Fender help needed

[Philly Q]

Are you gonna put it up for bids with a reserve then?

Nah - reserve fees are a total rip off IMO. I'm not brave enough to start it on 1p either!

Agreed about the reserve fees. 

I did really well selling some Fender parts on 99p starts last week, but I don't think I'd risk it on a valuable guitar.

[dave_mc]

Exactly what you said, Dave.  I take some of Phil Harris's comments with a pinch of salt, he's a total vintage snob, but I'm sure they're factually correct. 

That was all specifically about Strat pickups, though, I don't know if the same necessarily applies to Teles.

ah, touche, i did miss that. :oops: Thanks for pointing that out :)

are you getting a bit more adventurous with those 99p starts? I thought you didn't used to do those... :lol:

[Bradock PI]

I always wondered on Ebay how they stopped mates bidding on things with no reserve to not let it go too cheap is that more expensive than the reserve fee ? I guess it might be but only if they won and if they are only bidding up to the reserve then they are unlikely to win?

[Philly Q]

are you getting a bit more adventurous with those 99p starts? I thought you didn't used to do those... :lol:

I usually - in cowardly fashion - put the starting price as the bare minimum I'd accept, but since these were necks and bodies I had absolutely no idea - they could go for £50 or they could go for £350.  I just thought what the hell, try 99p and see what happens.  :lol:

People seem to get carried away buying parts - a few weeks ago I sold a '99 Strat for £415, then I sell a Strat neck for £300.   Silly really.

[Philly Q]

I always wondered on Ebay how they stopped mates bidding on things with no reserve to not let it go too cheap is that more expensive than the reserve fee ? I guess it might be but only if they won and if they are only bidding up to the reserve then they are unlikely to win?

I haven't tried it, but I don't think the "get your mates to bid" tactic works.  It doesn't make anyone pay more than they were prepared to pay anyway.

My friend is always getting her husband to bid on her sales and he ends up "winning" most of them so she has to re-list.  Time wasted, and more eBay fees.  :roll:

[Ratrod]

This guy is hustler.

He's trying to buy guitars for the vintage parts for cheap. When he has enough of them he puts together a 'period correct' guitar and sells it as vintage for a shiteeload of money. Or he'll sell the parts for alot of money.

This guy is in it for the money.

[Elliot]

Here is the resource for Fender dating : http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

Save the 1 for the year stamp (are you sure its not a 7?) - It looks like a pretty genuine stamp.

As to pickups -
here is a 1974 bridge pickup - sounds like the same description for your guitar:

http://www.rareguitarparts.com/store/mcart.php?ID=804

Here is a 1973 neck pickup - Note it uses black not grey flatwork:

http://www.eddievegas.com/store/details/1973-ORIG-FENDER-TELE-NECK-PICKUP-7.66k.php

People who use the phrase 'no exception to this rule' when discussing Fender (especially the CBS 'chuck it all together era') are either misinformed or hustlers - Grey flatwork is for Strats not Teles.

[Twinfan]

He's clearly after something.  I reckon your Tele is spot on correct Ian, and he's trying to get it for a cheap price and make money on it.....

[Ian Price]

Cheers for the responses guys. I'm not even sure I wouls want to sell to him now given his emails to me - even if he offered the asking price. Stupid I know but I just have a bit of dislike to him at the moment!

I have mailed him back to say that his offer of £1400 is too low for the guitar and that I could, if I wanted to, sell the parts seperately and make more than that.

As I said before it's new guitars all the way for me now - can't be doing with this hustling business!

[FELINEGUITARS]

Cheers for the responses guys. I'm not even sure I wouls want to sell to him now given his emails to me - even if he offered the asking price. Stupid I know but I just have a bit of dislike to him at the moment!

I have mailed him back to say that his offer of £1400 is too low for the guitar and that I could, if I wanted to, sell the parts seperately and make more than that.

As I said before it's new guitars all the way for me now - can't be doing with this hustling business!

Simple fact is : he WANTS your guitar
You have the power and the control
I know you want to find a seller but unless you need money urgently to pay a bill you have the upper hand

[FELINEGUITARS]

I always wondered on Ebay how they stopped mates bidding on things with no reserve to not let it go too cheap is that more expensive than the reserve fee ? I guess it might be but only if they won and if they are only bidding up to the reserve then they are unlikely to win?

I haven't tried it, but I don't think the "get your mates to bid" tactic works.  It doesn't make anyone pay more than they were prepared to pay anyway.

