Yard Sale Find.....Old Tele Custom

[VitaminG]

Not everyone knows what a Fender is and it does look kind of dirty and beat up. I am going to guess it wasn't in tune. I am going to guess that 9 out of 10 people who don't play guitar would have no idea it was a 4 figure guitar especially in that condition.

true. Dirty, beat up, out of tune & with a crusty set of old strings. Folks who don't know better might assume that it was a cheap, crappy old guitar

[PowerTube]

I scored a 75 Tele Custom Thinline at a yard sale years ago. Paid 500...sold it for 1800. I hated that guitar. Played like shit and sounded like shit. Wouldn't intonate. Why people go nuts for mid 70s Fenders is a mystery to me.

Here's what I really find ironic. When CBS bought Fender in 1965, quality took a nose dive soon after. No only that, but very few people liked the 3-bolt neck, "bullet" truss rod, and some other things that CBS introduced. Suddenly, everyone wanted the older Strats and that's where we got the term "pre-CBS." So at some point, "pre-CBS" became "vintage" and now, decades later, those same 70's Fenders that they could barely give away are included in that and supposedly worth a fortune.

And don't even get me started about "relic" guitars. I actually respect the concept, but the way they execute it is atrocious. Like we're supposed to believe that a player's picking arm will make a nice clean swipe across the upper bow with fresh, clean wood underneath.

[Outlander]

3 bolt tiltamatic plate dead give away....btw...I hate your neighbor now!

[pianoguyy]

Not knowing Fender or Gibson is not quite the same as not knowing PRS or Jackson.
I equate it to not knowing Ford or Chevy. We're not talking about Aston Martin or Arash.

I just don't see how people live under rocks like that. I may not be able to cook Spaghetti but I certainly know what it is.

[straycat]

I have nailed some 50's strats/teles at peddlers malls/estate sales/pawn shops for very cheap back in the early 90's.
Hit every nook and cranny in every Mom and Pop music store within 300 miles of home.
Landed some killer old Gibson J's old Martins off people that didn't realize how valuable they were at the time.
They see a dirty beat up guitar in a smelly case and all they want to do is get rid of it.
You have to dig and hunt but it can bring you a big payday.

[Catharpin]

I just don't see how people live under rocks like that. I may not be able to cook Spaghetti but I certainly know what it is.

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[VoiceX3]

Not knowing Fender or Gibson is not quite the same as not knowing PRS or Jackson.
I equate it to not knowing Ford or Chevy. We're not talking about Aston Martin or Arash.

I just don't see how people live under rocks like that. I may not be able to cook Spaghetti but I certainly know what it is.

I understand your analogy, but it is flawed. You may know spaghetti, so does everyone. but do you know the difference between all the brands and types? Of course everyone knows what a beat up old guitar is, but not everyone knows brands and values. It would have ended up in the dumpster had he not seen them just pulling things out of the house when he was going by. He got a couple lamps and an end table too.

[jgcable]

i agree that a lot of people don't know squat about guitars but.... in todays day and age its pretty unusual to find somebody who doesn't know how to search the internet and do research on something they are selling.

[PowerTube]

I understand your analogy, but it is flawed. You may know spaghetti, so does everyone. but do you know the difference between all the brands and types?

And Fender at times has used a "spaghetti" logo.

I sense a conspiracy.

[z1n]

All this guitar talk is making me hungry. If I put that guitar on the bay, I bet it would fetch more looking like that than if it were cleaned up...

[Shawn Lutz]

nice score there!

[Garthy]

Here's what I really find ironic. When CBS bought Fender in 1965, quality took a nose dive soon after. No only that, but very few people liked the 3-bolt neck, "bullet" truss rod, and some other things that CBS introduced. Suddenly, everyone wanted the older Strats and that's where we got the term "pre-CBS." So at some point, "pre-CBS" became "vintage" and now, decades later, those same 70's Fenders that they could barely give away are included in that and supposedly worth a fortune.

And don't even get me started about "relic" guitars. I actually respect the concept, but the way they execute it is atrocious. Like we're supposed to believe that a player's picking arm will make a nice clean swipe across the upper bow with fresh, clean wood underneath.

Ain't that the truth - in 1995 a friend of mine started buying up CBS era Strats and Tele's for buttons and now has about 30 of them and drip feeds them onto the market at £4k a piece. Perhaps I'm ignorant to Fenders but I don't see how a 1975 Stratocaster is worth four times more than a 2014 equivalent especially as the 70#s were considered the 'dark days'.

[pianoguyy]

because all of the CBS owners have spent 40 years telling people "that's just a myth that they weren't as good"

[PowerTube]

One small consolation is that the 70's reissues now are made with better quality control than the originals ever were. For example, there's nothing to fear with a reissue 3-bolt neck because they don't have the shifty neck pockets like they did in the 70's.

I know that a lot of you didn't like Ed Roman, but this is a great article he reprinted on his site:

http://www.edromanguitars.com/rants/vintageguitarno.htm

I agree with it 100%.

[PowerTube]

Ain't that the truth - in 1995 a friend of mine started buying up CBS era Strats and Tele's for buttons and now has about 30 of them and drip feeds them onto the market at £4k a piece. Perhaps I'm ignorant to Fenders but I don't see how a 1975 Stratocaster is worth four times more than a 2014 equivalent especially as the 70#s were considered the 'dark days'.

Yeah. Personally, I would much rather have a 1954 reissue Strat, made using modern methods and quality control, than an original that I'm afraid to take out of the case because it's worth more than the average house.