Out of his tree

GuitarJonz · June 9th, 2006, 08:54 AM

on eBay for $329 BIN. Ouch

Look at the bright side, shipping is only $3.00 :D

maestrovert · June 9th, 2006, 09:45 AM

* it's a fake....everybody knows it should be a slot head screw.....and it's the wrong shade of rust to boot

*purely tongue in cheek fellers

Pete Galati · June 9th, 2006, 10:03 AM

Looks more like a booger with a woodscrew stuck in it than a string tree.

I wonder why he's afraid to clean it up.

GuitarJonz · June 9th, 2006, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Galati

I wonder why he's afraid to clean it up.

If you cleaned it, you'd lose 1/2 the value, then it'd only sell for $165.00

, and I betcha he wouldn't give you a break on the $3.00 shipping, even though it would weigh much less without all that rust :D

Mike Rice · June 9th, 2006, 12:12 PM

I'm sitting in my office looking at 3 wonderful guitars that didn't cost that much. If someone is both that rich and that anal to pay for that sort of authenticity, I wanna meet them. I know I have something they'd want!

Telesphere · June 9th, 2006, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Rice

If someone is both that rich and that anal to pay for that sort of authenticity...

But the question is what authenticity?

I've seen horrendous prices recently for pickguards, in the region of $5-6K, and now this. I'm sure there are other parts as well for crazy money. But the question I keep asking is, how can something that's not marked with a date, be authenticated?

Mike Rice · June 9th, 2006, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telesphere

But the question is what authenticity?

I too have asked this question repeatedly. I recently sold a 3-way switch, trem arm, and knobs from my old '73/'74 Strat. The guitar has been gone for decades. The switch allows for some dating, but only that it was between a '73 and '77 (or '78) if I remember correctly. It was a '73 or '74 only because I said I bought this Strat in '75 and it was used then. So first you have to believe that.

Then I was able to sell the knobs and trem arm as I had dated the switch. But again, this requires that you believe they all came from the same guitar. I know they did, but if I can prove that I'm not aware that I can. I have an ashtray cover from my old '74/'75 Tele, but I don't believe there's any way to date that. I'm not trying to sell it anyway, but I too am confused when some of these parts show up on eBay and elsewhere.

I guess if someone is will to sign an affadavit and have it notorized, the provenance is then documented? Leaps of faith exist all over this great chasm of vintage instruments I'm afraid.

Blues Hurler · June 9th, 2006, 01:45 PM

It's tempting, but I'm really looking for a '57 screw.

Taavi · June 9th, 2006, 02:00 PM

Could someone tell me whats so damn special, except that they are rare, about these old tele's or strat's? Unequivaled playing/sound or what? I cant get in my head where those prices come from a players perspective.

Telesphere · June 9th, 2006, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gibson guy

It's tempting, but I'm really looking for a '57 screw.

An '88 would be perfect for me right now :D

Big John · June 9th, 2006, 04:12 PM

:D
Sorry, but this will have me grinning for days !!, i just MUST have some old rusty nuts and bolts in my shed i can hawk on FleaBay and earn a reeeeeal good living !

Wouldn't you think he would have at least found the CORRECT screw ??, how hard would it be to find a slot head bl**dy screw ??

Anyway, what makes a string tree rust like that ??

If you are the person who pays that much for the string tree with the wrong screw then please PM me, i have some interesting pieces in my shed only a true expert like yourself would appreciate.

Wally · June 9th, 2006, 04:30 PM

Well, I looked at a '54 tele this past weekend that had various issues..one of which was that it needed exactly that part. By the way, the Phillips head would be correct for '54 and later Teles. If I had picked that guitar up, I would be watching that auction with interest.

ToneFan · June 9th, 2006, 05:47 PM

All those gigantic pictures of a rusty old screw will be giving me nightmares for days... Sorry you guys made me look at that auction...

The sellers got 100% feedback... I took a look at some of his other sales, and they are all for small weird stuff, some of which went for substantial money, relatively speaking... He sold a bunch of Bob Dylan guitar picks for 70+ dollars each... Lots of odds & ends, maybe bought out from an old music store... I sure better start cleaning out my closets and dresser drawers and selling it all off, so that I can retire early...

