Vintage Duane Eddy DE-500BL SN# EH-284

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Firstly, I am not a guitar guy. My wife had purchased this guitar many years ago as an investment based on a recommendation from a previous BF. She has asked me to look into it's value and here we are. I am having a bit of trouble identifying exactly what this guitar is. The sticker on the inside is labelled exactly as the title suggests. There is an additional serial number stamped just below the EH 284 on the peg head that is 13925 and is stamped through the EH284 or possibly the EH 284 is stamped through the 13925. Also, the "2" of EH284 is not visible, possibly because its stamped in the dark wood and you cant see it. The label seems to be written in pencil and I don't see any evidence of it being altered or tampered with. The book is clear that anything starting with EH is a DE400. There are a few other things that are unusual too. The pickguard is the stair step variety with the star and Guild on it but does not have the gold outline running along the outer edge or Duane Eddy's Signature. Additionally the plate at the peg head is blank with only the outline and the inlaid Guild logo is the inverted G. I would love some help identifying what's up with this guitar. I don't see a way to post picture but I have the and would be glad to send them if necessary.

Thank you for the help.
 

hansmoust

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Hello tracybullard,

Welcome! I should be able to help you with the questions you have re. the Guild Duane Eddy. At this point I believe you have an early '60s leftover T-500 superstructure that was not completed at that time. It looks like it was probably set up with parts that were appropriate for that period towards the end of the '60s . If my theory is correct then the top of the headstock should also have the early 'open book' headstock shape that was still standard during the early '60s. The EH-serial number prefix is not correct, but it was a mistake that I've seen before.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

txbumper57

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That sounds like a pretty cool guitar to me, I would love to see some pictures of it. Are you and your wife planning on selling it? I'd be interested depending on what the photos look like.

TX
 
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Hans, when I figured out you the same Hans, I knew I was in the right spot! Thank you for your help. You are correct, the top of the headstock is the early 'open book' headstock shape. thank you for your input. I can provide photos if you want (it wont let me provide them on the forum).

Anyone interested in see it, please PM me your email and I will get you what you want. I am pretty sure she would be interested in selling depending on what we can negotiate. The guitar as far as I can tell is 9.00, there are very few noticeable marks on any of the surfaces including the neck, front or back of the guitar. The gold is showing its age but i understand this is common. The only real bummer is the hard case is not original or even a guild and has had padding added to keep the guitar secure. I live in San Francisco, do any of you know of a reputable professional that could value the guitar in the Bay Area?

Thank you so much for all of the help. This is a much kinder forum than usual and very much appreciated.
 
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Welcome to the forum. We are all pretty much players here. Some of us player/collectors, some player/retailers...and some of us player/hoarders!
And Guilds are great guitars. For a lot of us, a huge part of the value is in the actual playing/sound/tone and feel..."Made To Be Played" indeed!

As far as "investment-grade" guitars go, there may be those who think of Guilds purely as good investments, but for some reason, overall, they just don't seem to bring the same investment portfolio $$ as, say, vintage Martins or Gibsons.

However, Duane Eddy guitars ARE pretty cool and, depending on condition, the early ones can bring in some decent $$! Go to google and simply type in Duane Eddy Guild and go through some of the past reverb.com listings, etc. Just remember that the ASKING price is seldom the SELLING price.
I hope she did OK as an investment.

But we ALL love to see pictures!
Just go to photobucket and upload them there, then come back here and hit the little icon that says "insert image" and put in the url of the photobucket file. It's that easy!

Good luck!
 
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Thank you Mr Rocker!

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http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp120/tracybullard/IMG_7268.jpg[/IMG

[IMG]http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp120/tracybullard/IMG_7267.jpg

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hansmoust

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Hello Tracy,

Ok, I looked at the photos and this is what I can tell you.

