#1722487 - 03/24/07 12:46 PM
Re: Guitar quality-vintage vs new
[Re: miroslav]
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Jeff Anderson
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Registered: 04/24/06
Posts: 11
Loc: Lafayette IN
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You both are going to love next month’s debate column in EQ
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#1731099 - 04/09/07 04:24 AM
Re: Guitar quality-vintage vs new
[Re: Strategery]
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Editor Boy
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Registered: 05/14/01
Posts: 260
Loc: San Mateo,CA,UNITED STATES
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GUITAR PLAYER just published a roundup of guitars under $500 (street price) in the May 2007 issue, and we were pleasantly shocked at the remarkable quality of some of those guitars. For example, some of us wondered why we'd pay thousands for an upscale PRS, when the $499 off-shore PRS model was soooooo damn good.
If only these guitars were available back in the, ahem, late '60s/early '70s when I was struggling to play crap models with prickly frets and actions higher than the Effiel Tower!
Cheers,
Mike
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#1786574 - 07/25/07 07:04 AM
Re: Guitar quality-vintage vs new
[Re: Editor Boy]
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Picker
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 06/13/04
Posts: 7110
Loc: A few miles fro the corner of ...
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If you ask folks like George Gruhn, he says the wood they used "back in the day" was better than what guitars today are made of. He has a number of reasons, some of which have to do with the age of the tree the wood came from, long term seasoning as opposed to kiln drying, etc and so on. This applies, by the way, to solid body electrics as well as acoustics.
I don't really know about any of that, but I do know that onetime I was fortunate enough to play a '62 Strat for about an hour, and then I knew what all the fuss was about. Now, I have played vintage instruments before that left me saying "big deal, I wouldn't dream of paying that much for this". But this one guitar was the most amazing Fender Strat I have ever played. I told the guy who was selling it "now, THIS is a Strat!" and he said, "yeah, I know."
I can see where a guy could find one like that, and be hooked on the "vintage" mystique, hoping to find more axes like that. I can also see where he'd end up putting up with a lot of mediocre guitars from the same era. Truth is, the percentage of "good" axes produced today way outstrips the number of "good" axes back in the '50's, '60's, and so on, due to better production techniques and equipment, the fact that more guitars are being made now than back when, etc. So, I think percentage-wise, a guy is more likely to find a "magic" axe now than ever before. Of course, you still have to do the looking...
Of course, my goal in buying a guitar is to play it, and the whole "collector" thing is less about how good it sounds and plays than it is about age, condition, and having all it's original parts. Isn't it weird that the things that made the guitars desirable in the first place no longer matter to their value? And how sad is it that those guitars, the ones that really are great, will be locked away from players, and none of those beautiful voices will ever to be heard again because they are worth too much to risk using them?
Until that '62 Strat, I wasn't a real believer in vintage guitar "mojo". Even now, I wouldn't pay what that '62 Strat would bring in today's market, even if I could. But I haven't played another one like it since, and I still remember it very fondly...
Edited by Picker (07/25/07 07:32 AM)
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#1793266 - 08/09/07 04:17 AM
Re: Guitar quality-vintage vs new
[Re: Picker]
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BrianK
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Registered: 12/17/00
Posts: 228
Loc: Los Angeles,CA,UNITED STATES
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I wanted to buy a Gibson SG. I have preferred older ones I tried. But I was not against a "new" guitar - reissues and things are fine for me. But after trying VERY VERY expensive custom shop guitars and normal store models (some of which were quite good), I bought an OLD one. It sounded an played SO much better.
It cost a lot more money than I wanted to spend, but I paid what it was worth - and they are going UP every year. They NEVER go down in value. So I will get to use this amazing instrument for many years and then possibly sell it and buy a CAR with the difference. Wow...
(With that very '62 Strat years ago, it would cost at LEAST $10,000s more now, and likely as much or more in 2-3 years!) Yes, not all are good, but the good ones are better!
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