The boys discuss what makes a guitar a true vintage guitar. Can a guitar with some vintage parts make the grade. The boys give their own opinions! Let us know what you think in the comments.
You guys are talking about the wood and the pickups aging on those old guitars, but the tones us 50+ year old guys are chasing were largely recorded when those guitars were 10 to 15 years old. The Beano LP was less than 10 years old when the album was recorded, Jimi used guitars that were pretty much new at the time, and even Stevies #1 was newer than my late 90's Strat when he recorded with it. I love you guys, but vintage guitar nostalgia is just that, nostalgia. Give me any guitar from any era, I'll find something about it I like unless it's an absolute piece of garbage.
I love Baxter's hair. It looks like he blindfolded his kids and handed them the clippers. Absolutely wild, but he totally pulls it off. It takes a special kind of man to accomplish a feat of such greatness.
I have a 2020 Les Paul with an early 80's Tim Shaw in the neck and a late 70's T-Top in the bridge. To the point made in the video, modern guitar with good vintage pickups can be a fantastic combo.
Most of my collection is vintage stuff that collectors wouldn't touch. Deluxe LP converted to standard, SG special custom conversion, refins, fenders with neck swaps, vintage partscaster. I have at least one or two guitars in every category discussed. IMHO the neck is the key to everything, it's the sole of the guitar. You want to have a vintage body, but it's not a deal breaker. My main strat has had a mim body, a 1974, a 1963 refin body, a body I made from 100y/o douglas fir, and I landed on a fantastic ultra light swamp ash MJT body, every other part is vintage, but it's more important that it's the best possible strat, than that it's all vintage parts.
Leo Fender designed his guitars to have parts (necks, hardware, pickups, pickguards) replaced every five years or so from the get go. It was also designed to avoid having the down time at a luthier by fixing up within a short time. Most vintage gear I have played have left me wanting something else. So I do have some vintage (1970s, 1980s) equipment now, its inexpensive gear that's been serviced and far from mint. I've also upgraded it too to so I can get them most out of it.
As a guy whose dad got him a red Mustang and a Princeton Reverb in ‘64, what was cool was that it was NEW, modern. Stopped playing it so much in high school and dad sold it to a friend when I went off to college. Sniff…
And Gibson uses lots of veneer....Gibson's semi-hollowbodies like the ES-335 and ES-339 have tops and backs constructed of layers (either 3 or 4) of maple veneer. My understanding is that the veneers are assembled in successive cross-grain layers with the top layer having its grain longitudinal to the length of the guitar. The tops and backs are approximately 1/4" in thickness after layup.
Same here. Even before guitar prices skyrocketed and inflation hit, I would have to save for 6+ months to get an Epiphone Les Paul Special or Junior. Looks like I am stuck with the three guitars I have, the amps I have, and the pedals. Guess I just will have to practice, LOL, and get more lessons, instead of trying to buy skill, which seems like a lot of people do for some reason, no matter the hobby. hahahahaha
I had a set of Fender Highway 1 strat pickups in a really ugly Squire and played the frets flat. Kept the pickups for years and just recently bought a 1996 Squire Strat (China, rosewood board) that had been in a case for last 10yrs from a 76yr old local ol' country/bluegrass player. Its got what I used to call age! Got the pickups in and got it tremolo-ing again and it was refreshing to put something together that isnt a complete franken-axe
Leo made it to easily be parts exchangeable. That's the beauty of the tele and strat. Build 1 with new parts, your choice of wood and magnetic resonate collectors. Your choice your design.
I heard Clapton's Blackie had at least one '70s pickup in it. I've heard that Hendrix quote, that about six different guitarists were "better " than he was. Same thing with supposedly twenty different guitarists "turned down" the Stones asking them to join to replace Mick Taylor.
You can make it EXACTLY the way you want it, and usually save money too. It's so easy, even old geezers like me can make them. The part that takes the most skill is fret and nut work, and proper setup in general, something every player should learn how to do, instruction videos make it easier.
I have early 70s neck and body, all original parts, largely working but definite signs of wear - I’m just old at this point, not sure when/if I become vintage 😂
I don't know if it qualifies as vintage but Fender built my "partscastor" in 93. A deluxe plus Strat. I got mine used in 96. Everything that I would change to improve the parts that IMHO were not up to snuff. And I been beatin this axe for 27 yrs w/ o any problems. Only thing I did to this totally stock guitar is installed a Tremsetter ,cranked the bridge to whammy up and down and just worked this tool since. A properly set-up Strat can last for yrs. Im very satisfied with this guitar.