Cheers,
JM

sparky · June 9th, 2006, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big John

:D
... what makes a string tree rust like that ??

I find dog wee works well, and I have a virtually unlimited free supply of it. :)
Maybe I could bottle it and sell it on E-Bay?

Pete Galati · June 9th, 2006, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big John

:D
... what makes a string tree rust like that ??

I find dog wee works well, and I have a virtually unlimited free supply of it. :)
Maybe I could bottle it and sell it on E-Bay?

As "Sparky's Relic'ing Agent".

On the bottle, it could say
"The strong pungent oder is what makes it work"

Big Mike Simpson · June 9th, 2006, 09:28 PM

Also...
Although it's pretty nice I just can't see $60k for this 54 Tele...

http://cgi.ebay.com/1954-Fender-Tele...QQcmdZViewItem

Bill · June 9th, 2006, 09:33 PM

Well, that guitar is "10000% original the way in left the factory in 1954." So "100% original the way it left the factory" would have been dead mint. This guitar is 100 times more than dead mint.

That's gotta be worth something.

Ronkirn · June 9th, 2006, 10:28 PM

Whoa, Am I in the wrong business? Take a 50 cent retainer and the wrong screw, throw ‘em in Muratic acid for 30 seconds, wrap ‘em in old steel wool for a few days, and BINGO, make a few hundred bux fast…. I’ll bet those guys P T Barnum was talking about won’t even fall for that one.

Ron Kirn

Wally · June 10th, 2006, 12:19 PM

In the link that Big Mike provided, that nice looking '54 has a Phillips screw in the string tree. Two posts in this thread contend that the screw has to be wrong if it is Phillips. The Blackguard book says that the change to Phillips on that screw was underway in '54...it not fully implemented.
The '54 I mentioned in my first post had two problems with the neck. 1) When Fender refinished it by request in the early '60's, they applied a 3-patent number decal. Big hurt! 2)Fender also replaced the original tree with a butterfly. Those problems prevented the deal from being made. I considered these two problems worth $3500.

Big John · June 11th, 2006, 10:44 AM

OK Wally, thanks, i stand corrected on the screw head, i thought they came later than that.

Doesn't $300 still sound vaguely ridiculous though ?

If i add that to my '54 Tele it then won't be 'original' at all will it ? and as 'all original' seems so important to some folks it seems odd, wouldn't i just spend 1/10 of that price and get a new one (relicing as needed) and still have a not 'all original' Tele ?.

Dog wee wee ?, i think some of this stuff is tarnished with good old snake oil !
:D

Wally · June 13th, 2006, 12:43 PM

Big John, I dont know what the limit is on these original parts that can make an otherwise compromised vintage instrument worth more. All I know is that if I had a guitar that needed that piece, I would have to consider what I would pay. I have a friend who holds that an original '54 that is complete and original except for the Bakelite guard comes up short in the value department by $10,000. So, how much for an original blackguard??? Sometimes parts can complete the whole and thereby increase the value in the market.

Big John · June 13th, 2006, 03:36 PM

Good point Wally and i don't want to labour the point, ( i would love a blackguard in virtually ANY condition !) but your friends '54 isnt "complete and original" if it hasn't got the pickguard, you can't be "nearly" original can you ?
Of course adding a real '54 pickguard DOES seem the right thing to do though to get the big bucks on Fleabay so why the heck not ?, but then, why not a $30 reliced one ?, the guitar still isnt "complete and original" either way.
I'm just mildly ticked off at someone charging $300 for a $10 string tree i guess.
Anyway i have a grand collection of rusty nuts bolts and screws in my old wood shed so if your friend had that "nearly complete and original" '54 perhaps we could do a deal !, i might even buy a couple of new ones and rust 'em up good !! :D :D :D

Wally · June 13th, 2006, 03:43 PM

I hear you, John. In the case of this guitar I looked at, the old fellow has a player grade gutiar with some really cool parts. It really is a pity considering he is the one and only owner, right?

