85 grand for a Strat - and that's probably fair

guitars4you

@CavemanGrogg ^^^***

In Leeds there use to be a privately owned Harley Davidson shop - Not far from Harvey Nichols - It didn’t sell bikes but all the related merchandise, mugs, t-shirts, leather jackets etc - Don’t know/recall if it was for sale or display purposes but they have a HD Strat as you mentioned above- This would be about 20/25 years ago 

CavemanGrogg

guitars4you said:

@CavemanGrogg ^^^***

In Leeds there use to be a privately owned Harley Davidson shop - Not far from Harvey Nichols - It didn’t sell bikes but all the related merchandise, mugs, t-shirts, leather jackets etc - Don’t know/recall if it was for sale or display purposes but they have a HD Strat as you mentioned above- This would be about 20/25 years ago 

The Harley Davidson Strats, where the very first chromed guitars that I ever saw, and as far as I'm aware, they where the first chromed guitars made by any manufacturer.  I didn't have any finish issues with mine - I had 2 of the Harley Davidson Strats, though through personal experience - I have played all of the ones except for the two that I used to own that went to the country in Asia my family was based in, I know that they had huge issues with the chromed finishes from day 1 direct from Fender, the issues where so bad, that they didn't complete the run of them that they where supposed to, from memory I think 200-250 where originally meant to be made, but because of the issues they where having with the chrome finish - specifically the chrome not so much with the gold, they ended up only making a little over 100 of them, 110 or 115 I think.  The issues they had with the finishing from the ones with issues I saw where horrific, the chrome and gold was not just peeling and flaking off, but also showing and highlighting the material, and worse, the colour of the material that was chromed and plated with gold - a sick bluey green pea soup colour and who knows what material was actually plated but it wasn't the wood that was directly plated.  A lot of them actually had to be refinished, and I'm pretty sure that Fender got in somebody else to do the refinishes - as in they sent them out to a company that specialises in chrome plating and plating in general.

And funnily enough, I sold mine to a private Harley Davidson dealer in America - in Arizona, he didn't just sell the Harley merchandise, he also sold their bikes - he tried to convince me to buy a Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle a motorbike that is not road legal anywhere in the world and can not be converted to be road legal anywhere and comes stock with stage 3 NOS installed as well as a really really supped up tuned and bored out bloody huge car sized engine designed for drag racing, and bought mine off of me to use for a display - he has two location so wanted one for each location.

robgilmo

One question, are these old guitars actually nice to play? Or are they like driving a vintage car? Like, they put a smaile on your face but you wouldnt want to be driving one as a daily drive?

Tannin

Voxman said:

  Be interested to know how that ended up in Australia though.

Um? Possibly because Hank has lived here for near-on  40 years?

randella

robgilmo said:

One question, are these old guitars actually nice to play? Or are they like driving a vintage car? Like, they put a smaile on your face but you wouldnt want to be driving one as a daily drive?

I've played a few old Fenders including a couple of 50s maple fretboard guitars. I wasn't bowled over but I was brought up on slim necks and jumbo frets so... y'know. 

To each their own I guess but I always thought the looks and historical interest far outweighed what they were like as a player's proposition. 

I know, going to burn in hell etc. Pillow all plumped and ready for the horse's head. 

guitars4you

CavemanGrogg said:

guitars4you said:

@CavemanGrogg ^^^***

In Leeds there use to be a privately owned Harley Davidson shop - Not far from Harvey Nichols - It didn’t sell bikes but all the related merchandise, mugs, t-shirts, leather jackets etc - Don’t know/recall if it was for sale or display purposes but they have a HD Strat as you mentioned above- This would be about 20/25 years ago 

The Harley Davidson Strats, where the very first chromed guitars that I ever saw, and as far as I'm aware, they where the first chromed guitars made by any manufacturer.  I didn't have any finish issues with mine - I had 2 of the Harley Davidson Strats, though through personal experience - I have played all of the ones except for the two that I used to own that went to the country in Asia my family was based in, I know that they had huge issues with the chromed finishes from day 1 direct from Fender, the issues where so bad, that they didn't complete the run of them that they where supposed to, from memory I think 200-250 where originally meant to be made, but because of the issues they where having with the chrome finish - specifically the chrome not so much with the gold, they ended up only making a little over 100 of them, 110 or 115 I think.  The issues they had with the finishing from the ones with issues I saw where horrific, the chrome and gold was not just peeling and flaking off, but also showing and highlighting the material, and worse, the colour of the material that was chromed and plated with gold - a sick bluey green pea soup colour and who knows what material was actually plated but it wasn't the wood that was directly plated.  A lot of them actually had to be refinished, and I'm pretty sure that Fender got in somebody else to do the refinishes - as in they sent them out to a company that specialises in chrome plating and plating in general.

