11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
When I was 7, I bought every ‘59 LP standard I could find.....................and then I woke up. 
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Is the vintage market worth getting into?
- Thread starter PRSfanboy46
- Start date
Rhythmisking
New Member
For the OP, I think it's important to remember that before the 70's, there was no such thing as "vintage guitars"; they were just old guitars, and them being perceived as better started only because of the production problems large manufacturers were having at the time. In general, guitars now, even at the lowest price point, and generally better made and MUCH MUCH more consistent than guitars from the 50's and 60's. The fact that guitars from the 70's and 80's are now also also seen as "vintage" -only because of their age, and so are also seen as somehow 'better' than modern guitars is, honestly, complete nonsense.
I have a couple of 70's era guitars, and I love them, but they are not better than my modern guitars at all. The 70's was when I was a teenager, and so there is a nostalgic quality that they have for me and are a connection back to my youth. That's just romanticism. And I do love them, but for romantic reasons not because they are better instruments; they're not. One of them, a '75 Telecaster Deluxe, required a HUGE amount of money to get it into playable shape, and I'm glad I did it, but that also destroyed the collect-ability of it. I don't care, because I love the guitar.
The problem comes fully present when you have a really valuable collectable guitar in pristine condition that is a dog of a player. Do you keep it as a wall ornament, of do you spend the $$ to make it into a great player and destroy it's value?
Remember, none of this has anything AT ALL to do with making music.
I have a couple of 70's era guitars, and I love them, but they are not better than my modern guitars at all. The 70's was when I was a teenager, and so there is a nostalgic quality that they have for me and are a connection back to my youth. That's just romanticism. And I do love them, but for romantic reasons not because they are better instruments; they're not. One of them, a '75 Telecaster Deluxe, required a HUGE amount of money to get it into playable shape, and I'm glad I did it, but that also destroyed the collect-ability of it. I don't care, because I love the guitar.
The problem comes fully present when you have a really valuable collectable guitar in pristine condition that is a dog of a player. Do you keep it as a wall ornament, of do you spend the $$ to make it into a great player and destroy it's value?
Remember, none of this has anything AT ALL to do with making music.
DISTORT6
NJ Devil
Nope.
I am not his parents, guidance counselor, sensei, Yoda, or spiritual guru. It is not my place to be.
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Lister
Playing guitar badly since the 70's...
Vintage pedals are still obtainable...
Mozzi
https://imgur.com/user/BAMozzy/posts
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2018
- Messages
- 4,155
As far as I am concerned, the Vintage market is for Collectors and/or people with too much money and want the status, want to say they have a 'vintage' instrument.
If that's you, then fine, but if you want an 'instrument' that's made with a lot more knowledge, experience, research/development, more precision etc, then the 'new' is the way to go. What you have to remember too is that the vast majority of those vintage instruments were not built by a Luthier and built around the technology and understanding of the day. The basic principals may well still be the same, but they now have much more knowledge of how materials impact on the tone, more understanding of ergonomics etc. Even in the manufacture of pickups, they now know how to wind a pickup to create the sound balance they want - instead of just winding some wire and hoping to keep count of exactly how many winds went into it.
That's why some vintage guitars are 'great', because they happened to put all the right pieces together, happened to pick the right pickup out of the box and install it in the right place. Also why some 'mistakes' lead to some 'iconic' sounds - like the reverse phase in 'Greeny'.
At the end of the day, its a choice and Vintage to me is more for Collectors. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all and these instruments should be preserved for historical purposes but I would rather buy new for reliability, stability, consistency etc...
If that's you, then fine, but if you want an 'instrument' that's made with a lot more knowledge, experience, research/development, more precision etc, then the 'new' is the way to go. What you have to remember too is that the vast majority of those vintage instruments were not built by a Luthier and built around the technology and understanding of the day. The basic principals may well still be the same, but they now have much more knowledge of how materials impact on the tone, more understanding of ergonomics etc. Even in the manufacture of pickups, they now know how to wind a pickup to create the sound balance they want - instead of just winding some wire and hoping to keep count of exactly how many winds went into it.
That's why some vintage guitars are 'great', because they happened to put all the right pieces together, happened to pick the right pickup out of the box and install it in the right place. Also why some 'mistakes' lead to some 'iconic' sounds - like the reverse phase in 'Greeny'.
At the end of the day, its a choice and Vintage to me is more for Collectors. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all and these instruments should be preserved for historical purposes but I would rather buy new for reliability, stability, consistency etc...
markd21
New Member
I had a vintage strat. It was my grandfather's guitar. I felt it was rickety. It was cool to have, but as a player it annoyed me. I took it on a couple gigs but was too worried about it's safety.
I sold it. With the money I got a ton of PRS'. I was much happier as a player. The guitars were consistent. They played amazingly - not rickety at all.
Don't bother with vintage guitars. Buy modern. Make your own mojo. Don't believe the hype.
I sold it. With the money I got a ton of PRS'. I was much happier as a player. The guitars were consistent. They played amazingly - not rickety at all.
