63 Fender strat going for a bargain on ebay

[lateralus778]

those guitar are expensive because there is only a few guitar with this sound on the planet !
Personally I wont pay more then 2-3000 $ for a guitar.
Some can afford it and good for them but personally, I'm not rich yet !

For the most part, only audiophiles tend to notice that crap... the same people who buy $50 "lifts" for their cables to "reduce noise"...

Enough effects can usually make a guitar sound like any other one.

[LUBI]

nice strap

[Chuck E. Jesus]

Enough effects can usually make a guitar sound like any other one.

if you have to put effects on a guit to make it sound good, it's either a piece of shit or you can't play...i ain't saying it like i'm great, but a decent guit thru a decent amp and some decent chops = decent guit music....you wanna talk exceptional, you got to talk to someone else...but FX = FX, not good guit...

[Muff Wiggler]

do '63 strats have that 'orignal contour body' graphic on the headstock? :/

[susiwong]

Fwiw, of all the pre-CBS Strats and Teles I've played (around 40), about 90% weren't all that special and quite easily matched or outdone by many decent copies ((Schecter, Anderson, Suhr etc.).
The remaining 4 or 5 guitars were in a completely different league though, and definitely worth a lot of money for their sound alone.
That was in no way related to original switch tips or perfect condition.
With Gibson solids the ratio of average to exceptional is a lot better, maybe 60 to 40.
If playability is your concern, any decent tech can setup a guitar that is structurally ok to play like a dream for less than 100 bucks (if no refret is needed, then it might be up to about 400 $ for a pro job) - provided he is allowed to work his "magic" on that investment grade plank.
A very controversial subject, this is my personal experience, ymmv.
Cheers,
susiwong

[Hink]

do '63 strats have that 'orignal contour body' graphic on the headstock? :/

here's an idea....look at the picture

[Hink]

well someone did bid...but didn't reach the reserve

[Hovmod]

I wouldn't mind a 63 stratocaster.
It would really piss off a colleague of mine, who's saving up for one of those "authentic replicas" they've been making lately, with all the dings and scratches that some famous player made in their first strat... I'd keep a picture of it in my office.

[Ian B]

I wonder if this strat will eventually get the Eric Clapton Blackie strat treatment? ($959,500.. at Christie's )

[Hink]

you know it's at 18k now and I am really surprised...I was wrong, people will pay that much which imo is bad news...but it still hasn't reached the reserve

[taijiguy]

Let's see now...$18,000+ for an old, beat up Strat or $1200 for a brand new American Deluxe Strat that probably sounds and plays better? Tough choice.

[ew]

you know it's at 18k now and I am really surprised...I was wrong, people will pay that much which imo is bad news...but it still hasn't reached the reserve

I'm not that surprised, to be honest. True, the Klusons aren't the original ones, but everything else is close to original.

I saw a '57 in absolutely horrible condition one time. The neck had no finish left on it; there was more bare wood than finish left on the body and the chrome was all pitted. Yet, it sold for 100k (and was considered a bargain by some). Why? Because it was the only '57 that had that color as a factory order, and it had the documentation. Unrestored with documentation will always sell for more than restored.

ew

[Reverse Engineer]

This really will kill off your faith in humanity (if you have any left).

And no, this is NOT a limited edition, this was a guy who got it painted himself...it's a shop floor ps3 with a paint job...anyone who doesn't live in the middle of the desert (without any form of transportation) could get it done for a couple of 100.

[ew]

Also, as far as Blue Book goes, the condition of that '63 is about 80-85%. That's actually considered good condition for an unrestored '63.

ew

[Hink]

Let's see now...$18,000+ for an old, beat up Strat or $1200 for a brand new American Deluxe Strat that probably sounds and plays better? Tough choice.

or even perhaps 500 for a standard strat.

@ew, you're right but it's still surprising...remember when baseball cards went nuts? It seems too me judging by the success of businesses around here that the value boom destroyed the whole shebang for many...I just hate to see that. Meanwhile the big guitar companies start over charging for stupid "collectors series" or "signature models" tapping into a craze that in twenty years because of the flood of such things now might not exist.