I was a vintage dealer and guitar show promoter in the 90’s. I love to buy and especially sell for a profit vintage guitars. To play? I prefer brand new guitars. The best guitars, as John page from fenders vintage shop said years ago, are new ones made right now!
When I played vintage drums ( used drums in the old days) you would always change the crappy old hardware. And often piece together the kit from different drum sets. Just have an 70’s Gretsch set left. I’d do the same with vintage amps and guitars. Don’t worry about it and make it playable I say.
after playing thousands of guitars old and new over the last 15 years i think the biggest factor in vintage guitars being better (SOME of them, not all of them are good ones. played a '59 tele a couple months ago that was NOT a good guitar) i personally believe the biggest factor is the old growth wood releasing moisture over the decades becoming lighter and more resonant. most of the new production guitars that come through our shop just dont sing like some of the good vintage stuff.
I have a 68 Gold Top that I bought for 600 bucks in 1985- I’ve not played one better So that keeps me from even considering a vintage guitar…most I’ve played are not worth the money
I love vintage guitars but I’m really just here for the Dune talk. Never read the book but I want to and I enjoyed the David Lynch version enough as a kid but really loved the new one. Can’t wait for number two.
I’ve read that in the early days of Fender, Leo made all parts readily available, to go with the ease of use for the professional. And that there were probably some complete guitars made with ‘vintage’ parts back in the day. Still a Fender, right?
I build my own "Partscasters" and they seem to have better tone when you have old or roasted wood to start with. Always use Nitro lacquer paint because it's thin. ALWAYS buy quaility parts and don't compromise pick up choice for price! Remember you want to be proud of what you built when you finish it. So get started and have fun!
If it plays well and sounds good, I don't care its a 63 Strat or a 2024 Squier. In my 50 plus years playing guitar I've owned "vintage", I've owned "reissues", and I've owned " modern" instruments, but I only keep guitars that play and sound good to me! Thanks guys for continuing the debate!
I bought an American special with a real cool body finish. The only thing special about the guitar though was it had cheap Mexican hardware and the American standard pickups. I’ve upgraded all the parts numerous times, bridge and tuners 2x, pickups and neck 4 times. Knobs countless times. Different wirings like blender pots. Been some great and some awful but overall I’ve learned a lot, had fun and really didn’t lose very much money unless I bought new parts. 800 dollar guitar is probably 1200 net cost total after selling the original parts and it’s way better than a 1200 dollar Strat you can grab off a wall. I am going to swap the pickups again soon because why the hell not?
I've played old Fenders where the necks and bodies were rrom different years, but it was still factory originals. They just had older necks still in stock when they were building the guitar. I kinda wonder about era correct after market pickups. Like if I had an 80s strat that had the Lace Sensors that you buy from Fender, would that still be vintage
Depends on the buyer...if you are a collector, all original...even if the pickups don't work..as a player, I only care about the sound and feel. Give me that 63 Strat with all the plastics replaced for 2K, and chances are I won't put it down. With vintage, you must play it. There are iconic guitars that just don't have the mojo. Back in the day when pickups were hand-wound, one set may be magical, and another blah. Once played a 57 Strat. The sound was out of this world. It badly needed a fret job. If I had the $$$, it would be mine now...and it would have gotten a fret job. A collector would never do that.
WRT the vintage tone, and swapping out and testing pickups topic, you can buy - or better yet build your own - board to wire up to any guitar and test different caps with the existing pups. This could be extended to the pots as well, it's just a bit more involved. I truly believe a lot of that vintage tone of older/vintage pickups we all like is not just the pup, but those aging caps and pots. That little board to test with is worth its weight in gold when evaluating any new purchase or build. Cheers
I built a 55 spec parts caster. I call it a tribute. All the parts are correct vintage specs even a set of Fender custom shop 54 strat pickups and a Warmoth vintage 2 color sunburst body with the correct body carve shapes and all. Okay so it's not vintage, but plays and sounds like one . And it 's not worth 6 figures so I am not scared to death to play it. And just so nobody gets the idea to snag it, I had the vintage spec 1 piece fat neck built with a 7.25 radius and Warmoth's Warhead headstock.
