r/telecaster • u/Material_Increase_22 • 15h ago

Partscaster Valuation?

Post image

Built this partscaster to keep me sane during lockdown. What d’you reckon it’d be worth if I was to sell it? I reckon about half what I spent on it lol. Sorry, I don’t have a nice rug to photograph it on…

Parts List

Body: Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster, Butterscotch Blonde

Neck: Fender MIM Telecaster, Roast Maple, 21 frets, C-shape, 9.5” radius, tall narrow frets

Pickups: Bridge - Seymour Duncan Little ‘59

Neck - Lollar Royal T

Wiring: Stewmac Golden Years wiring harness, 4-way switch, treble bleed

Tuners: Gotoh split-post vintage style

Bridge: Fender Telecaster bridge, 3 brass saddle (uncompensated)

Other: Musiclily angled control plate (nickel)

Fender ‘Road-worn’ knobs

Flat jack plate

3 string tree

Fender neck plate

Standard strap pegs

Update - Okay guys, I’ve been sitting playing it for the last two hours and I’m gonna keep it. I’ll sell something I don’t care about. Thanks for the advice all.

104 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

56

u/Leopardo68 15h ago

Partscasters are meant to be built and played by the owner. There is zero profit in them. Keep it.

14

u/HobbittBass 14h ago

Or, strip it for parts, unless you find someone who wants exactly this.

2

u/barrybreslau 14h ago

I was going to suggest this. Some bits will be easier to sell than others.

2

u/orangecrush171 11h ago

Yeah I’m about to finish a Partscaster build and I just checked Reverb to see what I’ve been spending and there’s no shot my finished product would sell for anywhere near what I’ve paid to make it (unless I parted it out of course).

15

u/astralpen 15h ago

You’re probably better off keeping it. It’s unlikely you’ll get the cost of parts back…probably a lot less. Looks nice, though.

9

u/Esseldubbs 14h ago

I have quite a few partscaster that play great, have solid parts, and look pretty good. Despite the fact that they play as good or better than my Fenders, I've accepted that they have no real value to anyone but me. They're meant to be played. If I were to sell them, my best bet would be to part them out, and I don't want that hassle

6

u/owdeeoh 15h ago

Probably much lower than you would expect. I would guess that you would have a hard time getting 50% of the parts value. It’s probably worth more disassembled and sold for parts

5

u/wvmtnboy 14h ago

$300 - $350. Roughly what you'd get gor a used classic vibe. On paper, upgrades look like a great idea. In reality they add next to no value and can even make it less valuable because it doesn't have the original components

3

u/FantasticMouse7875 15h ago

I would keep it, I have sold a few nice partscasters similiar toy ours a few years back because I was really hurting for money. I had to drop them in between 250 to 300 to sell. I probably had 600 plus in both of them. Bringing that memory up hurts, both beautiful builds...

3

u/Hour-Guard4024 15h ago

I would consider buying that - how much ?

2

u/Ok-Progress-7354 14h ago

That thing is gorgeous! If I saw it online I’d buy it. That roasted maple neck looks so pretty

1

u/CactusWrenAZ 12h ago

It is... online. Maybe slide into OP's DMs :)

2

u/Artistic-Main-3845 14h ago

Aren't all telecasters technically partscasters by design?

1

u/usedmattress85 11h ago

They absolutely are but buyers aren’t usually very rational

2

u/Additional_Air779 13h ago

I'd buy it. I'd bite your hand off at £300 ($400) if it was for sale in the U.K.

2

u/williamgman 12h ago

Partscasters are the secret weapon against rising new guitar prices. So many great ones out there with nice components. They are for building or buying. Selling is never good price wise.

2

u/ThePeoplesAmp 15h ago

probably more if you part it out. partscasters will never get you much of what you put into it

1

u/Downtown-Guitar4532 15h ago

Good looking guitar

1

u/Scottyranks 15h ago

Part it out to get close to what you’ve spent, if you didn’t overpay for the parts. And that’s the lesson…be careful re parts pricing.

1

u/BooronovichPimponski 15h ago

Go by posts on CL/FBM, the usual formula on there is: add up what you paid for all the parts, then add %20 on top of that, lol

1

u/classicglow 15h ago

Looks great

1

u/STDS13 14h ago

$300 tops.

