as i said before, I'm hoping that I'm lucky enough to pick up a guitar or two from the fire sale by my local music shop when they hold one.
Is there anything i should look out for?
How much burn/water damage is tolerable?
and what about simply old guitars?
what are the guidelines to buying old/damaged guitars?

well its gonna be a real minefield as the damage wont be the same from guitar to guitar. hopefully if the fire was put out quick and the drainage is good then the woods wont of suffered much damage. Heat is no friend of the guitar neck, i'd check level and line above all else. Then i'd eye the fretboard and frets up. Check for blisters and water having penetrated maple boards. I'd completely dismiss the idea of buying a rosewood boarded guitar with fire/flood damage. The wood is too exposed to have not suffered. Moving onto the body, i'd check for blisters or cracks where the wood glue has melted. Forget about pickups, electrics and machineheads its unlikely you will find them in good working order if the guitar has been sprayed by a firehose.

You could well end up buying 2 guitars just for a body and neck.

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No no and no

I really wouldnt mind doing that if the guitars were affordable.
maybe I could use them as the project/mod practice guitars
how much do the sellers take off on a typical fire sale guitar?

Your better off buying a used MIM or something comparable from Ebay. Fire or water damage would turn me off. You never know what the long term effects of that damage is going to be.

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Hi JTLee9153: very wise advice, above.

I'd go exactly the other way. I'd be on the lookout for the most damaged guitar possible, so long as it seemed still playable. Then keep it that way: a great talking point, and it will likely not cost you much!

Here's a famous fire-damaged Strat. This was the very first one Jimi Hendrix set light to, at the Astoria in North London, 1967:



Fairly viby, no?

Cheers - C

EDIT: spelling...

First I would say that it's going to depend on -why- you want the guitar. If you are just looking for a "conversation piece" ("yea...this came came from such-and-such's fire") then buy whatever you want. If on the other hand you are looking to get something for real cheap that you can then return to a playable condition, my advice is to buy only what you think you can repair. A melted pick guard for example isn't a big deal at all, but if the wood is damaged from the fire or the neck is warped from water damage...there's not much you can do about that except maybe use some of the parts on something else. Also remember that if you are planning on taking said instrument to someone else for repair, that could end up costing you more for the repairs than the instrument is worth...again I'd only buy what I felt I could repair myself.

For example, let's say they have a $1000 Am Std where the neck is badly warped and the body is really badly burned. Perhaps they only want $50 for it because it's so bad...-BUT- you may still be able to use the bridge, trem block and tuning keys. That would be worth $50. If they still wanted $200 for it though, then it's not worth the money. You could also get one guitar where the body is burned but the neck is decent and another where the neck is really warped but the body is reasonably good and combine the two into a decent instrument. Again here though price is going to be a consideration...you don't want to spend $600 on two guitars where the finished value is still only going to be a couple of hundred bucks.

Of course it's also worth keeping in mind that if they do sell these instruments (and that's a big "if" which I'll address in a moment) you can bet that whoever is selling them is also going to know these things too. Yea, you might get a bargain, but remember they are also going to be trying to minimize their losses too. Also remember that in situations such as this, many places just simply write off the entire stock as a loss and may not sell ANYTHING of value. In many cases such as this an insurance company may only pay the owner for a given instrument -if- that instrument is deemed a complete loss. Using the $1000 Am Std as an example again, lets say the instrument wasn't that terribly damaged...maybe it just smells a little funky from the smoke and needs a new pick guard (or pickups). If the insurance company offers close to or full value for that instrument assuming that it gets sh@t canned vs the store only being able to sell it for $400...as the store owner, which would you take? In most situations such as this an insurance company usually will not offer a "partial" compensation based on the damage to the instrument...most insurance agents have no idea what a given guitar may be worth beyond the sticker price. In other words, -if- the music shop does have a "fire sale", I wouldn't get my hopes up about getting any mind blowing bargains. If you do, great but do prepared to walk out of there empty handed as well.

Alrighty, just some thoughts for you to consider!
Jim

thanks for the great advices!
I have gathered many useful informations on the damaged gears.
Which leaves me wondering...what about simply "aged" guitars?
I'm not talking about original 50's strat that goes for some 15k's...i mean simply "used" gears... although some tips on the "vintage" guitars would help as well.

Not quite sure what you are looking for here specifically but in general, the given value of a used guitar tends to depend on many things. The age of the particular instrument, the brand and model, how well it's been taken care of, etc.. Certain instruments retain their value and become "collectibles" while others don't. Genuine "Fenders" and "Gibsons" for example tend to be worth more than a quite comparable "Squire" or "Epiphone" that very well could be of similar quality as far as the specific instrument goes. Typically the older the instrument, the higher the value...at least in regards to a "quality" brand...if it's a Hondo, Lotus, Harmony, Memphis, First Act, Cort, etc., chances are even if it's 30 years old, it's not going to be worth a lot of money regardless of condition.

Certainly a "rare" model from a well known maker is also going to fetch a lot more money than other models. Look at a Gretch "White Penguin" for example...talk about an instrument that's worth -A LOT- of money. Again though this applies to a well known brand...I have an old Rhythmline Tele clone and in all my years, I've only seen -1- other guitar from this company. To be honest despite how "rare" it is, the thing is virtually worthless simply because it was a cheap piece of crap to begin with.

As I said, the condition of the instrument itself is also a major factor...particularly in regards to older instruments. If the instrument is indeed "collectible" then most people will want that instrument as original, unaltered and unmolested as possible. Even among the vintage collectibles, a really beat up, but otherwise perfectly playable '57 Strat, while certainly it's going to be worth a lot of money, isn't going to be worth nearly as much as one in close to mint condition. Also the instrument's specific history can play a role too. Look at SRV's infamous #1 for example. If that guitar was owned by any ordinary player, it wouldn't be anywhere NEAR worth what it actually is. If that guitar had of been owned by some ordinary schmoe, most reputable collectors would look at it and think "ewweeeee...poor thing...what a pity", but with this specific instrument that's not the case...simply because it was Stevie's guitar.

One last thing I would mention here is that to the average guitar player who is NOT a collector, it can be difficult to determine the given "vintage" of a specific instrument. To be completely honest here, this is a very special area...knowing how to identify a "vintage" instrument. I've been playing guitar for over 25 years now and I own 20 guitars of various makes and models and to tell you the truth...if you were to take Strats from '57, '65, '72, '84 and '91 and line them all up in front of me, I'd be hard pressed to tell you which was which without looking up the serial number. To me, they all look like Strats! LOL!!! To me my '96 MIM looks like like any other MIM Standard Strat, 90's or new. There -are- ways to identify them...or clues at least that could indicate a specific vintage, but this is often something that many ordinary guitar players like myself simply don't know off the top of their head.

Depending on what you are looking for (or hoping to find), I'd do my homework. Look around on Ebay and Craigslist and such and see what any given make/model instrument that you hope to find might be going for. I think that Ebay is really a wonderful resource for something like this because if gives you a really good idea of what people are willing to pay for any given vintage. If you are considering a vintage instrument, it also may be worth it to you to get a good book on the history of that given instrument so that you'll know how to identify it as well as an approximate value.

Alrighty, hope this helps!
Jim

I agree with Ceri. Go for the most damaged possible guitar that still plays.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

Please bring your digital camera, even if you don't buy any of them, please take some pictures for us curious types to see.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I will, provided that the sale takes place soon