There is no question that good vintage guitars often make great investments. For instance, depending on the model, Les Paul guitars have been known to sell for over a quarter of a million dollars, while some Fender Telecasters command close to $100,000 in today’s market place. In fact, some of the most popular vintage guitars from the 1960’s can go for more than $20,000.

Photo by Dan Coplan

But just what is it about these guitars that make them so special? Vintage (also called collectible) guitars are basically instruments that are at least twenty-five years old and elicit a sense of “romance” in the hearts and minds of people. It doesn’t necessarily matter if they are acoustic, electric, hollow body or solid, as much as just how popular the type is with famous musicians past and present. In other words, if Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page or even Steve Vai is known to play one, then collectors are sure to want the same one too.

Next comes the manufacturer’s name, i.e., Di Giorgio, Gibson, Fender, etc. Some collectors only want guitars from specific makers. In addition, value increases depending on their rarity. Workmanship and sound quality, as well as whether it looks “cool” are factors that go into determining the value of anything “vintage” including the public’s basic love for an item, and thus its actual value. To connoisseurs, the very design, finish and color of many vintage guitars make them true “works of art” to be cherished. Without that special “romanticism” it is just an old or used axe with little worth in the resale market.

However, it is interesting to note that electric guitars currently seem to be commanding the biggest share of the vintage guitar market, although that is not to say that acoustics aren’t commanding a lot of attention as well.  It will be interesting to see how things go over the next few years to see what comes out on top in the vintage market.

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Corey Palmer is a guitarist from Woodstock, NB Canada who has been playing for the past 20 years.  During this time, he has been a member of many different bands ranging from rock, metal and even a little country.  He currently jams with a band called gNosh. Email: coreypalmer@sharemyguitar.com

Through the years I have bought and sold a number of guitars and plucked away on countless others in shops and at the homes of friends. Some of my purchases were practical and well thought out while others were impulse buys that I regretted and ended up reselling. As with many pursuits, experience breeds wisdom and as such I have found two tools I rely on when shopping for guitars: Craigslist and The Blue Book of Guitars (one for acoustic and one for electric).

eBay is generally the first online source people think of when considering used gear. It’s great for many purchases but when it comes to instruments I’ve never felt comfortable buying something I can’t hold in my hands and listen to first. Guitars are such personal items and each one is unique, even between similar makes and models from the same year.

With Craigslist you can get the same great deals, and often better deals as you’re not faced with outbidding other people and can negotiate with the owner. Sometimes you can even work a trade or partial trade. Most importantly, you get to try before you buy and judge the quality for yourself. There are times I’ve been able to knock the price down on a guitar because it had a small chip or some other minor defect and wasn’t truly “mint” as the owner claimed. There were other guitars that I was so excited to buy and had a wad of cash in my pocket, but when held and played, just didn’t sing to me as I expected. And there are guitars I bought impulsively, blind to a number of factors that should have prevented purchase. But again, Craigslist to the rescue as I turned around and resold them. It may take a while but with patience you can almost always find what you’re looking for and there’s almost always someone out there who is looking for what you’re trying to unload. Here’s another secret to finding killer deals on Craigslist (shhh….): Click on “Garage Sales” and type “guitar” in the search box. This is a more random way of finding guitars but generally people who are having garage sales just want to dump what they’ve got so the potential is high for finding real bargains.

Unless you have a long history of dealing guitars, it’s nearly impossible to know what all the different 6-string options are worth. Makes, models, years, wood types, finishes, hardware…there are so many factors that determine a guitar’s value. This is where the Blue Book of Guitars comes in handy. There is a separate volume for both acoustic and electric. The cost of each could very well save you money towards your purchase of an instrument so they’re well worth it. I’ve found guitars online thinking, “Whoa – killer deal! I wonder what it’s really worth?”, only to find the value worth exactly what was being asked and not a deal at all. Every now and then I find deals that really are well above the asking price. With respect to the former example, the Blue Books can be used as a negotiating tool in letting the seller know you’re fully aware of what the guitar is worth and they should come down in price. These books are thick and have information on a number of brands and models both popular and rare.

