Corksniffery...when did it originate?

[dimmypage]

 

I am the same way with Gibson, I tried to like their products, but, like you with G&L, they aren't for me. You are right, getting a quality American guitar can be pricey, however for me it is worth it. The guitars I have all are instruments that I really connected with, and I see a substantial difference between them and all of the more affordable guitars I have owned. The tricky thing about the whole "this guitar is better than that one" issue, is that it is all really a matter of personal preference. I think we are all fortunate that there are plenty of manufacturers to chose from.

 

 

 

Like you say its all personal preferance and its also using self control in relationship to ones income. I used to be a major corksniffer until I played a friends Ibanez Deystroyer back in the 80s--He had a recording contract with Shrapnel records and did 3 European tours----I had a les Paul Custom and played $80 a night bar gigs:eek:

[DavidMgT]

 

Like you say its all personal preferance and its also using self control in relationship to ones income. I used to be a major corksniffer until I played a friends Ibanez Deystroyer back in the 80s--He had a recording contract with Shrapnel records and did 3 European tours----I had a les Paul Custom and played $80 a night bar gigs:eek:

 

 

Ibanez makes some really nice instruments...I used to have a PR1660 back in the 80s. It was their version of a Jackson RR. It was a really great guitar that I wish I still had. Guitars are funny things and many times you cant just shop by brand..one of the most comfortable guitars I ever played was a $200 Yamaha Pacifica at a friends place down in TX. I saw a similar guitar in a shop up here and it felt, played and sounded nothing like the one I played before!

[Sardocasm]

It all began when man first realized that he could hold both his guitar and his penis at the same time.

[mymindsok]

Cork sniffing? The CS Syndrome has infected many many areas of life for a LOOOOONG time.

 

The image that ya'll use comes directly from the wine industry and there have been serious winfe collectors for several hundred years.

 

IMHO CSS invaded the guitar hobby right about the 50's when everyone realized that the guys who made guitars before WWII really were artists, that the the supply of really good woods was limited and that the prices were going up.

 

CSS REALLY took off with the folk boom in the 60's. Everyone wanted guitars and it became eveident pretty early in the game that the smart players were looking for old martins and Gibsons.

 

CSS for electric guitars certainly started in the 60's. Thats when rock stars began "collecting" instruments and by the 70's (When car, camera and gun collecting really jumped into high gear.) serious cash started being invested into guitars by guys who never had a thought about learning to play. They were enticed by the high prices being paid for supposidly exotic guitars, that could frequently be purchased for peanuts and/or be sold for a quick profit.

 

I once knew a guy who had so many Ferrari's that he really couldnt remember how many he owened at any one time, much less the Lambos, Maserati's or Caddys. That guy couldnt walk past a Ferrari dealership with out BUYING SOMETHING! Loll!! Some guys are like that with guitars and some of the most addicted are (Ahem...!) DEALERS! Loll!!

 

Ya know, you can't really complain about the CSing crowd "Keeping guitars out of the hands of real players" without facing the fact that many, of not most, "collecter guitars" are being created and priced with those guys in mind. Who do you thinks buying all thise $25,000 guitars? Not real players!

 

If you really want a Martin D-45 or some other fine instrument remember that theyre making em every day, they arent THAT expensive. Plus, the smell of the air that wafts out the case when you open it is... Well... Quite intoxicating! OTOH, if your gas is for a pre-war Martin 000-45 with a slotted headstock, youre sh** outa luck.

 

Every time I've really had GAS for an expensive guitar, I've found a way to get it if I REALLY wanted it.

 

Mymindsok

 

 

PS: On the other hand, I was GASing for a new acoustic for slide work and ended up buying one of those plywood Gretsch coyboy guitars. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a $150 guitar! Loll!!

[dimmypage]

 

It all began when man first realized that he could hold both his guitar and his penis at the same time.

 

I havent mastered that one yet.

[donnievaz]

I'm guessing mid to late 90's, around the time PRS w/10 tops first became a big deal?

 

I'd say it was likely the first time some dickhead with more money than talent bought a bunch of the most expensive guitars he could find and declared his superiority. It's still happening every day

[dimmypage]

Mymindsok

 

Every time I've really had GAS for an expensive guitar, I've found a way to get it. You can too.

 

 

I think thats what a lot of players are doing these days by buying less expensive guitars and modding them.

[ashtray]

I remember owning a lot of guitars that people would give me the "I wouldn't be caught dead playing that" back in the early 90s - but I'm sure it started around the same time the electric guitar first came to market.

 

Think of the people who bought Les Pauls, and looked at people playing Telecasters as "inferior bolt together guitars". Then think about the guys playing Stratocasters in the 50s, and seeing someone playing a Duosonic in a band. "dude, that's a student instrument - not a pro guitar!"

 

So - corksniffing has been around for a long time. Then there's always fads that hit the industry "brass nuts are SO much better", "locking trems should be retrofitted to everything b/c they rule!", "Grover tuners must go on every Les Paul", etc etc etc.

[mymindsok]

Dimmy,

 

You got it kid (!) and thats one of the koolest things about electric guitars. If you either know how to mod em yourself or have some friends who are savvy, you can get/create/have almost anything you want.

 

Well.... as long as you don't want Buddy Holly's Strat. I got that one locked up at my bank!

