I bought my son a Strat when he was 10 years old, he is now 31 going on 11..... He still has it.... I let him play my Travis Bean once in awhile.... I love him dearly, but he will never get my 1957 because he would probably trade it for a Harley.... Would like to see some Rocker get her....

Jim

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For Those About To Rock, I Salute You......
https://www.digitalaquariums.com/

I'm a rocker and would never trade it. Just let me inherit it and you'll know its going to be used, but not abused!

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

Sorry DetroitBlues, I have first dibs! I will take really good care of her!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

This is such a high price to pay for a stratocaster. does anyone really have this sort of money?

Well AlainlaFrance has a couple of pristine unaltered 62's that I'm sure he didnt go above 25K Euro to get. Infact he's owned one of em since 62.

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No no and no

I'm not inclined to sell mine, but I would let it go for under $5MM!! You can see it down the page under "Original 57".

Just clowning around!

Joe

Jim you really need to read Joe P's thread if you haven't already. Also welcome to the forums!!

I just finished reading it and looking at his photos...
Very beautiful guitar, and amazing it's still got all the original documentation....
I do believe mine had that chrome cover over the base of the strings, but it was a pain to me, and like an idiot I pitched it.....
My case was in great shape when I got it, but hauling it to practices, bars and night clubs wasn't kind to it....

Can't believe the original owner quit playing it in the early 70's....

Jim

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For Those About To Rock, I Salute You......
https://www.digitalaquariums.com/

I've seen a few Strats that were worth over $10,000... but $5mill???? For that kind of money, someone who has never played before should be able to pick it up and play better than a pro! lol.

Hi Jim:

Everyone referred to the chrome piece over the bridge as the "ashtray". Almost everyone didn't like or use it, but it's become a collectable. I recently saw an original one in mint condition selling for around $375. Almost no one played with them on!! I was glad the original owner still had it. Actually, he is one of the few that did use it. Mine has a few scuffs, but nothing bad. I guess the upside is that the bridge is still pretty clean.

Joe

just read this thread since... same guitar we were talking about in another thread

The "owner" (lets be honest who knows who had the pictures first the ebay seller or the forum user) is hilarious

It's like we are in a vortex with this guy.... do yourself a favour and read this thread if you haven't.... great great stuff

oh and for those of you in the market for a new guitar

I have a 2009 SQUIER that is worth a reasonable $142,089 to me, so if there are any buyers out there please don't insult me or my guitar.... i get very sad and angry when people insult my reasonable priced guitar

I am just telling you what she is worth to me
yes yes i know nobody asked but heck I thought I would offer it to the forum friends first before going to ebay/craigslist/kijiji

BTW that price doesn't include a case

I never asked anyone to talk about my guitar......

But if I ever sell her, all your early vintage guitars will increase in value....

Jim

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For Those About To Rock, I Salute You......
https://www.digitalaquariums.com/

Sorry but in my opinion, it sounds so stupid to say you didn't ask for your guitar to be talked about when you place a $5,000,000 price tag on ebay. Is't the whole point of an ebay auction the hope that many people can see it, be interested in it and talk about it? You know to generate a sale?

you can say you didn't ask anybody to talk about it but what relevance does that have? The thread started by bringing up a guitar for sale on ebay and how insane (to most people) the price is.

One thing really bothers me about this guitar and it was the first thing I checked when I got to see the updated photos after everyone called it out as a fake.

For clarity's sake: I DO NOT INTEND TO CALL ANYONE A LIAR OR INTEND TO SWAY OPINIONS; I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING ABOUT THE STRATOCASTER IN QUESTION THAT I FEEL SHOULD BE POINTED OUT.

Okay, at first glance, everything seems like it checks out. However, if you go over the details with a fine-toothed comb, you'll notice something VERY interesting about the headstock decal (I always check this first on fakes or whatever).

For comparison's sake, here are some photos.

Here is a comparison of the original '57 headstock decal versus the reissue (I can't embed the image, so please click the link):

http://guitarhq.com/fenddiff/makehtml.p ... decals.jpg

Here is the seller's Strat:



See how the letter "O" in "TREMOLO" lines up directly with the letter "T" in "STRATOCASTER"?

