Welcome to Vintage Left Handed Guitar Values

As a dealer in vintage lefty guitars I get a lot of questions regarding how much a particular left handed vintage guitar is worth. In today's market, that can be tough to figure out. In this blog I'll track auctions that I think are relevant and try to answer any questions people may have about their guitars. Drop me a line!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Value of a left handed 1952 Blackguard Telecaster?

Except for a 'burst Les Paul, a blackguard lefty Telecaster has to be among the rarest electric guitars out there.  I am lucky enough to own one.  My '52 is refinished and had some changed parts (I have hunted down the original parts and installed them) when I bought it.  I paid $10K for it during the worst part of the economic downturn that we are still in.  I know that I wouldn't accept twice what I paid for it.
My lefty '52 Tele

Finding an original one to find a try to find the true market value is a challenge in itself.  Luckily, there was one for sale at the last Arlington guitar show.  This guitar is a rare gem for sure.  Original owner, clean as a pin.  The owner is asking $75K for it.  He's had for sale at that price you a couple of years with no takers so he obviously has it over priced.
'53 Lefty Blackguard
To see what the market will really pay, I use Ebay.  There's a couple of vintage price guides out there, but the info is usually provided by dealers and I find they don't reflect reality.  A quick check of Ebay show that a really nice '52  Tele recently had a Buy It Now for $32K with no takers.  Prior to 2007 Blackguards were bringing $50K on a regular basis.  If you figure in even a 50% upcharge for a more rare lefty, common sense will tell you that you probably wont get $45K for a left handed Blackguard.  This kind of explains whay the guy has had his for sale for several years at $75K.


1 comment:

  1. Very informative blog post. I am really interested to know the actual value of 1952 Blackguard Telecaster. Vintage left handed guitars are very collectible.

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