Anyone here actually PLAYED a vintage guitar?

[bigconig]

Yup- I'm fortunate enough to work with a few great players who have some pretty incredible guitars.

 

Here are some pics I shot of a few great ones I got to play. The pictures are for Premier guitar Magazine's "guitar of the month" as well as an ad campaign we're running.

 

62 ES335 dot. Still the nicest guitar I've ever played. . .

 

58 Les Paul Gold Top

 

55 Strat

 

Tomorrow I'm shooting a 67 335 in mint condition. Haven't had a chance to play that one so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll update pics after I shoot.

[Schtang]

no pre-70s I know of, the closest is my brothers 1972 Fender tele thinline and the next closest is my 1975 Stratocaster.

 

 

[FlameTree]

not a bassist but i've mucked around on my dads '65(pre CBS) precision. I can't compare it to anyother basses, as it is the only one i've played.

[FlameTree]

 

Back in 91 or 92 I played a 59 Les Paul valued at that time at $68,000 --good thing I didnt drop it:thu:

 

 

sounds like a good deal now that you know what they're worth doesn't it

[leftyDaveZ]

Hey csm, don't take this the wrong way, but man do you look like a soccer hooligan.

[cratz2]

I lived in Dallas and Houston before that from 1982-1990ish and played countless pre 1970 guitars. I can't even begin to guess how many. Hundreds.

 

Some of them were pretty horrendous because they were WAY out of setup, but a few... MAN. The definition of mojo. One was a 1963 (ten years older than me!) Strat that was slightly burst, but it looked as though the finish had faded... not really worn, but faded. Rosewood fretboard while I prefer maple but man oh man. It was a player and it played SUPER sweet. It just sort of inspired confidence.

 

In general though, as much as I love the looks and the idea of vintage instruments, I don't think they, as a whole, approach the playability of modern instruments that are 1/10th their cost. And as much as I am a strat man, if I had money to burn, I would feel more likely to spend the money on vintage Pauls than vintage strats or Teles.

[Yasgurs Farm]

I played my friends 1962 Gibson 135. It's a hollowbody with f-holes and a P90. It sounds like records I've listened to -- country/bluesy/acoustic-ey/twangy/rockabilly-ish. Put it through a good quality tube amp with a touch of reverb, and the room (the people in the room) stop sucking on their beverages for a minute and listen. Cool guitar.

[littlemilo]

I've played a bunch, especially ones owned by my brothers over the years, mostly Gibsons. An early trapeze bridge goldtop LP, a Super 400, and a 3 pickup black beauty stand out in my mind (all long gone).

 

I also play my '60 ES-125t weekly.

 

I redid this '61 Gretsch Corvette for one brother's band reunion last year. He wanted an old Bill Lawrence pickup back in it for the reunion. The guitar has been in the family since the late '60s and gone thru several mods (including a hand tooled leather pickguard:freak:). The thing is, no matter what pickup or bridge or whatever you have on this old piece of mohagany, it sounds amazing. Aside from the flat neck radius, it's a blast to play.

 

 

I have no idea what the Corvette reissues are like.

[Bbreaker]

I've played a bunch, especially ones owned by my brothers over the years, mostly Gibsons. An early trapeze bridge goldtop LP, a Super 400, and a 3 pickup black beauty stand out in my mind (all long gone). I also play my '60 ES-125t weekly. I redid this '61 Gretsch Corvette for one brother's band reunion last year. He wanted an old Bill Lawrence pickup back in it for the reunion. The guitar has been in the family since the late '60s and gone thru several mods (including a hand tooled leather pickguard:freak:). The thing is, no matter what pickup or bridge or whatever you have on this old piece of mohagany, it sounds amazing. Aside from the flat neck radius, it's a blast to play. I have no idea what the Corvette reissues are like.

 

Rory Gallagher played a Corvette modded with a single dog eared P 90.

 

[DADGADammit]

I've played several WWII era Martins that are in one of my dad's friends collections. they sound magnificent. no electrics though

[isuck]

My brother in-law has what i think is a 59" 335td that i have played but have never pluged in. He is the second owner his father bought it for him in 65" for 200 dollars.

[One-armed Alec]

Hey csm, don't take this the wrong way, but man do you look like a soccer hooligan.

I could probably pass as his younger brother/nephew

[dcindc]

 

 

ai caramba!

 

I've played plenty. I don't look upon them as others do. They don't "charm me".

 

The good:

rolled neck edges

raucus alnico pickups

heft

wood quality

 

The bad:

worth too much

not enough of em

[Bassopotamus]

I own a mid 60s epi olympic which is pretty modded, and have played a fair number of other vintage axes. My general sense is that most of the vintage guitars/basses I have played seem to be much more resonant acoustically than new reissues. I'm not sure if it is better wood to start with, the aging of the wood, or just that the duds eventually got turned into kindling, but there does seem to be at least a little something afoot.

[The Eristic]

Plenty. Far and away the best? '42 D'Angelico New Yorker non-cutaway. Possibly the greatest instrument I've ever played. Absolutely transcendent.

