# What constitutes vintage around here ?



## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

I don't have anything really old,but I do have an early 70's SG II that I have set up for slide(due to the fact the frets are worn to the 'board).


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

I also have a LP copy that was made in '78/79 in the Matsumoku factory.


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

And my Asat turns 20 this year.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Nice guitars Bubb. Is the 78-79 LP copy a Tokai or some other Japanese brand?


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Technicaly, when an instrument turns 20, it's starting it's life as a vintage instrument i've read. now if you bought a 99$ peice of wood with strings in 1988, naturally that does'nt make it a Vintage guitar..


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## jimmy c g (Jan 1, 2008)

to some Vintage would be more specific than age alone.Certain years being finer than others that are older but of less desirabilty due to quality.Some like Gearge Gruhn in particular make this point.I guess my 79 Les Paul is an old guitar but perhaps not vintage.Maybe a 1919 Gibson L1 is an old guitar where a 1924 L 5 is a vintage guitar,i am 52 and not vintage.I think it dont matter really cause Im sure whatever we call it older THINGS have a vibe and mystery thats appealing no matter what term describes them and terms are just words.


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

Kenmac said:


> Nice guitars Bubb. Is the 78-79 LP copy a Tokai or some other Japanese brand?


It's a Cutler,basically an Aria ,I bought it new back then,my first decent guitar.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

'vintage' is a buzz word that means different things to different people and different years to different types of instruments.

With Les Pauls it generally refers to the '60 and older (and rare '61 Customs)

Other Gibsons it generally refers to pre-'65 - many changes happened in '65

However, the prices on the '70s Gibbys have been rising steadily, so they are probably close to earning the term. There's probably going to be a cut at the '75 change from mahogany to maple necks, neck tenon changes, etc. Lots of stuff was happening thoughout the '70s.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Bubb said:


> And my Asat turns 20 this year.


Geez I used to have an 88' ASAT like that execpt with a maple board. It was great....heavy...... but great sounding and playing. I actually had an engineer tell me one time it was the most even sounding guitar he had ever recorded. 
Good one.

cheers
Pete


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Vintage means different things to different people aparently.

What was junk when it was originally made can become collectable 20 years later.

Collectors have a different value system than I do.


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## pirateflynn (Nov 27, 2006)

How about 1977 ?

As soon as I learn how to post a pic .. I'll show you guys! lol


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## jmaysen (Mar 10, 2008)

For me it's simple, anything made before 1985 gets the vintage moniker. But the truly vintage stuff, the stuff that dreams are made of, is before 1965.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

85 seems way too recent to be vintage--at least to me.
To me vintage has to be at least 30 if not 40 years old.

But if it increases the value of anything I own and I'm looking to sell it--hey--vintage sounds good.:smile:

To me vintage also implies a certain amount of originality in parts.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

here's a pic of my '64 ES330

'64 Gibson (reasons we look at pre-'65 Gibson):
- last year of Braz boards
- last year of nickel (this guitar has transition hdwe - nickel pups, chrome bridge and trap)










and I thought I'd sneak in a couple pics of my other vintage stuff:

'60 Melody Maker









'59 Hammond A-100









I didn't include the '74 Custom. Though old, and worth a bunch now, I don't consider it vintage Gibson.


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## Edutainment (Jan 29, 2008)

I'm jealous of that Hammond, I have a Lowrey that sounds like a toy.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

thanks, I consider it one of my best ever scores.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Oooooooooooooooh yeah !!!lofu lofu lofu



dwagar said:


> '59 Hammond A-100


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## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

In terms of instruments vintage is defined as being the best era of manufacturing for a particular maker or instrument and is not necessarily based solely on age, although the best of something is usually only identified in hindsight. There have been several vintage years for Gibson with mandolins, acoustics and solid bodies. It can be broken down even further within certain models. A 1959 LP custom isn't worth as much as a standard. Early PRS guitars are considered vintage. Pre-CBS Fenders. Early Dimarzio's. Mid 70's Tokai's and Burny's. It's probably arbitrary in a lot of cases but that's the way it is.

The El Degas LP copy with the bolt on neck that I started out with will now be pushing 30 years old. I wouldn't waste a match to set that thing on fire ( if I ever found it again).

And I'll say it again Don, that is a sweet Hammond. That is pretty much the definition of organ tone for me. Allman Brothers, Al Kooper - the list just goes on and on.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Edutainment said:


> I'm jealous of that Hammond, I have a Lowrey that sounds like a toy.


