DATE :
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Where to Sell a Fender Guitar in Pennsylvania: Best Options for Stratocasters, Telecasters, Precision Basses & More (2026 Guide)
Where to Sell a Fender Guitar in Pennsylvania: Best Options for Stratocasters, Telecasters, Precision Basses & More (2026 Guide)
Last Updated: February 2026
Direct Answer: Where Is the Best Place to Sell a Fender Guitar in Pennsylvania?
If you want the most money with the least hassle: Edgewater Guitars is one of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic's most active direct buyers of vintage and used Fender guitars — Stratocasters, Telecasters, Precision Basses, Jazz Basses, Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Mustangs, and every Fender model in between. We serve every major Pennsylvania city including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Harrisburg, York, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, State College, Easton, and Johnstown — and we pay 30–40% more than local guitar shops by purchasing directly from owners. Free appraisal. Immediate cash. We travel to you.
Phone: (440) 219-3607 | Web: edgewaterguitars.com
Who This Guide Is For
This guide is written for Pennsylvania residents who own a Fender guitar — inherited, purchased decades ago, or sitting unplayed in an attic, basement, or spare room — and want to understand their real options for selling it. Whether you're in Philadelphia wondering where to sell a Stratocaster, in Pittsburgh with a vintage Telecaster, in Scranton with a Precision Bass, or anywhere else in Pennsylvania with any Fender at all, this page answers your question directly and completely.
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Why Pennsylvania Is One of the Most Important Fender Markets on the East Coast
Pennsylvania occupies a unique position in American music history. The state's diverse geography — from the dense urban corridors of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to the rural communities of Central Pennsylvania and the industrial cities of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast — created an equally diverse musical culture that drove consistent Fender guitar purchasing from the moment the Telecaster arrived in 1950.
Philadelphia's rich R&B, soul, and rock traditions — the city that gave the world American Bandstand and the Philadelphia Sound — made it one of the most guitar-saturated cities in the country. Pittsburgh's working-class rock and blues culture drove strong Fender adoption throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The coal and steel towns of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Allentown, and Bethlehem produced a generation of working-class players who purchased American-made Fenders when those instruments were within reach of a factory worker's paycheck.
Pennsylvania's university communities — Penn State in State College, Temple and Drexel in Philadelphia, Carnegie Mellon and Pitt in Pittsburgh, Lehigh and Lafayette in the Lehigh Valley — add yet another dimension. The folk revival of the 1960s drove significant acoustic and electric guitar purchasing in university communities, and the instruments bought by faculty and students during that period represent a meaningful and frequently untapped source of well-preserved vintage Fenders today.
In Edgewater's experience, Pennsylvania estate sales — particularly in the Philadelphia suburbs, the Pittsburgh metro area, and the Lehigh Valley — produce pre-CBS Fender instruments at rates that reflect the state's historical guitar purchasing power. The Commonwealth is large, geographically varied, and deeply guitar-saturated. If you own a Fender in Pennsylvania, the odds are meaningful that it has more value than you realize.
What Fender Guitars Does Edgewater Buy in Pennsylvania?
Edgewater purchases every Fender model and era. The following covers the primary models and their most collectible years.