[Roy Brooks]

I have around forty to fifty guitars. About 3/4 of them were made before 1970.

 

Here are my 1956 ES-175D and 1960 ES-330TD.

The ES-175 and ES-330 are my most gigged with guitars. This past Monday I went to a jam session and played the ES-330 into an early fifties Gibson GA-20. That sounded really good and like back in tha day, dogg. I play some gigs with a country band around Maryland and Virginia and always take either the ES-175 or ES-330 or both. They play nicely and have a sound I like.

 

These are my mid-1950s Harmony H42 and H44 Stratotones. Both sound really good and aren't bad players either. I have a reissue Eastwood Airline H44 that is a decent guitar. But it doesn't sound anything like my real H44.

 

These are my Danelectros. I also have a double cutaway with a vibrato arm that isn't pictured here. New Danelectros play and sound like toys compared to these. I know because I have owned a couple reissues. I sold them after I got some real Danelectros.

 

Here are some of my guitars made by Valco in the mid to late 1950s. I still have all of them but the hollowbody. I also have a two pickup version of the three pickup Airline in this picture. Nothing else sounds like these guitars. That's why I have lots of them. The reissues just kind of look like them but don't sound like these old ones.

[mc5nrg]

The short answer is yes.

 

If you are old enough you sort of predate the massive bubble in "vintage pricing" and probably have played and owned your share. Plus I've plenty of years working MI retail, lived in MI in the 70s and early 80s. Lots of old guitars appeared out of the woodwork around 80 the last time, before now, the great depression hit Michigan. Also had plenty of friends more or less my age who have had their share of old/vintage guitars.

 

Here's a few I no longer own:

Mosrite Ventures Model: kind of cool, nice trem and pickups. No frets actually made it pretty much unplayable.

Ampeg Dan Armstrong: kind of cool, way to heavy, sold to the replacement Replacement.

Epiphone Coronet: Except for the neck was so narrow I would bend chords out of tune I might have kept this. IIRC I traded it for the above Armstrong.

The piece of junk Mosrite was originally traded for the Coronet and an Astatic mike plus a player to be named later which turned out to be a little Kay series heater amp.

 

Let's just say some stuff I still have, but vintage value is diminished by neck repairs, unsmushed bodies etc.

[Professor Tom]

I've played and owned a lot of them, some were great, some were average, some were {censored}, just like today in fact. Nothing has really changed in that respect.

[Doctorx]

I've had a 1960 Strat since the seventies. I also have a friend that has a sweet 56 Telecaster.

 

[One-armed Alec]

Great posts guys, and some beautiful instruments y'all have there

 

Only wish I had time to talk to you each a little more

 

Cracking Strat man, thanks for posting

 

But what's with those block saddles?

 

Set of Callaham repros or Fender CS items would look the part

 

(I'm just jealous)

[One-armed Alec]

I've played and owned a lot of them, some were great, some were average, some were {censored}, just like today in fact. Nothing has really changed in that respect.

You don't think the budget stuff is better these days?

[Doctor Morbius]

Is 1976 considered vintage? If so, then yes I've played a couple of vintage guitars. However, they weren't vintage at the time. They belonged to a couple of friends of mine in high school.

[stormin1155]

Roy Brooks, you have some great old guitars there....

[DenverDave]

I was able to play a late 50's (1955 - 1957 I think - I'm not sure) Telecaster a gentleman in our church owned. It is totally original except for the tuners. I got to jam with it a bit through a Fender tube amp....

 

I know this is not true of all 'vintage' guitars, but this guitar had 'it' - whatever it happens to be. It was not worth the selling price of these gems, but this guitar oozed mojo and had the best Tele tone I have heard in my entire life. I played like a dream and was one of those guitar that make the 'vintage' legend at least in part a reality. No modern Tele by any maker could touch the tone coming out of this guitar. The guy sold it about a year later to finance a custom guitar from some world famous builder who changed a fortune.....

[Doctorx]

 

Great posts guys, and some beautiful instruments y'all have there Only wish I had time to talk to you each a little more Cracking Strat man, thanks for posting But what's with those block saddles? Set of Callaham repros or Fender CS items would look the part (I'm just jealous)

 

Yes you're probably right. I think those are Shector saddles, I put those on around 1979. I still have the original saddles somewhere. Back in those days I did a lot of changes to it. Shaller tuners, dimarzio SDS1 in the bridge, blocked the trem, removed the tone pots, added another string tree, installed straplocks, and for a while in the eighties I had a Stratoblaster in it. Somewhere around 1985 the switch went bad and I put a 5 way in it. It's also been refretted twice and the neck radius is much flatter.

 

I don't really want to fool with anymore because for me it plays like a wet dream. If I was a famous rock star like Clapton or Jeff Beck, Fender would probably do a Strat modeled after it. I guess if they can reproduce Rory Galleghers Strat they could do the same for this old beat up piece of {censored}.