What about a ligit vintage that wasn't a high end instrument. I have a Silvertone Catalina archtop. Its in beautiful shape, and is super fun to play. Its from the 50's. Does its lack of pedigree keep it from being a "vintage guitar"?
I have a '79 Les Paul Custom. It's the best FEELING Les Paul I've ever played. But, the electronics were god awful. So I swapped out the pots and pickups and boom! Guitar came to life. But I kept everything just in case. Also, the guitar is too heavy. It's just too heavy. BUT, it plays better than anything I've ever owned.
We need vintage levels, example; ["Vintage Original" as left the factory].... "Vintage Modified"... vintage but has had a re-fret or some changed parts. "Vintage partscaster" all vintage parts from all different guitars of the period. Then player's vintage, which is the partscaster but heavy worn.
To me, vintage guitars should have as many original parts as possible, but to call it vintage, I think it should have a vintage neck, body, and pickups. Either way as long as it’s all honestly disclosed, you can make a value judgment and consider any guitar on a case by case basis. Vintage partscasters won’t be as expensive as factory original guitars, but that means they could be a better value.
Weirdly enough, the electronics are the least of my concern if I were buying a vintage guitar. Mainly due to the fact that modern pick ups get you 99% of the way there more or less. I am more interested in the old wood and the old nitro. Modern refinishes are a bit of a dealbreaker for me. If it has an old neck and body, I would call it vintage. But my interest is gone if it has a ref finish later than the mid 70s
Having put together numerous Fender necks and bodies over the years, some combos sing and some don't. Some bodies are dead, some necks only light up with the right string tension - It's a kind of magic. Also... Jonathan - I like Rachel Maddow - and yet, you are my favorite on the channel and I suspect we'd get along just fine :)
Just me but if I'm paying vintage price, i want it all Original. If its player grade and is advertised as an old partscaster then price should reflect that. Imo
I from a buyers perspective would want transparency and honesty, but if a guitar is a "Frankenstein " of vintage parts , it's a vintage frank... which I think are awesome
All Fenders are parts guitars. All Fender guitars are tools for playing. Some Fender guitars hold extra intrinsic value according to the collector market; within that subset YMMV. All functional Fender guitars exist somewhere within the spectrum ranging from most collectible to purely player-grade. Many can be described as being some ratio combination of both. There are millions of beautiful, cool-looking, great-playing, and great-sounding guitars on that spectrum. On top of that, there are tons of non-Fender Fender-shaped parts guitars (FSOs) that are beautiful, look cool, sound, and play great. Many of those FSO parts guitars are so-called "boutique" makes. Tons are DIY parts builds. Any of these kinds of Fender and FSO parts guitars can be great.
I just bought a 71 Gibson. Replaced tuners and knobs long ago. Brand new bridge. Original case gone. Body/neck and pickups original. That’s a player grade vintage guitar.
Playing vs displaying. And a vintage parts caster is still a parts caster. This attraction to old, simply for being old is beyond me. I prefer good... it's age to me does not matter. And I don't flip guitars, so market value to me are also not an issue.
Vintage guitars never appealed to me. My grandfather was a country dude in the 50s. He had old strats and would let my brother and I play on them when we'd visit. They always felt rickety to me. I came up playing in the 80s and they were more available. I never wanted one. These days, if I am not rocking on a PRS it's a partscaster. I tend to build "Esquires" that I mod with thin necks, fancy paint, and cool electronics. RIght now I am building a "Strat" with an Alembic-style blaster, a G&L PTB circuit, 3 on/off switches, a series/parallel switch, a switchable Kinman treble bleed, a tone bypass, and "pickups straight to output" switch. It's Green Sparkle with a roasted maple, Ibanez profile neck, Indian Rosewood fretboard with clay dot inlays and 6100 frets. It has a 10" radius, a reverse CBS headstock. I'm using a custom made tremolo system that has a stainless steel baseplate, a brass block and brass saddles. I am very excited to get it done - I am expecting it to be a serious studio tool. I'd rather build something unique that fits my playing needs (or crazy desires like the above mentioned guitar) than spend CRAZY money on some old rickety guitar....YMMV!
