1972 Telecaster Custom -What's it worth?

[Mickeystele]

I have a 1972 American Tele that was customized by Valdez Guitars in Hollywood, California for Country guitarist, singer and radio personality, Eddy Drake. The body’s gold leaf work was done by Valdez and even though Eddy's first name was misspelled, he loved the craftsmanship and overall look of the instrument so much he let it stay that way and took it on the road.

Eddy Drake played lead guitar with this very Telecaster and toured with the likes of Merle Haggard, Charlie Pride, Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis and many other big name acts. He toured as Haggard's lead guitar player for three years.

I purchased the guitar from Eddy in 2002. He passed in 2005.
I am thinking of selling the Tele and I am not sure what to ask for it.
I see people asking anywhere from $2,000 to $35,000 for their 1972 Telecasters and they don't have the great history this one does.

It is in very good condition and plays really nice. As you can see from the photos, it has had a fret job. Two actually over the years. The last one I had done after I bought the guitar from Eddy. It was professionally done and plays lightning fast.

Any help with the value, and your reasoning, would be greatly appreciated.

[KevinB]

Your title is a little misleading as the "Telecaster Custom" was a specific Fender model launched in 1972, and what you have is a customized standard Telecaster.

I really don't now what it's worth. I think it would depend on how much someone values the guitar's association with Eddy Drake - I've never heard of him as I'm not a fan of country. If the guitar were original, I'd say it would be worth around $2,500-$3,000 but if you hit on the right Eddy Drake fan, who knows?

[Cry of Love]

Originally Posted by Mickeystele

I have a 1972 American Tele that was customized by Valdez Guitars in Hollywood, California for Country guitarist, singer and radio personality, Eddy Drake. The body’s gold leaf work was done by Valdez and even though Eddy's first name was misspelled, he loved the craftsmanship and overall look of the instrument so much he let it stay that way and took it on the road.

Eddy Drake played lead guitar with this very Telecaster and toured with the likes of Merle Haggard, Charlie Pride, Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis and many other big name acts. He toured as Haggard's lead guitar player for three years.

I purchased the guitar from Eddy in 2002. He passed in 2005.
I am thinking of selling the Tele and I am not sure what to ask for it.
I see people asking anywhere from $2,000 to $35,000 for their 1972 Telecasters and they don't have the great history this one does.

It is in very good condition and plays really nice. As you can see from the photos, it has had a fret job. Two actually over the years. The last one I had done after I bought the guitar from Eddy. It was professionally done and plays lightning fast.

Any help with the value, and your reasoning, would be greatly appreciated.

Wow. Just couldn't see even wanting to sell that guitar..unless the family had no shelter and were starving..even then! I bought a 73 tele custom from a 'nobody' for 3k couple years ago. Had to sell it a few months later because I had med bills that were piling up. If I had the coin I'd buy it back in a heart beat, if that tells you anything? Need a Nocaster? Lol, good luck.

Edit: yea, and what Kevin said.

[Jack FFR1846]

As a comp, my local guitar shop has a 74 standard without the customization for $1700. The custom stuff is going to dramatically reduce your pool of buyers.

[max_twang]

Check this link:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-tech...ddy-drake.html

You might try contacting some of the well-known vintage guitar dealer (Mandolin Bros, Gruen, Elderly, etc.) They'll probably be able to give you some more useful advice, as they sometimes deal in these "special" instruments. Selling on consignment through one of them will probably run you 25%, but given their bigger pool of potential buyers, you might do a lot better that way.

But if it were me, I'd keep it!

[Mickeystele]

Thanks, I didn't mean to mis represent the guitar, I guess, Customized would have been more correct. I Appreciate the responses and will contact those dealers, that should help get me in the neighborhood, you know, where to start.

[Middleman]

Well, it's a 4 bolt versus 3 and that is a good thing. I would say $2000 as a standard tele. If you have some paperwork or a picture of him playing this on the road, you can take the value up to whatever a fan would be willing to pay, maybe $3-4k. As stated above, that's a small pool of buyers but a collector might pay that.

[Stubee]

I agree completely with a place like Gruhn to give you best marketability on that axe. We can speculate here but almost pointless to compare it to plain old '72 Teles.

That is a cool guitar, good luck.

[KevinB]

Originally Posted by Mickeystele

Thanks, I didn't mean to mis represent the guitar, I guess, Customized would have been more correct. I Appreciate the responses and will contact those dealers, that should help get me in the neighborhood, you know, where to start.

Oh I didn't think you were misrepresenting it for one second. It's just a nomenclature thing.

Good luck selling it.

[xtrajerry]

I don't know you would value the custom work one on the guitar but in general Fenders from the 70's are not very special.. Sure there are dealers that will try to push that thy ate vintage but.. IMO I'd spend my money on a new Fender before buying something from the 70's..