The TRUTH about Vintage Guitars! | Friday Fretworks 

So, vintage guitars; awesome or antiquated? 😉

If an instrument “speaks” to you, it doesn’t really matter if it’s vintage or inexpensive it has a voice and a soul! As usual any guitar in Chris’s hands is magical!

This dude Chris Buck is I think one of the best guitar players out there right now. Solos are so damned melodic and tasteful. Haven't been this impressed with a guitar player in a long time.

I've owned probably 50 guitars over the years. One was a '58 Esquire that I tried time and again to fall in love with, but I just could not. Many guitarists just fawned over it, but it did nothing for me. So I sold it about 6 years ago. My collection is relatively small now, and my favorite player is a '92 Fender CS '62RI. Absolutely love it. However, two bandmates I played with for 15 years are convinced the best playing and tone I ever achieved was using an early '90s Fernandes tele copy I bought for $325. Unfortunately, that special guitar was stolen. Great tone and that special relationship can happen with ANY instrument - regardless of era or price. And this Chris dude can freakin' PLAY!!

I've noticed some small subtleties in Chris's playing have changed over the last year. It just feels a bit less rushed and has more space between phrases. Really dialing it in now brother! The new "Slow Hand" is developing in front of our eyes. Killer shit for sure.

That solo on the Les Paul Custom is a thing of beauty. What a fantastic guitarist Chris is.

Your solos are always worth waiting for Chris, but I think you excelled yourself this week. Bravo maestro! 😉

The main issue in the vintage hype issue is that there good ones and bad ones just as guitars from any period. The better ones would naturally survive, after having countless tweaks and setups. I would also add that at no time has guitar production been of a high quality as present day.

As someone who had their first guitar in the early 60s one thing is for sure that modern production methods have made guitars way more consistent from one to the other than could have been dreamed of way back then and of much higher quality while still affordable.

At 20 years of age in 1974, I bought my first 'real' guitar...a '62 Fender Stratocaster in LPB. It wasn't 'vintage' in 1974, it was simply a 'used' or 2nd hand guitar! I walked out of the music store having paid $175. This Strat must have preformed in every smoke filled bar across America. When you opened the case, a wave of stale tobacco and spilled alcohol permeated your senses...enough to even make your eyes water. It was GLORIOUS!!!! The '62 Strat is still in the family!

Those licks played on the LesPaul burst are some of your best! Great stuff!

Nice playing. Chris makes any guitar sound perfect.

One of the most balanced and insightful videos I have seen on the subject. Well done Chris !😊

I'm fortunate enough to have been able to have hands on experience with both Gibsons and Fenders from the early 50s and 60s, including an original Broadcaster and a Nocaster. That experience made custom shop pieces so much more appealing. I have no desire to own a 70 year old guitar anymore.

OOOOOOOOOH Congrats on 200K SUBS!!! Well deserved!

For all the discussions and opinions I've heard about vintage guitars this has got to be the best and most compact summary out there. I absolutely love watching your videos Chris, I am still amazed you find the time inbetween your band duties! Have a good weekend :)

Great playing Chris! Thanks for the video

Always a great video and topic, but it was really nice to hear that GNR solo at 9:00

I’ve just realized what a unique style you have. Very special, not just great playing, but truly original.

I understand the attraction of vintage guitars and gear. But, every electric guitarist I hold in high esteem has a long history of modding their guitars themselves, or by techs, or designing what they want and need to achieve their highest musical aspirations. I think that's a critical part of the journey to greatness.

Dude! I love your jams!!

These videos make my fridays! Great job, Chris. Keep it up!

Absolutely fantastic episode - so succinctly put and just spot on, thanks for yet another top notch weekly dose of info 👍

Holy shit! I recognize that solo anywhere on your 57' custom jam! Well done sir and glad to see that masterpiece of a song getting some love!

Chris, you are one of the few players that leaves me with my mouth opened, drooling and my eyes filled with tears. Phenomenal, so much feel in your fingers!

You've outdone yourself in today's solos. Fuck man, they're so good

As always Chris’ guitar playing is awesome, the content of the videos is just another bonus.

Great video - guitars are vehicles of sound, and so much more - emotions, history... I have an Epiphone Granada from about 1967, and it still amazes me how good and comforting it is after all these years.

