Discussion On Reverb - Vintage Strat Market and Prices

guitars4you · December 2018

Mark1960 said:

The Serial No. is E406791 does that help to get the date - I always thought it was a 1985, but am perhaps mistaken?

without looking at an actual pic I'm close to 100% certain it is a Strat Std and an early one - 1987 they first appeared but they had a load of old serial number decals from the end of the Fullerton days with E4 numbers, so they used these up during 1987 - So yours is a 1987 model - Then in 1988 they started with E8 for 88 - No USA Fender has an E7 serial number

Mark1960 · December 2018

guitars4you said:

Mark1960 said:

The Serial No. is E406791 does that help to get the date - I always thought it was a 1985, but am perhaps mistaken?

without looking at an actual pic I'm close to 100% certain it is a Strat Std and an early one - 1987 they first appeared but they had a load of old serial number decals from the end of the Fullerton days with E4 numbers, so they used these up during 1987 - So yours is a 1987 model - Then in 1988 they started with E8 for 88 - No USA Fender has an E7 serial number

Ah OK thanks for the info,

p90fool · December 2018

newi123 said:

There must be some good 70s strats - good music was recorded on contemporary strats in the 70s!

Not after about 1975. Of course there were good records made where somebody happened to be strumming a late 70s Strat, but if you look at prominent guitar parts played by well known players they're almost exclusively pre-75 and more often than not pre-65.

Brand new Strats in the late 1970s were almost universally hated by the most prominent players of the time.

It was extremely rare to see any influential guitarist using one, in fact I can't recall a single one, with the exception perhaps of a couple that Ritchie Blackmore used with aftermarket pickups.

Yes, they really were that bad, can you imagine any modern mass produced guitar where a ten year old one is around the same price as a new one?

'Vintage' has nothing to do with aging or nostalgia, it would just be like having to buy a run of the mill 2008 Strat today to get something decent, and paying 1500 quid for it.

peteri · December 2018

guitars4you said:

impmann said:

guitars4you said:

newi123 said:

Interesting - from may 17, so have prices increased alot since then? Currently looking at 70s strats, and the article seems to show average sunburnt price as $1000 or so. They are all priced way, way above that currently!

The negative with such a report is as follows

Take a number of 1979 Strats for sale on Reverb

1) - Mint inc case, tags, 100% original - with trem

2) Poor condition or players grade - non trem - changed parts and in need of a refret - no case

Both will be listed on Reverb as a 1979 Strat - hence one might be £900 and the other £1800 - Such variation in price will distort the info that this Reverb report has told us

And both will be overpriced...

Im old enough to remember when these things were best treated as firewood. Time hasn’t made them any better.

Theres a reason why we all bought Jap in the 1980s... and then changed the pickups for something better!

I have yet to play a Fender from 1978-1983 that is better in any measurable way than a Squier CV. And most aren’t as good.

'Time hasn't made them any better' is a true fact

I had a customer the other day telling me that Hendrix played vintage guitars - I pointed out that even one of his favourite Strats (The black Monterey 65/66 Strat), was only 1 or 2 years old when he played it - And all the large head stocked 68/69 models he played were new or a year old at best - So effectively they were new guitars - They only became 'vintage' a lot later

In fact the reason the vintage tag became popular was the further we got into the 70's, the greater the deterioration in what we expected a good Strat to be , so many players went looking for 'older' models - I clearly remember a good pre CBS Strat selling for the same price as a new 78 Strat - Both around £350/370 - Shortly after prices for such used/vintage' went north and stayed there ever since

I have a used antiqua Strat in stock at the moment - clean enough and all original - but a total dog to play, compared with many other Strats on the market today, from various factories

Fair plays for being so honest Mark.

I've played a fair few Antiqua strats, all of them without exception have been everything I don't like about that era - thick, thick polyester everywhere, shocking neck carve and just dead as a doornail.

I started playing early/mid 80s - none of us had any interest in those era guitars - I was more interested in one of the upmarket Westone guitars (remember them!), or even a Washburn/early Ibanez.

I do remember a couple of friends having juniors to learn on, and one mate with (from memory) a Vox AC4 which we took apart for fun (I'm sorry).

Back to Reverb prices - as I've said before, the big problem with these price guides for me is that you see many guitars described as excellent which aren't, and many described as fair or good which are pretty nice actually - it's too subjective

Philly_Q · December 2018

I remember around 1980 a kid - his name was Roger Hopkins - coming to school with a brand new Fender Stratocaster and a little (probably transistor) Fender amp.

The Strat was natural finish, black scratchplate, maple neck, big headstock. Subsequent experience tells me it probably weighed 10lbs, had a badly-joined multi-piece body, thick plastic finish and weak pickups, but it didn't stop me thinking it was fucking amazing at the time.

I'm sure older, more experienced players were aware of Fender's poor quality at the time, but as kids we were blissfully ignorant and just wanted to own one! Maybe some of that nostalgia helps fuel the current prices, heart ruling the head and all that.

