Professional guitar evaluations

costafonix

One of the items on my wishlist is to purchase a PRS Custom 24 with bird inlays......
I've set this as a target for 2012, and the only way to achieve this is to (unfortunaly) sell some gear that I don't really use,,,
SO,,, not sure if i'm making a mistake or not :-\ but i'm toying with the idea of selling my 1969 Fender Telecaster with bigsby tailpiece + original hard case.
Can anyone recommend a PROFESSIONAL guitar evaluator (i.e. not your regular music shop guitar sales rep) in Johannesburg that can give me an proper value of this guitar?

vic

Costa, the most important aspect here is originality, as you would know. You may want to check Gruhn guitars http://www.gruhn.com/ for some examples.
I'm not sure if there are many pro guitar evaluators around, however the closest one to you may be Hugh of Hugh's fine guitars. ??
George Gruhn normally requires a few pics to do an evaluation.
Otherwise you could check ebay USA and see how much these teles are advertised for...
Good luck and let us know.... OK ?

costafonix

Thanks Vic, I'll try Hugh as well as the Gruhn link you sent. :yup:

vic

check this also http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/member-classifieds/4300-1969-vintage-fender-telecaster-olympic-white.html

there's some discussions going on here....around $7000-8000

costafonix

scary stuff,
I wont get anywhere near that,,, mine's been refinished at Andy McGibbons, and it has a replacement pearloid scratchplate.

Gearhead

Neither the pro refin nor the pickguard will be as disastrous for pricing as the Bigsby. I do not think Fender fitted those to Teles in 69?

aubs1

Well, maybe they did ........ here Costa....... Euro 6350 ..... looks pretty awesome!

http://www.vintageandrare.com/product/Fender-Telecaster-Factory-Bigsby-1969-Black-19226

costafonix

@Gearhead I'm not certain.
It was sold to me as a '69 Tele years ago,
its a factory fitted Bigsby with the 'F' logo, the serial number on the plate and on the neck indicate its a '69.. thats why I'm looking for a pro to give it a proper valuation.
There's quite a few similar listings on the internet showing '69 models with factory fitted Bigsby's.

racman

Go and see Ronnie Milne at "Allbang & Strummit" (Cresta). He'll give you a no nonsense idea and evaluation for sale in SA as well as UK or USA.

costafonix

RoyC wrote: Go and see Ronnie Milne at "Allbang & Strummit" (Cresta). He'll give you a no nonsense idea and evaluation for sale in SA as well as UK or USA.

Thanks Roy, I know Ronnie well and I'll be in that area tomorrow, will try go see him.

Aubs1 wrote: Well, maybe they did ........ here Costa....... Euro 6350 ..... looks pretty awesome!

http://www.vintageandrare.com/product/Fender-Telecaster-Factory-Bigsby-1969-Black-19226

thanks Aubs !! ?

Arno-West

Pls, pls I urge you not to sell any gear that is of value to you. Rather wait a bit longer and save up to buy new stuff without selling anything. I learnt this the hard way, I still miss my 50th Anniversary Strat and Marshall 7512 combo I sold to pay rent 12 years ago. All I am saying is, don't do something you might regret later.

AlanRatcliffe

Arno West wrote: Pls, pls I urge you not to sell any gear that is of value to you. Rather wait a bit longer and save up to buy new stuff without selling anything.

I've got to agree with this. The really special stuff only comes along rarely and the older, rarer vintage stuff is only going to go up even more in the long run. If you have the slightest doubts, don't.

costafonix

Arno West wrote: Pls, pls I urge you not to sell any gear that is of value to you. Rather wait a bit longer and save up to buy new stuff without selling anything. I learnt this the hard way, I still miss my 50th Anniversary Strat and Marshall 7512 combo I sold to pay rent 12 years ago. All I am saying is, don't do something you might regret later.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Arno West wrote: Pls, pls I urge you not to sell any gear that is of value to you. Rather wait a bit longer and save up to buy new stuff without selling anything.
I've got to agree with this. The really special stuff only comes along rarely and the older, rarer vintage stuff is only going to go up even more in the long run. If you have the slightest doubts, don't.

thanks guys, you've made up my mind,,, to be honest I did have doubts,,,,,

SO, HENCEFORTH the '69 Tele will not be sold.....

whew,, that was a close shave ☹

Neon-Gecko

And that Sir, is certainly a very wise move :applause:

aubs1

CostaFonix wrote: SO, HENCEFORTH the '69 Tele will not be sold.....

:applause: :applause: Absolute good decision, your kid(s), the one who will inherit it would have hated you forever..... ? :applause: :applause:

I agree with Arno, rather wait, save until the time is right to buy that Custom 24, it will be so much sweeter when you get it!!!

Arno-West

Good on you mate!

Reinhard

For insurance purposes I had mine done by Guitarexperience in CT.
I think it was R150 per guitar.
What everyone said, keep the tele. Selling vintage/high end gear locally you're bound to take a knock, unlees it's some uber collectable piece a dealer/collector might want.

Bob-Dubery

Reinhard wrote: For insurance purposes I had mine done by Guitarexperience in CT.

I used to get mine valued by McGibbon's - for insurance purposes, though it gave a good idea of what the instrument's value on the market would be.

I don't see any reason why a good shop shouldn't be able to give a realistic valuation on an instrument.

If you want to do things by the book then there is an actual "blue book" for the guitar trade. Hugh Cumming has a copy, and anybody can buy their own (though not, admittedly, at CNA).

Reinhard

X-rated Bob wrote:
Reinhard wrote: For insurance purposes I had mine done by Guitarexperience in CT.
I used to get mine valued by McGibbon's - for insurance purposes, though it gave a good idea of what the instrument's value on the market would be.

I don't see any reason why a good shop shouldn't be able to give a realistic valuation on an instrument.

If you want to do things by the book then there is an actual "blue book" for the guitar trade. Hugh Cumming has a copy, and anybody can buy their own (though not, admittedly, at CNA).

True, but how many good shops are there? If I walk into Bothner's or Marshall and say " I have a 1965 X with a refinish and period correct parts etc " I don't expect to get anything resembling a good idea of market value. They may do better on newer instruments, stranger things have happened.

AlanRatcliffe

Reinhard wrote: True, but how many good shops are there? If I walk into Bothner's or Marshall and say " I have a 1965 X with a refinish and period correct parts etc " I don't expect to get anything resembling a good idea of market value. They may do better on newer instruments, stranger things have happened.

Roy at Bothners always keeps the latest Blue Book and the sales guys contact him to get the values (but have to judge condition themselves).