Parting with a beloved 68 Tele (not all original)

[dah58295829]

Hi there,
I'm trying to find out the value of my 68 tele because sadly I'm going to sell it. I had a detailed evaluation done around 10 years ago which I've pasted below. Can anyone let me know what they think I should sell it for?
Thanks so much!

Rufus' Guitar Shop 2621 Alma St Vancouver, BC V6R3Sl​

www.rufusguitarshop.com

2012/09/27​

Re: Fender Telecaster #233659
I have today examined this instruments and found the following: The body has been stripped to the natural wood and lacquered. (Original colour Red - as seen in control cavity. Constructed in USA 1968. Neck pickup has been replaced with a Gibson "Mini" Humbucker. Bridge pickup looks original as does most of the '.vi.ring. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard which has been planed and refretted with jumbo frets, four hole "F" neck plate. Tuning keys replaced with mini Schaller 6-one-side. Professional installation - old holes filled in back of headstock. Second "String Tree" has been added to headstock, pickguard is single ply black and missing a chunk. Bridge has been replaced with a Fender 6 saddle unit. (Potentiometer code: 137 825 so 25 week of 1968)
Guitar itself is in good condition, and is in original rectangular hard-shell case (black exterior, orange interior. Could use a new set of strings and a setup. Bridge pickup has low output compared to the neck "mini" HB.

 

[slack]

Nope. Nobody here can comment with any relevance (nor should they), without lots, and lots, and lots of pictures as are well-known to be required by any dealer, possible buyer, forum like this, et al.

 

[msalama]

The guitar has been extensively modded and that obviously depreciates it. Can't say anything definite without pics however. Just off the cuff, maybe 50% off or thereabouts?

 

[Telekarster]

Pics.... we need lots of pics, inside and out

 

[loudboy]

If you have any of the original parts, it may be better to just dismantle it and sell off the parts?

 

[EsquireOK]

Pretty much everything has been dramatically and irreversibly altered. Finish gone, body routed, fingerboard re-radiused, original frets replaced with wrong size, original tuners gone. Almost everything is majorly non original on a guitar that wouldn't be worth a ton even if it was a top notch example of a Tele from that year.

Value will be quite low compared to what you are probably thinking. Maybe $2K, if you are lucky. There's little point in paying the vintage premium on a guitar that has basically nothing original about it.

Probably not worth selling, in other words. With a guitar like that, just take it to your grave, and let your survivors worry about the details.

 

[teletail]

I’d go on Reverb and eBay and search for sold comparables. It doesn’t matter what anyone says it’s worth, what matters is what similar guitars have sold for.

 

[Nick Fanis]

About 60%-70% less than a mint example of the same era is a safe bet.

 

[dah58295829]

Hi there,
I'm trying to find out the value of my 68 tele because sadly I'm going to sell it. I had a detailed evaluation done around 10 years ago which I've pasted below. Can anyone let me know what they think I should sell it for?
Thanks so much!

Rufus' Guitar Shop 2621 Alma St Vancouver, BC V6R3Sl​

www.rufusguitarshop.com

2012/09/27​

Re: Fender Telecaster #233659
I have today examined this instruments and found the following: The body has been stripped to the natural wood and lacquered. (Original colour Red - as seen in control cavity. Constructed in USA 1968. Neck pickup has been replaced with a Gibson "Mini" Humbucker. Bridge pickup looks original as does most of the '.vi.ring. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard which has been planed and refretted with jumbo frets, four hole "F" neck plate. Tuning keys replaced with mini Schaller 6-one-side. Professional installation - old holes filled in back of headstock. Second "String Tree" has been added to headstock, pickguard is single ply black and missing a chunk. Bridge has been replaced with a Fender 6 saddle unit. (Potentiometer code: 137 825 so 25 week of 1968)
Guitar itself is in good condition, and is in original rectangular hard-shell case (black exterior, orange interior. Could use a new set of strings and a setup. Bridge pickup has low output compared to the neck "mini" HB.

Thanks for all the advice. I attached a photo now

 

[slack]

Thanks for all the advice. I attached a photo now

I would kindly suggest that you peruse the forum and note the types of pictures that others post when seeking feedback. Posting a single out of focus picture like that serves little to no purpose.

If you're uncomfortable doing so, or unqualified to dismantle the guitar and take clear pics of all the typical aspects, you're probably going to have to trust the information you already have. Based on that info, the guitar is worth whatever someone might pay for it; you can't really establish a market value range. You might consider putting it on eBay asking whatever you want, with Best Offer enabled, and see what kind of offers you get. Or, roll the dice and list it as an auction. Either way, however, you will still need to include decent close-up pics of details that require dismantling, for your listing to have merit and be worthwhile. If that doesn't get you anywhere and money is the main reason for selling, and the parts are legit, in this case you'd probably be best served parting it out.