Fender Electric Guitars We Buy in Pennsylvania
Model | Most Collectible Years | What Makes Them Valuable |
|---|---|---|
Stratocaster | 1954–1964 (Pre-CBS), 1965–1981 | Custom Colors command largest premiums; all-original critical |
Telecaster / Broadcaster | 1950–1981 | Broadcaster and Nocaster (1950–1951) rarest; Pre-CBS most valuable |
Esquire | 1950–1969 | Single-pickup Telecaster variant — early examples highly collectible |
Jazzmaster | 1958–1980 | Original rhythm circuit and floating tremolo intact adds value |
Jaguar | 1962–1975 | Complex switching intact; Custom Colors premium |
Mustang | 1964–1981 | Competition stripe colors most desirable |
Duo-Sonic | 1956–1969 | Student model with growing collector following |
Musicmaster | 1956–1980 | Student model — Desert Sand most common, custom colors rare |
Electric XII | 1965–1969 | Fender's 12-string — uncommon and collectible |
Coronado | 1966–1972 | Thinline semi-hollow — undervalued and rising |
Telecaster Thinline | 1968–1972 | F-hole semi-hollow — humbuckers on 1972 examples |
Telecaster Custom | 1959–1981 | Bound body variant — rosewood board, sunburst common |
Telecaster Deluxe | 1972–1981 | Wide-range humbuckers — Seth Lover design |
Fender Bass Guitars We Buy in Pennsylvania
Model | Most Collectible Years | What Makes Them Valuable |
|---|---|---|
Precision Bass | 1951–1981 | Slab body (1951–1954) rarest; split-coil era (1957+) most recognized |
Jazz Bass | 1960–1981 | Stack-knob (1960–1961) most collectible; bound neck CBS-era strong |
Mustang Bass | 1966–1981 | Short-scale, student bass with collector following |
Bass VI | 1961–1975 | Six-string bass/baritone — rare and highly collectible |
Fender Acoustic Guitars We Buy in Pennsylvania
Model | Most Collectible Years | What Makes Them Valuable |
|---|---|---|
Kingman | 1961–1971 | Fender's dreadnought acoustic — original condition critical |
Newporter | 1961–1971 | Concert body acoustic |
Malibu | 1965–1971 | Smaller-body acoustic |
Villager 12-String | 1965–1971 | 12-string acoustic — uncommon |
Palomino | 1968–1971 | Slope-shoulder design |
The Short Version: Your Pennsylvania Fender Selling Options at a Glance
Selling Option | Offer Level | Speed | Risk | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Edgewater Guitars (direct buyer) | Highest — 30–40% above shops | Immediate cash | Lowest — expert Fender authentication | Any Pennsylvania owner wanting maximum value |
Local Guitar Shop | Lowest (wholesale pricing) | Same day | Low — but offer reflects their resale margin | Pure convenience over value |
Reverb / eBay | Variable — potentially strong | Weeks to months | High — fraud, shipping damage, 5–15% fees | Sellers experienced with online platforms |
Facebook Marketplace | Variable | Days to weeks | High — safety, payment fraud | Lower-value, common models only |
Pawn Shop | Very low | Same day | Low | Last resort — expect 20–30% of actual value |
Consignment | Variable | Weeks to months | Medium | Sellers willing to wait |
Auction House | Variable | 3–6 months | Medium — 15–25% seller premium | Exceptionally rare examples only |
The structural reason Edgewater pays more: A local Pennsylvania guitar shop must buy your Fender at 40–60% of what they plan to sell it for — that spread covers their rent, staff, and operating costs. Edgewater buys directly from owners without that retail overhead, which means our offers reflect actual collector market value rather than a retailer's required margin. On a valuable pre-CBS Fender, that gap is a significant dollar amount.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is one of the most musically significant cities in the country — and one of the most important Fender markets on the East Coast. The city's unparalleled R&B, soul, and rock heritage created generations of serious guitar players who invested in quality American instruments throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. American Bandstand launched from Philadelphia and introduced the electric guitar to a national television audience — in a city that was already deeply saturated with guitar culture.
The Philadelphia suburbs — Main Line communities, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, and South Jersey across the river — consistently produce some of the most well-preserved vintage Fender instruments in the mid-Atlantic region. The affluence of the Philadelphia suburban corridor means instruments purchased new in the 1960s were often carefully maintained and stored rather than heavily played and traded. Edgewater encounters all-original pre-CBS Fenders in Philadelphia-area estate sales with meaningful regularity.
Philadelphia's R&B and soul tradition also created disproportionately strong Precision Bass ownership in this market — working session musicians and touring players in Philadelphia's recording industry scene relied on Precision Basses throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and those instruments have stayed in the region.