My friend is always getting her husband to bid on her sales and he ends up "winning" most of them so she has to re-list.  Time wasted, and more eBay fees.  :roll:

Ebay come down very heavily on self bidding / shil bidding

An ex girlfriend of mine had several accounts and was bumping her own sales (stupid cow)
Ebay got suspicious, and permanently shut all her accounts -  one of the things they did was An IP search to see which accounts might be being used from that household over the previous 6 months
Unfortunately I had checked my own ebay from her place and they banned me as well

I had a real fight to get my accounts restored - as she was an ex and her conduct had been far from good I had no qualms about dropping her in it  (and clearing my own accounts)

[jpfamps]

Found it! Guitar and Bass Magazine, Feb 2009 (vol 20 No 3): according to that Phil Harris guy (who's their vintage guy, I think) in 1964 the pickups had a greeny-grey base, which changed to grey in 1971. Apparently the quality of the pickups got worse in 1975-76, when they changed to flat polepieces. Unfortunately, it doesn't mention the colour of the base. And of course, you have to trust Phil Harris's words- but i'd trust him more than that guy who clearly wants to buy your guitar.

i agree with philly, in other words. Do you have that issue, philly? If so, maybe you could check it to make sure I haven't missed anything, I'm not exactly a vintage gearhead... :lol:

Exactly what you said, Dave.  I take some of Phil Harris's comments with a pinch of salt, he's a total vintage snob, but I'm sure they're factually correct. 

That was all specifically about Strat pickups, though, I don't know if the same necessarily applies to Teles.

The Strat pickups did change the wire they used when they went to the grey bobbin pickups in the mid 60s. The change in the wire insulation meant that the pickups could not be potted.

For what its worth I think that the earlier 60s pickups sound better than the latter 60s.

All the companies selling repro Strat pickups are selling versions of the 50s and early 60s pickups.

In 74/5 Strat pickups were made with non-staggered pole pieces, although whether this had that much effect on the sound compared with the generally poor quality of the Strats Fender were making in the late 70s I don't know.

Don't really know that much about vintage Tele pickups.

[jpfamps]

Cheers for the responses guys. I'm not even sure I wouls want to sell to him now given his emails to me - even if he offered the asking price. Stupid I know but I just have a bit of dislike to him at the moment!

I have mailed him back to say that his offer of £1400 is too low for the guitar and that I could, if I wanted to, sell the parts seperately and make more than that.

As I said before it's new guitars all the way for me now - can't be doing with this hustling business!

I would not sell to this guy.

If you want the best price for your guitar on ebay you should photograph is in as much detail as possible, including under the pickguard, removing the neck and photographing the end of the neck (to show code on the neck) and neck pocket in the body (inportant for identifying refins), the tuners, the front of the headstock etc. Also weigh the guitar. You should also offer to ship worldwide as 70s Teles are more expensive in the US than they are here now.

This may sound excessive, however there are tons of lash-ups on eBay, and if you want someone to fork out top money for your guitar its only reasonable to give them as much info as possible.

Consider the reverse situation: would you buy a guitar "unseen" on eBay for the amount of cash you are asking for it?

Regarding the "issues" unless the guitar is mint, then I don't really see changed pots as a huge issue (although if it had changed pots it wouldn't be mint!!).

Fender started using 1 M pots in Teles from the end of the 60s, which I think makes a Tele too bright, so changing the pots to 250 K is very common.

Changed pickups as an issue, however this can be reversed, so whilst if they are changed this will reduce the value of the guitar, but be the cost of finding a replacement at most. Equally wrong guard etc.

Irreversible modification are the real devaluers of vintage guitars: routing, refininshes, overspray, extra string trees, locking trems etc.

[Ian Price]

Cheers JPF - the listing had quite a few photos of the guitar included in which are the neck on it's own (with stamp), internal shots of the pots, scratch plate removed so you can see colour fading, pups, close up of the tuners etc.

I definitely woudn't buy unless I had seen detailed photos etc. I just think hte guy is a bit of a chancer considering he has stated that he saw a 65 tele go for £1900 and all that it had done to it was some routing. As you say - this is a big devaluer so I don't really get the connection/relevance with the point he is trying to make.

[jpfamps]

Cheers JPF - the listing had quite a few photos of the guitar included in which are the neck on it's own (with stamp), internal shots of the pots, scratch plate removed so you can see colour fading, pups, close up of the tuners etc.

I definitely woudn't buy unless I had seen detailed photos etc. I just think hte guy is a bit of a chancer considering he has stated that he saw a 65 tele go for £1900 and all that it had done to it was some routing. As you say - this is a big devaluer so I don't really get the connection/relevance with the point he is trying to make.

Regarding the 1965 Tele with routing going for £1900, this is meaningless.

At one end of the spectrum I've seen Teles with a small rout in the front pickup position to accomodate a Start pickup (which I would class a minor issue), to a "rout" for humbucker and active electronics that looks like it was done with a screwdriver! And on a slab board '61.

The assumption here of course is that this is the only issue with the guitar, and with out seeing it you just don't know. At that price I doubt it, however sometimes stuff is badly listed on eBay.