Strat54 · December 2018

Don't forget these late 70's/early 80's Strats are the reason why the vintage Fender guitar market was born. Kind of ironic that that the very cause of the craze is now part of it.

guitars4you · December 2018

Strat54 said:

Don't forget these late 70's/early 80's Strats are the reason why the vintage Fender guitar market was born. Kind of ironic that that the very cause of the craze is now part of it.

totally agree

And remember for most of the 70's a used 'golden era' Strat was similar in price to a new 70's model around the £350 mark - In 1978 I brought a Strat with a refin body, but otherwise 100% correct, for around £300 and kept it for many years - The serious price increase started later - Players were not looking to buy an 'actual vintage guitar' in the mid late 70's, just a 60's guitar that they preferred the feel, build and tonal character of - The vintage guitar became a marketing tag that everyone quickly brought into

And remember that while a number of original and good refin examples could be found in the 70's, a hell of a lot had a brass top nut, 5 way switch, DiMarzio SD1 in the bridge and/or a set of Mighty Mite Brass saddles - Amazing how all of these Strats are now never offered for sale - You tell me the last time you saw such a guitar listed on the web, anywhere - I wonder what has happened to them ???????????????????????

guitars4you · December 2018

Philly_Q said:

I remember around 1980 a kid - his name was Roger Hopkins - coming to school with a brand new Fender Stratocaster and a little (probably transistor) Fender amp.

The Strat was natural finish, black scratchplate, maple neck, big headstock. Subsequent experience tells me it probably weighed 10lbs, had a badly-joined multi-piece body, thick plastic finish and weak pickups, but it didn't stop me thinking it was fucking amazing at the time.

I'm sure older, more experienced players were aware of Fender's poor quality at the time, but as kids we were blissfully ignorant and just wanted to own one! Maybe some of that nostalgia helps fuel the current prices, heart ruling the head and all that.

I started full time in the trade in 1978 and as a Sat lad with my dad in 1974 - I recall the first time we had a new Strat in stock in 1976 and yes it was that kid in a candy store moment - Yet quite quickly after this I realised I did not like the feel and tone of these new Strats, especially those with a maple fingerboard - At the time I did not know why - later you find out why

It took me years to find out I don't actually dislike a Fender with a maple fingerboard - I just dislike the 70's versions with that treacle thick lacquer and mini frets - As soon as you start selling/playing a good Custom Shop 50's Strat, with a played in maple neck/board, you realise they are nice - So yes I was badly influenced from this 70's era

PhilKing · December 2018

I have 3 vintage Strats which I bought many years ago. A 1960 bought in 1982 for £500, a 1963 bought later in 1982 for £325 (it had a couple of issues and had been converted to a humbucker in the bridge). I then bought a 1957 on the early days of Ebay for $1700, which was a risk at the time as the photos were crap. It had DiMarzio pickups but otherwise is a great example of a V-neck Strat. The prices today would really stop me buying anything vintage that I hadn't tried and checked myself.

I used to sell new Strats in the mid to late 70's and can tell you that they arrived with issues and all needed setups (including adjusting the neck in the pocket), weighed a ton and had the thick finish on them. However, in spite of all that, there were some that sounded really nice, especially when they went to the flatpole pickups, there was a really good clean sound available from them.

thebreeze · December 2018

We seem to be talking Strats and like a number of people here I’ve had some experience across the spectrum over the years. One of my first guitars was a 1981 “the Strat” which I bought new. That model was a last gasp effort by CBS to try to turn the ship round from what has already been said was pretty woeful guitar making in the mid to late ‘70’s. I loved that guitar and played it a lot in the early days (I took a 25 yr break from playing) and kept it until last year. However, since getting back into playing big time and having access to all the modern options I just couldn’t reconcile the weight (it was just under 10lbs) and the skinny neck. However, it had some amazing tones - some of which are as good as I’ve heard. It always sounded really, really good that guitar.
I’ve been lucky to own some really nice Custom Shop Strats in the last eight years or so and there’s no doubt that they are making some really nice guitars. However, I went “all in” a couple of years ago and bought an original ‘65 from @jimmyguitar and since then I totally “get” the vintage thing. You may say it’s all psychological and I can’t point to exactly why it’s so, but there is something about these old Strats that even the Custom Shop, despite how good they are, just can’t capture. This ‘65 sounds exactly how I want a Strat or any guitar to sound in every position (the bridge, unusually, is just pure joyful rock n roll), it’s light and the neck is wonderful to play. I think there are very good reasons why vintage Strats are sought after and not just from the the rather boring investment side of things.

Blaendulais · December 2018

Are Custom Shop 70s recreations recreated to be shit?

Philly_Q · December 2018

Blaendulais said:

Are Custom Shop 70s recreations recreated to be shit?

Mine isn't.

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