Left Handed Tele tale.....

[mckendrick]

Thirty years ago (phew...!) me brother was toying with music, started writing lyrics, started a band ('The Spitfires', in Blackburn, Lancs), bought a guitar, then decided he wasn't that into it all after all.

To my utter amazement the guitar remained under the bed until recently when he took it for a walk to a dealer in the town he now lives in (between Watford and Milton Keynes - that's all I'm saying) but sensed something wasn't all toward when the dealer wouldn't make him an offer.

Me brother told me all about this and so I told him in reply that the dealer didn't make him an offer because he knew [you] weren't remotely interested in your subject and was hoping to you'd say something like "Okay, you can take it off my hands for a couple of hundred quid".

We're talkng here about a nigh-on pristine [b]left handed 1976 Fender Telecaster in black with a maple neck[/b], c/w ash trays and Fender case, but no other candy.

I've gone up and down for him trying to find a value for this gorgeous piece but I'm stumbling on the rough with most people trying to swing the obvious bargain out of us. They're not going to get it until we know an approximate value for something like this.

You lefty's got any ideas of a ballpark value of this thing...? I haven't got any photo's but it is as I describe.

I know there's a left handed player in the world somewhere that would give his sister's - or indeed her brother's - right arm for one of these.... we just can't find him/her. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ta.


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Edited April 26, 2012 by mckendrick

[leftybassman392]

Any photos?

[mckendrick]

I'll persuade him. He's a busy boy.

I don't want to be rude, but in the meantime I'll assume you don't know what a nigh-on pristine black m/n Fender Telecaster looks like.



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Edited April 26, 2012 by mckendrick

[leftybassman392]

Well, until recently I had a MIJ '72 reissue in black with a maple neck, so I'm guessing it will looka bit like this:

[url="http://[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h440/muso392/DSCN0349_223.jpg[/IMG]"][IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h440/muso392/DSCN0349_223.jpg[/IMG][/url]

Edited April 26, 2012 by leftybassman392

[leftybassman392]

It's a slightly tricky one to value because on the one hand it's a vintage US-made Telecaster and being a Lefty it has rarity value, but on the other hand a shop might be reluctant to offer you top dollar up front as it's a lefty and so has a much smaller marketplace to access (not to mention difficult market condition right now!).

I'm not really an expert in this area, but a quick scan of various locations leads me to believe £1500 or so would be a good jumping off point - don't expect that from a dealer of course, because they'll start whining on about difficult trading environments and difficulties selling it on as a lefty, etc.

I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find out. I may not get an answer quickly though.

Edit: to be worth big money it would need to be a good bit older than it is - pre-CBS (i.e. pre-'66, preferably a bit earlier) instruments regularly trade for 5-figure sums even in todays market.

Edited April 26, 2012 by leftybassman392

[mckendrick]

[size=6][sup]Yes.... I'm familiar with the vintage market in Fenders, but in finer detail only where basses are concerned, unfortunately.[/sup]

[sup]Cheers.[/sup][/size]

Edited April 26, 2012 by mckendrick

[leftybassman392]

Have you tried offering it on eBay? Start it low but set a high reserve and let it run as long as possible. That should tell you what the market thinks it's worth. (Offering internationally would help as well, though you sound like someone who's done this kind of thing before... )

[skankdelvar]

LBM's punt of £1500 sounds about right, IMO. Ditto dealers' twitchiness about left-hookers.

It might be worth checking out The FDP Fender Forum (not the mfr, this is an unofficial Fender site) [url="http://www.fenderforum.com"]http://www.fenderforum.com[/url] and also [url="http://www.tdpri.com"]http://www.tdpri.com[/url] (Tele-specific forum). Both very good sites.

And, frankly, if there's anyone [i]specifically[/i] looking for a black l/h '76 Tele, that's where they'll be found. You might also want to see if you can date it more precisely, in order to entice Year [i]and[/i] Month of Birth buyers.

[color=#ffffff].[/color]

Edited April 27, 2012 by skankdelvar

[mckendrick]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1335538708' post='1632882']
[url="http://www.tdpri.com"]http://www.tdpri.com[/url] [/quote]
NIce one, skank'.

Cheers.

[mike257]

I'll second that - I'm a member over at TDPRI and its the second most useful, friendly forum I've found after BC. Lots of expertise there, and many of my Google searches for non-Tele related guitar questions land me back there anyway, so its my first port of call for 6-string knowledge these days. Somebody on there will surely be able to help you out!

[BILL POSTERS]

Not really an antique I know, but would somewhere like Christies help value it ?

I would have thought it was a daft question as well, but I kid you not. i know somebody who approached them to value a late 90s japanese Strat, that had been signed by Brian Adams, and they werte more than helpful.

What you got to lose ?