Building Custom Tele? Better wanna keep it.

What we are talking about here is in business terms, "Perceived value", vs. "Real value". You may invest say $800.00 in only the best parts, put it all together, finnish it etc. (we won't even talk about your time, which is worth something too!). But because of perceived value, some joker wont give you a MIM price for it. And forget trading. In real value it would be equivalent in value to a Deluxe or Custom Shop. I guarantee you Fender doesn't have $800.00 with parts & labor combined in a new American Deluxe. And I doubt they do in Custom Shop. But they have "the name", and they're "the original". I'm not raging on Fender, they build and sell a quality and desired product at prices the market will bear. This is capitalism, I live by it. But when you go to trade off a quality partscaster, it deserves a careful look. Cover the headstock, lay it side by side with a Fender, plug them both into the same amp & play them, then ask potential buyer which they'd rather own! Lol.

 

My second partscaster is in process at the moment and I'm not too concerned about resale value really. I know it's going to be a better player and sound better then most anything I could buy off the shelf and that's what matters to me. Of course I may feel differently should my employment situation change and I need to firesale stuff to pay the rent. I imagine I'll hold onto my guitars forever and ultimately will them to a family member.

 

You might as well complain about the sky getting dark when the sun goes down, that's just how the world works. The stores would want them if their customers wanted them, right? Part of the value of a guitar comes from its resale value.

If you could have bought your partscaster for the cost of its parts, would you have done that? I wouldn't have bought mine that way - I enjoyed the heck out of putting mine together.

 

In Toronto, there's a place called Capsule Music that sells used "customized" guitars and partscasters (and their equivalents). I wouldn't be surprised if there were more stores out there like it.

 

+1 on the creme headed Tele with the Peavey..

rather nice ... I don't usually like painted headstocks,

mmmm.. is that a Filmore?... I dig the fins....( Mark Volmann, FZ&M of I, I like your new Car)..

 

Wow you are bringing up a huge subject. Dealers buy wholesale, and sell retail. Consumers buy retail and sell wholesale to the dealers. Selling anything outright direct to the consumer is what every dealer does. They have overhead, they have to make a profit. One of the best ways to get a superb deal on a Tele is be in a music store when someone is getting a price for trading it in while they are oogling their next fine prize and can't wait, and pull them aside when you can and if you really like it, tell them you will give them 50 bucks more than the trade in. I know that sounds sleazy but biz is biz. I saw a guy trading in a Fender Deluxe Strat he just paid $1500 for and they were offering him 7 or 8. I wouldn't do that in the stores face. As a mattter of fact he was offered 7 and asked me if I would pay 8. It wasn't my color.

As far as partscasters are concerned; there is no way to really evaluate them. I remember with cars some guys used to spend a fortune on all the best stuff for their rods, including the best cam, the best heads, carb etc, but the only problem was when they put it all together it didn't run for [email protected]*t it couldn't get out of it's own way. It comes down to what parts you put with what parts and which woods etc. Look at guys changing pickups, which I am one who partakes of such sports, some guys comment that they are on their 20 set and still looking for the sound.

One final comment is one guy said, "This is the last mod job I do, I could have bought the model above this that already had all of this stuff and would have the better model to sell if I ever wanted to get rid of it".

So yes indeedy you may be better off selling the parts, and restoring it to it's orginal condition with the parts you have left over from the original in order to get the max out of it. Oh by the way, be sure and sell it direct to the buyer because no matter what you do the music stores are only going to give you wholesale for it. I don't blame them. If they sell a guitar and in 30 days the guy comes back and says, "Hey the bridge pickup stopped working, they now have a repair and replace situation on their hands". So if there isn't sufficient margin in the deal, how can they cover their overhead and make a living?

No I am not a guitar salesman, but come to think of it aren't we all, it's just that some of us do it the way the stores do it, and other are more like regular consumers. I do both.

 

I have always found you get more in trade than selling. You just have to be patient. I am lucky that here in Minneapolis we have an extremely active Craigslist for musical instruments. That helps a lot. Make sure to say your looking for an even trade for a classical guitar and you will find what your looking for. It never fails. If your CL is not active, find the closest to you that is... (Charlotte maybe?)

 

I'm keeping my day job

I would have to agree with the OP in theory but it's not that black and white.

First of all - I don't build guitars for a living - I build them because I enjoy it.

If I can sell them in order to keep the hobby funded for all the "next projects" I want to do - then I am fine with it. If not, I am still fine with it. It makes no difference to me If I make a penny, a dollar, a tenner, or lose a fiver. There is no bottom line. Granted, a big part of the hobby for me is making my own components which reduces my initial investment, but isn't going to make or break whether or not I continue to build. When I'm tired of building guitars, I'll move onto something else.

There is some satisfaction I get when an unbiased player describes one of my guitars as just like the original but way better.

I think the MasterCard ad would go something like this.

Lumber - I don't know.
Pickups - I made them myself with a sewing machine, isn't that cool?
Finish - It's lacquer, you can't get that from the factory these days.

Positive Feedback - Priceless

 

Really ?...Do Tell...Why would that be ?

Do you mean to evaluate as to Performance ?...or a Selling Value ?

Two different things to me.

 

I understand your frustration, but look at it from a retail sellers point of view. People come in looking for name brands, not something that doesn't have a track record.

Also, did you make a portfolio of your previous builds to present to the store, or keep reciepts of the quality parts you used in a package with the guitar? I think you need to do things like that to show your guitar is a serious item. I would want to see that before buying an unknown build.

I know an experienced and respected luthier in my area who built some great solid bodies over three decades ago and still has some in his shop that never sold. It's not a reflection on your work, it's just a fact of life.