clayville
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- Feb 25, 2004
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Hi Clayville, that means that the one I have my Eye on is from 2008. One owner. He's willing to let her go for 2.250,- € EUROS !! Is that A fair price in your opinion ? Any idea what kind of PU's they put in them in 2008...?? Thanks for your help !! Greets, Arne.
Easy one first: CS-356's came with '57 Classics in 2008 (and in almost all cases). They sound great in these guitars in my opinion.
Translating to US dollars, that's about US $2500 which is close to the middle of Reverb's price guidance and lower than many recent reported sales there (search their Price Guide, then click on one of the models for recent sales) so it seems like a fair asking price to me. In my opinion much would depend on condition and any maintenance issues it might have: Do the frets still have life in them? That's the most expensive issue you might encounter. On the other hand, the bigsby models were originally about $400-500 more than the non-bigsby models as I recall (assuming this one isn't an after-market bigsby added to it) so that makes the asking price seem even more fair. You don't mention the color, but some of the figured maple and quilted maple ones were priced about $800 higher when new, and the natural finish ones tended to be offered at that premium figured/quilted maple price point (about US $3800-$4200 when new in that time frame).
Do you have photos of the one you're considering? There have been a few counterfeit 356s I've run across over the years... None of us could tell you for sure if it's authentic, but it's easier to spot something that just looks "wrong".
For what it's worth, because the back and sides are all part of one solid slab of mahogany which is then routed to create the sound chambers and center block, in my experience CS-356s and CS-336s often have asymmetrical figuring on the back (mine does, shown in post #160 of this thread) - it isn't book matched like the top and it's functionally not an issue. I mention that so you don't worry about it if yours does too.
I hope that helps... Good luck!
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