It's Thanksgiving and time for family.... so last night my brother and i got together (at our parents) and "jammed" for a bit. It was like being kids again, except he's really, really good, and I just hung on when i could.

Anywho, as we played and talked, i found out that my dads strat (that i thought was a '58') is really a '57. It was refinished several years ago due to the many years of playing and just time and miles of traveling/playing etc. The re-finish was not done at Fender, or by a Fender auth dealer. It looks phenomanal though after years of travel and playing, even after the re-finish. It's no longer played BTW just adored and admired.

To my question. My brother and i wondered about the value of the guitar, and it seems i have read/heard that re-finshing doens't effect the value if done at Fender/by fender. Is this true and if so, is it worth sending it back and having Fender give her a once over? There is no interest in selling it, just hate to think that it's less valuable b/c of a re-finish, or that it could be more valuable if re-finished by Fender.

Peace and Happy Holidays!

84

Refinishing does affect value no matter who has done it. Even if you got a time machine and got picaso to do it, it would affect the guitar. Not neccesarily negatively in that unlikely case though. Even if fender did it it negatively affects value. ZZdoc's got a real tale of woe about a fender refinish on his old 58. They didnt refinish it at all, just slapped a 62 body on it.

57's go for up to £30,000 depending on conditions. I've never seen a re-fin fetch more than £15,000. Only 2 months ago I was considering a re-fin 62, for £8000. Thats a guitar that sells for much the same price as a 57 when in perfect condition.

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No no and no

I think the vintage guitars that were refinished by Fender back in the '50s or '60s didn't loose that much of their value, but they had to have proof (and had to actually be the original body or neck).

Today, I'm sorry to say, you do not have the option of having Fender refinish your Dad's vintage guitar: they won't do it anymore, haven't for decades.

Of course, you might ask consumer relations directly ...

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.