by Spud1950 » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:34 pm
I had exactly one of those,in perfect condition, when I was in high school in 1968. I bought it for $125 and sold it about six months later for $150. I thought I was real slick making a $25 profit. Now I kick myself in the butt for not hanging on to it.Of course condition is everything,but in very good to excellent original condition the asking prices right now for that year are somewhere around $10,000 to $14,000. The guard being replaced is not that big of a deal,but the finish being stripped off is.With such a desirable collectors guitar, this can devalue the guitar as much as as 50%,but it's still worth way more then the $1200 asking price.If it has been professionally verified that it is indeed a 1960 Esquire and everything else is in original condition,I would certainly grab it before the owner finds out what it's really worth! You can have it repainted,which would probably add a bit more value, but nowhere as much as if it had the original finish. Anyway, if it really is what it's purported to be, I would jump on it.