Big John · June 13th, 2006, 04:15 PM

Yes, you are right, and as long as its a "player" thats all that really counts isnt it ?, i'm not concerned about the "pot codes" or who signed the neck socket, (did T G sign EVERY one ?), it should be about the noise that comes out of them !

June 9th, 2006, 08:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
GuitarJonz Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Central Mass. Posts: 2,762 7 Photos	Out of his tree on eBay for $329 BIN. Ouch Look at the bright side, shipping is only $3.00 :D See it here *

June 9th, 2006, 09:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
maestrovert Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Branch Mi. Posts: 6,492	* it's a fake....everybody knows it should be a slot head screw.....and it's the wrong shade of rust to boot *purely tongue in cheek fellers __________________ Sing the Song Bro' Play on Drummer www.godonthe.net

June 9th, 2006, 12:12 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mike Rice Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hudson Valley Age: 48 Posts: 2,230 3 Photos	I'm sitting in my office looking at 3 wonderful guitars that didn't cost that much. If someone is both that rich and that anal to pay for that sort of authenticity, I wanna meet them. I know I have something they'd want! __________________ Sure I like country music and I like mandolins, but right now I need a Telecaster through a Vibrolux turned up to 10...John Hiatt

June 9th, 2006, 01:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
Blues Hurler Tele-Holic Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 653 6 Photos	It's tempting, but I'm really looking for a '57 screw. __________________ The blues ain't about theory, they's about therapy.

June 9th, 2006, 02:00 PM	#9 (permalink)
Taavi TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 10	Could someone tell me whats so damn special, except that they are rare, about these old tele's or strat's? Unequivaled playing/sound or what? I cant get in my head where those prices come from a players perspective. __________________ My girlfriend is called Telecaster. - American Standard Telecaster - Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb - Roland Microcube

June 9th, 2006, 10:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
Pete Galati R.I.P. Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,104 2 Photos	Looks more like a booger with a woodscrew stuck in it than a string tree. I wonder why he's afraid to clean it up.

June 9th, 2006, 04:12 PM	#11 (permalink)
Big John Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Suffolk UK Posts: 4,652 35 Photos	Tee hee heee :D Sorry, but this will have me grinning for days !!, i just MUST have some old rusty nuts and bolts in my shed i can hawk on FleaBay and earn a reeeeeal good living ! Wouldn't you think he would have at least found the CORRECT screw ??, how hard would it be to find a slot head bl**dy screw ?? Anyway, what makes a string tree rust like that ?? If you are the person who pays that much for the string tree with the wrong screw then please PM me, i have some interesting pieces in my shed only a true expert like yourself would appreciate. __________________ If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly !!

June 9th, 2006, 04:30 PM	#12 (permalink)
Wally Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Lubbock, TX Posts: 3,985	Well, I looked at a '54 tele this past weekend that had various issues..one of which was that it needed exactly that part. By the way, the Phillips head would be correct for '54 and later Teles. If I had picked that guitar up, I would be watching that auction with interest.

June 9th, 2006, 05:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
ToneFan Tele-Meister Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New York, NY Age: 44 Posts: 296 11 Photos	Gives me the creeps... All those gigantic pictures of a rusty old screw will be giving me nightmares for days... Sorry you guys made me look at that auction... The sellers got 100% feedback... I took a look at some of his other sales, and they are all for small weird stuff, some of which went for substantial money, relatively speaking... He sold a bunch of Bob Dylan guitar picks for 70+ dollars each... Lots of odds & ends, maybe bought out from an old music store... I sure better start cleaning out my closets and dresser drawers and selling it all off, so that I can retire early... Cheers, JM __________________ Visit my Web Page @ http://myspace.com/joemartin

June 9th, 2006, 09:28 PM	#16 (permalink)
Big Mike Simpson Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Gilbert, AZ (PHX) Age: 52 Posts: 1,471 59 Photos	Also... Although it's pretty nice I just can't see $60k for this 54 Tele... http://cgi.ebay.com/1954-Fender-Tele...QQcmdZViewItem __________________ Big Mike http://www.myspace.com/bigmikesimpson

