Really having a hard time trading this for a Stratocaster

You could get a very nice Strat in exchange for that. Nothing wrong with Player Strats, but your guitar IMO holds much more value.

 

Very valid points.

There is another calculation that a lot of sellers get wrong. They often think: price paid for guitar + price paid for aftermarket parts = current value of guitar. Often the truth is more like this: price paid for guitar + price paid for aftermarket parts = price paid for guitar, and maybe less, due to mods that may or may not be great.

Most buyers would prefer an instrument that is completely stock, ie exactly as it came out of the factory. While 'upgraded pickups' might seem attractive to the current owner, there is no guarantee that another player will prefer them, and they will definitely wonder how good the wiring job was. As was pointed out earlier on the thread, those tuners are not lined up very accurately. That sends out a bad message: this guitar has been worked on by someone who didn't really know what they were doing.

I agree with others who say it's better to sell the Burny than attempt a swap. Even though I'd value it in the $600+ range, I think I'd find it hard to hand over anything more expensive than a MIM in exchange, for the reasons you state.

 

You should just sit back down. There are many MIJ Les Paul brands that desirable and bring really good money depending on the model Tokai, Greco, Burny, Navigator, Epiphone, Fresher, Orville, OBG..... Just like MIJ Stratocasters.

 

This has to be a joke just to wind people up, no?

 

Don’t forget Edwards by ESP! This fella clearly doesn’t know how perfectly made these Japanese guitars really are, some are collectors items.

 

P

Pity you aren't in the USA, that's one nice guitar.

 

Just a guess but that Burny has (nibs, a short tenon, laminated top, old style truss rod cover and is not lacquer) but it looks like a RLG-70 or RLG-90. so in the 700 - 800 dollar range I would say. Just a guess!!

 

Being in Singapore is part of the problem. I pick it up from you if you were in the U.S. pretty quick. A plain top Les Paul is always welcome in my home! Glwts!

 

Yep.
LP Standard is $2500.
LP Classic is $2k.
LP Custom are custom-shop only and start around $4700, a bit more for the Reissue models with the R7 being the highest at $6700.

 

Sounds like a reasonable trade; the lowest he’ll take is $4700 plus an additional $500 for an American strat? Deal of the century!

 

With the known quality of Japanese made guitars, I wonder why the tuners are so crooked. It seems that if they'd ever been removed, then they would just use the original screw holes to put them back.