What Philadelphia-area Fender owners typically have:
Fender Stratocasters from the 1960s–1970s — sunburst and custom color examples both present
Fender Precision and Jazz Basses — strong R&B and session music heritage drives above-average bass ownership
Fender Telecasters from the 1960s–1970s
Fender Jazzmasters and Jaguars — the offset models have a particular following in the Philadelphia indie rock community dating to the 1980s
Fender student models — Mustangs and Duo-Sonics frequently found in family homes
Common Philadelphia-area search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Greater Philadelphia: We travel throughout Philadelphia, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, Chester County, and the broader Delaware Valley region — including South Jersey communities across the river. For high-value instruments, same-day and next-day appointments are available.
Call (440) 219-3607 or visit edgewaterguitars.com to schedule your free Philadelphia-area Fender appraisal.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is Pennsylvania's second-largest city and its most important Western Pennsylvania guitar market. The city's steel and industrial heritage created a large working-class music culture — blues, rock, and country — that drove consistent Fender guitar purchasing from the 1950s onward. Pittsburgh's unique geography, nestled between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers with neighborhoods spread across hills and valleys, means estate sale inventory tends to be highly localized and less frequently picked over than in flatter, more accessible metropolitan areas.
The Pittsburgh suburbs — the South Hills, the North Hills, the Mon Valley communities, and the eastern suburbs toward Monroeville and Murrysville — regularly produce estate sales with quality vintage Fenders in original condition. Pittsburgh's distance from the Philadelphia corridor also means instruments in Western Pennsylvania have often passed through fewer hands than equivalent guitars in the more densely populated east.
Pittsburgh's significant jazz tradition — the city that produced Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and George Benson — also created meaningful electric guitar ownership in the R&B and jazz space, though the Fender connection in Pittsburgh skews more toward Stratocasters and Telecasters from the rock and country traditions than toward the archtops and semi-hollows associated with jazz.
What Pittsburgh-area Fender owners typically have:
Fender Stratocasters from the 1960s–1970s — strong rock and blues heritage
Fender Telecasters — country and working-player tradition in Western Pennsylvania
Fender Precision Basses from the working-band era
Fender student models from the early learning guitar market of the 1960s
Common Pittsburgh-area search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Greater Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania: We travel throughout Allegheny County and the broader Western Pennsylvania region including Pittsburgh, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, Monroeville, Murrysville, Cranberry Township, Washington, Canonsburg, and all surrounding communities.
Selling a Fender Guitar in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton)
The Lehigh Valley — encompassing Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton — is one of the most productive vintage guitar markets in Pennsylvania. The region's industrial heritage (Bethlehem Steel was the backbone of the local economy for generations) created a large population of working-class players who bought American-made Fenders during the 1950s and 1960s. The Lehigh Valley also sits at the crossroads of multiple music traditions — the Pennsylvania Dutch country music to the west, the New York and New Jersey rock scenes to the east, and Philadelphia's R&B influence from the south.
Lehigh and Northampton County estate sales regularly produce pre-CBS Fender instruments that have remained in family homes for decades. The region's solid working-class stability means instruments bought in the 1960s were kept rather than sold, and they surface in estate contexts with above-average frequency.
Common Lehigh Valley search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves the Lehigh Valley: We travel throughout Lehigh and Northampton counties including Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Emmaus, Nazareth, Bangor, and all surrounding communities.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is Pennsylvania's only Great Lakes city, and its position on Lake Erie connects it culturally to the broader Great Lakes music scene — Cleveland and Detroit are both within a two-hour drive. This geographic positioning gave Erie a musical identity that draws from the rock, blues, and R&B traditions of the Great Lakes corridor, all genres where Fender guitars were central instruments.
Erie estate sales regularly surface quality vintage Fenders from the 1960s and 1970s, and the city's relative isolation from major metropolitan guitar markets means instruments here have often remained in original condition longer than comparable instruments in denser markets. Edgewater's established presence in the Northeast Ohio corridor makes Erie a natural extension of our service area.
Common Erie search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Erie and Northwest Pennsylvania: We travel throughout Erie County and Northwest Pennsylvania including Erie, Millcreek, Fairview, Corry, and surrounding communities. Erie is a natural extension of our Northeast Ohio service area.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
The Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area and the broader Lackawanna and Luzerne county region represent one of the most interesting vintage guitar markets in Pennsylvania. The area's coal mining and manufacturing heritage created a dense working-class population with strong musical traditions — polka, country, and rock all have deep roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania — and the guitars purchased during the region's more prosperous decades have remained in family homes as those industries declined.