Always a pleasure, Chris.

Your Fiesta Red frenzy at the end was awesome!

I think it's important to understand that in the mid-1960s, when Clapton, Bloomfield, et. al. were looking for upgrades to their Telecasters, they could not buy 1965 Les Pauls because Gibson wasn't making them then. Their *only* option was to buy a late 1950s Les Paul because that's all there was.

Loved that play-out on the strat. Sounded 'kin awesome. 😀

Lovely controlled bends through the intro Chris! 🔥🔥🔥

My "Vintage" guitars are from the mid to late eighties... and I bought them new. That's pretty much the only plus from getting old.

You are remarkably articulate-verbally and musically.

Great playing and another fun video as always. Vintage acoustic guitars are a very different proposition requiring different consideration because the sound is entirely dependent upon the aged wood which is impossible to replicate in a modern instrument. I love guitars, pretty much ALL guitars... Don't you?!?!😉

You’re some man. That last jam. Man alive. Flawless as Rory Gallagher said.

Oh my! I love that 1957 Les Paul Custom! Thank you Mr. Buck for all your videos!

Great video Chris. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject. Very well done and appreciated Sir. You bring ups some great points. And the solo on the Black Les Paul Custom was so simply sick Brother!

5:30 There's something really funny about seeing a price tag hanging off a real 1960 Les Paul. Like, is someone just going to walk into the store, look at the tag, and say "ok yep. this one" and walk to the counter to pay for it. Lol.

Excellent video. Thanks 🙏 Chris

That solo at 09:35!! Very similar to one of my favourites - there was a time from Chinese democracy. Incredible. Great work!

Jeeeezuz, your playing is INSANELY good Chris!

That solo at 5 mins was fire!🔥🔥🔥

The solo you open with is brilliant

Apparently I heard the whole trend was conceived by Norman’s rare guitars in the 70s, he managed to convince many players to think that the earlier guitars were much better than their modern equivalents. Guitars are guitars they are either good or not regardless of its age or of the country it was made.

I like how Chris actually plays the chord changes. Tasty! 👍🏽

Very Steely Dan like with the opening jam. FAbulous playing, music making, as always, Chris!

Chris.......! How on on earth do you seamlessly to these videos together. You appear to start and finish on track with all the poiniant facts delivered in relavance priority without script. Unless, you have the route and content sellotaped to the wall behind the camera. Full of admiration! Thank you.....

Chris, when most people play guitar, I only hear something. You help me to feel something! Your work is so emotive. Rock on, brother!

you´re a great player!Thx for your work!

“approaching from the perspective of someone who can play a little”…. an understatement, if there ever was one, coming from someone whom I consider one of the best and original guitar players of this era. Hats off, everyone…

I’ve bought a crappy acoustic arch top, build in 1938. It’s had a bad neck reset, so the neck angle is off, very low frets and they used any wood they could find to build it. But it sounds very clear and unique and I love it. Granted, the fact that it has already existed for 85 years fascinates me tremendously as well, which adds to the playing pleasure.

What a fantastic video have a good weekend

Agree completely! Enjoyed how you presented the subject and as always your playing.

Nice playing at the start there young sir. Very nice.

Man you gotta love Friday Fretworks !

For me with guitars and gear it's all about what inspires you. If vintage does that and you can afford it then all good. I have a Revstar in the mix and you can guess who inspired that. Superb musicianship and interesting as always. Thanks Chris.

Love the solo with the 57 custom and the nod to GNR there was a time! amazing

Someday, probably not to long from now, people will pay extra for a guitar that can be proved to have been played by Chris Buck!

My god Chris. The jam on the 57 Gibson LP was amazing. Somehow your playing gets better ... Remarkable

Boy I agree ...with each guitar its own distinctive beast.Its all up to playing enough of them to find what works for you .Thanks Chris for this discussion ,a very hype filled subject but when you find that one that works ,old or new magic can happen.

Dude, love your phrasing...so tasteful!

In my experience, a good guitarist can get great sound out of any combo of guitar and amp. It's all about feel and sensitivity to tone.

