently have. trying to figure out how to post some pics.

chadflys

If the neck has been refinished and it's missing the hardware $3-4k isn't a bad offer.

That's pretty much just paying for the neck and tuners.

Really depends on what shape the neck is in and what's been done to it.

I'm pretty sure I'll find all the parts. But for now I only have 3 keys. Nothing has been done to the neck. Looks like he might have sprayed some polyurethane. I know the original layer on the neck was getting thin and almost to the wood. Maybe why he put a shot on it. Original Fender logo still in tack and in good shape. Frets appear to be in good shape, but but would likely need to be replaced???

Chadflys

What's the date on the end of the neck? If that's gone it's not good. That's about the only way you're gonna know if it's a real nocaster neck.

If it's been oversprayed that's not good for the value.

Don't do anything to the frets. Let the next owner worry about that. You want as much original as possible.

You might have a valuable guitar. But from the sound of it it's about as bad as it can get for value.

You'll need the original bridge and pots to get a date if the hand written dates are gone from the body and neck. But even then since the parts have been taken apart there's no for sure way to know if they go with this guitar.

Even with all that a pile of '50's tele parts can be worth money. You're unlikely to see anywhere close to $10k however.

it's impossible to give an estimated value without seeing it, and I'm no expert. If a professional offered you $3,500 sight unseen, that's a good indication that it's likely worth more than that. I've seen 52' teles for sale for between $10k-$25k asking price, don't know if they actually sold for that though.

They do.

In much better original shape then it sounds like this one is in however.

Also one needs to remember a dealer isn't gonna offer you much more then 60% of what they plan on selling it for.

You can always try selling it yourself but it's unlikely a collector is gonna take the word of someone who doesn't have a great reputation in the vintage guitar world with a guitar that's missing all the stuff they look for.

Stick with a big name like Gruhn or Dave and you'll get a fair price. Not as much as they'll get. But a fair price none the less.

The fella making the offer has seen pictures. I'd post pics on here if I could figure it out. Its a real nocaster there is not doubt. The original fener decal is still intact and says a lot about what it is. At least that's what I think.

Chadflys

G,day Chadflys, I'd love to see this baby. Just open a Photobucket account, download your pics and copy the image codes into your posts.
Goodonya ...Mark.

Here's how to post pics
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52777

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A-man

That's by far the easiest thing to fake. My custom shop nocaster logo looks right also.

In fact if it's in really good shape that's a worry.

It's entirely possible it's a real nocaster. But you're missing a lot of the little details that would help someone know for sure.

No dealer or collector would say for sure it's real without having it in hand. And then you need a set of hands that have held other nocasters.

I wish you luck. Track down as many of the original parts as you can. And I mean everything, screws, wiring, ferrules, etc. The more you can find the more it's gonna be worth.

Find a good dealer and work with them. Having them verify it and sell it on consignment for you is most likely gonna get you the most money.