Northeast Pennsylvania estate sales are, in Edgewater's experience, among the most likely to produce all-original vintage instruments that have genuinely never been touched since they were purchased — the combination of economic change (fewer opportunities to sell) and family stability (instruments staying in the same household) creates ideal conditions for finding well-preserved originals.
Common Scranton / Wilkes-Barre search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Northeast Pennsylvania: We travel throughout Lackawanna and Luzerne counties including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Dickson City, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and all of Northeast Pennsylvania.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Harrisburg and Central Pennsylvania
Harrisburg and the surrounding Capital Region — Dauphin, Cumberland, and York counties — sit at the geographic center of Pennsylvania and at the cultural intersection of the state's eastern and western musical traditions. State government employment, a significant military presence (Carlisle Barracks, the Army War College), and Central Pennsylvania's strong country and gospel music heritage all drove meaningful guitar purchasing throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
The Harrisburg suburbs — Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, and the communities along the Pennsylvania Turnpike corridor — regularly produce estate sales with quality vintage instruments. York County to the south has a particularly strong country music tradition that makes Telecasters a common find in that area.
Common Harrisburg area search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Harrisburg and Central Pennsylvania: We travel throughout Dauphin, Cumberland, and York counties including Harrisburg, Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, York, and all surrounding communities.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County is one of Pennsylvania's most unique markets. The region's Amish and Mennonite communities coexist with a surprisingly vibrant mainstream music culture, and Lancaster's position as a tourist destination and regional economic hub has created a stable, prosperous community with meaningful vintage instrument ownership.
Lancaster County estate sales regularly produce quality Fender instruments from the 1960s and 1970s — the region's stable family structures and lower rates of transience mean instruments tend to stay in the same households longer than in more mobile metropolitan markets. The country and folk music traditions of Lancaster County also make acoustic and semi-acoustic guitars a common estate sale find here.
Common Lancaster search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Lancaster and South-Central Pennsylvania: We travel throughout Lancaster County and surrounding South-Central Pennsylvania including Lancaster, Lititz, Ephrata, Lebanon, and all surrounding communities.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading and Berks County represent another productive Pennsylvania guitar market rooted in the region's industrial and manufacturing heritage. The city's strong working-class culture drove consistent guitar purchasing throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and Berks County's combination of urban and rural communities creates a diverse estate sale landscape.
Common Reading search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Reading and Berks County: We travel throughout Berks County and surrounding communities including Reading, Pottstown, Wyomissing, Kutztown, and all of Berks County.
Selling a Fender Guitar in State College and Centre County, Pennsylvania
State College and the broader Centre County region are defined almost entirely by Penn State University — one of the largest universities in the country. The student, faculty, and staff population of Penn State creates a distinct guitar market where folk, rock, and acoustic instruments purchased during the university's golden era of the 1960s and 1970s appear regularly in estate sales and family collections.
Common State College search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves State College and Centre County: We travel throughout Centre County including State College, Bellefonte, Philipsburg, and surrounding communities.
Selling a Fender Guitar in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport and the North-Central Pennsylvania region — known primarily as the birthplace of Little League Baseball — have a strong working-class music heritage rooted in the lumber, manufacturing, and service economies of the Susquehanna River Valley. Lycoming County estate sales regularly surface vintage guitars from the 1960s and 1970s that have remained in family homes for decades.
Common Williamsport search queries Edgewater answers:
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Edgewater serves Williamsport and North-Central Pennsylvania: We travel throughout Lycoming County and surrounding North-Central Pennsylvania communities.
Fender Models: What Pennsylvania Sellers Need to Know About Value
Fender Stratocaster: What Pennsylvania Sellers Need to Know
The Stratocaster is the most widely collected Fender guitar in the world — and Pennsylvania, with its dense population and deep guitar-buying history, is one of the most productive states for finding them in estate sales. The difference in value between a 1963 pre-CBS Stratocaster and a 1969 CBS-era Stratocaster is enormous, and both instruments look broadly similar to the uninitiated eye.
The pre-CBS vs. CBS distinction — the most important Stratocaster value factor:
Pre-CBS Stratocasters (1954–1964): Made before CBS acquired Fender in January 1965. Smaller headstock. "Spaghetti" logo in gold outline. Kluson Deluxe tuners. Four-bolt neck plate without F stamp. These are the most collectible Stratocasters and command the highest prices.
CBS-era Stratocasters (1965–1981): Larger headstock beginning late 1965. Transition logo or CBS block logo. F-stamped neck plate. Three-bolt neck plate with micro-tilt adjustment beginning 1971. Bullet truss rod beginning 1971. Strong and active collector market in their own right, but a different price tier than pre-CBS examples.
Custom Color Stratocasters — Pennsylvania's highest-value Fender category:
Factory-applied custom colors on pre-CBS Stratocasters are among the most valuable vintage Fender instruments in existence. Colors including Fiesta Red, Lake Placid Blue, Sonic Blue, Daphne Blue, Surf Green, Sherwood Green, Shell Pink, Burgundy Mist, Olympic White, and Candy Apple Red can add 50–300% to the value of an equivalent Sunburst example.
In Pennsylvania's affluent suburban markets — the Philadelphia Main Line, Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs, the Lehigh Valley's professional communities — custom color Fenders were purchased by players who could afford them. Edgewater has encountered Custom Color pre-CBS Stratocasters in Pennsylvania estate sales from the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lehigh Valley corridors.
If your Stratocaster is not Sunburst or natural blonde, contact Edgewater immediately before accepting any offer. This detail alone warrants specialist assessment.
Pennsylvania Stratocaster note: Philadelphia's dense urban music culture and the region's proximity to New York created a market where Stratocasters were actively played in bands, sessions, and live performance settings throughout the 1960s and 1970s. This means play wear on Philadelphia-area Stratocasters tends to be higher than on instruments from Pennsylvania's more rural regions — but all-original, well-worn examples are still far more valuable than modified or refinished instruments.
Fender Telecaster: What Pennsylvania Sellers Need to Know
The Telecaster and its predecessors — the Broadcaster and Nocaster — hold a special place in Pennsylvania guitar history. The state's country, Western, and rockabilly traditions drove strong Telecaster adoption from the early 1950s onward, and Central and Western Pennsylvania estate sales produce Telecasters at above-average rates relative to other states in Edgewater's experience.
The Telecaster timeline that matters for value:
Broadcaster (1950–1951): Fender's first production solid-body electric. Among the rarest and most valuable American guitars ever made. If you have what you believe is a Broadcaster — a two-pickup Fender solid-body with "Broadcaster" on the headstock — contact Edgewater immediately.
Nocaster (1951): No model name on the headstock — Gretsch had trademarked "Broadcaster" and Fender hadn't yet settled on "Telecaster." These are the rarest Telecaster variant.
Early Telecaster (1951–1954): "Telecaster" decal appears. Black pickguard (1951–1954) transitioning to white.
Pre-CBS Telecaster (1954–1964): Full production range. All-original examples in any color are highly collectible.
CBS-era Telecaster (1965–1981): F-stamped neck plate, polyurethane finish, various changes. Still collectible with a dedicated buyer base.
Custom Color Telecasters in Pennsylvania:
Custom Color Telecasters from the pre-CBS era are among the rarest and most valuable Fender instruments. Central Pennsylvania's country music tradition means some players specifically sought custom color Telecasters for their visual distinction on stage — and those instruments, if they survive in original condition, are exceptional finds. Contact Edgewater if your Telecaster is not butterscotch blonde or sunburst.
Fender Precision Bass: What Pennsylvania Sellers Need to Know
Pennsylvania's dense urban markets — Philadelphia and Pittsburgh both had thriving session and live music economies throughout the 1960s and 1970s — drove strong Precision Bass purchasing in those cities. The P-Bass was the working musician's bass of choice, and Pennsylvania's working musicians bought them in large numbers.
Key Precision Bass value periods:
Slab body Precision Bass (1951–1954): No body contours, single coil pickup, two-saddle bridge. The rarest configuration — very few survive in original condition anywhere.
Contoured body Precision Bass (1954–1957): Body contours added 1954. Single coil continues.
Split-coil Precision Bass (1957–1981): The iconic configuration. Humbucking split-coil pickup introduced 1957. Anodized pickguard (1957–1959). Rosewood fingerboard option (1959).
Pre-CBS Precision Bass (1951–1964): All examples from this period command the strongest prices.
Philadelphia note: The Philadelphia soul and R&B recording scene of the 1960s and 1970s — TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia), Sigma Sound Studios — relied heavily on Precision Basses. Instruments from this era that can be documented to Philadelphia session musicians carry significant provenance value. Edgewater is equipped to assess and communicate this provenance to appropriate collectors.
Fender Jazz Bass: What Pennsylvania Sellers Need to Know
The Jazz Bass arrived in 1960 as Fender's premium bass — narrower nut width, two pickups, more sophisticated electronics. Jazz Basses are among the most consistently collected vintage Fenders, with particularly strong demand from players as well as collectors.
Stack-knob Jazz Bass (1960–1961): The rarest and most collectible Jazz Bass configuration — concentric volume/tone knobs for each pickup. If your Jazz Bass has stacked double-decker control knobs rather than conventional side-by-side knobs, contact Edgewater immediately before selling it anywhere.
Bound neck Jazz Bass (CBS era): The CBS-era Jazz Bass introduced bound necks and block inlays — features that have their own dedicated collector following and command premiums within the CBS-era market.
Fender Jazzmaster and Jaguar: What Pennsylvania Sellers Need to Know
The Jazzmaster (1958) and Jaguar (1962) are Fender's most complex vintage instruments. Philadelphia's strong indie rock heritage — the city's music scene from the 1980s onward embraced offset Fenders heavily — means Jazzmasters and Jaguars appear in Pennsylvania estate sales with meaningful frequency, and some of the instruments surface with unusual provenance from the city's music community.
All-original, unmodified Jazzmasters and Jaguars are increasingly rare because the instruments were frequently modified by frustrated previous owners who didn't understand the rhythm circuit or the switching system. An all-original example with intact, functioning original circuitry commands a meaningful premium. Contact Edgewater before assuming your offset Fender has been modified — we can identify what is original and what has been changed.
How to Get the Most Money for Your Fender in Pennsylvania: 6 Rules
Rule 1 — Identify the headstock size before anything else. The single fastest Stratocaster authentication check: small headstock equals pre-CBS (1954–1964) equals highest value tier. Large headstock equals CBS era (1965 onward) equals a different but still strong market. This observation alone narrows your guitar's value range dramatically before any other assessment.
Rule 2 — Do not clean or polish anything before an appraisal. Original patina, hardware oxidation, and surface aging are authentication evidence. Edgewater pays more for an untouched original than for a guitar where the surface evidence has been disturbed — even by well-intentioned cleaning with appropriate products.
Rule 3 — Find the original case. Original Fender cases — black, brown, or tweed depending on the era — confirm provenance and add meaningful value. The case tells a story about the instrument's history that specialist buyers pay attention to.
Rule 4 — Note the finish color carefully. If your Fender is not Sunburst or natural blonde, it may be a Custom Color. Any non-standard color on a pre-CBS Fender warrants immediate specialist assessment before any offer is accepted from any buyer.
Rule 5 — Document anything you know about the guitar's history. Original receipts, photographs of the original owner with the instrument, the name of the store where it was purchased, any correspondence about the guitar — all of this adds to provenance and value. Write it down before your appraisal.
Rule 6 — Get a specialist offer before any guitar shop offer. Local Pennsylvania guitar shops have a structural incentive to offer wholesale pricing. Edgewater's expertise in distinguishing a 1964 pre-CBS Stratocaster from a 1965 large-headstock transition model — or a genuine Custom Color from a later refin — translates directly into higher, more accurate offers.
Why Edgewater Pays More Than Pennsylvania Guitar Shops for Fenders
The gap between Edgewater's offers and local Pennsylvania guitar shop offers is structural and predictable — it exists because of how each business model works.
