Hey all you Fender enthusiasts! I'm a newbie here. My name's Phyl and I live in the London.

I have a Fender Stratocaster 1963 L Series and wondered if I could use the collective wisdom of the forum for advice on where to sell it. Sorry about the rubbish pictures they were rather rushed. My late husband bought it in 1968 and it's been HEAVILY used as you can see. It was also painted decoratively by his first wife so really needs reconditioning which I'm reluctant to do, but I do realise that this will reduce its value. I'm afraid I don't know its original colour.

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if you could provide more pictures, that would be awesome. this looks like a VERY interesting Strat...

I would suggest contacting Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. one of the premier vintage dealers around. they can appraise it for you.

a mint '63 L Series would go for over 42,000.00 USD easily.

I would say just by the pictures provided, pending that the pickups and body/neck are original, maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-9,000.00 USD

hope you can find someone to purchase it! I would if I hadn't bought another Custom Shop Strat.

can you give any more information about the instrument? it looks like the neck and body were refinished, and possibly had a new decal applied. it looks to have replacement tuners (which I might add are rare Gotoh Crown Head tuners of Charvel fame)

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Don't bother taking it to Gruhn in Nashville. There's ample resource on your doorstep to get the guitar accurately valued.

These people have always been very helpful

http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/

Outlets in both Bath and on Denmark Street.
They will charge around £30 to accurately value the guitar. From there you may want to go to Christies or one of the other auction houses. Though I'd have to agree with Nevin. The 'decorated' state of the guitar will seriously affect it's value. A refinished 62 sold for £8000 last year, it was in far better condition.

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No no and no

Thanks very much everyone. All your information is really helpful. I shall follow up on vintageandrareguitars.com and keep searching other London sources. Some places charge a lot for valuation which slightly defeats the object of selling, although I do appreciate that there is a certain amount of expertise required to authenticate items.

P

Voodoodoll

Whatever they tell you, let me know please. I may be interested in buying it.

Who did the artwork? That could add to the value, if it's a artist of note. The problem then becomes twofold. You're pricing a guitar of vintage value and a artpiece. One aspect will detract from the other, but it's value as a work of art could far outweigh any negative effects on the vintage aspect.

Also these people in Hampton Wick are worth having a chat to, as to refinishing. Should you decide to go that route.

http://guitar-xperience.com/onlinestore/

If they won't do the work themselves, they are people in the know and will definitely point you in the right direction.

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No no and no

That´s GOLD !

More like 5-6? If my local Guitar Center can sell a '65 with virtually no finish left on it for about 11k (it sold last week), then this guitar could fetch the 7-9k range.

I really want to see the art up close. This guitar vaguely reminds me of like "Lenny" meets "Rocky"

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There´s a FLYING ARSE on the painting ! That must be of some value right ?

I think that is a Pegasus... or a Unicorn... not sure lol

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So we shall name it FLYING ARSECORN !

I see that too Nevin1985, the tuners for one are not original. Are the pick guard screw locations right for a 63? I know that the screw holes were in different location in 62. Better pictures would help.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Welcome to the forum Voodoodoll. Nice axe. Let us know how it fares as far as appraisal............ Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

See, If I were a super rich billionaire, I would pay MORE than what a 63' in 'excellent' condition was worth. Or at least as much. Depending of course on how it played and sounded. It's possible that there is a rich collector or player out there who would think that guitar is the bees knees. I wouldn't count on it, but I wouldn't rule it out. I'd agree that more, and clearer pictures would help. (And playing it, of course!) Good luck with your appraisal, and sale though!

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08 American Standard Strat Olympic White/Maple
Squier Affinity Strat Blue/Rosewood
Epiphone Riviera-Cherry Red
65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue-Electric Blue
Vibro Champ XD
... and others

From the pics it seems that there is not much left of the 63; the refin, all the hardware has been replaced with gold equivalent, even the pot knobs are changed. If it were a 63 it would be second half of the year due to the position of the pickguard screw that was mover closer to the pickup but it's very difficult to evaluate from the pics.
My feeling is that, unless the paintwork is valuable (i'm not able to evaluate that) and the pickups, body and neck are original, it's probably worth more sold in peices than as a single guitar. The guitar as it is, excluding any value for the decorations, would not be worth more that 3-4thousand.

That's a good way of putting it.

A reconditioning would involve a complete rebuild, from what I see ...

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.