Restore original parts when selling an R9?

[Tim Plains]

But would you "originalists" restore the tiny ceramic tone caps and the modern wiring that my '99 had, which I replaced with a Luxe PIO tone cap and an orange drop in '50s wiring?

If you can solder well, yes I would, but I wouldn't pay someone labour and just say original caps were removed and included with the sale.

 

[GreenBurst]

The typical buyer, not being an experienced Gibson owner, would most likely not even know what is original and what isn't. For every 1 guy that knows all about Gibsons there are 100 guys that know very little. If they are knowledgeable then they would want most of the mods like pots/caps. But even they might not know if the pickup rings are replaced.

For pickups they may never check. I knew a guy that bought a used Les Paul in the early 80s and then 12 years later wanted to put in some Duncans and found out he had a PAF in the bridge.

So, you can...

i) quietly just sell it as is
ii) sell it advertising some or all the mods
iii) replace the pickups and sell as is.

It would make sense to put pickups back to original as you could sell the other set separately to make extra $s.

 

[surfreak]

And keep in mind that:

Seller —> mods = upgrade = more $

Buyer —> mods = mods = less $

Selling-wise, generally speaking a guitar with an “upgraded” set of pickups is less valuable than a 100% original guitar with untouched solder joints.

 

[1allspub]

Restore and sell the aftermarket parts separately. You get more money that way. Some people don't want aftermarket parts and many who do want to customize to their liking, not yours.

This is the correct answer.

 

[Albert]

I have a 1984 US Vintage RI Fender Strat which has had its original pickups swapped with Abby handwound pickups from a Custom Strat I also own. Both guitars sound better as a result of the pickup swap. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Abbys, they are the best Fender pickups wound since the '60s, by a winder that was winding since the '50s or '60s. Putting them in the '84 yielded a Strat that sounds very close to Clapton's "Brownie" Strat.

So, do you "originalists" think I should restore these guitars to originality before selling them, even if both will sound worse? (The Custom Shop Strat has an ash body, and the 5.6 kohm Abbys sound too hi-fi and bright in that body, but perfect in the alder-bodied '84.)