And funnily enough, I sold mine to a private Harley Davidson dealer in America - in Arizona, he didn't just sell the Harley merchandise, he also sold their bikes - he tried to convince me to buy a Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle a motorbike that is not road legal anywhere in the world and can not be converted to be road legal anywhere and comes stock with stage 3 NOS installed as well as a really really supped up tuned and bored out bloody huge car sized engine designed for drag racing, and bought mine off of me to use for a display - he has two location so wanted one for each location.

About 22/25 years ago I worked for a chain of stores called Academy of Sound ( no longer around) - the boss owned the Jaguar Strat - Think they were commissioned for/by Jaguar - British Racing Green - Not even sure if they were initially offered for sale outside of the UK - Think it was an XK8 he owned at the time, so he had the Jag Strat to match, hung on his office wall

guitars4you

robgilmo said:

One question, are these old guitars actually nice to play? Or are they like driving a vintage car? Like, they put a smaile on your face but you wouldnt want to be driving one as a daily drive?

I can see merits in the question - I don't think there is a generalisation that can be offered as an answer - AS an overview not all old Strats, for instance, are good - You can play one old Strat that is loaded with a form of wow factor, and play another and it is mediocre at best - Apply the same theory to any/many old guitars

Obviously guitars have not received a technology performance boost with regards to better breaks, turbo engines and a host of factors that will improve performance and reliability

It also depends on your playing style and what you want/need out of it - As an overview, to play, many modern Custom Shop Strats are easier to handle than many old Strats - Mainly down to chunkier frets - But you can re-fret an old Strat if you like

Then you get player grade old guitars that can be the best of both worlds - Some old school character and mojo, but a few tweaks here and there to enhance the feel/playability and maybe even tone  

But add to that the issue of replacing worn out parts - On an old car it is an accepted practice to repair, replace etc as required - Change the knackered, but original pots, switch, tuners on your 62 Strat and you'll loose money - Crazy but that is what the market/buyers expect - Even if you change for replica parts etc - Hence strong interest in many Custom Shop 'modern' replicas and player grade oldies

Tannin

^ It is the same in the acoustic world. I've played some truly lovely old guitars, and I've played some very expensive ones which, if you covered the label up and just sold it on its merits as an instrument, would struggle to find a buyer at $300 AUD. 

(I'm thinking of a particular 1930s Martin I tried recently. The price was in 5 figures and you could pick up any random Chinese cheapie from any random shop and have something that played as well or better and sounded 1000% better. But someone will pay 5 figures for it just the same.)

skullfunkerry

I wouldn't mind this... and I expect @hollywoodrox will like it too

https://www.premierguitars.com.au/collections/electric-solid-body/products/jackson-phil-collen-signature-archtop-usa-1989

BobHillman

skullfunkerry said:

I wouldn't mind this... and I expect @hollywoodrox will like it too

https://www.premierguitars.com.au/collections/electric-solid-body/products/jackson-phil-collen-signature-archtop-usa-1989

I'd rather have his Destroyer

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/57/47/0e/57470e4dc83e37f516af276666de17d4--phil-collen-guitar-wall.jpg

hollywoodrox

skullfunkerry said:

I wouldn't mind this... and I expect @hollywoodrox will like it too

https://www.premierguitars.com.au/collections/electric-solid-body/products/jackson-phil-collen-signature-archtop-usa-1989

Awesome 

Lewy

£43k for a 1957 strat owned by Hank Marvin? Ridiculous....I mean it's just two bits of pivotal rock 'n roll history bolted together......

WafflesOnHorseback

It's a bit subjective tho innit? I wouldn't pay 500 quid for a Hank Marvin strat but for someone else it might be a life changer. I guess these things are worth as much as anyone is prepared to pay for them. Even if we think it's ridiculous (or obscene in the case of the £££££££ ones) it isn't really going to make much difference to anyone. It's one of those futile internet discussions where there's no right or wrong. End of the day who cares? If you don't want one, don't buy it. Simples!