Nothing beats the experience of buying and selling. Researching the Blue Books and following checklists will give you an objective reference for an instrument’s value, but for us collectors (or addicts, call us what you will), it’s the dating process that ultimately determines compatibility with an instrument.

I NEED all those guitars! G.A.S. – Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. Like the intestinal discomfort those far more childish than myself (ahem) may associate with this term, many of us suffer from its condition. I’m here to defend any accusations that I have an acquisition problem. I will set the record straight that the multiplicity of instruments creating an obstacle course in my apartment exist based on necessity rather than material desires or weakness for inanimate objects that express the innermost feelings of one’s soul providing endless hours of pure musical rhapsody… Ahem, pardon me.

Man (and woman) is a constantly evolving creature: learning, growing, exploring, and diversifying. Throughout this fluctuating journey a variety of tools are required for success. As a guitarist I require the appropriate tools to adapt to a wide diversity of guitar playing environments.

My first guitar was a Yamaha nylon string. Purchased on the advice of my first guitar teacher, he promoted the wide fretboard to help stretch my fingers and softer pliable strings to ease the transition from callous-free to anvil-like finger tips of steel. Check one.

The Yamaha served its purpose but wasn’t suited to my rock oriented preference. After putting my fingers through basic training I bought a Vantage steel string from my high school’s resident pot dealer. It was cheap in price but full in sound and played great. Check two.

You can rock a steel string but you can’t ROCK a steel string the way you can rock an electric. Next in line, my creamy white Squier Strat made in Japan but built as well as any American made model and half the cost. Check three.

I loved my Strat (still do), but just like endless hours of sampling different styles of music and dialing knobs on amps and pedals to discover one’s tonal palette, the choice of paint brush, or in this case guitar, is equally important. A reissued 1962 Telecaster with antique sunburst and ivory colored binding expanded my ‘musical Picasso’-like strokes. Check four.

I went through a long period of guitar hibernation after school, referred to as my dark days (years). One day I woke up with a renewed passion, just like that. I still had my babies, less the Yamaha, and played them daily. This was no passing phase. What better way to reward myself than with a new guitar? This was easily justified as my acoustic could now serve as my take-anywhere beater guitar. I allowed myself a budget of $500 – $700 as I walked into the guitar shop. I walked out with Guild’s beautiful CV-1C. And just a few bucks less than allotted for the purchase (“a few bucks” is relative)… Check five.

Whether for business or pleasure I find myself away from home several times a year. Traveling with a full sized guitar is rarely an option due to the hassle. I needed a travel guitar. Aria’s Sinsonido fit the bill. This instrument breaks down into a soft padded case just under 1’ x 3’ – very light, very compact, and unobtrusive as the sound is amplified through headphones. Check six.

I think slide guitar is one of the coolest techniques and sounds around. I’ve had as much fun experimenting with this style as I have with effects pedals. The action on all my guitars is set up fairly low for flatpicking so I really had no choice but to pick up a Republic resonator. Not only did I get a guitar with proper action for slide but I got that jangly tin can sound that can’t be replicated any other way. It was a two-for-one deal – a no-brainer! Check seven.

My justifications end here. There are those who will question the lack of a 12-string or hollow body or [fill in the blank]. I didn’t say I was done, I’ve simply illustrated that I don’t have G.A.S. Rather I have provided myself with the tools necessary to…who am I kidding? I’ve provided myself with guitar gluttony to feed my ceaseless addiction!

I grew up in a household of collectors. Between my parents, my brothers and myself, there were coin collections, antique collections, photograph collections, record collections, baseball card collections, snake collections (yes the living, breathing, reptilian kind) and that’s just the beginning. In this collection of collections one thing stood out. Each individual item had either sentimental value or monetary value, or both. Some pieces were traded or sold, but others could never be parted with.

