Fixing up a '73 Custom

[Rich Stevens]

I'm thinking about selling my original '73-ish Telecaster Custom: black, maple neck, with the original Lover-designed Fender humbucker in the neck position. It's all-original, a soild player, but had a hard life before I owned it. The finish is worn off where your arm rests, which actually looks kinda cool. Less cool are a couple of big chips out of the heavy poly finish, around the neck pocket, invisible to the audience, but definitely visible to the player.

Anyway, I'm thinking of selling it because I don't play much, and I could do just as well with a $300 Mex Tele as I do with this one, and free up some cash by selling. Also, I like to play around modding guitars, but don't feel I should be modding this sort-of-vintage axe.

So, I'm trying to figure out what I should fix and what I shouldn't, in order to maximize the sale price. The battered body will stay as-is, but what about these other problems?

- A couple of dings on the back of the neck, around the 3rd fret, one 1/4" and one 3/16". You definitely feel these when you're playing, so I'm thinking I should clean out the gray stains and drop-fill the chips.

- Similar-sized chips where the peghead meets the neck, probably from hanging on a guitar rack. They look about as bad as the two above, but don't get in the way of playing.

- One tone pot has a busted shaft. It lifts up a bit, then will spin all the way around without actually doing anything. Pushing it back down into place makes it work okay.

- The pickup selector doesn't stay in the "bridge" position. Fix or replace?

- One of the knobs has a chip out of its skirt, about 3/16" wide.

How much should I fix, and how much should I leave original? I'm thinking fix the switch and the pot, undecided on the 3rd fret dings, and play up the rest as "relic". What do youze guys think?