Off topic, but quite a hoot anyway...

[PurpleSport]

Just saw this ad on Craigslist here in NYC and couldn't stop giggling, so I thought I'd share it with my fine fellow vintage-unaffected folks...

1955 Fender Stratocaster, heavily, uh, modified - $2500

This really is a 1955 Stratocaster, and it really is totally and permanantly altered. If you are a vintage nut, stop reading now and go jerk off to the Chinery collection book. I guarantee that contemplating the existence of this guitar will ruin your week.

What's good:
The neck shape is pretty sweet. Nice big soft v. The guitar is pretty light. Plays well.

What's bad:
1. Let's start with the worst - it has a Floyd Rose. I kid you not, a 1955 Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose. Installed by a gorilla. The routing looks like it was done with a hammer and chisel. Totally insane.

2. 10 holes drilled randomly in body. Most are about 1/2" in diameter, one is about 3/4". Unexplainable.

3. Get ready to stab yourself in the eye. The original color was surf green, but it is now a purple burst with a lightning bolt on the front and a wizard on the back. I wish this was a joke. Looks like something from the side of a conversion van.

4. Routed for two humbuckers. Currently has EMGs. Stupid routing in back of body to accomodate battery.

5. Original tuners junked for sperzels. Yes, they drilled the headstock.

6. Middle pickup is missing. Control knobs missing.

7. Original case is seriously trashed. Hinges are gone. I'm sure the pastoral scene amateurly painted on both sides was "groovy" once, but it looks retarded now.

I know it's a '55 because the neck plate and the pots check out.

I'll post pics soon, and, no, I didn't do any of this to this guitar. ​

 

[nobozos]

So, basically, we have a 49 year old bunch of wood that used to be a Fender Strat, absent of anything that would make it be considered "Vintage" , selling for 2500 bucks.


Is the man completely stoned out of his mind?


There is literally no piece of this guitar that can be salvaged. It cannot be brought back from the dead.

 

[PurpleSport]

There is literally no piece of this guitar that can be salvaged. It cannot be brought back from the dead.

Heh heh...you've reminded me of John Cleese in a famous Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch:

"This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"​

That said, there's still plenty of folks who might actually bite on a '55 Strat in something beyond normal "player" condition like this, simply to have the remnants of a piece of history. There are also those who would lovingly strip it down, fill in the holes, refinish it, restore it with assorted original era parts, and still could turn a profit on it.

Then there are those like the guy who played in the Florida regional rock band Stranger, who had a '55 that he played every nite onstage, fully loaded with 2 humbuckers and a headstock that had seen one too many gluejobs from falling off guitar stands or running into amps in darkened backstage areas.

I myself saw a '54 in a store in Raleigh for $3k back in '89 that literally looked like a truck ran over it, not to mention it had EMG's, a gold anodized pickguard, and had been refretted. I kick myself for not finding out a way to buy it, because I learned later after checking it's serial # it actually was one of the very first ever made. Despite it's trashy state, it actually played pretty good, and had a neck similar to what this guy described, and probably also could have been a good restoration candidate.

Trust me...someone will buy that thing!

 

[SGMan88]

WOW!!! He gutted that Strat in a bad way. At least he is honest about it

 

[OrangeChannel]

One of the reasons why I hate craig's list, tho I coulda got a mark II c+ for $500. I missed the boat on that one a month or two ago.

 

[PurpleSport]

WOW!!! He gutted that Strat in a bad way. At least he is honest about it

No, read the last line in his description....he disavows any responsibility for it's current state. One wonders from the description if anyone really would, though...

Agreed that he is to be commended for his honesty - not to mention his creative writing style!

 

[scottie]

Man, that was pretty painful; just reading the desciption.
No way will that guitar sell for that much. Do you think there
is anybody foolish enough to buy it?

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Crap is still crap, regardless of how old it is!

I would rather buy a new EBMM !

 

[NorM]

Crap is still crap, regardless of how old it is!

I would rather buy a new EBMM !

Yeah! Just look at me!