Opinions on a Craigslist Custom

[Mayuiers]

I'm going to stop by and take a look at this Custom. He believes it is a '73 or '74.


It's had a previous headstock repair and the finish has been stripped. The finish is not too big of a deal to me since I build guitars in my spare time anyway.

The serial number is pretty much gone (though there are traces of it). No idea if the pots are original, but it seems little else is on the guitar so I'm guessing they've been swapped, too. I can see a volute so I'm thinking he may be right about the year.



What do you guys and girls think? $1100 seem fair or too much?



http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/msg/5874954465.html

 

[Britbender]

very fair. i would say

 

[TheX]

I would be all over that.

 

[Jeremiah]

Honestly the 1300 he wants is a fair price, isn't it?

 

[HardCore Troubadour]

Mahogany neck so it is before 75

Yes.

 

[XpensiveWino]

Yeah man, I'd go get that in a second, especially at $1100. Keep us posted. Nice!

 

[kevinpaul]

That is a great looking guitar and that money ain't bad. I would love to have it, no pickup covers but that is just me.

 

[LeftyF2003]

I'd scoop it up, finish the front of the headstock and figure out that rear pickup (likely it's coil splitting and they didn't solder both coils to the pot).

 

[Mayuiers]

Lots of encouragement so far. Thanks!!

Here are my thoughts...

It's basically a husk of a '73/'74. That husk also has a previous headstock repair. Aside from the body all of the parts appear to be random bits and pieces.

I have a number of original parts so if I brought it back to life I could have a fairly decent guitar.

I'll make the call this morning and see if I can drop by to look at it this afternoon. I will keep you informed.

Thanks for your help and advice !!!!

 

[kakerlak]

Year is likely right -- as HCT mentioned, it's got a mahogany neck and you can see it once had waffle-back tuners. The only thing that might be a no-go on it is if it's been sanded on too heavily. If somebody had simply stripped it chemically, the S/N wouldn't be nearly gone, so I'm guessing it was sanded down to bare wood. A lot of times that means contours and binding have gotten rounded over and there's no real way to undo that damage. The heel looks kind of funky in that way and the tip of the binding around the horn looks sort of like it, but the photos aren't great.

 

[Mayuiers]

Before painting it, I'd see if there was some CSI trick to finding the serial number.

LOL.... My CSI trick is using a black light. It not only shows previous repairs, but most of the time it will reveal serial numbers that are very hard to read or are nearly gone.

As a part-time luthier I am sometimes commissioned to repair broken headstocks and refinish guitars. I have a set of 6mm and 4mm Gibson letter stamps to redo the serial number and the "Made in the USA" lettering. As a rule I prefer to leave serial numbers alone if they are even remotely distinguishable, but in instances such as this there isn't much of a choice.

Still, if my black light can't give me a definitive answer I'll just leave well enough alone. Even though the original Norlin employee who ran the stamping machine might disagree, serial numbers are a time-honored system of records and there's nothing to be gained by making a mess of them.

 

[HardCore Troubadour]

From the pics avalible, break looks pretty clean and the repair looks pretty good.

Why are you posting?

Take the man $1100

 

[bblooz]

Nice guitar with solid repair and three-piece mahogany neck=solid player. Get it!

 

[Mayuiers]

From the pics avalible, break looks pretty clean and the repair looks pretty good.

Why are you posting?

Take the man $1100

I've got the money in my pocket, but the seller hasn't yet responded to my reply.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

LOL.... My CSI trick is using a black light. It not only shows previous repairs, but most of the time it will reveal serial numbers that are very hard to read or are nearly gone.

I have asked this before (not you), and didn't get a clear answer, so i'll try again:

What sort of UV light do you need, and what exactly does fluoresce on a guitar?

I ask because i have one of those UV LED pens, and that one does excite absolutely nothing on any of my guitars - even the ones with repairs...


As for the guitar, in Denmark 1300 would be an absolute steal, and it would already sit safely in my living room at this point...

 

[Mayuiers]

Frankly, I just use an inexpensive black light that I purchased at Walmart. It's nothing special, but it works just fine.

My black light lamp cost me about $20 USD and looks something like this...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lava-181...fault&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n


Black lights are normally used to distinguish whether repairs or changes have been made to a guitar. Older parts and finishes will glow while newer items and finishes will not glow. I'm not entirely certain why older things glow, however.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

Frankly, I just use an inexpensive black light that I purchased at Walmart. It's nothing special, but it works just fine.

My black light lamp cost me about $20 USD and looks something like this...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lava-181...fault&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n


Black lights are normally used to distinguish whether repairs or changes have been made to a guitar. Older parts and finishes will glow while newer items and finishes will not glow. I'm not entirely certain why older things glow, however.

Thx for the info

 

[Mayuiers]

Incidentally, the seller responded this morning. I asked about the pots and the pickups. Neither are original, though he believes the pickups are probably from a later model Les Paul Studio or a Tribute.

I'm guessing it is likely that someone purchased the body and simply threw a bunch of random parts at it. This means only the body alone is worthwhile.

I have the proper Tune-O-Matic set up for the guitar. I'd need to get a set of T-Tops, pots, tuners, and plastics if I wanted to bring it back to it's original state. I figure that would cost me an additional $500 (not counting my time/cost to refinish it). In the end I'd have a decent '73/'74 Custom for right around $2000... which isn't a bad deal, really.

I'm hoping to check out the guitar this weekend. I'll let you know what I find.

 

[Mayuiers]

And here is a comparison photo (taken from Google images) of vintage knobs vs recent knobs under a black light.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

Interesting - wonder what kind of chemicals they were allowed to use back then