"There was a time" - GNR from Chinese Democracy. 9:01 --- Im assuming recorded originally by Buckethead. Just an amazing jam Chris - Well done!! - - -awesome feel

I love it when you dig in and make a guitar scream for mercy. And then I'm amazed when a 60-ish year old guitar doesn't fly apart at every point. Keep playing them for us.

As Chris said, solid guitars arrived in a burst of innovation in the 50s and early 60s and playing innovation hasn't really changed that much since the early 70s. Therefore it is no surprise that modern players lust after vintage instuments much in the way that violinists lust after a Stradivarius or Guaneri,

Great vid and superb playing as ever; the piece played on the 3PU LPC is divine 👏 100% agree about the Dino, which nowadays is in a similar price bracket to a ‘58-‘60 Burst. If you had the LP with you when the Ferrari broke down, you could noodle away on it until the tow truck arrived! ☺️

1950 to 1958 was the golden era. ~2015 to now and beyond is the platinum era of guitars. The instruments that you can buy from under $1000 to $10000+ are every bit as good as the golden era guitars. They play better, are far more reliable, sound as good or better and are extremely consistent. I’m a huge believer in buying used 2015+ custom shop guitars. The value is unbeatable!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that intro though, gawd damn 🤌

some quality playing right there

Having a new guitar and breaking it in yourself over the years cannot be underestimated

Not a very close follower of this channel, although I am subscribed. I've always enjoyed your playing. I don't think I've seen a video of yours where you played a Jazzmaster. Those are my favorite guitars! Awesome work, Chris!

Oh there it is... I recognize that solo at 9:00 !!! (the main theme of it) And what a beauty it is! Love hearing it on the Les Paul.... I fact, I'd love hearing it on every guitar played by Chris Buck. There's just something about it that slays me.

Best opening in ages!! pure fire!

In my relatively limited experience with vintage guitars, I have found that it’s much more about how the vintage ones feel, rather than how they sound. Of course there are guitars of any age that just don’t feel good to you personally. But the couple vintage ones I’ve played that were really nice, there was just a feel to them that I have never felt with a modern guitar. One example is a ‘65 Mustang I had. It felt absolutely amazing to play in such a unique way. Not to mention that the vibrato system played absolutely flawless and stayed in tune perfectly without any serious set up/modification. I’ve never used a modern Mustang that didn’t need serious work on the Vibrato to function properly.

It s the 🙌 Feel of the guitar that matters and Chris your Feel is awesome 🎸😊

I recently bought a '73 blonde Tele with rosewood board as a bucket list, birth year guitar, from a shop in Cardiff that apparently you frequent Mr Buck. Yes, it has a dodgy tone pot and I needed to do a lot of work on the frets, but it plays and sounds amazing. I love both my vintage and modern guitars for very different reasons and at the end of the day, they are all part of a very nice tool kit. 😁😁

Between being left handed and probably not being able to handle the price tag anyway, I have never played a vintage instrument. However, they always look and sound cool especially when Chris plays them.

Chris, this was a most refreshing video. The hype about “vintage” guitars has left me scratching my head for a while. I had a Les Paul Jr and an SG in the late 60’s, bought used but still relatively new. They were sold for a gold top Les Paul in ‘72, a ‘62 I believe. Sold that one too, played a mid-60’s sunburst strat for a while, but found I preferred the Gibson family and sold that, then got married and had kids and sold everything, amps and all. I only have the old Ibanez acoustic I bought in ‘69 today. Like the e-type Jaguar I owned briefly in this same period, I loved all those guitars but not enough to hang onto them as “investments”. I now have a modern Stratocaster and an Epiphone Les Paul gold top, and near as I can tell they play as well,or better than my old guitars did. Do I want a vintage ‘59 Les Paul? I’d actually take a 1964 4.2 liter E-type in trade for it!

That 57 les Paul sounded sweet! Nice piece of music you played on it. Brought out the best in that instrument.

Love the Firebird!

Dripping with Tone love the Axes and your playing.

Great video Chris, as always, very thought provoking, for instance, who is this Dr. Keith guy?

