Fender 400 sold for $2275 on eBay

George Rozak · Post by **George Rozak** » 19 Nov 2008 8:42 pm

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 20 Nov 2008 10:04 am

And two of the six pedals were missing rods.

"What are you, people? On DOPE?" - Mr. Hand, "Fast Times at Ridgemont HIgh"

Ga McDonnell · Post by **Ga McDonnell** » 20 Nov 2008 12:20 pm

I want this guy to write my sales copy next time I sell something. Love the way he uses the "good news, bad news" thing...

"...This particular steel was equipped with 6 pedals. The bad news is that 2 of the connector rods are missing. The good news is that it still has four functioning pedals".

Danny Bates · Post by **Danny Bates** » 20 Nov 2008 1:09 pm

It may have something to do with the fact that Jimmy page of Led Zepplin played this model.... or at least he "tried to play" this model.

Amazing sale ..."Even a blind chicken finds a kernal of corn once in a while"

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 20 Nov 2008 2:58 pm

That is really strange.

I think this is the second time around (at least) for this guitar as I have been watching 400's on ebay over the past couple months and remember the name of the seller (kidwikked). Kidwikked (the seller) was also the name of a metal band from the cleveland area during the 1980's and I grew up there during that time, which is why i remembered the sellers name. wonder if there is a connection as the seller appears to now reside in neighboring PA area? anyway, Kidwikked must be pooping his pants with joy over this sale...that or he bought it himself somehow as part of some strange conspiracy to raise the prices on these old fenders. bizarro

Danny Bates · Post by **Danny Bates** » 20 Nov 2008 3:34 pm

A few years back, I saw a guy sell an old Fender Catalog from the 50's for $1,500 on Ebay.
It made me feel good because I have one stashed in mint condition.

Because of this sale, I say "Congrats" to all Fender 400 owners.
Contrary to the Dow Jones (as of late), the stock value of your Fender 400 guitar has just gone up.

Terje Brattsveen · Post by **Terje Brattsveen** » 20 Nov 2008 3:46 pm

I'll take $ 3.275 for this one, because ALL the pedals work!

Steve Hitsman · Post by **Steve Hitsman** » 20 Nov 2008 5:47 pm

Three dollars twenty-seven and a half cents? I'll take it.

Danny Bates · Post by **Danny Bates** » 21 Nov 2008 2:01 am

Mark my words.... by the year 2020, Old Fender steel guitars will sell for more than any pedal steel guitar made today. Look at Bigsbys. Supply and demand.

It's not the product's quality. It's the people investing have more money than brains.... or do they? This is exactly what I thought when I was buying 1963 strats for $300 and selling them to collectors for $600... I thought they were all nuts!

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 22 Nov 2008 12:14 am

IF you look at the bidders - even thought they don't disclose full names any longer - there's enough info to tell there was something fishy with that auction. There were essentially two bidders driving the price into the stratosphere - one with feedback of 7 and the other private. probably both bogus, there will be no sale, the seller will get his final value fee back and relist it in a few months - hoping the history will drive up prices.

It's happened hundreds of times in the 6-string world where collectors are more apt to pay big bucks if they see closed auctions with high prices.

10:1 it was a scam.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 22 Nov 2008 1:14 am

I agree, something smelled fishy about that one. At any rate, it will be a very easy instrument (and sale) to remember.

Steve Norman · Post by **Steve Norman** » 22 Nov 2008 1:17 am

I tried to buy steel guitars repetitively off ebay a few years back,,and someone always overbids to the point of ridiculousness. 1200 carter starters for example. Ebay sure isnt a an IQ test

Glen Derksen · Post by **Glen Derksen** » 22 Nov 2008 9:36 am

I won a bid for $266.00 (including shipping) on a Boss BR900 desktop recording studio. That was a good deal, but I have tried to bid on some old overdrive pedals that I could buy privately for about 25 or 30 dollars. Someone would always out bid me, driving the price to twice the true value.

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 22 Nov 2008 10:27 am

eBay used to be essentially "the world's biggest garage sale" - it was fun and you could nab things at unreal prices (most of my effects collection, which is worth a ridiculous amount of money, came from regularly checking new listings and hitting "Buy it Now" or good, old fashioned, two-windows-open-on-your-computer manual sniping.

