Fender Telecaster Value

wilko

wilko

Marking my territory
I have a 1973 Fender Telecaster - Sunburst. Serial # 437034. THe frets are slightly worn but everything is original except for the plastic hat for the pickup selector. THe wiring has been resoldered and that is it. I need to get this valued for insurance purposes. But I have scanned the net trying to get a rough dollar figure. I took it into my local guitar shop but they were unable to do so.

Any ideas here?
 
You can send a photo and description to Gruhn guitars, and for $50 he'll give you an accurate appraisal. He's about the most respected guru of vintage guitars around, if you haven't already heard of him. The appraisal should be valid for insurance purposes as well. It's definitely worth it, as these older Teles, while nowhere near the value of the pre CBS, are going up in value rapidly.

http://www.gruhn.com/
 
wilko said:
I have a 1973 Fender Telecaster - Sunburst. Serial # 437034. THe frets are slightly worn but everything is original except for the plastic hat for the pickup selector. THe wiring has been resoldered and that is it. I need to get this valued for insurance purposes. But I have scanned the net trying to get a rough dollar figure. I took it into my local guitar shop but they were unable to do so.

Any ideas here?
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For insurance purposes make sure it is insured for a monetry value slightly more than what you may think you will get for it if you sold it, the premiums will be minimal.
I did a little research and in Australia I think an approx figure in Australian dollars would be $3000.
 
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Thanks people that was very useful. I saw the on on Gruhn's and mine is in a better condition but I don't have the original hardcase. I think for insurance purposes I would say US $3500 which is the price quoted in Gruhn's which comes to NZD$5000 more or less.

Thanks for the help!
 
In the US you don't need to document the instrument's value to obtain a rider for your insurance policy. You would, however, have to document it's value at the time of loss. This means it would be very helpful for you to be able to prove that you owned the guitar and that it was in fact a '73 Telecaster. Copies of this documentation should be stored in more that one location so they couldn't be lost with the guitar.

Your insurance company would likely be willing to write a rider for much more than the guitar's value. Regardless of the rider's coverage they would only pay the current market value at the time of loss.

Insurance riders are surprisingly inexpensive. My recommendation is to get the rider for 1/4 to 1/3 more than you believe the guitar to be worth. That way you will remain fully covered as the instrument increases in value.
 
One of the dummer things I've done was to sell my black pickguard '72 natural finish Tele with OHSC for $800 about 5 years ago.

Anyway, the market seems to be around $3000 US for a good one.
 
Milnoque said:
In the US you don't need to document the instrument's value to obtain a rider for your insurance policy. You would, however, have to document it's value at the time of loss. This means it would be very helpful for you to be able to prove that you owned the guitar and that it was in fact a '73 Telecaster. Copies of this documentation should be stored in more that one location so they couldn't be lost with the guitar.

Your insurance company would likely be willing to write a rider for much more than the guitar's value. Regardless of the rider's coverage they would only pay the current market value at the time of loss.

Insurance riders are surprisingly inexpensive. My recommendation is to get the rider for 1/4 to 1/3 more than you believe the guitar to be worth. That way you will remain fully covered as the instrument increases in value.
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Thanks for this. I have started to do exactly what you have said. The irony here is that my home got broken into last night, but my studio/study has an internal deadlock so they couldn't open that door!
 
wilko said:
Thanks people that was very useful. I saw the on on Gruhn's and mine is in a better condition but I don't have the original hardcase. I think for insurance purposes I would say US $3500 which is the price quoted in Gruhn's which comes to NZD$5000 more or less.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...


Gruhn's guitars in Nashville Tn. is a cool place to visit and drool over his stock of collector guitars. I visited a few years ago and enjoyed it immensely!
 
If you have not already done so, Go home tonight and take pictures or a videotape of everything in your house. Store it somewhwere other than your house. Take it from a guy who lost everything in a house fire. It is amazingly difficult to remember everything you own should tragedy strike.

I was lucky, I was treated well by the insurance company. I would have come out even better if I'd had a better memory.

I lost a lot of good guitars that day. The insurance company was very fair.

Your Tele is probably covered in your existing policy. Many of my guitars were without riders and they were covered. Some had riders below their current values. Insurance paid fair market value regardless. I recommend you get a rider anyway. It speeds things up.
 
Milnoque said:
If you have not already done so, Go home tonight and take pictures or a videotape of everything in your house. Store it somewhwere other than your house. Take it from a guy who lost everything in a house fire. It is amazingly difficult to remember everything you own should tragedy strike.

I was lucky, I was treated well by the insurance company. I would have come out even better if I'd had a better memory.

I lost a lot of good guitars that day. The insurance company was very fair.

Your Tele is probably covered in your existing policy. Many of my guitars were without riders and they were covered. Some had riders below their current values. Insurance paid fair market value regardless. I recommend you get a rider anyway. It speeds things up.
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Good advice mate. I have started to do what you have suggested. I have logged the serial numbers of my guitars.

Sorry to hear you lost gear in the fire but at least you didn't lose your life.

Thanks for the tips!
 
I am going through the same thing right now, getting all of my studio equipment itemized... I will have to throw in another recomendation, on top of taking lots of pictures and logging serial #'s... Try and keep track of all your receipts as well and keep all of the documentation in a fire proof safe. I had my first guitar, a mid 90's Fender Lone Star strat, stolen out of my house about 4 years after I bought it. That was the only thing they took. At the time my parent's home owners insurance was not really cooperative and I got about $300.00 for a $750.00 guitar that was out of production under the same model name. I had lost the receipt and guitar center only keeps records for 2 years (or something like that). If I would have only had more proof, even a serial #, it probably would have been replaced.
 
Hey Nick, does you're Tele have the 3 bolt neck plate? I have a '74' Sunburst Fender Stratocaster that has the 3 bolt-just wondered if yours is the same. Is it a maple or rosewood fretboard?
 

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If you have a fire safe, Be advised to keep it in a location where you can hope to retrieve it after a fire. This will be at ground level on an exterior wall most of the time. It doesn't need to be near a door. If misfortune happens and the safe has to do it's job, You don't want it to be under all of the rubble.
 
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