Refurbished Fender

Tony Boadle · From: Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland

I'm looking at buying a Fender eight string console steel. It's been professionally refurbished, some new parts but original pickup and electrics though. Also fully refinished including a respray. It's now in excellent condition, my question is has the refurbishment reduced it's resale value? It's no longer truly 'original' so would that make a difference to potential buyers if I needed to sell down the line?

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

A refinish on an old steel guitar does diminish the resell value a bit - maybe 25% over a completely original instrument? Unlike a Fender guitar from the same era, steels do not have a huge collector/investor market and are mainly bought to be played and gigged. Therefore, a nicely refurbished and fully functional steel may even be preferable to a completely original instrument that needs work. Since '50s Fender steels sell for about 10% of a comparable six string, the difference is more or less negligible.

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

Value to a collector is greatly diminished. Interest to a player will depend on how good a job and the asking price.

Daniel Flanigan · From: Oregon, USA

If it's a high-quality refin, the electronics being original is far more important to me. Pictures of the guitar would help determine how much the refin would reduce it's value.
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Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Well, to me all that matters is how it sounds & plays. I prefer a "rebuilt" guitar with reliable electronics and as others have said the quality of the job matters. Finally it boils down to price in your area.
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Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
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Tony Boadle · From: Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.Pics won't upload for some reason. It does look perfect. Having said that, I'm looking at around $2000 including shipping and import taxes.
Would that be too much for what it is?

K Maul · From: Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL

$2K is a LOT for a single neck Fender like that.
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Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

The general rule of thumb in the vintage guitar world is that a full refin drops the value by around 50%. Refurbing with non-original parts drops things even more. Original pickups and electronics helps though, but for vintage guitars, that general rule still holds up pretty well. Some people ask more, but gettin' isn't easy, and any time the market turns down a bit, people who bought less than good original examples tend to get hit pretty hard if they overpaid.

I consider especially 50s Fender lap or console steels to be vintage guitars, governed to some extent by the same reasoning as vintage guitars. I agree that since they're not worth anything near what a comparable 50s Fender guitar is worth, the discount probably is not as severe because even a 50% devalue brings them down to player-grade prices. Of course, the quality of the refin matters a lot.

I guess the other issue is - what actually is the normal retail value of an all-original single-neck 8-string console steel? I think $2000 is pushing it even for one in excellent condition. And which version are you talking about? I think that matters too.

You're probably having trouble posting photos because the size is too large. The limit is 2048x2048 pixels and 8 MB. There are something like 18 threads on the first page of Forum Feedback that addres this issue over and over again. Just reduce the photo size down below the limit, and it should upload just fine. Every single instance I've seen is a result of the filesize being too large.

Tony Boadle · From: Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, all points noted and taken on board.

Fred · From: Amesbury, MA

The price you pay should reflect the lower value of a refurbished/refinished instrument. You're not buying an all original instrument and then lowering its value by refinishing.

If it's a good playable instrument and worth the asking price to you don't worry about it.

Bill Sinclair · From: Waynesboro, PA, USA

For a price point, here's a well-patinaed Deluxe 8 on ebay that didn't sell it's first time out with an opening bid of $800. It'll cost the buyer about another $300 to procure the correct legs and a non-original case so I think it's priced about right. I doubt that the Lake Placid Blue was the original color but not a big deal for a player's guitar.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145863402161

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

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