Vintage guitars are like kids to me. They’re great as long as they’re not mine. The hassle of worry and fretting (pun intended) over their care, getting damaged or stolen. No thanks. But, I love to look at them and play my friends guitars. Then go home to mine
@@johnwashburn3793 You see a big spike in the market when you look at 60’s acoustics and older. Martin was still using Brazilian rosewood. And it seems like Martin and Gibson were just doing better work in those days.
@@G_Demolishedthey can be a year away from death when you say that too. Acoustics have a life, imo, amd most guitarists treat the acoustic irresponsibly like it's somehow gonna bounce back better than an electric, it won't and literally cannot. So acoustic is usually the most messed up of any vintage you can find. I'd never, ever suggest vintage acoustics. They are hands down guaranteed to be problem children now.
A friend of mine has a strat that’s a 1957 body and trem, 70s neck, aftermarket pickups. Body has been routed, refinished 43,000 times. He refers to it as a ‘57 strat. I give him crap about it mercilessly. It’s not a ‘57 strat in my eyes.
My issue has always been why are people so obsessed with original frets? To me, they're like brake pads or tires on classic and vintage cars. They're going to get worn with use and no one buys such a car and asks, "Are those the original tires?", or "Do you have the original brake pads?", or "If the canvas on that Model T original?" Even if it's a museum piece they expect some things to have been replaced. So why do people obsess about what a refret does to a vintage guitar? Tonewoods don't matter. I've played great guitars that were pine and some really crappy, big-dollar "tonewood" guitars. I will say that regardless of the wood there's a certain mojo that happens when an electric guitar just rings out when it's not plugged in. It just sounds better somehow. They play better, too. I've heard many other players I know, and some famous ones (Brad Whitford of Aerosmith comes to mind), say the same thing.
Partscasters seem to trigger a lot of people. The bottom line is that unless it was owned/played by a famous player it's just a modded Fender, and to most people it isn't worth the price of the parts you added to it. The real issue (for me) is that if you added a Fender logo then it's a counterfeit; It's NOT a copy, tribute, clone etc; It's a fake.
If the neck and body did not come out of the Fender factory as an assembly it's a partscaster. broken tuners or other small parts need to be replaced to make it playable. I think thats ok but it's still gonna drop the value of it from an all original but increase the value of a guitar that doesn't work. YMMV
Well,.first of all,..ALL THREE of you guys need NEW stylist! Secondly,..since Fenders are modular BY DESIGN then either all or most of said "modules",..( neck, body ,electronics) need to be "vintage" and if one or two of those things has been updated then its simply a "partially" or a "semi" vintage instrument. and since I am NOT a fan of the original three way toggle switch on Strats I would much refer a "partially vintage " - ( vintage modified? )Strat with a new 5 way switch but I still want the 3 way included incase I needed to sell it. Fender used the original 3 way toggle switch well into the late 1970's so none of the hyper desirable pre-CBS Strats even have that feature. And I assume that some folks would say replacement of such a small part hurts the value of 50's and 60's Fender guitar. This level transparency really only matters during a transaction. and this whole discussion sort of ends up being another argument for why its better to just save up fora Custom Shop,.better consistency, your choice of finishes ( no relic, light relic or heavy relic) and modern , reliable electronics
Vintage Harleys are the same. The VIN is only on the engineprior to the ‘70s. Original parts not available but many companies sell reproduction parts, it’s still a vintage Harley. If Fender replacements components is still the same shape as original, it’s still vintage.
Guitars are like cars, parts wear out and they need to be replaced. The body and neck are key. Next in value are pickups and metal parts, then plastics, and lastly nut and frets. Anything you do to alter it, changes the value of the guitar.
Partscaster all the way....the whole point of getting a "vintage guitar" was the guitars were built better in the late 1950s-early 1960s, and (Q)uality (C)ontrol slipped in the late 1960s up to the mid 1980's. Really hard to find a "bad" guitar these days. LOL. edited for spelling and grammar
I think it has to be at least 30 years old and 95% or more original parts. Not original parts to that year of guitar either, original parts that came installed on that specific guitar from the manufacturer.
Speaking of WTF do pickups sound like FENDER!?! Come ON GUYS! Do YOU REALLY THINK MY SOUND CARD HAS WHAT IT TAKES? I read first 3 Dune books at least 6 times since high school. I do that with books I like.
