"Vintage" Guitars. Need some help.

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MrDowntown

MrDowntown

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Hola fellas and ladies.
Short version. Ive got two guitars neither are mine. I’ve been tasked with trying to get an idea of what each may be worth.

1). 1978 J45 Gibson. Bought used years ago. Has a hard case but no clue if it’s original. Guitar was a factory second due to finish flaw in back of guitar. Hasn't been touched in a while and needs a setup.

2) 1979 (I believe) Fender Stratocaster. Bought new, one owner. Original case and some hang tags, including shop price tag and fenders inspection tag. Guitar was played and gigged regularly in late 70’s and 80’s and looks like it but still in very good condition. Been in a case pretty much since. All electronics work; SSS, 2 tone, 1 volume, 5 way toggle. Photo attached.
 

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Years ago, my buddy came across a Fender Stratocaster that was under a family member's bed and barely played. It was a 64' I believe and when we looked it up, I think we figured it was worth about 30k. I'm no guitar expert but I know with Strats, Ive heard the CBS years are the years they screwed up and may not be worth as much.
 
I have no clue but have a family member looking for a J45 if the owner is interested in selling it.
 
That Strat is nice. I have a 76 that I refretted and it’s one of my favorites. 70’s strats are way underrated.
Hard to say a value without seeing and playing it.
I bought mine right before Covid and the stupid prices. I paid $1100.00. Was basically unplayable tho. I good example in this market I’d say 2k +.
 
thanks guys.

weight on the Strat is 8lbs. not sure if that is good or bad :dunno: some little reading makes me thing it's not horrible... i will say it plays and sounds incredible! i was impressed at how good the pickups are in this thing. and it is SUPER easy to play. needs a bath :LOL: and a bit of a setup, but other than that i love that thing.

the J45...hmm...may need some attention. after lookin at it last night, in light (with glasses ? ), it has the appearance of having had little to no tension on the truss rod, and the string tension has/had begun to pull the neck "into the soundhole (collapse). it's very slight, but it's there. I'm guessing a qualified luthier could right this wrong.
 
Those are not really vintage dont over pay but you probably will. :p
 
MrDowntown said:
interesting...what makes them not good?
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It's really all personal opinion. I have played some good ones and some bad ones, but that's really any guitar model. A lot of people complain about the weight, that the pickups sound thin, some don't like the ash bodies, some don't like the 3 bolt neck. At the time, companies were coming out with their own strat copies that people liked even better. With all that said, there have been great albums and players who used the guitars, and some people absolutely love them, and I would love to have one.
 
JackBootedThug said:
my first electric was a late 70's strat. it was killer.
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This one plugged into my origin 50c was fun….had a old 70’s rock feel and vibe. Tons of tomal options with the separate tone pots and 5way. Hit it with the tube screamer and oh yea. 90 mins went by very quickly.
 
Hola friends and foe alike... rekindling this old flame.

initially, upon my original posts, my uncle-in-law was looking for $$ for the Strat pictured above, but somewhere along the way, sort of changed his mind. He told me to just keep it and play it, for the time being, until he decided what he wanted to do with it. Fast forward about 3yrs, and here we are...he's asked me to just keep it...he "wanted me to have it, and no one else" is what he said...so i'm STOKED about that.

i would like to swap out the saddles though. plan is to keep the old ones, but play it with new ones. what would you guys recommend?

thanks for any feedback.
MDT
 
MrDowntown said:
Hola friends and foe alike... rekindling this old flame.

initially, upon my original posts, my uncle-in-law was looking for $$ for the Strat pictured above, but somewhere along the way, sort of changed his mind. He told me to just keep it and play it, for the time being, until he decided what he wanted to do with it. Fast forward about 3yrs, and here we are...he's asked me to just keep it...he "wanted me to have it, and no one else" is what he said...so i'm STOKED about that.

i would like to swap out the saddles though. plan is to keep the old ones, but play it with new ones. what would you guys recommend?

thanks for any feedback.
MDT
Click to expand...

I love everything Callaham has put out. Highwood also makes stainless steel saddles with recessed saddle screws that people seem to dig quite a bit, but I haven’t used them myself.
 
I assume any of the bent steel saddles will be largely the same. I've had Raw Vintage saddles that were fine.

If you use the trem, you might want more modern saddles like the block steel saddles or even the locking saddles from Gotoh or Wilkinson.
 
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