I've been offered this guitar in a trade, where it's valued in 1300$ more or less. Thing is, the previous owner wanted a turquoise Eric Johnson with maple neck, so he swapped the original rosewood neck for a maple neck from another Eric Johnson. So, in theory it's made out of 2 different EJ. I like the finish and it's tempting, what do you guys advise? will it take a big hit on resale in case I wanted to sell it? Also, does it look legit to you? Any red flags?
Not a maple neck guy, but that is one of the nicest maple necks I've seen. The non-original neck would be a bargaining chip for a future buyer, but it's not like it's an Allparts neck. It's a legit EJ neck. There's only one shot showing the bass side neck pocket, and it's not a close-up. Is there any chipping or cracking on the neck pocket? Or near the neck plate? If it all looks good, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. $1,300 seems a little high to me, though. But not by much.
My first thought was , would you have to fight the partcaster image thing. And boom there it is. It's beautiful, however. I'm of the opinion that partcasters are worth the sum of their parts. But it's an uphill battle.
HUGE HUGE red flag....partscaster....a mint original one with factory matched neck and body might be worth $1300 used TOPS.....but this is worth more like $700-800 in this state....would be best to part it out if the owner was trying to get as much money as possible....
That pic of the body on the wooden table - that's a pic from Stratosphere. Which seems to indicate that he acquired the body and neck as parts. So then, are you getting the real EJ pickups? What is the provenance of the rest of the guitar? Is this person being totally honest with you? For that much money, you could easily get an all-original EJ. This is a partscaster with some question marks. I would pass altogether and find a real one.
Ouch........................ that's some "tough love". But, the truth does hurt sometimes. There are an S-load of used EJ Strats on Reverb. My my my, why so many for sale? https://reverb.com/p/fender-eric-johnson-stratocaster I've also seen comments that EJ Strats are one of the most common fakes.
Yeah, you can get an EJ for around $1100-1200 used in pristine condition. I wouldn't value that partscaster (even though its all Fender/EJ stuff) at more than $800-900 if everything else is right on it, especially the EJ pickups.
Really appreciate it guys, I'm gonna pass. Thank you. I already have a very nice American vintage 57 anyway.
The nut slot for the low E in the second last pic looks odd, too. Like something went wrong, when the neck was changed and they tried to fix it with a new nut... Can you get your hands on it before buying?
I originally posted something but after posting I seen you posted saying you decided to pass on it so I just deleted and put ... lol But basically seems like a Stratosphere build. I’ve seen the EJ body and neck on Stratosphere when looking around. Nice looking but I’d pass knowing it’s technically a partscaster since it didn’t roll out of the factory like this.
It could be the greatest playing, sounding EJ strat on the planet, but the hard reality is that as soon as the original neck was replaced it technically became a partscaster, and that does greatly affect resale value.
The 4th pic in definitely shows partcaster to me. Low E is to much of a angle to believe otherwise. EDIT Please correct me if I am wrong but doesn't a genuine Fender have 11 screws for a pickguard?
Please define 'partscaster'? Leo designed and built a guitar that we the users could repair or replace parts. If I wore out the neck on my rosewood EJ and decided to replace it with a genuine EJ neck from Fender, does it become a partscaster if I chose maple instead of rosewood? Has anyone ever told Mr Gilmour his black strat is a ****ty partscaster? This guitar is built from genuine Fender parts and has had the neck changed for a genuine Fender neck. Not a partscaster in the slightest. That is just downright snobbery.