Now it's mostly commercial "store" sellers, automated sniping programs, and a radical change it the feedback system that really renders it useless. I still buy guitar parts and camera accessories (and sell some higher-ticket items) but rarely do I find a killer amp or guitar deal.

Ronnie Boettcher · Post by **Ronnie Boettcher** » 22 Nov 2008 5:42 pm

Danny, I had a 57 Strat, with less than 25 hours of play on it, with the mint tan case, walk out of my house around 1982. Just had it laying under the bed, and one day my wife asked me what I did with that Strat. I said it was under the bed, and she said nooooooo. The son still says he didn't take it, but I would bet all I have that he knows who took it. They probably got a case of beer, or a bag of pot for it. Somebody made a booty on it.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 22 Nov 2008 11:25 pm

I bought this same model 18 months ago on eBay for about $400. The paint job had crackled and peeled and the pedals had rusted, so I cleaned it up and restored it and finished it with black vinyl. The good news is that is has 8 pedals and all the pedal rods.

Danny Bates · Post by **Danny Bates** » 23 Nov 2008 6:15 am

Ronnie, I know the feeling. I had a valuable collection of handguns disappear. The police called me and asked if I owned a certain hand gun. I said "Yes, it's under my bed"... He said "You better look under your bed because I'm holding it in my hand"... He was right. They said they picked it off a kid in a high school. I never got any of the others back. The kid was a friend of my kids.

Speaking of '57 Strats, I had a white (with factory gold plating and gold anodized pickguard) that I paid $125 for in 1976... I sold it for a grand in about 1983... I laughed all the way to the bank. Boy was I dumb. $:\$

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 23 Nov 2008 8:16 am

4 years ago I bought my first mint SS 400 for $600.00 from a friend; then I got a "beater" for around $250, and they were combined to make the first "Sneakycaster" with Pete's copedent, including knees and 2 pickups. Not the right model (Pete played the long-scale) but effective nonetheless; it's now owned by Steve Gambrell. It has Pete's heart in it, as before he was really ill he gave me some advice, and even when he was starting to "fade" filtered down setup info through his daughter Anita - so he really did help me build that one.

Then I got a LS1000 in trade for a fouled-up MSA Classic...didn't keep it long, as I got ANOTHER LS1000 in near-mint condition from Ed Bierly, which I still have. The back neck is Sneaky's B6 with added knees, the front a sacred steel E tuning with a couple pedals doing double-duty and splitting the middle E's.

But my main player is my '59/60 (or so) 400 I got from Gerald Pierce in parts - Than one I built from scratch, with Sneaky's copedent (including the knees), roller bridge/nut, a stock bridge pickup and a Stringmaster neck pickup, push-pull pots that switch them on and off, reversed tone and volume controls (to can tweak the tone control while playing - a trick from my Tele playing) and a phase switch. Since it was totally disassembled I has able to de-gunk every part and Teflon-lube everything, even somewhat difficult to reach changer blades. But it plays like butter, stay in tune, has zero cabinet drop and careful reassembly made it rock solid mechanically, so the sustain is superb. I haven't added a ton of internal electronics...that's next...but I keep a MZR Distortion+ mounted upside down so I can hit it with my knee - works great on "Wheels". That trick is directly attributable to Pete.

What's really amazing is how the prices have slowly risen over the last 5 years, but recently taken a jump. From talking to some of my 6-string vintage-freak buddies, it seems like 6 strings who can't afford a "50's Fender" guitar of any kind (with Teles and Strats going for $20-$20k or more) have discovered the steels...and think it's pretty darned cool to own a '50's Fender steel, knowing as collectors start grabbing them the value will go up. I get tons of emails from non-forum guys asking for setup help, parts, copedent advice, pickups recommendations - more than a dozen a week, usually.

So my "quest" is to find decently-priced replacement parts - either original design, close, or at least workable. Cable assemblies are relatively easy, although the small pulleys are a puzzle; small boat pulleys work, but are a little bulky.

They're just amazing sounding and playing guitars, and FAR more versatile than you'd think at first glance.