will york,
may very well
make the trip to you for the guitar
if you take the time to call him.

Some guitar people are nuts)

beautiful looking instrument

please get it cleaned properly

DIY can ruin a nice thing

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
That is a damn cool guitar. Very collectible. I would advise taking it to a Fender shop and have it looked over. I know the Fender Global Artist Relations Manager, and I could get a reference for you if you wish. That guitar deserves the best treatment. Very cool you have it. It will continue to appreciate.

https://www.fender.com/article...a-jazzmaster-history

Thanks for the link. Looks like mine was made between 1954 to 1956. Already 8 to 10 years old when I bought it and I bought it 56 years ago.

One more thing--its worth a hell of a lot more than what those scammers on Pawnstars said it might be worth.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
will york,
may very well
make the trip to you for the guitar
if you take the time to call him.

Some guitar people are nuts)

You know, knowing Will, I can pretty much guarantee that he would. His store isn’t open right now anyway, I checked last night. We had a ‘65 (IIRC) Jazzmaster at work that he was absolutely smitten with. If you get ahold of Will, tell him the guy he trained to build P-90’s for Jason sent you.

Great find!

What the guitar experts are trying to tell you is that if you do anything to that guitar yourself, you can cost your self a lot of money.

Anyone who knows what that is worth will look past any aging and wear issues. They know that kind of stuff happens, what kinds of issues are best left as is - just adding to the backstory of a decades-old guitar - and which really need to be addressed before sale

And for any must-do repairs/cleaning, they'll be able to get that done without affecting the marketability - either by folks on their staff or professionals who specialize in repairing collectibles.

Speaking of backstory - when you're chatting with the dealers, you might want to drop the name of the person who played the guitar and/or their band and locale. That might add to the marketability as well.

Don't do a single thing to that guitar! Pre CBS Fenders are worth a major premium (CBS bought Fender in 1965.) Take it to someone who knows what they are doing to first appraise it as is, then recommend any work to be done to increase its value. Replace NOTHING except strings.

My Dad just sold a beater pre CBS strat for $7000 and it was missing the original pickguard, pickups, and tuners.

Thanks to all that posted in this thread. I’m glad I posted this before I took some Pledge to it. I think all I’m going to do for now is try to get the smell out of the case.

I saw the name Will York mentioned a couple of times. Who is he and where is he? Web page?

others that could be interested might be,
Billy Gibbons,
Brad paisley
or
Vince gill

Very cool guitar!

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
He’s the owner of Thunder Road guitars in Portland. Before he worked there, he built P-90’s and humbuckers for Jason Lollar. I worked with him but haven’t talked to him in a few years. Good guy, honest, super knowledgeable about vintage guitars and amps. He’s also got a pretty good network of friends in the scene and if he doesn’t know the answer to something, would know who to ask. He and I aren't friends or anything, and I no longer have his number. I worked across the workbench from him for several years and came to respect him professionally.

https://www.thunderroadguitars.com/portland/

If you want to deal with someone in person who can do some safe cleaning and a setup, that’s my recommendation. If you’re comfortable getting appraised simply with pictures, I suggest skipping straight to George Gruhn.

Thanks for the link. He has a pretty beat up 1961 Fender Jazzmaster for $7,499. I just don’t know what to do about it. Now that I know what I have, the sentimental value stands in the way. I should at least get it professionally cleaned and re-strung, but I am so far away from anything and Portland isn’t ever going to be on my list of places to go.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
others that could be interested might be,
Billy Gibbons

He’d be a fun person to meet. He’s certainly got the money.

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:... He’s certainly got the money.

...and she got legs...

Man I am soooo gonna follow this!!!!!

So,
ask Will York if he wants to drive down to look at it for a possible professional restoration /cleaning,

And when he offers you twice what you expected,

Then worry and fret.

If you keel over tomorrow,
You can croak knowing that
A. It's in good hands,that enjoys it.

B. It won't be given to Goodwill,

Very cool guitar. The rust I see worries me, but what do I know? (not much). Send the details of it to Norm's Rare Guitars!
https://www.youtube.com/channe...r1JdYf6scuGaI0YRkyNg

https://www.normansrareguitars.com/

https://www.instagram.com/normansrareguitars/

As others have said, get in touch with George Gruhn or his shop. They can do a remote appraisal for you online (you’ll need to send plenty of photos) for about $75, IIRC. And anyone who knows anything about guitars knows Gruhn’s shop, so the appraisal will be more accurate and useful than the opinion of the guy working the counter at your typical local pawn shop/music center. If you do it remotely, send pics of the case and any papers or documents you may have on hand, and any original parts that might have been removed or swapped out and still reside in the case as well.

Depending on the value and your level of risk aversion, consider adding a rider to your homeowners/renters insurance policy to cover it too.

Take the advise, it's good, and you don't have to do much to find out what it's worth and what to do with it to keep it from deteriorating if you decide to keep it.

This is simple, just contact a couple of the leads you have here by email or phone. If they agree, send them a link to the images, you won't be the first that didn't drive into Portland to ask in person.

Let the pros tell you what it is, what it's worth, how to care for it, what they'd pay you, and get an appraisal at a minimum for insurance purposes so if something happens you can recover the full value or if you keep it
and your family has to sell it later they know who to contact and what they have.

And post back and let us know...

quote:

Then worry and fret.

Good one bendable

Very cool "find" from your past.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Take the advise, it's good, and you don't have to do much to find out what it's worth and what to do with it to keep it from deteriorating if you decide to keep it.

This is honestly my big concern. Whatever you decide to do with it is your business, but a little bit of TLC and maintenance is beyond overdue at this point. I'm not even talking about cosmetic issues here, I'm talking about "is the neck warped from sitting tuned to pitch in a dry closet at a weird angle for 25 years" type concerns. Could be absolutely fine; plenty of guitars do fine sitting in less-than-ideal conditions for years, but plenty don't.

You've got a really nice guitar there. It deserves a little spa time with a pro.