Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

WoodGrain67

WoodGrain67

New member
Is it true that one generally doesn't get the value back by selling a midrange guitar with upgraded pickups?

I want to sell a blue Epi LP Plus top that has SD chrome Blackouts in it, and I also want to sell a Michael Kelly Patriot custom that has black P-rails in it with silver mounting rings.

Would I be better off reinstalling the original pickups that these guitars came with?
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

Yes, you'd usually be better putting the original pickups back in and selling the pickups separately. And if you don't sell the pickups, you have them for future projects.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

More info: also want to sell a 2008 MIM Strat with JB-Junior & CS54's and an Ibanez S470DXQM red with Blackouts and an EMG SA boosted with an Afterburner.

I'm looking to turn the resale money, along with more money, into a Fender American Standard Strat and a Gibson LP Studio Deluxe.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

the same - put original pickups back in, sell branded pickups separately.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

I'd say that you generally won't be able to increase the value of the guitar with aftermarket pickups.

The problem is that it's difficult to find someone who wants to buy *that* guitar, and then it's even harder to find someone who wants to buy *that* guitar with *those* pickups. The more modded a guitar is, the more you narrow your potential customer base.

Also, sometimes people then have questions like "are the pickups real", "who installed them", "do you have the originals" etc.

I've sold a few guitars here and there, many of them fully-loaded with Duncans, and I find I can sometimes get another $40-50 over whatever the average price of the guitar I'm selling is. Lately though, the guitar market is a little down it seems, and any import guitars (like epic or MIM fenders) are only getting about 45-55% of New street value, regardless of pickups, and that's for a guitar in pretty good condition.
It's a buyer's market, for imports at least.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

AlexR said:
the same - put original pickups back in, sell branded pickups separately.
Click to expand...

+1. You always want to keep the original PU's, you never know when you'll run across a guitar you'll want more. BTW, upgraded PU's on American-made guitars probably don't fare any better, and may even reduce the guitar's value as it's no longer stock.

While we know the difference upgraded PU's can make, the average player doesn't. You'll increase the selling price as much, or more, by adding a hard case, even though they cost about half of what upgraded PU's cost. We have a long way to go to educate players.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

The Chrome Blackouts are worth more than the guitar.

Put the originals - or anything - back in it. I''m getting ready to get rid of my Epi Classic. I'm putting Dean zebra's in it. (possibly with upgraded mags :naughty:)

Looks cool, sounds cool, and I keep a PG and a Custom!
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

I absolutely agree with Blueman's opinion on keeping the originals if you have a sale in mind.

In my case I might trade it for a guitar that sounds better to me and I have heard through other forums that people have gotten great deals with others that bought an expensive guitar and cannot bond with it.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

OK, the good thing is that I keep everything that I pull out of a guitar, so I'll be able to return all four of them to original equipment.

Now hearing that they sell for 45% to 55% of street retail is disheartening. I was planning on putting them on Craigslist for more like 65%.
I want to put the money toward a few new guitar purchases.

My burst MIM Strat was $425 new and I'm hoping to get $300 for it but it does have a ding so maybe $275 is more realistic?
My EPI LP Plus top and Michael Kelly were both $549 new and in excellent condition so would asking $400 be too optimistic?

And I'm guessing that trading them in at GC would be a bad idea, right? What kind of percentage do they give?
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

Pull the good pickups and put something expendable in there...upgraded pickups really doesn't make a difference in resale. :friday:
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

I sold some used midrange guitars with the upgraded pickups and I do not believe it netted me a single extra dollar. Unfortunately, i didn't have any stock pickups to put back in. Keep your good pickups, sell the guitar with any crap pickups that you can find (provide full disclosure) because most people will just change to the specific pickups they want anyway and they don't care what is already in there.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

Rand-O-Monium said:
Don't...

GC will give you less than a pawnshop will,even on a trade-in...
Click to expand...

Yup. Trade values for GC stores are half of what they want to sell it for. If GC thinks they can sell the guitar for $350, they will offer you $175, maybe $200.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

WoodGrain67 said:
Now hearing that they sell for 45% to 55% of street retail is disheartening. I was planning on putting them on Craigslist for more like 65%.
Click to expand...

The best thing to do is look at completed auctions on eBay and see what they actually sell for. There is some variation. A few smarter guys realize the benefit of upgraded PU's and will pay a little more for them as part of a guitar; compared to the average player who is usually oblivious when it comes to tone quality.

To get $400 for a used Epi LP Std+, it would have to have a hard case and very good flame, and be in nice condition. Even then it's probably on the high side. When you add in freight, it's going to cost someone close to $450, which isn't far from the $550 price of a new one, which may not be enough incentive for a buyer to take your deal. Remember, we're in an ongoing recession and there's lots of great deals you're competing with. Guys are unloading stuff to drum up cash. When sell when they do, you won't get top dollar.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

And as I said to the guy I bought my recent Caddy from:

"Yeah, I know all about Duncans. I also know they make about 100 different pickups, and I like five of them. Odds are this ISN'T one of them." And I was right.

$260
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

Upgrades never translate to increased value. All any potential buyer sees is, "MIM Tele" or "Epi LP". Also, hearing that the guitar isn't stock makes some buyers nervous because they all they know is that someone has been screwing around with the guts of the guitar - was it done right? What if it's messed up? There's a LOT of players out there who don't understand how to do anything other than change the strings.

So anyway, as has been explained already you should always put the guitar back to stock before selling, and then part out all the upgrades separately.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

I agree no one cares what "upgrades" you've made to an instrument. If you want to make more money return the instrument to stock form and sell the "upgrades" separately or hang onto them for future instruments/projects.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

You might be especially disgusted to find out how little your pickup choice means to the buyer. I once sold a guitar with its third set of pickups, which I considered definitive and perfect for that instrument. Some time after the sale, I found out the buyer had replaced them with something completely wrong for the guitar. Not my opinion, but a medical fact. (j/k)

Anyway, one person's upgrade is possibly, to another, just another set of pickups to rip out and throw away or sell on eBay.
 
Re: Selling Midrange Guitars with Upgraded Pickups?

Jessie's ghost said:
You might be especially disgusted to find out how little your pickup choice means to the buyer. I once sold a guitar with its third set of pickups, which I considered definitive and perfect for that instrument. Some time after the sale, I found out the buyer had replaced them with something completely wrong for the guitar. Not my opinion, but a medical fact. (j/k)
Click to expand...

Exactly! :friday: The average player has no idea what good tones are or how to get them. It's like developing a taste for fine wines, you have to learn about them to appreciate them. Even if they can identify a good tone, they have no earthly idea how to get there themselves.
 
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