June 9th, 2006, 09:33 PM	#17 (permalink)
Bill Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 2,653 58 Photos	Well, that guitar is "10000% original the way in left the factory in 1954." So "100% original the way it left the factory" would have been dead mint. This guitar is 100 times more than dead mint. That's gotta be worth something. __________________ B i l l B a e c k A journal of our year in London

June 9th, 2006, 10:28 PM	#18 (permalink)
Ronkirn Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2003 Location: Jacksonville, FL Age: 62 Posts: 2,689	P T Barnum was right Whoa, Am I in the wrong business? Take a 50 cent retainer and the wrong screw, throw ‘em in Muratic acid for 30 seconds, wrap ‘em in old steel wool for a few days, and BINGO, make a few hundred bux fast…. I’ll bet those guys P T Barnum was talking about won’t even fall for that one. Ron Kirn

June 10th, 2006, 12:19 PM	#19 (permalink)
Wally Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Lubbock, TX Posts: 3,985	In the link that Big Mike provided, that nice looking '54 has a Phillips screw in the string tree. Two posts in this thread contend that the screw has to be wrong if it is Phillips. The Blackguard book says that the change to Phillips on that screw was underway in '54...it not fully implemented. The '54 I mentioned in my first post had two problems with the neck. 1) When Fender refinished it by request in the early '60's, they applied a 3-patent number decal. Big hurt! 2)Fender also replaced the original tree with a butterfly. Those problems prevented the deal from being made. I considered these two problems worth $3500.

June 11th, 2006, 10:44 AM	#20 (permalink)
Big John Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Suffolk UK Posts: 4,652 35 Photos	Oooops .... OK Wally, thanks, i stand corrected on the screw head, i thought they came later than that. Doesn't $300 still sound vaguely ridiculous though ? If i add that to my '54 Tele it then won't be 'original' at all will it ? and as 'all original' seems so important to some folks it seems odd, wouldn't i just spend 1/10 of that price and get a new one (relicing as needed) and still have a not 'all original' Tele ?. Dog wee wee ?, i think some of this stuff is tarnished with good old snake oil ! :D __________________ If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly !!

June 13th, 2006, 12:43 PM	#21 (permalink)
Wally Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Lubbock, TX Posts: 3,985	Big John, I dont know what the limit is on these original parts that can make an otherwise compromised vintage instrument worth more. All I know is that if I had a guitar that needed that piece, I would have to consider what I would pay. I have a friend who holds that an original '54 that is complete and original except for the Bakelite guard comes up short in the value department by $10,000. So, how much for an original blackguard??? Sometimes parts can complete the whole and thereby increase the value in the market.

June 13th, 2006, 03:36 PM	#22 (permalink)
Big John Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Suffolk UK Posts: 4,652 35 Photos	Good point Wally and i don't want to labour the point, ( i would love a blackguard in virtually ANY condition !) but your friends '54 isnt "complete and original" if it hasn't got the pickguard, you can't be "nearly" original can you ? Of course adding a real '54 pickguard DOES seem the right thing to do though to get the big bucks on Fleabay so why the heck not ?, but then, why not a $30 reliced one ?, the guitar still isnt "complete and original" either way. I'm just mildly ticked off at someone charging $300 for a $10 string tree i guess. Anyway i have a grand collection of rusty nuts bolts and screws in my old wood shed so if your friend had that "nearly complete and original" '54 perhaps we could do a deal !, i might even buy a couple of new ones and rust 'em up good !! :D :D :D __________________ If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly !!

June 13th, 2006, 03:43 PM	#23 (permalink)
Wally Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Lubbock, TX Posts: 3,985	I hear you, John. In the case of this guitar I looked at, the old fellow has a player grade gutiar with some really cool parts. It really is a pity considering he is the one and only owner, right?

June 13th, 2006, 04:15 PM	#24 (permalink)
Big John Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Suffolk UK Posts: 4,652 35 Photos	Wally... Yes, you are right, and as long as its a "player" thats all that really counts isnt it ?, i'm not concerned about the "pot codes" or who signed the neck socket, (did T G sign EVERY one ?), it should be about the noise that comes out of them ! __________________ If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly !!