Unbelievable Tele request..."Does it have the ashtray cover?"

[JELLIS]

To me, this is one of the funniest questions being asked of Tele sellers.
"Does it come with the ashtray cover?"
I can't count how many time's I've seen that asked here and on ebay.
Now, on a vintage guitar, it can be a legitimate question. A bridge cover for a 50's or 60's
Tele/Esquire, might make a $20K guitar worth $300 more, but still, not a deal breaker. The real vintage covers can be had for 2 or 3 hundred dollars.
Most players take the cover off anyway, probably 95% of the time.
On a $2K Custom Shop guitar, is the $10 bridge cover a deal breaker?
I can see asking about a COA or a case, but a bridge cover?

Wife, "Honey, did you buy that mint condition 59 Fender Custom Shop Esquire? You said it was a steal at $1400."

Husband, "No dear, I passed because it didn't include the bridge cover."

 

[PFCG]

i would say 99.9% of players dont use them. The ashtray is something i never really understood.

If it came included on a guitar, i would most likely use it as an ashtray on stage.

 

[sanhozay]

Maybe they're smokers?

 

[Polynitro]

does it? Mine does, it sits in its case untouched since I got it. I take it out for photos now and again.

 

[Zilmo]

Well, guys don'y want to get screwed out of that piece of bent up sheetmetal, ya know?

 

[KazJY]

I needed to read a post like this. Funny. Absolutely true, and you have a point, but I am very anal-retentive, and I'd never care about an ash tray cover. There is hope for me after all. (hooray!)

 

[jeffwith1f]

some people are completists. If the instrument came with one, and it's missing, well, I could see that being an "issue", but only a deal breaker if you are one of those "I want all the original packaging" kind of people. I understand that, as I can be like that, but I don't think I'd pass on a Guitar that I wanted because of this. I may try to knock down the price by the cost of the aftermarket replacement value though.

now if the instrument didn't come with one (I don't think I've ever seen a Tele in the shop being sold with one on it unless it was a vintage peice showing off it's cover) then asking for it is patently absurd.

My friend had a vintage Jazzmaster that had it's bridge cover. That was cool, I didn't even know they had them (they did). Of course, I took it off.....

 

[bazooka47]

Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I would probaby ask about the cover.

A deal breaker on a newer guitar? Probably not, but I would be curious as to why the seller was not going to include it or the other case candy in the transaction.



Side Note:
My '56 Tele came with the original ragged out tweed case AND the ash tray cover. Sometime later I noticed that the original owner had faintly scratched his name and SSN on the inside. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

[Blue Fin]

The cover probably has more uses than a C of A.

 

[Relicula]

I am often stunned by the anal retentive, minutia that gets in the way of a sale of almost anything today.

Internet experts abound, and often times are just an enormous headache of what is expected. New guitars being held to the standards of old guitars, where a refret isnt original anymore, or a pickup change etc. I had a guy ask me if the velcro of the bottom of a pedal could be removed easily. Really, its getting to the point where its hard to respond in a respectful manner to questions like this at all.

 

[Custom50]

i got a tele years ago that came with the cover. I threw it in a box and forgot about it. I sold the tele a year or so later, but I'm willing to bet that bridge cover is still lying around this house somewhere. It really is a pretty useless piece of equipment.

 

[relix63]

I have an ashtray cover from a 68 Esquire and one from a 69 Tele that I never included when I sold them. They went in a box of extra parts because I thought they were worthless. Had either buyer asked, I would have gladly included them. Now I have these old parts but not the guitars. I don't think there is any way to prove what they came off of so they're still basically useless.

 

[JELLIS]

The cover probably has more uses than a C of A.

Quite true. Sure, a COA is just a piece of paper, but a legit COA does provide some provenance.
I always like to burn the COA in the ashtray

 

[treeofpain]

In today's environment, buyers are looking for reasons NOT to buy your guitar or to buy it cheaper.

If you are missing something that originally came with the guitar, do not blame the prospective buyer. Just be upfront about what comes with it and what doesn't. No big deal.

 

[Polynitro]

Out of all the case candy that came with my Tele the ashtray is the only thing I kept...I sold off the 6 saddle bridge, the strap fell apart, the cord I turned into a patch, the polish cloth and polish I gave to someone, the allen wrench I lost, and the cap ended up in my Esquire.

 

[enocaster]

So your argument is that the buyer should be surprised when they receive the guitar? That what is and isn't included with the sale should be knowledge that you have, but they don't? If they complained after the sale that it wasn't included, would there be a thread saying "Why don't people ask these questions BEFORE buying?"
It's really a simple question, one I'd hardly call "unbelievable".

 

[blueshawk1]

I didn't even know myself that any new teles even came with the covers anymore, but then I'm usually looking at used and I rarely see one for sale with the bridge cover.
More than "unbelievable", I might find it surprising that someone asked, I'd be more expecting someone to ask if it had the ashtray bridge rather than the cover.

To me, what's even more unbelievable is how common it is to see strats and strat clones for sale that don't have the trem bar. You know for certain that all new strat style guitars come with one, so where do they all go? Is there some mystical place they disappear to right next door to where socks go that disappear from the laundry?

 

[relix63]

Along with my extra ashtray covers, I also have about 5 trem bars as well. I guess people like me hoard them.

 

[Gibson 1964]

I didn't even know myself that any new teles even came with the covers anymore, but then I'm usually looking at used and I rarely see one for sale with the bridge cover.
More than "unbelievable", I might find it surprising that someone asked, I'd be more expecting someone to ask if it had the ashtray bridge rather than the cover.

To me, what's even more unbelievable is how common it is to see strats and strat clones for sale that don't have the trem bar. You know for certain that all new strat style guitars come with one, so where do they all go? Is there some mystical place they disappear to right next door to where socks go that disappear from the laundry?

Yes, I found it too. I do repairs for a pawn shop and I found a box the other day behind the counter with several hundred trem bars in it at least. And none of them fit the PRS I bought there.

 

[gkoelling]

After I built my black guard partscaster I decided the ashtray would be nice to have, even though I knew I'd never use it. I bought it, reliced it and then lost it without realizing it was lost.

I found it behind an amp today while looking for a screw driver.

Useful, very useful. :NUTS