plucked out blog

1976 Bicentennial Firebird

2 great Firebirds in a week….I wonder how much money I can borrow….

This is a lovely looking Firebird – and one that will certainly appreciate in value. They can be considered reasonably rare (2847 produced according to http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/Firebird.php) but they’re not the rarest ‘bird out there. However, there always seems to be healthy demand for the reverse Firebirds as they do look so damn good. I’ve never seen a Bicentennial sell for £5k as the seller mentions though…

The only difficulty is resisting the urge to play it, as it is really one to go away in its case. Worth keeping an eye on.

Alleged “vintage” “Fender”

Be very careful about this one. Not only does the seller have zero feedback, but this bass has no neck plate (where the serial number would be), the pics are fuzzy and the logo looks suspect from the pic. There also don’t seem to be any holes for the pickup cover which would have been factory fitted in 1959.

If you’re still interested then make sure you get the seller to provide photos of the neck pocket, the end of the neck itself (where the date of manufacture will be written in pencil) and the rear of the pots but be very careful. At best, you’re going to get a Mexican or Japanese reissue (but overpriced at £400) – at worst, you’re be getting a poorly constructed fake that you won’t be able to sell on. I would steer well clear.

1978 Jazz Bass

1976 Jazz Bass

Lots of 1970s Fenders look great, but the quality was extremely patchy in this period. Also, the variances in weight went from reasonably bulky to millstone. However, they do seem to be increasing in value but more down to the simple economics of supply and demand than them being any good. Personally I wouldn’t pay £1k+ for an instrument I wouldn’t enjoy playing, and I’ve never found a mid to late 70s Fender that I did.

If you’re looking for something to play, then I’d suggest looking elsewhere. If you want an investment, then the sonic blue 1976 linked above is worth a look, although I’d ask the seller for some photos of the neck pocket to confirm that the colour is original. Worth making an offer, but don’t expect more than a £200 increase in value over the next 5 years. The 1978 one has too many mods to be considered an investment in my opinion.

[Full disclosure: I have no 70s Fenders but I do have some from the 1980s and 2000]

Hohner L59

If you want a Les Paul-type guitar, but don’t want to pay Gibson prices, then don’t automatically go for an Epiphone. Some Epis are great, but there are some better options that will cost less – admittedly Epis tend to hold their value because they’re more well known but if you want something to play then worth checking out older guitars like this Hohner.

Hohner professional series guitars were made in Korea and were very high quality, made of solid wood not ply. I’ve had a number of Hohners over the years and they’ve been as good as many Fenders and Epis that I’ve also owned. The only things that generally need improving are the pickups – but you could say that about lots of guitars.

The L59, ST59, G3T,TE Custom, TE Custom XII, TE Prinz, B2A, Jack bass, JJ bass and PJ bass are all worth looking out for.

This L59 is definitely worth keeping an eye on, and I think it will go for a bargain price.

[Full disclosure: I have a Hohner ST59 but it's in bits]

Highway 1 Strat

Not really to be considered an investment, but ideal as a players guitar and it will hold it’s value well – I wouldn’t be surprised if this got snapped up quickly.

The seller has even started the process of replacing the pickups which is arguably the only thing you need to improve on with Highway 1 strats. £325 is a good price, even without the Best Offer element so you could even get a bargain.

[Full disclosure: I have no connection whatsoever with this listing or the seller]

2 control Strat

Here’s a bit of an oddity; a 2 control Strat. These were only made between 1983 and 1985 as an attempt to cut costs; the redesigned (and awful) trem meant that no rear routing was required and removing the second tone control allowed the output jack socket to be moved to the scratchplate and therefore reduce even more routing and therefore cost.

The pickups in these guitars and everything else was high quality, although this seller has indulged in a fair amount of hyperbole with regards to them being able to “blow most Strats away”. Given the limited production and oddity factor, they are interesting and are likely to increase in value. However, I wouldn’t expect to see the £850 this seller is expecting for another 5 years or so. A fair price now for a good condition example would be £450-£600.

[Full disclosure: I have a 1983 Precision but no 80s Strats]

12 string Firebird

Ooh, if I had £3k lying around…

Here is one of those ironically rare things; something being described as rare that actually is. How many 12 string Firebirds do you see? Not many.

There’s a spelling mistake on the listing though, should say “non-reverse” not “none-reverse”. Silly mistake – always proof read your listings. I’ve been to their shops several times though and they are trustworthy;I first went to their shop in Doncaster when I was about 12 and was flabbergasted by the amount of guitars on display. That was where I first fell in love with a Telecaster Elite….

[Full disclosure: I have no connection whatsoever with this listing or the seller]

Yamaha 5-string BBG5

Here’s an example of a great bass at a great price; the buy it now is definitely a fair price.Particularly if you want to give 5-string a try without spending too much – you should be able to sell this on for £150 at least if you don’t like it. If I didn’t already have one 5-string I’d go for this in a flash.

I’ve always been a fan of Yamaha basses – they’re reliable, workmanlike and are great candidates for upgrades. Pickups and tuners are the 2 things that often let Yamahas down, but they’re both cheap to upgrade; whack some Gotohs and DiMarzios (or EMGs or Bartolinis) on this and you’ve got a pro quality sound for less than £200.

[Full disclosure: I have nothing whatsovever to do with this listing or the person listing it]

Jazz bass

Here’s an example of a very poor listing that will not result in a sale. Firstly, there are no detailed pictures of the actual bass in question. Secondly, there is confusing information about the bass – it’s not clear if it is even a real Fender as it mentions the word “replica”. Now it may be a real Fender that is a “replica” of a 1969 model but it could easily be a cheap copy that has been made to look like a Fender – and if that’s the case, the most it would be worth would be £200 and could be as little as £100; certainly not the £500 or £700 that the seller is looking for.

The listing mentions all the hardware being “original”;  given the quality of the rest of the listing I would take this with a pinch of salt. If that’s true, to convince a buyer you need to give some detail about the provenance of this.

Now if this is a real Fender, then spending some time on the listing with the history of the bass, and detailed pictures (including reference to the serial number) would result in a sale, and possibly for more than £700. If this is a real early 70s bass (it’s definitely not a late 70s as it has dot position markers) then it could be worth £800-£1200 depending on condition and history.

[Full disclosure: I have no 1970s Fenders]

1987 Fender Stratocaster Plus

There are lots of guitars that claim to be “rare” on eBay; here’s one that actually is, but only for the fact that it has an anomalous serial number.

The very first lot of Stratocaster Plus guitars produced in 1987 had an E4 serial number, which would ordinarily indicate they were made in 1984, but this is in fact an anomaly. You can find out lots more about Strat Pluses on this page.

[Full disclosure: I have no Strat Pluses or any connection to the xhrefiguitars site]