Collecting can be enormously fun and challenging. It drives you to set goals, budget your time and carefully manage your ever important financial resources. Something I’ve always enjoyed about collecting is that you meet other people who share your interests. Through buying and trading you get to meet some pretty cool people. Also, you learn a lot from other collectors. And as you get to be more knowledgeable, it’s cool when you can help out a newer collector with some tidbit of info.

My massive guitar collection–for now–is only massive in my dreams. I currently own 3 guitars and 2 basses. In the scheme of things, a collection of 5 objects is pretty small, maybe even minuscule. But even though it’s small, the collection process is the same. I picked each guitar because they caught my eye when I saw them in person. I didn’t want to buy a guitar just because it was a good “investment.” I wanted to be emotionally attached.

Before buying any of my guitars I researched them. A lot. By the time I was ready to purchase the guitar, I knew more about it than the seller did. Google is an excellent resource, along with a ton of books out there. This helped me authenticate it and hopefully allowed me to avoid looking or sounding like an idiot. It’s also hard for someone to rip you off when you have done your homework ahead of time.

Nigel Tufnel, aka Christopher Guest, shows off his Vintage 3 pick-up Custom LP… ah the sustain!

I have had great luck over the last couple of years in dealing with private sellers. When you meet in person and talk to them, you find out some of the guitar’s history. I like knowing if the guy selling it is the original owner and bought it when he graduated from high school in 1976. Or maybe he is the third owner and bought it from Norm’s Rare Guitars. Whatever the case, it adds a lot of fun to the collecting process to know something about the guitar (assuming you’re collecting vintage guitars and not new ones!).

Don’t be afraid to negotiate a FAIR price. As long as you did a little research ahead of time and are respectful about it. For example, the seller is asking $1,000 for a guitar that you know recently sold for $750, go ahead and offer $750. Also grab a copy of the latest Vintage Guitar Price Guide and show the seller that it is currently listed at between $650-850. I hate douchy collectors who low-ball though. Don’t be a jerk and offer $300 for an all original 1964 Fender Strat. Hopefully the seller will know enough not to sell it to you, and if you’re lucky he won’t also kick you in the nuts!

By the way, if you’re looking for great guitars that are also good investments, these ones seem to be growing in value on an almost exponential level. Now that the market is pretty depressed because of the economy, you can probably get a good deal that will really be worth something some day:

• Pre-CBS Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters, Precision basses, Jazz basses
• Vintage Gibson Les Pauls, ES-335′s, SG’s

So my collecting philosophy is to have fun, find the guitars I really like, learn a lot about them from books and from the previous owners, and I like knowing I bought it fairly. Oh yeah, and I really like playing the damn things! So far, this philosophy has led me to buy (1) a Sunburst 1986 Fender ’62 Reissue Strat, (2) a Tobacco Burst 1976 Gibson Les Paul Standard, (3) a 1973 Gibson J50 acoustic, (4) a Tobacco Burst 1976 Gibson Thunderbird Bass, and (5) an Olympic White 1983 Fender ’62 Reissue Jazz Bass.

What is your guitar collecting philosophy?

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Some may not realize this, but the 1967 Flying V is actually a reissue. Gibson first released the Flying V in 1958 along with the ES-335, Explorer and Moderne. The ES-335 was an instant success, but the Flying V would receive the recognition it deserved nearly a decade later, which prompted the reissue. The 1967 was designed with a bigger pickguard and Gibson ditched the original bridge (which had the strings inserted through the back), replacing it with a stopbar tail piece. Some models were shipped with a short Vibrola Maestro Tremolo. Later Changes & Special Editions