Don't bother with vintage guitars. Buy modern. Make your own mojo. Don't believe the hype.
Dirty_Boogie
Still got the ol' tagger on it
Somebody needs to have "the talk" with this young man.
DISTORT6
NJ Devil
Not one of us, however.Somebody needs to have "the talk" with this young man.
Wakester
Re Member
My introduction into the vintage market was buying a very used Harmony Meteor Hollow Body (like a ES-335). I paid $45 for it and the OHSC. I spent probably $200 in parts and labor to refresh the wiring tuners and frets. I also spent 20 - 30 hours of my own time restoring the finish aand getting it playable again. I traded that guitar for a brand new 2006 Squier Standard Stratocaster. GC inturn sold that Harmony to a collector for $300, who sold it to another collector for over $1000.
Was it worth it? Yes and no. Yes because i learned a lot about guitar construction, repair, etc. And it was something that I accomplished and could take pride in.
No, because it could have made a lot more money had I known who the right collectors were.
Would I do it again? Yup. I would love to find another yardsale sleeper and do a full restoration or resto-mod on it.
Was it worth it? Yes and no. Yes because i learned a lot about guitar construction, repair, etc. And it was something that I accomplished and could take pride in.
No, because it could have made a lot more money had I known who the right collectors were.
Would I do it again? Yup. I would love to find another yardsale sleeper and do a full restoration or resto-mod on it.
veinbuster
Zombie Three, DFZ
Getting into a prior generation’s collectible is a mugs game.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
Totally this.Not one of us, however.
CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
OK, but realize that the boy is asking a lot of questions at 15 in hopes he'll make some friends on this forum who can show him a good path to take. While his parents may be supporting his endeavors, he's reaching out to us forumites for guitar-related answers, not his parents.
And forgive the concern, but it would help to be part of the solution, not the problem.
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CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
Somebody needs to have "the talk" with this young man.
Not one of us, however.
Agreed. The boy's father should speak, but as was said, the boy was reaching out to this forum for guitar-related answers.
DISTORT6
NJ Devil
NOT YOUR KID, NOT YOUR PROBLEM.
If you were talking to my children like this, I would be concerned.
Not about them.
You're going way beyond answering questions.
11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
In ‘64, my mom took me to the store, and gave me the choice for my first good, new electric guitar; a sparkle blue Magnatone or a burst Fender Strat. The shiny blue paint won out, and my pocketbook didn’t.
Black Plaid
Other Alan!
This is definitely a social experiment.
Slowhands
New Member
I got into the guitar flipping thing for a while because I stumbled across a 1959 ABR-1 bridge in the original box at a flea market for $5 and sold it for $1,100. I thought 'this is so easy!' Bought several guitars, sold 'em and never lost money but the profit (typically around $200, I wasn't trying to get rich and always priced for quick sale) required me to buy a specific niche of guitars, mostly SGs from the '70s which were just getting 'discovered' as alternatives to the sky high 1960s ones. The market was going up, up, up and I just got lucky to get into it. It's flat now and I've accepted that my niche is now saturated and moved on. I don't flip anymore.
For me the best part was I got to play many different types of guitars for free. I played '70s and '80s SGs, Les Pauls from the '90s, a rare custom shop strat, a hollow body ES-330 with P-90s, 1982 'Dan Smith' strats ('81 and '83 sucked but 1982 was an awesome year), all stuff that I would never buy to keep. as long as I coluld least break even after fees and tax it was fun to get to play them for a while and the flack from my wife was minimized when she saw a little money come back.
In fact I bought my 1990 PRS Custom because it was cheap on letgo, I wanted to see what it was like to play on older PRS so I bit. I decided I loved it too much to ever sell. Turns out was the last guitar I bought intending to flip.
In the end I made enough to pay for both the PRS and a Gibson custom shop SG so my main guitars were free to me. That and the time spent with the different guitars was a worthwhile experience for sure. Making a living off it would mean you'd have to take more risks that I was wiling to, though. Especially at vintage prices.
Slowhands
New Member
My first guitar, bought in the mid '80s, was a 20 year old 1961 - 1963 SG Special because I couldn't afford an imported pointy guitar. It was literally the cheapest guitar for sale in the local music store. The faded red did not impress my shredder pals but I liked it. I played that as my only guitar for 15 years then sold it for peanuts about 24 hours before the vintage guitar market became a thing. What are you gonna do?In ‘64, my mom took me to the store, and gave me the choice for my first good, new electric guitar; a sparkle blue Magnatone or a burst Fender Strat. The shiny blue paint won out, and my pocketbook didn’t.
Southwest
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2020
- Messages
- 37
What are you gonna do?
Buy a guitar and play it for 15 years and be a guitarist. Or buy a guitar and sell it as soon as possible for the best possible profit. And be a trader.
Personally @Slowhands I prefer your approach.
Buy a guitar and play it for 15 years and be a guitarist. Or buy a guitar and sell it as soon as possible for the best possible profit. And be a trader.
Personally @Slowhands I prefer your approach.
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