Back around 1998 I picked up an American Standard Stratocaster brand new at an authorized dealer. It is in Sage Green. I have never seen a Strat in Sage Green metallic that is made in the USA. Serial # is N7297093. Only other strats in that color I've seen are MIM.
And yes I'm positive it is not Inca Silver - it is definitely Sage.
I am really ending the days of shredding on the electric (and I have a USA TELE) so I went to Guitar Center and they offered me $350 for it. (Never came with hard Fender case, I got an SKB hard case so they gave me no value for that).

Does the fact that this color is rare make it worth more? Its got some really small scratches and a tiny nic in the fretboard, but still in really really good shape. (The 8th grade version of me did not take as good of care of it as I should have).

I don't want to settle for less than I should... Let me know what you think!

First of all, GC only offered you right around half of what a used American Standard strat is really worth (and really - who are they to say that your case has no value whatsoever?). The Sage Green finish is certainly desirable, but not a complete deal-breaker in all cases.

It certainly sounds like a nice guitar; would you mind posting a few pictures of it? I am sure myself and other Forum members would be interested in seeing it.

Hope this works never uploaded pics to a message board...Forgot to mention I replaced the bridge pickup with a seymore duncan which was probably a mistake when it comes to resale. The pics make it look like Inca Silver but it definitely is not.

Guitar center is not the best place to sell anything. Check Ebay and see what the Am Standard are selling for also check Gbase, another good source and that is a nice looking Strat.
Cheers

Rare colors or options only increase the value if the potential buyer really wants that specific rare thing. Otherwise, it's a used modified 1998 strat in pretty good condition. I mean no offense, it looks like a very nice guitar, and because of that, I'm willing to bet that it will be worth a lot more to you in the future than the little bit of cash you can get for it now.

You will find a lot more regret stories about selling a nice guitar than you will find "glad I got $X00 for it" stories. Choose wisely.

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'09 Am Deluxe Ash Strat
'09 Mex Standard Strat
'10 Mex Standard Tele
Champ 600
Blues jr.
'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue

lol GC is the worst.

never trade in. i always go Ebay to get highest value.

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-Nick

'05 Taylor 714 - Cedar/3 Piece Rosewood, Fishman Matrix
'06 Fender Standard Strat w/Noiseless Pickup System

Hi tdiggitydog: you're right, it certainly doesn't look like Sage Green in the photos. If that's what Fender called it when you bought it I guess they'd know. But from the pix it looks much more like Blizzard Pearl - the pickguard is original, right? I think pearloid pickguards came with the Blizzard finish.

Anyhow. This sale looks mighty similar to your guitar: it's a 1998 and I'd be surprised if it's not the same colour:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1998-American-F ... 2ec3288f33

The gentleman's opened the bidding on that one at $749, which sounds about the right ballpark. His BIN price of $899 is a bit on the optimistic side, I'd have thought, but who knows? Some guideline numbers for you.

Bear in mind that retailers normally have to sell for about twice the price they buy their stock to make their business work. GC will likely be expecting to sell your guitar for about $700+, if you sell it to them; and that's not unreasonable.

Cheers - C

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I agree.

Ah thanks for all the input guys. Yes that makes sense - only worth as much as the next guy will pay for it.

The pearl pickguard I put on when i bought it. It came with a standard white pick guard.

I remember back in my hard-core Corvette days when I subscribed to Vette magazine and I used to read all of the Letters to the Editor. One month a guy wrote in and went on and on about what a great Corvette he had and how much it was worth because it was such a rare color! I remember that it was a shade of dark green. After about a three paragraph letter, the response from the editor consisted of one line:

There's a big difference between rare and desirable.

That has stuck with me for the last twenty years. Your guitar might be green, it might be something else; but when you get into the colors that could be called two or three different colors, I think you are on your own. If YOU like it, that's all that really matters.

As far as the pickguard and bridge pickup changes are concerned, they wouldn't bother me if I was buying that guitar from you. But you still have the original pickup, right..?

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Ah-ha, OK.

The uncomfortable fact is that even if a collectable colour added some value to a guitar, modifications take that value straight off again. Nobody likes someone else's mods, no matter how fine they are. Returning it to bone stock will help the sale price, if you still have the original parts.

Still. Either way, I bet you can sell your Strat for hundreds more than GC offered, so that's the good news.

Good luck - C

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Thanks for all the valuable opinions.
I should not have made the mods. I was in 8th grade at the time, and I do not have any original parts. Oh well, I'll probably hang onto it unless someone in town will give me a decent trade value.

Post the price you're looking for...

Never know... your Inbox could fill-up.

GLWS !

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Haha I didn't want to do that on here, didn't wanna make this an obnoxious "for sale" posting, really just looking to see if a rare color should have me holding out for more.
I'd say $625 as is, and its sold, comes with hard skb case thats pretty beat up but still works just fine.
Plus shipping from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Or if anyone has a Taylor or Martin acoustic that's probably what I'll trade into.

I agree with CRGuitarMan about the car analogy.

Rare colors usually do command a higher price, but all things being equal, there's not really much difference between rare colors that are desirable or undesirable. It's my experience that these cars will all sell, and usually sell at a premium.

What is different between desirable and undesirable rare colors is the time it takes to sell them. Obviously the undesirable ones take longer and if time/money is a consideration, many sellers do lower the price to make the car move.

But, if this isn't an issue, and the seller can wait, it will usually pay off. Porsche has come out with a slew of wild colors for the 911 over the years (many undesirable), but because of their rarity, they almost always sell at a premium.

Oddly, some of the most desirable Porsche colors are desirable because so many were produced in that color and people have become familiar with the car in that color. But due to the numbers produced, these often have lower or softer prices.

I suspect the same hold true of Guitars as well.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele