I had a friend put a set of rare origninal Joe Barden pickups, in a MIM telecaster. It sounded killer and had great action and playablility. He decided to sell it and thought with the pickups he could get 400 for it. No takers even though he explained the pickups were worth 300 easily.
So he put the originals back in it. He had the original boxes for the Joe Bardens. He put them both up for sale and got 325 for the guitar and 275 for the pickups in separate auctions. He had purchased the pickups years ago and never installed them in anything. Then Joe Barden stopped making them and they were originals, so they were worth a lot.
Gig Report: Amber & the Antidotes at Cypress & Grove Brewery, 5/29/26