Gotta get a hammond..... one upmanship starts now :smile:

I have a couple of leslies ( this is where nonreverb chirps)


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

I really think two of them take up too much room.

In your house anyway.

I'd be happy to store one, just ship it down here :smile:


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

dwagar said:


> I really think two of them take up too much room.
> 
> In your house anyway.
> 
> I'd be happy to store one, just ship it down here :smile:


Gee I have a760 that I would gladly sell ya ... and seeing how your "Down there" and it has wheels......:sport-smiley-002:


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I consider my 1981 Dean E'lite to be Vintage. It's 27 years old and build as well or better then a lot of guitars that came before or after it. Espesically a lot of LP's. It's a rare model and colour as well, and constantly goes up in value.


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## Geek (Jun 5, 2007)

Ooooo, LOVE that color! 


And since no one has said it yet...


> What constitutes vintage around here ?


Wild Bill? :banana:

*budda-boom, ching*


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## NB-SK (Jul 28, 2007)

If it was still too new in the late 70's and early 80's to have been 'just another old guitar', it isn't vintage. :smile:


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Geek said:


> And since no one has said it yet...
> 
> 
> Wild Bill? :banana:
> ...


:food-smiley-004: Put my name on the vintage list also. 

I am honoured to be in the company of such a master. (not quite sure how Wild Bill feels about the whole vintage trip in general though...LOL)

Dave


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## guitarjunky (Sep 11, 2007)

Anything prior to 1979 for me is Vintage (it used to be prior to 70, but now the line is moving up...).

Here is part of my collection!


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## Mars_all 50 (Jan 8, 2007)

Damn.

Nice collection.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I guess I am a vintage as a Fender Broadcaster.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

GuitarJunky, is that an old Country Gentleman?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Guitarjunky...I had a Tele Deluxe like that years ago. My heart still aches for it.

Peace, Mooh.


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## guitarjunky (Sep 11, 2007)

dwagar said:


> GuitarJunky, is that an old Country Gentleman?


It's a GRETSCH 6119 CHET ATKINS 1967


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## guitarjunky (Sep 11, 2007)

Mooh said:


> Guitarjunky...I had a Tele Deluxe like that years ago. My heart still aches for it.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


They sound awesome. Did you know that the Fender humbucker was developped by the same guy who did the paf at Gibson's?


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

guitarjunky said:


> It's a GRETSCH 6119 CHET ATKINS 1967


Nice!

and a Tennessean? What year is it? I had a '65 back in '65, beautiful guitars.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Guitarjunky...Yeah, I knew that about the pickups. The reissues apparently have NOT the same pickups, though there are some replacements available. I loved them, clean or dirty. That guitar was a great versatile stage axe for me for years, and I still play Teles (Aerodyne and Thinline). Some day I'd like to have another Deluxe.

I also had a matching (in finish) '70s Tele bass, with that big neck position offset polepiece humbucker. Great thump with flatwounds.

If they ever invent a time machine I'm going back to retrieve them.

Peace, Mooh.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

*Mine's a 1980 ES335*

I know, 1980 isn't really vintage...
This is one of the last off the production line in the old Kalamazoo plant before Norlin busted the union and moved production to Nashville.

It's an ES335 Pro, so it has a 3-piece maple neck instead of the more usual mahogany. The original dirty fingers HBs are long gone and replaced with SD antiquities. It's got a lot of personality...

I need to take some better photos...these are from the store I bought it from.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Well it looks vintage anyway--I love the way they look--and I like playing them.

Wish I had one...


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

If you find yourself, in anyway, obsessed with retirement, then any guitar you remember as a teenager is vintage.


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## Michelle (Aug 21, 2006)

*Heads Up Garret!*

Check this out;

http://saintjohn.kijiji.ca/c-buy-an...s-Electric-12-String-Guitar-W0QQAdIdZ42276834

$250? I'm almost tempted to do this but flipping it for l-h might be a problem...


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Well, now I feel like I live on the wrong side of the country.
I'd like to try that out.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

NB-SK said:


> If it was still too new in the late 70's and early 80's to have been 'just another old guitar', it isn't vintage. :smile:


Depends whether you're buying (1960 or earlier) or selling (earlier than 90s??) ....


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> If you find yourself, in anyway, obsessed with retirement, then any guitar you remember as a teenager is vintage.


A plywood HondoII Les Paul Custom with DiMarzio superdistortion humbuckers is vintage? Whoda thunkit? 
:smile:


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