 

[slack]

I’d go on Reverb and eBay and search for sold comparables. It doesn’t matter what anyone says it’s worth, what matters is what similar guitars have sold for.

As I posted in another thread, a couple of months ago...

Except that you can't. If you filter for sold listings on Reverb (or eBay), you are not shown the selling price but the last BIN asking price for that listing. If the seller accepted an offer, and sold it for less than the listing price, the actual selling price is not shown.

 

[Bartholomew3]

I have a 68 that I bought new that year. Similar to that one in many respects but still have original pickguard and bridge plus it wasn't re-fretted with jumbo frets, but was done to preserve the feel of it.

Am under the impression they would bring around $5K but I guess they are worth whatever somebody will pay.

 

[capitalbear]

Thanks for all the advice. I attached a photo now

That's not even close to a "photo". Polaroid from the 80s?

 

[Joefish]

Hi there,
I'm trying to find out the value of my 68 tele because sadly I'm going to sell it.

Hello and welcome to the TDPRI.

I sure love that guitar.

Please forgive me for making the following suggestion.

Since it appears that you are about four hours away from Seattle, I would suggest you call my friends at Emerald City Guitars and make plans for Liz to do a basic setup.

At that point, they will plug it into a killer vintage amp and fall in love with it .. and because they are so cool, will recommend a few things.

... just my opinion, but that guitar needs to hang on the wall at Emerald City where tons of guitar players that are jonzing for a killer guitar can check out the neck at the cowboy position and then try it with several of the killer vintage amps they have.

Yes ... your guitar is not original ... but the mods are completely appropriate and make it a one of kind guitar (... just like my 69 that I have had for 40 some years is).

Best of luck,
Joe

 

[deytookerjaabs]

IMO, "planed" veneer fretboard makes that guitar much more brutal a purchase than anything else if not a complete deal breaker for those of us who love modded/hacked guitars. If the work was very non-invasive then maybe it's okay but there's not much to plane on those veneer boards to begin with.

 

[fenderchamp]

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www.guitarcenter.com

Fender 1969 Telecaster Solid Body Electric Guitar

We have the Fender 1969 Telecaster Solid Body Electric Guitar in stock in our Vintage collection. Shop now and receve free shipping on your order today!

www.guitarcenter.com

Fender 1967 Telecaster Solid Body Electric Guitar

We have the Fender 1967 Telecaster Solid Body Electric Guitar in stock in our Vintage collection. Shop now and receve free shipping on your order today!

www.guitarcenter.com

you may or may not find these current retail asks for some altered and unaltered telecasters from guitar center, from around the same era as yours interesting.

..as to a planed veneer fretboard, you can still look at it and see how much rosewood is still there. the rosewood is pretty thing to begin with for sure.

I don't think you should have to resort to selling it in parts, and I would definitely think you could do considerably better than 2K for it, though it certainly won't command the price of an all original instrument. It seems like vintage instruments have been seeing price increases over the last few years, look at the graphs on reverb for confirmation of this, even the modified ones.

If it was mine, I think I would consider listing it on reverb with a million pictures, some prose it in much detail with an emphasis on the non-original disclosures, and I'd include in print the original appraisal you have and I'd take a picture of it too, I wouldn't include the name of the shop that you got it from, so that they are not pestered by potential buyers. I start with a fairly high asking price, probably 6K, and I'd accept offers. I would make sure and be explicit with a fairly conservative return policy, let the buyer pay shipping both ways for sure, that should help deter some of the more indecisive (read as obnoxious) buyers that really just want to try it out on your dime.

Don't let the incredulity of others deter you, but protect your self.

 

[ponycar]

I don't mean to flame your inquiry but "planed" fretboard means nothing without really good photos. The expertise on this forum is extensive. In order to get the real experts to even respond to your inquiry you need to extend the courtesy of proper photos.
If it were mine I and i were intent on selling I'd do a no reserve auction. That would require me to photograph the instrument.

 

[Intubator]

Thanks for all the advice. I attached a photo now

Along with that photo, or preferably many photo's can you include a copy of your local newspaper with the date clearly showing and placed next to the guitar in one? I ask because you are selling it and may have folks on this forum interested and you only have two posts, and yes that photo looks kinda old and like a polaroid. Not saying you don't own it but if you do it should be verified to protect potential buyers.

 

[fenderchamp]

this thread is a month old, I'm guessing @op has already disengaged.