I'm at it again out thrift store hunting for old guitars and musical equipment and found this old Olando Acoustic guitar that needs a little T.L.C. and I thought maybe you guys might like doing the same thing.
You wanna talk about old beat-up thrift store guitars? OK: Last month an old friend called me from the local Goodwill hub and wanted to bring something over that he had just found there. Half an hour later he's at my door with an old beat up Tele! No shit, it was all there; had been long ago painted over dark brown including the neck and decal, but the date stamp on the neck heel was clear as day, 1963, as was the L-series serial number on the neck plate. It had the old style weird wiring scheme, but the pickups both worked, the neck was straight, frets looked OK, original Klusons. The bridge was pretty rusty, as were the pickup poles, etc, but it all worked! They sell mostly clothing at that Goodwill, and they charge by weight. Cost of this Tele? $8.75. That's right, eight dollars and seventy five f**kin cents, for a complete '63 Tele. I offered him several grand for it right on the spot, all the cash I had in the house. (I'd sold four good guitars that week and was much more flush than usual.) He wisely took a pass. I saw him again last week and asked him if he'd strung it up or done anything to it, and he said it was at his place, still in pieces from when we took it apart to examine it... So it's worth fixing up, but how? I told him he should send it to an expert, and pay the grand or two to get it properly restored to looking like a well worn/played pre CBS Tele that wasn't painted over. Guessed it could be worth 15-25K or so. Warned him again not to do a damn thing to it. Problem is I know he's a real cheapskate and wouldn't spend the dough to get it properly done, and I know he thinks highly of his own personal 'lutherie skills', which are actually very rudimentary, to be kind. He's also a bit of a hoarder, with a whole house-full of broken, junked instruments, and a few players. He also happens to be a very talented musician, but electric guitar isn't his forte. I advised him to do nothing more to it than to carefully reassemble it and string it up for now, so we can at least play it. I'd love to get my hands on it, but I doubt it's gonna happen. I already have a 100% - original blue '64 Mustang (24" scale) that I've had since around 1975, and got for a 70s price. (Although not near $8.75...) Sometimes the universe just shows itself to be total chaos... ;) BTW, if you think I've just made this story up to entertain y'all and myself, forget it... Every word is true, and Teles are my faves...
If you know what you're doing, you can correct an older guitar and make it better. I had a reissue 69' Tele, a Mexican model, I paid $450 for it. I did a lot of work on it and sold it for $ 1,000 and got an American made Tele!