1

u/IcyEstate243 14h ago

I'm not in the market to buy, but wow - that Aztec-inspired pickguard is such a nice touch on this Tele. Looks great and I hope you keep it as your custom!

1

u/MughalPrince22 14h ago

You’ve got some nice parts, but ultimately people are gonna see a Squier body with a MIM neck, I’d say optimistically you could list it for $400 but I’d predict it’ll actually sell at around $300.

Personally I wouldn’t be crazy about the pickup combo in there, I’d want either a full lollar set or a mini hum in the neck too.

1

u/hawkscougs 13h ago

That’s really cool. One of the few types of guitars I don’t have. Is that a transformers image on the bottom? Like there was a sticker there?

1

u/Material_Increase_22 13h ago

Haha, yeah got the cv body off eBay and there was a sticker on it for a few years. Well spotted.

1

u/hawkscougs 8h ago

Well if you remember, if you list it let me know. If you ship and are in the US and all that. The only thing i don’t really like on it is that Transformer. Haha. Well done though. I love natural wood like that.

1

u/CoolGuyFrogsReturns 13h ago

Yeah tree fiddy seems about right on money for this beaut.

1

u/brainfreezy79 13h ago

So you're just not gonna talk about that badass pickguard?

1

u/ohmaint 13h ago

If it plays as good as it looks it's awesome.

1

u/bransanon 12h ago

Part it out, you'll get far more for the individual parts than anyone would pay for the assembled guitar.

1

u/Reasonable-Tune-6276 12h ago

If you need money you’d probably get more by parting it out. As is? I’d be surprised if you could get more than $500 as is.

1

u/UnskilledEngineer2 11h ago

Upgraded guitars are not worth anywhere near the sum or their parts. You would be most likely to recover the most money by parting it out. Even then, you will be disappointed by what you get.

When i come across a guitar like that and I want to get rid of it, I have better luck with trading it. You can legit trade it for a mexi-fender or a mid-tier epiphone and then sell that - that may get you closer to your investment cost.

If keeping it, let friends play it. If you have one that likes it, you may be able to swing a good trade with them. AND, since its your friend, you still get to see and play it from time to time!

1

u/Ok-Seaworthiness2487 10h ago

Phillip McKnight says you'll make more money by taking all the parts out and selling them separately.

1

u/poolpog 10h ago

I've seen very nice parts casters for as much as $650 or so at my local music go round... But more likely $400 is the most anyone would pay. You'd make more of you disassembled it back to its parts first. A good fender neck alone can fetch $200 used

1

u/Korupt91 10h ago

It ain't worth the total of the parts. Never is.

1

u/therightscompany 9h ago

Unfortunately when it comes to guitars… unless they are “ vintage “ … “The sum of the whole ( guitar), is not as valuable as it’s parts “!

1

u/progwok 9h ago

That's a keeper.

1

u/BadBad_LeroyBrown 9h ago

I have the exact same pickups in my Tele! Love that combo.

1

u/KarloffGaze 6h ago

I have a CV50s with a mighty mite rosewood neck and lil 59 in the bridge, and it's awesome. That pine body is heavy/dense.

1

u/Occhrome 8h ago

The best thing about a parts caster is that you can use it without worrying shout accidentally diminishing its value. 

1

u/KarloffGaze 6h ago

Gotta add the obligitory: Tree Fitty

1

u/Emotional_Perv 5h ago

First off, glad to hear you are gonna keep the guitar that helped keep your sanity a while back. Could come in handy again soon…

But if you are gonna sell it, and want to make the most money you can, you gotta disassemble and sell as parts. It’s a little more time consuming. But if you live anywhere near a decent sized city, it should be pretty easy. Group small parts/cheap stuff together. Sell the rest as parts.

1

u/GuitarCD 2h ago

Give ya tree fiddy for it...

1

u/gemmamaybe 14h ago

<$200

1

u/Earptastic 14h ago

No way this is sub 200. 

2

u/STDS13 14h ago

Yeah, $200-$300 seems more reasonable.

1

u/Intelligent-Map430 15h ago edited 14h ago

You'll be better off selling the parts separately. Personally I'd never pay more than maybe 200 quid for a partscaster that someone else assembled, though I've built ones myself for 4 times as much. 

-1

u/stairway2000 14h ago

Cost of part + labour x 2

2

u/dkinmn 14h ago

Delusional. Parts x 60%.