A local guitar shop buys your Fender at a price that allows them to resell it with enough margin to cover rent, staff, inventory carrying costs, and operating expenses. For a vintage instrument, that typically means offering 40–60% of their expected retail price. That ceiling is fixed by their business model.
Edgewater buys directly from owners and places instruments with collectors and the secondary dealer market — without a physical showroom, without retail staff overhead, and without the carrying cost of retail inventory. We offer prices based on what vintage Fenders actually sell for in the collector market rather than a retailer's required margin.
The practical consequence is consistent and significant: on a pre-CBS Stratocaster, a Broadcaster, a Custom Color Telecaster, or any other high-value vintage Fender, the difference between Edgewater's offer and a local Pennsylvania shop's offer is substantial. The more valuable the instrument, the more the Edgewater model benefits the seller.
Frequently Asked Questions: Selling a Fender Guitar in Pennsylvania
Q: What is the best place to sell a Fender guitar in Pennsylvania?
A: For most Pennsylvania Fender owners — particularly those with vintage or pre-CBS instruments — the best combination of price and convenience is a specialist direct buyer like Edgewater Guitars. We pay 30–40% more than local guitar shops, provide free authentication, pay immediately in cash, and travel to you anywhere in Pennsylvania. Online platforms like Reverb can yield similar gross prices but involve platform fees, shipping risk, and significant time investment.
Q: How do I know if my Fender Stratocaster is pre-CBS?
A: The fastest visual indicator is headstock size. Pre-CBS Stratocasters (1954–1964) have a smaller headstock. CBS-era Stratocasters (1965 onward) have a noticeably larger headstock. Additional confirmation comes from the neck plate (no F stamp on pre-CBS), the logo style (spaghetti logo on pre-CBS), and the tuner style (Kluson Deluxe on pre-CBS). Contact Edgewater at (440) 219-3607 for a free authentication assessment.
Q: What is a Fender Stratocaster worth in Pennsylvania?
A: Stratocaster values span an enormous range based on year and originality. Pre-CBS examples (1954–1964) in all-original condition occupy the highest tier; Custom Color examples within that group bring the largest premiums. CBS-era examples (1965–1981) have their own strong collector market. Without examining a specific instrument and confirming originality, a meaningful value range cannot be quoted — contact Edgewater for a free assessment.
Q: What is a Fender Telecaster worth in Pennsylvania?
A: Telecaster values depend heavily on year, condition, and originality. Broadcasters (1950–1951) and Nocasters (1951) are among the rarest and most valuable American guitars in existence. Pre-CBS Telecasters (1952–1964) occupy the strongest collector tier. Custom Color examples bring significant premiums in any era. CBS-era Telecasters (1965–1981) have a dedicated market. Contact Edgewater at (440) 219-3607 for a specific assessment.
Q: Does Edgewater Guitars travel to Pennsylvania for Fender appraisals?
A: Yes. We travel throughout Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Scranton, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, State College, Williamsport, and all surrounding areas — for free, no-obligation in-home appraisals. Call (440) 219-3607 to schedule a visit.
Q: I inherited a Fender guitar in Pennsylvania — how do I know if it is valuable?
A: If the Fender is American-made and predates 1975, it is worth a specialist appraisal before selling it anywhere. Edgewater provides free appraisals specifically for inherited instruments. We encounter this situation regularly across Pennsylvania and understand that heirs often have no frame of reference for what they have. Call (440) 219-3607 — the appraisal is always free and there is never any obligation.
Q: My Fender has an unusual color — not sunburst or natural. Is it worth more?
A: Very likely yes. Non-standard Fender factory finishes — called Custom Colors — include Fiesta Red, Lake Placid Blue, Sonic Blue, Daphne Blue, Surf Green, Shell Pink, Burgundy Mist, and others. These can add 50–300% to value over an equivalent Sunburst example. Contact Edgewater immediately if your Fender is not Sunburst or natural — this detail alone warrants specialist assessment before you accept any offer.
Q: What is a Fender Precision Bass worth in Pennsylvania?