• 1971 – Gibson introduced the medallion on the body, and a stop tail-piece. The fingerboard was also raised above the body by 3/8 inch.
• 1979 Gibson V2 – This model features a heavily sculpted body which was actually laminated, and a new humbucking pickup.
• 1981 – In 1981 Gibson introduced some models that had the switch, knob jack layout in a straight line as opposed to being grouped together in a triangle or diamond shape. This is unique to this model and the V 83.
• Gibson has more recently issued several limited-edition “signature” versions of the Flying V, including the Jimi Hendrix model and the Lonnie Mack model (which included a Bigsby tailpiece tremolo arm identical to the unit Mack has continuously used on his own Flying V since 1958).
• According to Wikipedia: (so you know its true) A fully functional, playable, highly enlarged replica of a Gibson Flying V, sizing over 43 feet, was built in June 2000 by Scott Rippetoe and his team from The Academy of Science and Technology (Texas). This world record is registered in Guinness World Records.

The Gibson Flying V guitar was WAY ahead of its time in style and playability. No wonder it is still beloved by so many great players, after nearly 7 decades!

Here is a list of all the guitar shows I know about in the U.S. If you know of one I missed, let me know in the comments. I plan on continually updating this post to keep it a current, so definitely bookmark it for future reference.

NAMM
January 14-17, 2010
Anaheim, CA

• A “trade-only” event. Essentially you have to work for an approved retail establishment (or have a buddy who does if you know what I mean, nudge nudge) to get in. Worth it if you can get your hands on some tickets.
• If they were smart they’d have one day open to the public, I don’t know why they’re so stingy about who can enter the show.

4 Amigos Guitar Shows
October, 2009 (Arlington)
January, 2010 (San Francisco and Los Angeles)
March, 2010 (Nashville)
May, 2010 (Chicago)
July, 2010 (San Francisco)
August, 2010 (Los Angeles)

• Co-sponsored by Vintage Guitar Magazine and open to the public.
• All events are buy-sell-trade shows, where attendees may bring their musical instruments or related items. By getting bids from several exhibitors, you can quickly establish the market value of an item, and proceed to sell or trade with confidence.
• Attendees may see everything from guitars, amps, banjos, mandolins, effects, memorabilia, sound gear, parts, records, drums, violins, books, accessories, online companies, manufacturers, retail stores, builders, and repairmen, to celebrities who attend the event.

Great American Guitar Show
November 7-8, 2009
King of Prussia, PA

South Carolina Guitar Show
February 27-28, 2010
Spartanburg, SC

Orlando International Guitar & Music Expo
January 29-31, 2010
Orlando, FL

• The Expo is attended by an international group of guitar dealers, buyers, traders, collectors, and players.
• Also in the convention center at the same time is a vintage car auction.
  

As one of the most popular and highly regarded guitars ever made, Gibson’s Les Paul guitar is often forged. The most common way of doing this is to use a new(er) Les Paul and outfit it with vintage or reproduction parts to make it appear to be a much more valuable vintage version. Some forgers even go as far as recreating vintage case candy, which is pretty easy nowadays with applications like Photoshop and a decent color printer.

Jacksons Rare Guitars features this spectacular ’57 Les Paul Gold Top

How can you avoid shelling out big bucks for a phony guitar? It’s not easy. And even experts are occasionally fooled by some of the fakes out there; the forgeries are that good. But if you thoroughly examine the guitar prior to purchasing it, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of buying a faux Les Paul.

Here are two things to look for from Chris Gill’s article ‘FlawLes’ in Guitar Aficionado Magazine:

• Original Les Pauls were made with Honduras mahogany, Eastern hard rock maple, and Brazilian rosewood. These are nearly impossible to get your hands on today. Check out a book from your library called Identifying Wood by Bruce Hoadley for detailed information on how to identify these woods.
• The fret inlays on an original are also different than what is available today. Look for silvery inlays that have a three-dimensional appearance and black grain lines running through them. Modern inlays will appear to be milky-white and the grain lines will be less well-defined.

Have you ever bought a fake? Or examine a guitar before purchasing it, only to discover that it was a fake? How’d you figure it out?