Is this guitar original?

Wolfetone

richardhomer said:

The thing is, if you were to get the issues solved by someone truly capable of doing the job properly, you would still not have an original '77 Telecaster - you would have a skilfully refretted and refinished '77 Tele.

So it would still have 'issues' from a collectibility point of view, ergo even if you got a 50% refund, the cost of fixing it would take it beyond the market value of a refin '77 Tele.

The guy needs to give you your money back....

What is it worth as it stands?

ICBM

Wolfetone said:

I had considered asking him for a partial refund. What would a luthier charge to restore the paint, lacquer and other troubles?

To do it properly - which would include re-refretting it to plane out the chipped fingerboard, plugging the bored-out headstock, body refinish and fingerboard refinish, and try to fix the compression marks on the front of the headstock (not easy), plus electrics, you're looking at around £500 probably.

If you don't do it that well - and to an extent even if you do, since it will never be original, for example the neck will be thinner if the board is planed, and it will always be a refinish - you will be compromising the value.

Partial refunds are tricky anyway, it's always open to argument and if you're not careful you may run out of time on the dispute process. It's significantly not as described, so full refund is the way to go.

richardhomer

Wolfetone;386589" said:

What is it worth as it stands?

Straight answer is I don't know; what I do know is that AS A GUITAR, a second hand Mexican 60s Tele would probably suit most players better.

It is possible to construct all manner of arguments around it being 'semi' vintage, a working guitar would be had work done, etc. Such arguments have no merit unless they persuaded someone else that parting with a given amount of money for it was a good idea. Or the put it another way - try to look at this objectively, rather than trying to talk yourself into keeping it.

You have parted with £1200. That is a lot of money. If you had your £1200 back, you would definitely be able to buy a much better 37 year old Tele than that one. You might not find one tomorrow but they are not rare. Fender built a lot of guitars in the '70s.

I'm sorry if I sound like a kill-joy but that guitar is a dog (or 'turd' to quote ICBM).

The bloke who sold it to you swam the channel getting £1200 for it - get your money off him and return his guitar.

TeleMojo

Hi Wolftone, I was trying out your 77 tele refin on Monday night at the home of the new owner you sold it on to, nice restoration. I am considering buying the guitar and spoke to Dromara to find out some background, I am interested in building up the background of the guitar for provenance etc, I noticed you had some pics from the above thread on bucket list that are no longer available and wondered if you could be so kind to possibly repost or if I give you a link maybe send them over. Thanks in advance for your help, it would be gratefully appreciated. Regards TeleMojo.

Wolfetone

TeleMojo said:

Hi Wolftone, I was trying out your 77 tele refin on Monday night at the home of the new owner you sold it on to, nice restoration. I am considering buying the guitar and spoke to Dromara to find out some background, I am interested in building up the background of the guitar for provenance etc, I noticed you had some pics from the above thread on bucket list that are no longer available and wondered if you could be so kind to possibly repost or if I give you a link maybe send them over. Thanks in advance for your help, it would be gratefully appreciated. Regards TeleMojo.

The guitar is a beaut. It feels very solid to play and sustains incredibly well. The guy that restored it did an exceptional job and kept it as close to original as he could. The guitar from the factory was one of those that was repainted from sunburst to black to fulfill an order in the days where Fender was in financial trouble. The Dromara Guitar Clinic kept that finish underneath rather than stripping it entirely. 

It's all original apart from newish genuine Fender tuners of the correct type and one of the pots which is still a CTS but a replacement, The guitar was refrettted with medium jumbo frets partially because I like that size and partially because a previous fret job was piss poor to be honest. 

The best thing about it is its sound which by Telecaster standards is excellent with plenty of bite and growl. It's also very narrow at the nut.

As I recall, there was a poster in this thread that has an absolutely identical guitar with the crappy black finish over sunburst, the same markings on the pickups etc.He posted dismantled photos of his and it could have been the same guitar. He hasn't refinished his.

I will dig out any photos I have.

Wolfetone

Wolfetone

Wolfetone

Wolfetone