Phenomenal assessment Chris. Certain instruments do absolutely transcend "just being a vintage guitar" and become a reflection of the immensely rich culture that they ushered in. It's easy to look back from "only" the perspective of 60-75 years in the future, but the 50s - 70s was a MASSIVE time for music, and modern culture. That said, I do not think these guitars will ever hold the value of say an Antonio Stradivari violin, which were the instruments of the Renaissance.

Loving the Jef Beck style volume swells in the outdo 🤟

Really candid video, considering Chris is clearly a fan of vintage instruments. Kudos! Yes, people connect sentimentally with vintage instruments. But the instrument offer today is unprecedented, and unquestionably superior to what was available before (I specifically mean this in the variety). You can get from absolutely novel ideas, to incredibly faithful recreations of vintage gear. It's amazing. I think in the end, people can do with their money whatever they want, without being judged. I would never buy something vintage, but that's me. If someone likes to buy vintage instruments, and they're happy with it, I see absolutely no problem, and I don't know why someone should see a problem with that. To each their own. Just do what you please and be happy. :)

I own a number of vintage instruments, and love playing them. The historical value and, because of that, the market value are what attracted me. And I agree, most modern instruments sound as good, or better, play as good or better, and are more reliable. Listening to Chris always reminds me that the sound generated by the instrument is truly in the hands of the player. A great player will always make any instrument sound great. Listen to Chris with Cardinal Black, Jeff Beck, Larry Carlton, Mike Bloomfield, Robben Ford, or any other gifted players and I think you’ll agree. Another awesome installment of FF… I agree about owning the Dino!😎

Thought provoking (nice playing, too - no surprise, there!). I own a 1968 Gibson Custom - played it all thru the 70's live, still play it in the studio. Sorta vintage, I guess, from the first run when they re-launched the Les Paul. It's 'a part of me', really - priceless. That said, I have zero desire to own 50's Les Pauls or anything else from that era even if I was a doctor / lawyer with money to burn. . . I'm perfectly happy with the few other guitars I have picked up along the way, including a recent 2018 Japanese made Gretsch Duo Jet and the recent Epiphone / Gibson '59 hybrid. Of course it's nice to hear good players enjoying classic instruments and I love the back-stories ('Lucy' anyone?) but I guess what I'm trying to say is the idea of buying a vintage instrument that has its own history doesn't appeal to me as much as finding one that clicks and making it part of my story . . . pretentious, a bit stoopid? Dunno, but there ya go 😀

It looks painful on the fingers when you play, but the sound is so wonderfully healing to my ears.

Hello. You started out as my favorite guitarist on RU-vid. Now you are simply my favorite guitarist, next to Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, John Scofield, Warren Haynes...

An interesting experience for sure but Il bet your Yamaha Revstar brings the same inspiration if not more! Thanks for sharing!

I love vintage, but there are some damn good brand new guitars too! Love your 116610 Submariner by the way!

1965 harmony bobkat. The old DeArmond pup sounds incredible and at 400 bucks, I'm not afraid to play it or have it sitting around the house

Brilliant.

Chris said whats the craic. My man right here

The thing for me, as you point out is a guitars history. Aged through worldly interactions adds to that character. Struggle with the modern used / relic look just because it does not have the history to support its look..

Chris, your'e so very eloquent! Brilliantly put, you have it in a nutshell. I have played a 1959 Les Paul. I count myself to be really fortunate, but at the same time, constantly kick myself for not buying it! I wanted to test an amp, I asked for two guitars, one with humbuckers, the other with P90's. The salesman brought a beautiful, immaculate '57 Goldtop reissue, and a 1959 Les Paul Special, the single cut version, before they changed to double, this of course had P90's. Both guitars were lovely, but the '59, oh my gosh! It was cream! The sound of those P90's was unbelievable! I think this guitar actually presented a case for buying a vintage instrument; £10,000 was however, still a lot of money to justify for just one guitar! However, was it worth selling all my other guitars, just to own this ONE.... that's a question that never leaves my mind, because, I think it probably 'was' worth selling all the others just to have this ONE. However, I couldn't resist buying the Goldtop, mint, Custom Shop Les Paul for £2,000.

Old guitars and cars are like people, it's the individuality, their flaws and how they shine that give them their character. I like something with a story, some history, isn't that what life is about? The travelled path that makes us who we are.

Man the part played on the 60 burst was fire