Todd,
I would think that you would want to talk to Willie and not one of his employees. He is a very nice man and would certainly tell you what he thought the guitar was worth. It's not that his employees would try to deceive you, it's just that Willie has more experience than they do.
I'm in Texas and have no financial interest in Willie's operation, though I have sold and bought guitars from him before. I think he is one of the nicest guys in the biz, plus Willie knows how to sell guitars. It's not that Joe V. doesn't, it's just that Willie is a Known Quantity in the International Vintage Guitar Business who is Local to You.
Why is that important? Because of the potential for shipping problems, for one thing. There is a lot to be said for not having to ship the guitar yourself (as a first time shipper) to a dealer in another part of the country.
The big shippers, Fed Ex & UPS, are all self-insured. They don't like to pay claims for damage, if they perceive that the instrument wasn't packed properly.
What would a proper box be like? Well, first of all, it's going to be an oversized box, and it will need to meet certain strength requirments to be 'insureable'.
Todd, if I were packing an Artist Award for shipment to on Fed Ex or UPS, I would first read the following link:
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resour ... ow_to.html
I would pack the inside of the guitar case with towels, so the guitar wouldn't move around, then build a custom box 3 inches wider than the outer dimensions of the guitar case on the inside of wall of the box (I know the regs say at least 2", but I would do 3" in case the shipper claims that it is a 'special package'). You will actually need to use very strong cardboard to build a box of those dimensions (see the charts), so I would construct the box out of two separate layers of 200 lb test virgin cardboard (when you read the packing regulations, you can see that you will need a box with 350-400 lb test strength for an oversized box that contains a large musical instrument like a full bodied guitar. Now, to get the right material, you'll have to buy a minimum order of 10 4' by 8' sheets of 200 lb test cardboard for about $45.00 bucks at a local supply house. You'll only use two of them, but you can sell the rest to one of the local small shipping houses). Once I built the box, I would fill it full of bubble wrap, not 'packing peanuts'.
Also, expect to pay $100-150 for shipping an oversized guitar box to either Coast, including $5-7000 insurance. If it turns out that you really do want to ship it yourself, contact me and I'll tell you how to build the box.
Enough shipping info, back to guitars:
It wouldn't hurt to get someone else's opinion (like Joe at Archtop.com) for valuation purposes, before you talk to Willie (or anybody else). You know, "Willie, I talked to Joe at Archtop, I talked to the 'Guild Book Guru' Hans at Guitars Galore. Hans said $7K, Joe said $XXXX. What do you think?"
Todd, you also might want to consider that the market is down from what it was 2 or 3 years ago and it is likely to stay down for a while. You might want to hang on to the guitar until the market gets better (or not, that is a personal decision). If you hang on to it, learn how to keep a guitar properly hydrated in the winter in Minnesota. Willie's guys can tell you. So can a lot of people here.
Additionally, there are people who would be really glad to own an AA with a D'Aquisto bridge thrown in as a 'deal sweetener'. Jimmy was a great builder and had some interesting ideas about using 'large' bridges and wooden tailpieces to 'warm up' the sound of his own guitars. That bridge is worth several hundred on it's own, when you include the provenance of the receipts. It would probably be worth more to the final buyer of the guitar, but if he or she doesn't want it, there are other buyers who would, believe me.
The missing strap button is very replaceable, too.
There is also a guy who builds new Guild lucite pickguards. Somebody else here can tell you about that a lot more than I can about how to contact that guy, but certainly, a new, period correct pickguard might be a worthwhile investment to consider as part of the price of selling the guitar.
I would try and put the old cut-down pickguard back on rather than sell it with the 'current one' in place (let a guitar repairman do it for you). The current one doesn't look very good. In fact, it would be better to sell the guitar without a pickguard than leave the 'current' 'guard in place.
Hmmn, come to think of it, it also looks like it's been 'cut out' for a wider pickup than the one that it originally came with. Still, you can find a pic of the right pickup 'cut out' and the pickguard maker can use that to make a perfect 'new one' for you.
One final thought. I think the added value of the D'Aquisto bridge would even out the subtraction in value of the modified pickguard.
Good luck, Harry
