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.
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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