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1968 Les Paul Custom. What's it worth??

clusterstudios

New member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
25
Hello everyone,

(I originally posted this in the wrong section. I hope this is the right place for it.)

I have the chance to buy a 1968 les paul custom but i am struggling to figure out what it's worth. First off its had a neck/headstock refin. It is unsure weather there was a neck repair or not. Also the guy who refin'd the the neck covered up the serial numbers so they are difficult to read, especially the first two numbers. Apart from the refin, possible neck repair and unreadable serial number everything else seem ok. I have the original bridge with the plastic saddles but it is seriously collapsed (fixable??), so I had to put a new arb1 bridge on her. The jack plate and strap pins have been replaced. Below are some photos of back of the neck. Maybe someone can see it there was indeed a neck repair in the past. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

68custom_36.jpg

68custom_35.jpg

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68custom_30.jpg

68custom_29.jpg

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68custom_23.jpg
 

j45

Active member
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
Nice guitar. If I saw these pics and given no detailed info it would be my assumption there was a neck repair. Doesn't matter if there is or not...that will be the way everyone will look at this guitar because of the way that area looks and it's refinished there. If it were mine and I was going to sell it I would hope that I could get as much as $4k, wouldn't feel i gave it away if I sold it for $3k though. Knowing which style tenon it has would help a little but not going to make much difference on a player grade Les paul
 

clusterstudios

New member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
25
Wow!! 3-4K :wow Seems low but what do I know?? Actually, I'm thinking about buying it so i just want to be fair about it. I guess your right "just assume it did have the neck repair" and value it from there. Maybe someone else could chime in with a ballpark estimate?
 

DANELECTRO

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
A quick survey of gbase shows the following prices:

$11,500
$13,999
$17,999
$9,995
$7,995 (headstock repair)
$14,499

Gbase prices are always exagerated, but I would think that $5,000- $6,000 would be reasonable even with a headstock repair.
 

clusterstudios

New member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
25
it also has new frets but I guess you know that.

oh yeah, i forgot to mention the re-fret. the frets are nice though and it plays very well. the neck is straight. It does have some battle scars on the body here and there but nothing too serious. The guitar does have some mojo from being a 68 and all. Can anybody tell if those solder joints are original?? I definitely want to buy it but I don't want the mojo to cloud my judgment, so I'm trying to figure a price that's fair all round. saying that, the vintage market is kind of wacky that way. What people think its is worth and what it sells for are often quite far apart. :hmm
 

lanman

New member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
1,480
I sold my '68 1.5 years ago. It had a body only refin with no repairs. I sold it no reserve on ebay and it brought $4200. If you are interested in not getting hit too badly on a resale, I'd feel good about $4000-$4500. On the other hand, these are killer guitars and if you end up finding one you love, 5kish ain't bad either.
 

j45

Active member
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
I've sold a few very close to this in the past 5-6 years and none had neck repairs....most at the peak of the market. Those dealer asking prices are a laughing stock. It's pretty easy to find a dealer hoping to double his money. When you go to sell that guitar I think you will be doing very well to get $4K. Especially with no serial number.....

I recall a thread just a couple of weeks ago where the majority commenting said they wouldn't buy a guitar with removed serial number at any price.
 
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