Is the vintage market worth getting into?

[PRSfanboy46]

I love watching Trogly's guitar show. If you don't know who Trogly is, he is a youtuber who reviews guitars, both modern and vintage and I really love his show. I have some experience with playing vintage guitars. I got to play a 1961 and 1963 stratocaster both in tobacco burst/sunburst. 22,500 each and 45,000 for the set. Obviously as a 15 year old who has no viable means of income, what would be good to do to get into the vintage market? My main love is for PRS guitars, but I don't have PRS money, especially vintage PRS money. But my SE Custom 24 will suffice for now.

 

[RC Mike]

Vintage guitar picks. Get in before everyone else does.

 

[CandidPicker]

Core 594 Singlecut with the 58/15 TCI pickups. Closest to vintage LP you'll ever need.
And short answer regards vintage out-of-your-price-range instruments: No. Get real. Not unless you're planning on attending 12 years of college.

What's next? The Lamborghini?

Check this out:

 

[Stephen J.]

Vintage guitar picks. Get in before everyone else does.

I assume that is a joke, but I used to have a real tortoise-shell pick and I truly believe it produced a better tone than a celluloid or nylon pick.

 

[CandidPicker]

I assume that is a joke, but I used to have a real tortoise-shell pick and I truly believe it produced a better tone than a celluloid or nylon pick.

Yup. A cat strangling one. Ever heard of laundry detergent? There's a good reason it begins with d-e-t-e-r...

 

[Tony M.]

Vintage guitar market?
Nope.
Bad idea.
There you are happily flipping guitars
and a "keeper" comes along...
and another...
and another...
All your profits are gone and you own too many guitars.

 

[Frank McNerney]

Core 594 Singlecut with the 58/15 TCI pickups. Closest to vintage LP you'll ever need.
And short answer regards vintage out-of-your-price-range instruments: No. Get real. Not unless you're planning on attending 12 years of college.

What's next? The Lamborghini?

Check this out:

What he said. Here's my 2cents. I've never played an old Les Paul - but we all know how people talk about them and of course if we ever had a chance to get one we'd probably do it, right?

But the prices on those are seriously out of control !! Hit the lotto and maybe - otherwise fogetaboutit

I have however played a 594 and it's (IMHO) the best sounding guitar I've ever heard up close and personal. Those 58/15 LT pickups are savage

 

[CandidPicker]

What he said. Here's my 2cents. I've never played an old Les Paul - but we all know how people talk about them and of course if we ever had a chance to get one we'd probably do it, right?

But the prices on those are seriously out of control !! Hit the lotto and maybe - otherwise fogetaboutit

I have however played a 594 and it's (IMHO) the best sounding guitar I've ever heard up close and personal. Those 58/15 LT pickups are savage

Thanks, Frank. Now I gotta jet.

 

[DISTORT6]

What's next? The Lamborghini?

Of course!
How else would one get their vintage guitars home?
Unless they have the Urus, they’re going to have to strap the Plexi full-stack on the roof.

 

[Boogie]

A PRS pine 2x12 cab fits in the front seat of a 911 (with the window down), so if you carefully choose your fun car...

Btw, a Super Dallas also fits in the bonnet. So practical.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

That ship has sailed. Over.

 

[AP515]

Vintage guitar picks. Get in before everyone else does.

I have a Vintage guitar pick from the late 70's. The story is much better than just the age. My sister went on a date and they went to hear some new blues player. They happened to be in the crowd along the front when he flicked a guitar pick into the crowd and it landed in her ...uh... blouse..ish. She took it home. 30 years later she gave it to me as a birthday present. She gave it to me because she knew I was a fan of the blues player who later became kind of famous. If you are wondering what picks Stevie Ray Vaughn used, they were Fender picks.

 

[bodia]

No

 

[markd21]

No

+1000000000000000000000

 

[Eddie kim]

No money = no vintage.

 

[CandidPicker]

What he said. Here's my 2 cents. I've never played an old Les Paul - but we all know how people talk about them and of course if we ever had a chance to get one we'd probably do it, right?

But the prices on those are seriously out of control !! Hit the lotto and maybe - otherwise fogetaboutit

I have however played a 594 and it's (IMHO) the best sounding guitar I've ever heard up close and personal. Those 58/15 LT pickups are savage

Same here. I've only seen an early pre-CBS (supposedly said the retailer) '61 Strat some years ago in NYC (in the late 70's) that was selling for $1350. It was beat to heck and was indeed a player's guitar. How much might that sell for guitar today, if it had not been sold?

Like the shop owner said, "If you need to ask, you can't afford it." Vintage prices on collectible Strats and LPs are seriously expensive. Why is our OP is even dreaming about vintage gear? Wake up and smell the coffee. Vintage gear is radiologist/dentist/senior law firm level.

 

[CandidPicker]

Of course!
How else would one get their vintage guitars home?
Unless they have the Urus, they’re going to have to strap the Plexi full-stack on the roof.

Don't encourage the boy. He'll only fantasize about things even more. Encourage the kid to be more well-grounded and content with what he already has. If he becomes rich someday, it'll because he worked hard for it, not because someone funded his tone quest. Encouraging him with sarcasm will only cloud his ability to see clearly his objectives..

 

[Rhythmisking]

Vintage guitars became a 'thing' because in the 70's and 80's Fender and Gibson quality control went out the window because of economic recession, bad corporate decision making, and cost cutting measures. People came to think that the guitars made by the big manufacturers were better before, and generally they were. But that fact spun into a sort of 'vintage fever' that said anything older was better than anything newer, which was somewhat true at that time. Fender got their act reasonably together by the 90's and their guitars from that point on have been pretty decent. The advent on CNC technology meant that the newer guitars were often much more consistent instrument to instrument than the vintage ones were. Gibson continued to have issues with fit and finish through the 90's and 00's.

PRS guitars seem to have always been well put together with great quality control, and if anything have just gotten better each year. People may want to collect 'vintage' PRSi for the sake of nostalgia and collecting, but they aren't 'better' instruments than the new ones.

...just my .02¢

 

[CandidPicker]

...PRS guitars seem to have always been well put together with great quality control, and if anything have just gotten better each year. People may want to collect 'vintage' PRSi for the sake of nostalgia and collecting, but they aren't 'better' instruments than the new ones.

...just my .02¢

That may be it. Is there a vintage PRS market? We're sure that '85 and '86 PRSi are collectible, and hold a higher price tag if they have better appointments. Consider some of the really collectible PRSi (the double necks, the Dragons) of that era, and then we can speak about vintage. Too much emphasis is being placed on other what-if vintage gear which is not PRS-centric.

Reality: You can be a genius. You can have all the gold in the world. You can also be a bum looking for a handout who only wishes he had something someone else has.

Fiction: Your dreams are fulfillments of reality.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

 

[Eddie kim]

Just remember what Paul said in his interviews. He wants to make instruments better. I bet he will make your vintage guitar look and play better. This is what PRS does.