Broken headstock

Hi there... I am currently eye-ing up a `60's Stafire III. It looks just about perfect. It's also had the headstock snapped off at some point.

While the repair seems to be well executed and the damage very minimal, should I be wary? I would imagine that would affect the resale/'collectable' value but to what extent?

hoopyfrood,

Were you named after New Zealand's first President?

A broken headstock can be repaired and last indefinitely, or it can break pretty soon. You can get it cheaper that way, and it can be a perfectly good player.

hoopyfrood said:

I would imagine that would affect the resale/'collectable' value but to what extent?

Click to expand...

Not if you didn't own it when it was broken.....that's the guy who took the real hit. For example, if an unbroken version of this guitar is 'worth' $1,000 and you pay $600 for 'Ol Snapper' and don't beat it up any further, if it's a popular model, you'd probably do at least OK on resale.

If your question is really: "Given the neck, how easy will it be to sell it?", the answer is whether someone else will accept the same risk as you are; neck fails and you can't give it away.

It's one thing if this is a 'gotta have' instrument; if you're just bottom-fishing looking for a bargain, I've got this Guild amp.....

Good luck,
John

Purely my opinion, but I tend to buy a guitar with a defect like that only if I strongly intend to keep it.

If resale potential, now or later, is a prime consideration, I'd wait for a cleaner vintage SF.

Unless, as the Cap'n says, you get a great deal.

Although such a repair does surely affect resale value, I've watched some examples still go for more than expected. I think most players are aware that a good repair will last longer than the original. Always difficult to tell who repaired it, though. My guess, is that most dealers will not buy a used guitar with a broken headstock (to flip it, that is) unless they're gonna part it out.