Help to identify old electric guitar please...

paddymcwhoop

Hi!.
i collect Burns and Fenton Weill guitars, and I can safely say that this guitar is neither.
it appears to be a very well made home built or ameteur luthier job.
all the parts, i.e. Pups, trem, bridge (Hofner micromatic) , tuners and knobs, were all off the shelf items in guitar/music shops during the 60s.
I have a mint NOS Dallas rangemaster trem that I bought from an old shop.
i can tell you now that Selmer case is worth over £150 alone easy!. 

Ancient_Mariner

It does look like a lot of the bits were the kind of things one could find floating around in certain shops in the late 70s and early 80s - I hate to think of the value of some things I tried screwing together to make a really lousy budget electric back then.

koneguitarist

Just realised I still have that old Burns in my room, maybe it's worth more for parts, forgot all about it! 

DulcetJones

Great info here,as always, but special mention to ICBM and paddymcwhoop in this thread!  

paddymcwhoop

koneguitarist said:

Just realised I still have that old Burns in my room, maybe it's worth more for parts, forgot all about it! 

Wait.. I think I was gonna buy that!. Totally forgot!. 

paddymcwhoop

DulcetJones said:

Great info here,as always, but special mention to ICBM and paddymcwhoop in this thread!  

Thanks!.

Neil

paddymcwhoop said:

Hi!.
i collect Burns and Fenton Weill guitars, and I can safely say that this guitar is neither.
it appears to be a very well made home built or ameteur luthier job.
all the parts, i.e. Pups, trem, bridge (Hofner micromatic) , tuners and knobs, were all off the shelf items in guitar/music shops during the 60s.
I have a mint NOS Dallas rangemaster trem that I bought from an old shop.
i can tell you now that Selmer case is worth over £150 alone easy!. 

Thanks for that Paddy.

Regarding the case, my friend has been told by a dealer that it is worth £200.

Sounds like his £25 was a wise investment.

He has also recently picked up a really nice old Hofner for £30!

impmann

£200 for a Selmer case?

Shit, really?

I gave one away with a Squier Strat about six years ago that I sold for £75. It smelt *BAD* inside, like something had shat itself profusely then died in there.

But still...

Cool guitar. Hope it doesn't end up parted out.

Jack_

How does one find these sorts of guitars?

stimpsonslostson

impmann said:

£200 for a Selmer case?

Shit, really?

I gave one away with a Squier Strat about six years ago that I sold for £75. It smelt *BAD* inside, like something had shat itself profusely then died in there.

But still...

Cool guitar. Hope it doesn't end up parted out.

You're sure it wasnt a Squier Shatocaster? 

ICBM

Selmer cases *can* be worth a fortune because they're the original cases for Fender Strats etc sold new in the UK in the early 60s - Selmer were the importer and used their own case supplier rather than buying in the US cases.

But be careful, because they came in a variety of sizes since Selmer also sold many other cheaper and usually smaller European guitars - so not all are large enough for a Strat. These ones are worth much less.

The sad thing about the guitar here is that if it's a DIY job and you part it out - not just the case but the valuable hardware - then the rest is worthless and will probably end up in the bin, which even though it doesn't look particularly well made is a bit of a shame, given that someone spent a bit of time and effort on it fifty years ago...

Jack_

Or a Squier Scatocaster.

andrewaward

as ICBM mentioned, the Selmer case will only be valuable if it fits a Strat/Tele....or there were slightly longer ones that fitted Jazzmasters which are quite valuable too

57Deluxe

Amazing irony: We (older Bro's will ID with this) had to endure the pain and anguish of trying to learn on such instruments and if we were sereious, ditched them ASAP for something more proper... Now, we have excellent instruments in abundancy but somehow 'cherish' these plywood planks as something worthy....??

Neil

ICBM said:

Selmer cases *can* be worth a fortune because they're the original cases for Fender Strats etc sold new in the UK in the early 60s - Selmer were the importer and used their own case supplier rather than buying in the US cases.

But be careful, because they came in a variety of sizes since Selmer also sold many other cheaper and usually smaller European guitars - so not all are large enough for a Strat. These ones are worth much less.

The sad thing about the guitar here is that if it's a DIY job and you part it out - not just the case but the valuable hardware - then the rest is worthless and will probably end up in the bin, which even though it doesn't look particularly well made is a bit of a shame, given that someone spent a bit of time and effort on it fifty years ago...

Good points although TBH I don't think the guitar will ever be parted out.

The owner has a big collection of old less valuable guitars (and old airguns) and I think parting out would not enter his head.

Here's another he bought from two old ladies at a boot sale for £30!

Neil

57Deluxe said:

Amazing irony: We (older Bro's will ID with this) had to endure the pain and anguish of trying to learn on such instruments and if we were sereious, ditched them ASAP for something more proper... Now, we have excellent instruments in abundancy but somehow 'cherish' these plywood planks as something worthy....??

You can't place a price on nostalgia!

Well you can actually, and many people who remember stuff the first time round are looking at stuff through rose coloured glasses and have thick wallets.

Like it or not these old instruments are an important part of European guitar history.

It's a similar situation in the US with those old Sears Silvertones etc.

WezV

Neil said:

ICBM said:

Selmer cases *can* be worth a fortune because they're the original cases for Fender Strats etc sold new in the UK in the early 60s - Selmer were the importer and used their own case supplier rather than buying in the US cases.

But be careful, because they came in a variety of sizes since Selmer also sold many other cheaper and usually smaller European guitars - so not all are large enough for a Strat. These ones are worth much less.

The sad thing about the guitar here is that if it's a DIY job and you part it out - not just the case but the valuable hardware - then the rest is worthless and will probably end up in the bin, which even though it doesn't look particularly well made is a bit of a shame, given that someone spent a bit of time and effort on it fifty years ago...

Good points although TBH I don't think the guitar will ever be parted out.

The owner has a big collection of old less valuable guitars (and old airguns) and I think parting out would not enter his head.

Here's another he bought from two old ladies at a boot sale for £30!

I hate him already

usedtobe

Me too!

Vibroscope

Does he still have this and would he sell it do you think...? 

robgilmo

Those old Hofners look lovely, do they play as good as they look? That ones even got a truss rod!