1 Topic by Oasis.Guitar (edited by Oasis.Guitar 2011-12-26 11:21:30)

  • Registered: 2011-08-29
  • Posts: 267

Topic: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

I'm seriously considering pairing way down on my guitars into just a few vintage guitars...

A pre-cbs fender slab board strat
A late 60's telecaster
An early gibson gold top w/ p-90's
A pre 66 gibson hollowbody

I'm not schooled in all things vintage.  Any advice for a vintage noob???  Good advice I should say...the generic, "be careful out there", although appreciated, is not what I'm looking for.

Who are some reputable dealers that you may have person experience with?
What do you look for in terms of originality?
Who should I stay away from (DON'T POST THIS INFORMATION...just send me an e-mail with your experience as there is no need to impact someone's business for what may have just been a case of someone having a bad day)...

Thanks in advance!

Oasis.Guitar's Website

2 Reply by Rockfarmer (edited by Rockfarmer 2011-12-27 14:54:58)

  • From: Grapevine, Tejas
  • Registered: 2009-11-03
  • Posts: 1,248

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

Joe bought his '59's from Rumble Seat.  I suspect they have a pretty good reputation.  http://rumbleseatmusic.com/index.html

I have also heard positive comments about Gary's Guitars in Cincinnati. http://garysguitars.com/catalog

and I have heard positive things about Normans Rare Guitars in Tarzana, CA (Los Angeles metro)  http://www.normansrareguitars.com/


I don't own any vintage instruments, but I sure would like to one day.  Best of luck

  • Registered: 2009-10-10
  • Posts: 438

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

I have been buying late 1980's American Strats.  Not considered vintage yet but: They are over 20 years old, they do sound better and just have a better overall feel and vibe than new guitars, The prices are still reasonable.  In a few years I hope to see their value start rising.

  • From: Ridgeland, MS
  • Registered: 2009-08-12
  • Posts: 1,248

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

I would check out the Les Paul Forum. There are a few guys on there with world-class experience in that area. I would love to score a 50's Goldtop one day...

5 Reply by airportdon (edited by airportdon 2011-12-26 12:18:53)

  • Registered: 2006-06-30
  • Posts: 2,835

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

I'd make sure of their return policy 1st...24 -48 hour approval etc..

After getting your vintage guitar I would take her to get appraised to make sure  everything is what it's claimed to be.....and if it's not it would going back quickly to where it came from.

Just like a so called  "All Original Vintage  Car"...there's alot of fakes out there ...buyer beware...

It's always best to buy from someone you know-if possible....Good Luck...

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually.........

6 Reply by stratpaulguy86 (edited by stratpaulguy86 2011-12-27 05:20:26)

  • From: Florida, USA
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 1,420

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

If I wanted an introduction into vintage guitars I'd probably start with some player grade stuff first. On my list that you are interested in would be:                   

Pre- '66 Strat refin. -$5000-$7000.                               
Late '60s Tele refin -$3500
Pre '56 Les Paul w/ p90s - $16,000 maybe?
'67-'69 Gibson 335 - $4500

If you are mostly a player and don't mind certain issues, you can get some AWESOME deals. Recently I spotted a '64? Gibson SG with vibrola and original pickups for $3800 ish because of a repaired headstock. 100% playable too

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.
  • From: Ridgeland, MS
  • Registered: 2009-08-12
  • Posts: 1,248

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

The 50's Les Paul Jr. is a pretty good value right now. Great rocking' guitars, too.

  • From: Canterbury
  • Registered: 2010-05-27
  • Posts: 310

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

Elderly has quite a few of the Gibsons mentioned for 2500-5000 roughly

  • Registered: 2011-08-29
  • Posts: 267

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

I've been doing a lot of talking over the past few days to a few folks in the know, so to speak.  All concur that pre-66 is the way to go for gibson and fender.

- Fender, for the obvious reason of the CBS buy-out that completed in 66.
- Gibson, due to quality decline and feature changes (one example is the 1 9/16 nut width change that impacted a lot of their line beginning in 66).