The original '57 waterslide decal had "WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO" in a different font than the reissued decals you see in the comparison image I linked causing the slightly different alignment (it appears original '57s had the earlier mentioned letters set offset left from each other). I also managed to make a few comparisons as well before I posted this and I haven't ran across an original '57 Stratocaster yet that had a waterslide decal made like that.

It's something I find odd, anyway. I do understand Fender liked to change up suppliers quite often back during the glory days, but quality and detail usually stayed pretty consistent.

Now, in theory, someone could take a '57 reissue, manage to obtain a period correct neckplate with a serial number like that from eBay (I used to have a Squier Jagmaster that I got in on trade for a Squier Tele HS that had a vintage, low numbered neckplate that the first owner bought from, yep, eBay; in hindsight, I wish I swapped it out for another one and kept it because I wouldn't mind putting it on my '67 reissue for the utter hell of it), successfully remove the original serial number and pencil in a date on the neck quite easily. Installing a spare, vintage string tree wouldn't be hard to do either (studying it, the original string tree is still in its first, factory location in good shape and the added second one is oxidized and rusted a bit and doesn't match the '57-style tree at all; yes Fender has changed the way they stamp trees out a bit over the years), same for the brass nut. They finish the reissues with nitro, of course, so with some use it will wear off.

Again, I don't mean to call anyone a liar and I could very well be wrong in the end.

In any case, the guitar's value isn't anywhere near 5 million, even if I am wrong. That's been said already, of course.

You can't translate sentimental value into a dollar amount. If you could, you'd have bigger things to worry about if you bought something used besides market value, depreciation, inflation, features, and crap like that.

Hell, if you could, my Strat would instantly be worth 5
billion and not a dime less and it's not even a real '67 maple capped fretboard Strat (but it is just about as rare, ha-ha).

And what really upsets me, Jim, is the fact you want to sell this for 5 million and "try to help [others] out by driving the value of their instruments up" in a heatbeat. I want to say this to you and this time I don't care if you get upset, go on and curse me in your "l33t 0100101" trash talk: I can't stand "collector's" guitars. I can't stand the concept of a nice vintage guitar (or much any guitar) setting around being unused and neglected. It doesn't matter if it's a late '70s Harmony beginner's guitar or a '57 Strat like yours. A guitar as a mantle piece or an investment to have sitting in a vault is just so damn stupid I can't begin to point out everything wrong with that idea. It may look pretty for years to come, but it will sit around and ruin, just like a classic car (hell, most classic cars still aren't worth 10 times what their contemporaries are). The strings will oxidize and ruin, the wiring will slowly sour ... it goes on and on and on.

You know who should really own and play these instruments? The players. And you know what, most players can't buy these instruments even if it was used as an ashtray by some dumb $@! kid in the '70s and has all of the original finish stripped off and replaced by automotive primer. It's really a stupid money making game in the end and you would be helping to further remove these guitars from the hands of people who should rightfully be able to own them. I hate the whole idea of it so much it really angers me.

If you love the guitar so much but you are unable to play it, then what would really make you happy? Knowing that your Strat is in the hands of someone who would love it, cherish it, and wouldn't part with it or that it's in the hands of a collector who wouldn't care at all to sell it depending how the damn wind blows. If the latter would rest easy on your mind, then fine, have it your way. Just know that it wouldn't have as good of a home as it would in the hands of A PLAYER.

And this isn't some macho persona talking to you on an internet forum. I'd be glad to say this, word for word, to your own face.

Good luck selling it for that price. You're going to need it.

On another (unrelated?) note, some little boy was very lucky to own a Magnatone Starlite series amp back in the day (it looks to me like that is a 411 but I'm not sure).

I managed to find a friend of mine an all original '64 Magnatone (has an "Ariatone" name plaque on it though) 421 for only $15 bucks a few weeks before some nasty flooding hit the state. I regret not buying it myself, honestly (the tone is pretty nice), but the cabinet was starting to literally fall apart (pressboard you know).

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2006 Fender AVRI 70s Stratocaster: Natural Ash | Sovtek MIG 60 & A No Name Cabinet | Pedals & Junk

A couple of months ago I bought a book about Strats,The Stratocaster Handbook I think it is,and the author made a statement about guitars in collections and museums that aren't played anymore,something like "they die a slow death".
A great guitar needs to be played so it can live...and we can't afford some of them anymore...so they're dying.....and leaving decent looking corpses.