The guitar you have started life as a T-500, which was a short lived model from the very early ‘60s. The T-500 was the basis on which the Duane Eddy Deluxe model was developed and most of the early Duane Eddy models were actually T-500 superstructures that were already built before the introduction of the Duane Eddy model and that were eventually completed as Duane Eddy models.

I believe that your guitar was also completed as a Duane Eddy, but for some reason never left the factory, or maybe it did leave the factory, but was returned as the result of a quality issue.
The reason I think it was completed is because I can see the remnants of an older label sticking out under the label that was glued into the guitar at a later date.

During the period that Guild was moving from Hoboken, NJ to Westerly, RI, a lot of old inventory and parts were turned into guitars that could be sold, instead of moving the parts to the new location.
For that reason you can come across guitars that do not entirely conform to the official specifications of the model and this guitar is one of them.

According to the ‘new’ serial number, which is #EH-284, we can date this guitar to 1968. The most obvious part that does not conform to the specs of an instrument from 1968 is the old style ‘open book’ headstock , which I already mentioned in my earlier posting. Another significant feature is the fingerboard with the square ‘mother-of-pearl’ blocks, which on the Duane Eddy model should have been the two-tone mother-of-pearl/ abalone inlays.

I’ve seen a couple of Duane Eddy / DE-500 models from this period and they all had different specs because of the aformentioned reason. Some of them also had the regular stairstep pickguard, just like this guitar, without the gold border and Duane Eddy signature.

Actually, the EH-serial number prefix was for the DE-400, which was the slightly less Deluxe version of the DE-500. I'm not sure why they decided to give these instruments a serial number that was originally intended for the DE-400, other than a mistake. The official Guild records do not show any DE-500s with the regular EI-serial number prefix made during the year 1968, but some DE-500s were made and the ones I’ve seen all had the EH-prefix, just like your guitar.

When the instrument was completed during 1968, it was probably set up with the small mini humbuckers, which would have been standard during that time. Right now the guitar is set up with Guild HB-1 pickups, which were not introduced to the Guild line until the end of 1970. From what I can see in the photos it looks like the instrument was refinished at a later date, but I can’t be 100% sure without holding the instrument in my hands. Anyway, if the instrument was refinished, it is possible that the pickups were changed at that same time.
Since you’re not the original owner, we can only guess about what may have happened to the guitar and at what time, but it is very clear to me what the origin is of the original superstructure and a thorough look at the EIA-codes on the pots might learn us a bit more.

The Gibson style tune-o-matic bridge was obviously added at a later date as well!

That’s pretty much what I can tell you from the photos.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 
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Thank you Sir! You are a kind, knowledgeable and generous man to provide such amazing feed back. I cannot thank you enough. I have spoken with my wife and the guitar is for sale should anyone be interested.
 

GuildFS4612CE

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I was wondering what the additional padding material is in the case...and whether it is compatible with the nitro finish.
 
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Oh, sorry, I thought I had mentioned that the case was a Gretsch. The padding was added to secure the guitar as the case is not original. I could not speak to the compatibility other than to say the guitar has been in it for many years now and does not seem to have negatively affected it.
 
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Just a thought, and just my opinion...but if you are going to sell it, and you've already said you're not a "guitar guy" (and I assume your wife isn't a "guitar gal") take your guitar to a respected guitar repair shop to have it set up. New strings, put the bridge where it belongs, thorough cleaning, intonation, truss rod adjust, make sure all the electronics work as they should, maybe clean the pots if necessary, make sure the Guildsby works smoothly, make sure the tuners work as they should, etc. It's a basic setup and shouldn't cost more than 50-75.00, plus parts. Another worthwhile investment to maximize your return.
If someone comes to see it, they will be even MORE impressed if they can actually PLAY it!
Also, print out Han's note here and have it on hand, because I'm sure that you'll forget the details about what this guitar is!
 
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Mr Rocker,

Thanks for the advice. I had already planned to do just that. Still, I appreciate the input.
 
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