So much to learn, but so far it's been fun.  I'm definitely looking for player grade stuff, but who knows....the market may continue to correct itself.

Oasis.Guitar's Website

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

If you don't care about hardware on that Gold Top the older ones before the TOM Bridge was introduced are much cheaper then the 57'  Les Paul or the 56'.  The more advacnced the hardware the more it cost when dealing with 50's Les Pauls.  For example the 56' would be around $16,000 as stated earlier, but the 57' with PAF's would be $50,000.  I'm thinking you could step into a 53', to a 55' Les paul with a stop wrap around tail piece for about $10,000 - $12,000.  I'd stay away for the 52' as Les Paul designed that horrible bridge piece on the guitar, if you do go with a 52' I think the studs are the same as a Stop Tail piece so it wouldn't take much to retro fit a wrap around tail piece. 

One thing to be scared of is that the studs on the 50's Les Paul Gold Tops were too short so so the string tention would cause the studs to pull towards the head stock and could mess up the hole of the stud causing it to be really loose and giving you tons of tuning problems.  So if you buy one just check to make sure the studs are still upright.  If you can find one that has this problem the good thing is, is its fixable and you can likely get a "deal" on one.  It wouldn't be original when you fix it but hey most vingate instruments have some sort of fix these day anyway.

AD3THREE's Website

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

You can get a ES-125 from the 50's dirt cheap!

AD3THREE's Website

  • Indy
  • Indy
  • Platinum
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  • From: Philly
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 269

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

You might want to try Mandolin Brothers.
http://www.mandoweb.com/

They have been around for 40 years and their appraisal experience gives them a wealth of knowledge.

BTW: your new Collings I-35 Deluxe is an absolutely gorgeous guitar.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
  • From: Ridgeland, MS
  • Registered: 2009-08-12
  • Posts: 1,248

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

AD3THREE wrote:

If you don't care about hardware on that Gold Top the older ones before the TOM Bridge was introduced are much cheaper then the 57'  Les Paul or the 56'.  The more advacnced the hardware the more it cost when dealing with 50's Les Pauls.  For example the 56' would be around $16,000 as stated earlier, but the 57' with PAF's would be $50,000.  I'm thinking you could step into a 53', to a 55' Les paul with a stop wrap around tail piece for about $10,000 - $12,000.  I'd stay away for the 52' as Les Paul designed that horrible bridge piece on the guitar, if you do go with a 52' I think the studs are the same as a Stop Tail piece so it wouldn't take much to retro fit a wrap around tail piece. 

One thing to be scared of is that the studs on the 50's Les Paul Gold Tops were too short so so the string tention would cause the studs to pull towards the head stock and could mess up the hole of the stud causing it to be really loose and giving you tons of tuning problems.  So if you buy one just check to make sure the studs are still upright.  If you can find one that has this problem the good thing is, is its fixable and you can likely get a "deal" on one.  It wouldn't be original when you fix it but hey most vingate instruments have some sort of fix these day anyway.

Joe Glaser in Nashville makes a trapeze stop tail that makes '52 GT more playable (see Keith Urban). The neck angle on 52's and early 53's might make a stop tail switch problematic without a neck reset.

There are also some relatively good values to be found on "conversions". Typically 52's that have had the above mentioned modifications. Unless a vintage guitar starts out unplayable, I would have a hard time radically altering it.

  • From: Was NY now FL/GA line
  • Registered: 2007-12-16
  • Posts: 2,857

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

Rumble Seat as mentioned. Great folks who only sell great gear. Gruhn's is another. If there's a guitar show in your area you might find something. Grab yourself a copy of Vintage Guitar magazine and you'll see what vintage gear is currently selling for on a dealer level.

Good luck in your search.

  • Registered: 2011-08-29
  • Posts: 267

Re: I need some advice on buying a vintage guitar...

All great suggestions so far...

I am a subscriber to vintage guitar....love that mag.  I've just never been a buyer before.  I've met some cool people just in the past couple of days and they have all been so willing to share their knowledge...  Who knows...I may have something really cool to share with everyone here very soon.

Oasis.Guitar's Website