Hello, all.
I am new to this community and hoping to find a little guidance. My grandpa passed away over a year ago, and my grandma is now ready to sell his guitar. It's an original Stratocaster from 1954, which she purchased as new in 1954 for $250. She has asked me for help, but I do not know a whole lot about guitars. I know it's worth a lot of money, but how would I go about selling something so valuable? I have started researching the guitar on the internet and I have learned about how to "authenticate" the guitar. It's the real deal, but both eBay and Craig's List don't give me a lot of confidence that I will reach my "target market". Do I attempt to go through a more "high-end" channel like Christie's or Sotheby's? Please help. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Seems like I've read this story in several different versions the last few days????????? Most of them from "first " time posters that just happened to have a gift fall into thier hands.

Really? That kind of bums me out... I am not interested in playing games or anything like that. I can't speak for others, but my intentions are honest and genuine. Please believe me; I don't even get the money or even a cut. This is just to help my grandma. Just in search of advice...

Thank you.

If you do have this guitar worth a lot of money Why would get on a web site and take advice from someone that you have no idea who they are? If true take it to a professional vintage guitar expert ? Good luck!

Your guitar is a very early one. That guitar is likely worth at least $30,000 if it all original -- maybe even a lot more. Something like that you don't need eBay or (especially) Craigslist. I am not the expert on who to call, but I'd start with a place that specializes in selling vintage musical instruments. There are also auction houses that also specialize in vintage musical instruments. Besides being VERY happy to talk to you, I'd bet they would be very helpful. Authentication is going to be the key for you. Good luck.

1) When all is said and done, could you post in this thread what you did and the final outcome?
2) Could you post a pic of the guitar for us? We'd loooooove to see it.

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Thank you very much for the advice.

OK, I do not want Craig's or eBay. That is confirmed now.

I was afraid that I would have to resort to the "auction houses", but it's probably best. They always take a nice chunk, but at least it filters out the weirdos and posers. Could anybody recommend an "auction house" to use? I will search myself, but personal references are always nice.

I will gladly take pictures to post. I have to have those pictures anyway.

Also, I am more than happy to post the outcome.

Thanks again.

Good luck my friend and I'm sorry if I sounded skeptical at first but......... Looking foward to pictures!!

I'll give you £10,000 depending on condition

cash waiting. Will fly out to inspect the piece and pay cash in dollars.

_________________
No no and no

There you go. Problem solved!!!

No worries on the skepticism... I tend to be a skeptic on this kind of stuff too. When in doubt on the internet, right? It's cool.

I will post pictures and serial number soon. I have to go over to her house and get that info.

I will be the first to admit that I had no idea how valuable his guitar is. It was always just "grandpa's old guitar"...

To the offer: Thank you very much. I have to run all offers by my grandma first, but it's going to be tough. I talked to her last night, and she seems to think that it's worth upwards of $100K. I tried telling her that I found the range to be more $25k-55k. All of my research so far tells me that is the range; so, she will have to "de-value" it. I assume much is sentimental, but that doesn't sell. LOL!

Christie's and Sotheby's have experts in vintage guitars and will advise you for free. Depending where you are in the world there's others too: Bonham's, etc. You may find their knowledge very useful in authenticating a genuine instrument.

Also, as 01GTeibach said, there are shops that specialise in vintage and rare guitars. Let us know where on the planet you are and likely a member will be able to tell you the whereabouts of an appropriate store. It may mean travelling - but then if you have a real '54 it'll be worth it.

I'm not sure whether the specialist store or the auction house will want the bigger cut of the sale, but if genuine you can expect a sizeable enough mark up on that original $250 investment to comfortably cover your costs...

And why not post pictures immediately? An internet forum is not the place to conclusively authenticate an instrument - but there's folks round here who are very expert in what you are talking about and can at least give pointers. And the rest of us are just extremely nosy!

Don't be put out by what Mr FHopkins says. He is rightly expressing extreme caution over the appearance of yet another apparently rare and valuable guitar on this Forum. It is, after all, a classic way to bring counterfeit goods to market - and old guitars are particularly fakeable. I have more to say on that, at some point…

On the assumption that yours is genuine you have no reason to be put out by warnings such as his - and every reason to be glad if the fakers are kept at bay by an alert public!

Best of luck - C

She may be right ... or it could very likely be between those two. But until you finish your homework assignment, you won't know. Just let us know how it turns out.


+1 -- Yes, we are!

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

drat my mercenary ways are foiled again.

by way of help heres a link to a reputable vintage seller/buyer who may give you a quote.

http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/web/our-catalogue/Fender/Electric-Guitars/item/3436

a 58 in decent nick for £28500 thats about $58000 so gramma may not be far off with her estimate. Hmmm financialy astute senior citizens. Whatever next.

all the best with it.

_________________
No no and no

Thank you, Ceri. Your response was very helpful.

I understand about the pictures. I won't even look at an eBay auction or CL ad without pictures. Most are this way. To be honest, this all just started going down yesterday. My grandma talked to me about it yesterday for the very first time. This is why I look like a fish out of water... I am.

I have read that the serial number is on the back of the "white plate". Go ahead and laugh, as I know it has a proper name... Is that true? I don't want to damage it. Also, I can get the date of manufacture by removing the neck, right?

So far, I am only going off of my grandma telling me when she bought it to "authenticate" it. More to follow... I promise.

Thank you, Niki. That link is awesome!

Wow! Are you kidding me? She was more right than wrong? I guess I stand corrected. The guitar is more than I thought...

I am just happy that I know more now than I did 2 hours ago...