telecaster 72 reissue

riotact114

ok thinking about buying this guitar off of a friend. it was made in 1985 and its a 72 fender tele reissue. its mexican made. hes asking 400 for it. if anyone has any info on this guitar and if this is a good price i would appreciate your input. thank you

MissYouAllDay

I have done a TON of research on this guitar. I assume it is the black custom and not the semi hollow thinline tele.

I would have to say that is far to much for a guitar of that age. To buy this guitar new it would cost about 650.00 US.

A say 2001 guitar might go on ebay for 400.00. You have to understand that guitars made in the 80's (especially those made in mexico) are not likely any better made then a guitar made yesterday. Because of this the only extra you will get from a 1985 72 reissue is older hardware and maybe more "bugs" in the guitar that have since been fixed by6 fender in newer reissues.

Here is an example for you to compare
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3708874218&category=38083
That guitar is near brand new (a 2003) with a few upgrades to the bridge and electronics and still is only starting at 450.00

The guitar is awesome in general. Probably the coolest looking telecaster there is.

So Unless this 1985 is in MINT condition with no rust on the bridge and no nics and scraches then you'd be better off buying somewhere else.

If the guitar is a little on the beat up side, as I suspect, talk to you friend about paying 200.00-300.00. Because as you can see for 400.00 you can get a much newer better condition guitar.

Hope that helps. If you have any other questions about this guitar shoot.

riotact114

thanks yea that does help... i went and checked it out today and found out that it may not actually be what he told me it was.. the serial number starts out with MN. I did some research and found out this means it was made in mexico in the 90's. Also it doesnt look lilke any of the reissues i have seen on ebay or anywhere else. It has the humbucker in the neck and single coil in the bridge. i dont know much about guitars but the pick plate on the one he is selling looks like a regular standard tele. the 72 reissue covers most of the body where the one he has doesnt. do you have any idea about this guitar now? is it a 72 reissue? is it just a standard mexican strat from the 90's?

riotact114

also there are two knobs, volume and tone unlike the four on the reissues. there is a five way selecter too. i think its a standard mexican strat maybe with a custom pickup. i really dont know though.

MissYouAllDay

This sounds like a FAT tele. Most fat teles were made in USA I understand. The FAT tele is currently not made by fender. They make a tele HS now which is essentially the exact same thing.

The prices on ebay range from 400.00 to 800.00 but in the case of the 800.00 no one was bidding.

What's up with your friend lying to you?

Hmm the other day I saw a similar guitar to the one you describe listed as a 72 reissue that clearly wasn't.

Look up FAT tele on ebay and see if they match your friends guitar.
I suggest not buying from him cause he either has no idea what he's talking about or lying to you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3708012456&category=38083
theres one u can check out.

riotact114

yea that actually looks just like it with the pickups and tone knobs etc... the only thing is on the back of the headstock it says made in mexico so i dunno. i think that the person that my friend got the guitar from told him it was a reissue so he just figured it was... i am surprised though because hes been playing for like 20 some odd years and he knows his gear pretty well. anyway thanks for the help man i really appreciate it.

riotact114

ok after what you said about it being a fat tele i did some research through google. i now belive it is indeed a mexican made fat tele. i discussed this with my friend and told him what i found out and he says he will sell it for 375. what do you think for that price... the guitar is in excellent shape and i enjoy how it plays. a little sketched out that my friend had no idea what he was talking about but its cool. again thanks for your help in making this decision.

MissYouAllDay

well I would say that FAT tele made in mexico would have cost around 400$ new. SO 375 is way the hell too much. I am not tottally sure about this but you should wait and see what some of the guys have to say about the price. Paco used to work in a guitar center so he might know.

You should really be getting a used mexican for like 200-300 tops.

Unless it's a 72 reissue or a custom HH or something which it's not.