OffsetGuitars.com

Hi all! Finally was able to dip my toes into the vintage JM world this week thanks to a crazy deal on Reverb. The guitar was originally listed at $10,500 and then over time got lowered to $7,500 and then on Thursday down to $5,500. I took a shot and offered $3,500 and the seller accepted it! Seems almost too good to be true lol

According to the listing, it was a one-owner guitar, never left the guy’s house, and is in “remarkable” condition, with the OHSC. The pickguard was changed in the 90’s and at least one of the pots was swapped to a 250k pot dated to 1990. The volume knob of the rhythm circuit looks to be loose or bent as well but these are minor things that don’t matter too much to me since I’ll be taking it to my guitar tech to get checked out

I’m super excited but after looking through the seller’s feedback there are a handful of people who claim the guitars they bought from him were packaged poorly and arrived damaged. Of course with anonymous feedback like that you have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt but I can’t help but be a little worried.
Has anyone dealt with Tidewater Vintage Guitars before? They’re based out of Virginia

Anyways, I’ll post the photos from the listing below. Any thoughts?

Wow. That’s really nice. Love the unbound neck and the bright target burst.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:20 am

Wow. That’s really nice. Love the unbound neck and the bright target burst.

Thanks yeah the target burst is really what drew me to it!

marginwalker wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:27 pm

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:20 am

Wow. That’s really nice. Love the unbound neck and the bright target burst.

Thanks yeah the target burst is really what drew me to it!

This is a very cool guitar. I see it as a good opportunity to get a nice repro tort guard with the exact look you want.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:00 pm

This is a very cool guitar. I see it as a good opportunity to get a nice repro tort guard with the exact look you want.

Yeah, I'm not really a "Spitfire" guy but I would 100% buy one for that guitar.

I saw that guitar on my reverb feed, thats a crazy deal in this market! Maybe a sign that guitars really aren't selling at the high prices at all and things are going to calm down a bit.

Looks lovely too, although I agree it needs a good repro tort guard.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:00 pm

marginwalker wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:27 pm

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:20 am

Wow. That’s really nice. Love the unbound neck and the bright target burst.

Thanks yeah the target burst is really what drew me to it!

This is a very cool guitar. I see it as a good opportunity to get a nice repro tort guard with the exact look you want.

The original pickguard is going to be included but I’d imagine if it’s been off the guitar since the 90’s it’s probably shrunk quite a bit lol.

But yeah I’m definitely considering a spitfire!

gishuk wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:17 pm

I saw that guitar on my reverb feed, thats a crazy deal in this market! Maybe a sign that guitars really aren't selling at the high prices at all and things are going to calm down a bit.

Looks lovely too, although I agree it needs a good repro tort guard.

Yeah I seriously still can’t believe I got one for that cheap, almost feel like there has to be some sort of catch to it haha. I’ve noticed quite a few vintage Jazzmasters lowering their prices lately

that's insanely awesome especially for 3500

What an incredible find, especially for the money these days. Congrats!!

Telliot wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 13, 2022 6:30 pm

What an incredible find, especially for the money these days. Congrats!!

Great score! $10k was an insane starting place though. $5500 seems much more reasonable for a mostly original and very clean Jazzmaster. Surprised you were able to talk them down so far from that.

Great steal. I definitely have noticed guitars sitting for months at preposterously high prices, especially more 'run of the mill' sunbursts and the like. Obviously custom colors and very early gold guards etc may get scooped but yeah, I think overall this could be a good sign for the market. Congrats on a sweet score.

Thanks y’all!! I feel incredibly lucky. Just hope that it arrives unharmed in the mail! Have had a handful of guitars get damaged in shipping so I hope the guy packed it well lol

Well it turns out too good to be true after all…I woke up this morning to a notification from Reverb saying I was sent a full refund for the guitar. Apparently it sold locally and there was some sort of mix up with his “partner”. But what’s fishy is that anytime the seller responded
to negative feedback shown on the shop profile it’s only ever signed off with one name and no other business partner is ever mentioned lol.

I should’ve known something was up yesterday when I checked the tracking info and it was in Lutz, FL. Just checked it again today and sure enough it’s still there but scanned as out for delivery. I work as a mail carrier for USPS and will be looking into contacting the postal inspection service for possible mail fraud.

DO NOT do business with Tim G at Tidewater Vintage in Gloucester, VA

I wonder if it will miraculously reappear on their reverb soon ..