55 Junior on EBay

Iamnobody

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/122347138076?_mwBanner=1&ul_noapp=true

I wonder if if this might make an interesting project for someone. No serial number though from what I can make out...

How would you verify its vintage?

Could go for a lot less than the BIN price if it can't be proven.

richh

Bit of a gamble that, with refinish, no visible serial number and a lot of other questions.  It may or may not play great and sound great, but especially without trying it out and inspecting thoroughly it could be a disappointment.

Bridgehouse

I'd want a lot more photos than the ones in the listing - and then I'd decide if I wanted to see it in person....

monoamine

I don't think that is a true vintage junior.  

To my eyes the heel of the neck is too pronounced and square, which is something that the custom shop has always seemingly overlooked. It's by no means a guarantee or anything, but compare the ebay auction with a true 55 junior below...

Trotter

I would put good money down that this is a modern guitar. spurious vague advert, neck heel, nut, finish.. all suspect to me. 

Iamnobody

monoamine said:

I don't think that is a true vintage junior.  

To my eyes the heel of the neck is too pronounced and square, which is something that the custom shop has always seemingly overlooked. It's by no means a guarantee or anything, but compare the ebay auction with a true 55 junior below...

Trotter said:

I would put good money down that this is a modern guitar. spurious vague advert, neck heel, nut, finish.. all suspect to me. 

Good input gents. I wasn't entirely convinced hence asking the question. Unfortunately I don't have the knowledge to spot vintage details - always good to be educated.

Trotter

If you want a real vintage junior experts opinion we need @miserneil to jump in. 

scalino65

Grrr...I'm still kicking myself over that 1600 quid one that was discussed on here a few weeks back. I wish I could find an original TV jnr with "issues"....

Paul_C

The high E bridge post on the eBay guitar is a lot closer to the pickup than the one above too.

Iamnobody

scalino65 said:

Grrr...I'm still kicking myself over that 1600 quid one that was discussed on here a few weeks back. I wish I could find an original TV jnr with "issues"....

I linked that one as well!

I'm not particularly interested in a vintage one - too risky and above budget for me.

But I have a general eBay search setup for juniors and will link owt interesting.

matone

Neck heel wrong,headstock wrong shape.Very reminiscent of kits available..................

scalino65

I have a cherry double cut from 58, but I bought it years ago when an original was cheaper than an historic re-issue! Those were the days!
 I'd love an original tv yellow jnr of some description but originals are getting  pricey.
 Years back I very nearly bought a re-finned tv yellow double cut but when I got to the shop i was told Mick Jones had been in and bought it 10mins earlier...
Am trying to build my own GSP basses double cut at the moment but I just cant get the paint right. At the minute its more "Hi Vis Green" than "TV yellow"...

BloodEagle

Yeah, looks like a kit disguised as a real one

Jack_

Anyone reported it before some genuine buyer gets mugged off?

IvisonGuitars

@Trotter ;;No need for me here chum, you guys have got it licked! :-)

**EDIT** That said, I can't help but wonder if there is a '54/55 under there somewhere, cavity shots, a pic of the pots with codes, bottom of the P90 (which looks newer to me) and a pic of the inlays/board would clear it up for me.

ICBM

A good closeup of the fingerboard wood would answer a lot of the questions - you won't usually find a modern guitar that looks right.

The neck heel looks wrong to me as well.

The gap between the pickup and the treble-side post varied on the originals, closer is earlier before they discovered that the post tended to collapse into the cavity. This one is so close that I would expect to see signs of that if it's as old as claimed - the photos aren't good enough to see.

scalino65

I've asked the seller for some more pics. Let's see! You never know...

Bridgehouse

scalino65 said:

I've asked the seller for some more pics. Let's see! You never know...

Maybe he will show you a pic of the cardboard box the kit was shipped in

scalino65

Haha..maybe. I could send him one of my hi vis green jnr kit that I've totally bggered up in return. At least his. One is yellow

Bridgehouse

scalino65 said:

Haha..maybe. I could send him one of my hi vis green jnr kit that I've totally bggered up in return. At least his. One is yellow

He might show you pics of the empty rattle cans as well then...

Xsmnmy

I'm on the fence on this - I wouldn't want to bid without seeing it in person, but the headstock shape looks right to me and the worn away screenprint and many-times oversprayed face looks a lot like my own refin 50s Junior. The nut looks like nylon and what you can see of the top of the first fret area looks about right. Looks like a 50s dogear cover too - the corners of the raised section are a bit more pointy than modern repros, and the cover and guard are very black - modern black plastic has more of a blue hue and they don't have the same lustre. I've looked at this stuff a lot!
Why would you build a fake refin Junior with no LP logo? on the other hand the dot inlays look very white with no sign of yellowing or dimpling/shrinkage, and the heel is suspicious perhaps, though again my Junior doesn't have the 'classlc' shape either. I checked the ones in the Beauty of the Burst as a reference, and some of the ones in there vary too.
Looking at the sellers other items, most are '50s gtrs and not conspicuously overpriced fwiw.
The fact that it's pickup only also suggests the seller is honest, though they may have simply been duped in the past.