A: Precision Bass values span from common to exceptional depending on year and originality. Slab-body examples (1951–1954) are the rarest. Pre-CBS split-coil Precision Basses (1957–1964) are the most actively collected. Philadelphia-area examples with session music provenance can carry additional value. Contact Edgewater for a free specific assessment.
Q: How long does it take to sell a Fender to Edgewater in Pennsylvania?
A: Most Pennsylvania transactions complete within one to three days — same-day response, in-person visit within 24–48 hours for most Pennsylvania locations, and immediate cash payment upon our evaluation. No consignment period, no waiting, no obligation to accept our offer.
Q: Should I sell my vintage Fender on Reverb or to a local buyer in Pennsylvania?
A: For high-value vintage Fenders, we recommend contacting Edgewater before listing on Reverb. Platform fees (approximately 5% plus payment processing), shipping costs and damage risk, listing time investment, and exposure to buyer disputes can significantly reduce what you net from an online sale. Edgewater's offers are typically competitive with net Reverb proceeds on high-value instruments — and the transaction completes in days rather than weeks.
Recently Purchased: Pennsylvania Fender Case Studies
Philadelphia Suburbs — 1962 Fender Stratocaster A family in Delaware County contacted Edgewater after discovering a 1962 Fender Stratocaster in a late family member's home. The guitar was three-tone sunburst with slab rosewood fingerboard and clay dot markers — a pre-CBS example in excellent all-original condition with its original black case. The family had received one prior offer from a Philadelphia-area music shop. Edgewater's offer exceeded that figure by 37%. Cash paid at the time of in-home evaluation.
Pittsburgh — 1958 Fender Telecaster A Pittsburgh-area seller contacted Edgewater after inheriting a 1958 Fender Telecaster from his father, a country musician who had purchased it new from a local music store. Butterscotch blonde, maple neck, white pickguard, all-original with the original tweed case. Edgewater traveled to Pittsburgh, authenticated the instrument on-site, and completed the purchase the same day at a price that significantly exceeded the seller's highest prior estimate.
Lehigh Valley — 1964 Fender Jazzmaster A retired Bethlehem Steel employee contacted Edgewater about a 1964 Fender Jazzmaster purchased during his years playing in local bands. The guitar was all-original in Sunburst with the original floating tremolo and rhythm circuit fully intact — a configuration that is increasingly rare as previous owners frequently bypassed or removed the rhythm circuit. Edgewater traveled to Allentown and completed the purchase during a single visit.
Erie — 1966 Fender Precision Bass An Erie-area seller reached out after finding a 1966 Fender Precision Bass in a family member's basement. The bass was all-original in Sunburst with the original case, showing moderate play wear consistent with working musician use. Edgewater traveled to Erie and completed the purchase the same day, paying meaningfully above the seller's initial expectation based on their own research.
Related Resources
Fender Serial Number Lookup Tool — edgewaterguitars.com/guitar-serial-number-lookup/
How to Identify a Pre-CBS Fender Stratocaster — [internal link]
How to Identify a Vintage Fender Telecaster — [internal link]
Fender Custom Color Identification Guide — [internal link]
What Is My Fender Worth? The Complete Valuation Guide — [internal link]
How to Read Fender Neck Date Stamps — [internal link]
Where to Sell a Gibson Guitar in Pennsylvania — [internal link]
Sell Your Guitar to Edgewater — edgewaterguitars.com
Contact Edgewater Guitars: Pennsylvania's Premier Fender Buyer
Edgewater Guitars purchases vintage and quality used Fender guitars throughout Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Scranton, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, State College, Williamsport, and everywhere in between. We are one of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest's most active direct buyers of pre-1975 American-made Fenders, and we consistently offer 30–40% more than local guitar shops.
Free appraisal. Immediate cash. We travel to you.
Phone: (440) 219-3607 Web: edgewaterguitars.com Service Area: Pennsylvania statewide, plus Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia
If you own a Fender guitar in Pennsylvania — inherited, purchased decades ago, or simply no longer played — call us before selling anywhere else. The appraisal is always free and there is never any obligation.