 

Mymind

[dimmypage]

Dimmy, You got it kid (!) and thats one of the koolest things about electric guitars. If you either know how to mod em yourself or have some friends who are savvy, you can get/create/have almost anything you want. Well.... as long as you don't want Buddy Holly's Strat. I got that one locked up at my bank! Mymind

 

:thu:

[guitarcapo]

I think it first came about in the 1960's with the great folk revival. People were seeking out old instruments to play the old tunes that were becoming fashionable. It didn't hurt that they sounded better from being old and were built during the depression when skilled hand labor was cheap and fantastic tonewoods were easy to come by. By the late 60's, the amp companies were force feeding us solid state amps, which started the whole vintage amp boom.

By the 70's, American products were sucking everywhere. Martin was almost bankrupt from a labor strike, Gibson sold out to Norlin with that quality dip.

By then it was getting fashionable to say that the old stuff they made was better,,,whether it was American cars, motorcyles, whatever.

Then the baby boomers started throwing around all their disposable income wanting to relive their youth and rockstar heroes...at the same time stuff coming out of Asia was better quality but didn't have the brand recognition or vintage appeal...and the stage was set. Old people are pretty much set in their ways (notice how old people think a Cadillac is the ultimate driving experience?) So the now 60 year old boomers aren't goint to buy better stuff if it was out there....

 

But yea...It started in the 60's.

Before then there were just old guitars and new guitars.

[aenemated]

 

Before then there were just old guitars and new guitars.

 

 

heh i remember reading something, i think it was with billy gibbons, where he was talking about what we now call "vintage" and said something along the lines of "hell, back in the 60s, a '59 les paul wasn't "vintage," it was just an old guitar."

[stormin1155]

 

Corksniffery has been alive and well since the 70s:thu:

 

 

Yes, in 1974 I had a 1967 SG with Maestro trem. One of my bandmates had a 1961 SG, and he continually reminded me that his was better/more collectable/desirable/valuable, etc.

[jrockbridge]

Cork sniffing relating to wine came about centuries ago. Cork sniffery as it relates to guitar came about long ago when the top classical guitarist's of their day turned their nose up at the average {censored}ty classical in favor of what the premier luthier's of the day could create.

 

The day that cork sniffing originated for me was a few years ago when I discovered the concept of modified pedals. I read somewhere that pro musicians often had tricked out versions of stock pedals. I was a little bit skeptical that my ears could hear much of a difference.

 

So, with healthy skepticism I moved ahead. I knew I was often disappointed with the way some stock pedals sounded, so I figured it was worth a shot. I tried my first boutique modified pedal, and I could hear the difference.

 

Since then, I have have experienced more boutique pedals and hand wound pickups. Recently, I got a set of BG Buckers....damn that Bryan Gunsher for raising the bar!

 

The closest thing I have to cork sniffer caliber guitars are an Am Dlx Strat w/Fralin pups & blender wiring. A Trans Crimson Dbl Fat Squier Strat with a Warmoth Anagre & Kingwood neck + BG Bucker pups. And, a Parker Nitefly which sounds amazing in the blended Piezo mode, but needs a pup upgrade to achieve the WOW factor from the magnetic pups alone.

 

Now, I just need to purchase a boutique amp or two. Also, my stock amps could use some boutique mods.

 

Nothing to do with the original thread post and question...say you. say I!

 

[Alchemist]

not sure when it started, but it did flourish with internet forums, so I am guessing late 90's, early 00's.... why? because you could seek acceptance and admiration from a community of likeminded (at least with respect to the hobby in question) people simply by what you own.

 

Take a look at thegearpage (which I will go on the record as saying that I enjoy, they discuss a lot of gear which I like for reasons that I have tried it and believe it to be of great quality), there are a lot of people there that are great musicians, but also a lot of hobbyists with gear that will make your jaw drop, and it is pretty obvious that much of their gear choice is simply based on what is the current hot item to own......

 

this forum is different, I think that is mostly due to the big mix of age groups (and income brackets, of which I am probably near the bottom right now lol), but even here people have the same mentality, except with cheap gear... so really its no better....

[jrockbridge]

I remember reading that Eric Clapton pieced together Blackie out of the best parts from three different Strats. I say we blame Clapton for early rock 'n' roll cork sniffery!

[Alchemist]

I remember reading that Eric Clapton pieced together Blackie from the best parts from three Strats. I say we blame Clapton for early rock 'n' roll cork sniffery!

 

so what youre saying is that 50's/60's Fender QC was so bad that it took 3 guitars to piece together one that was decent?

 

 

 

 

 

[GuitarNoobie]

so what youre saying is that 50's/60's Fender QC was so bad that it took 3 guitars to piece together one that was decent?

 

[dimmypage]

Ill I know is that the electric solid body guitar is NOT rocket science.

I think any manufacturer can make a nice guitar at a high price point,the real trick is making a consistant affordable guitar. I personally like to own things that not everybody else uses and suprisingly enough I find that more often in some budget guitars especially in the used market.

[jrockbridge]

so what youre saying is that 50's/60's Fender QC was so bad that it took 3 guitars to piece together one that was decent?

 

Apparently that was the case with Fender QC....at least as far as Clapton was concerned. He's the original rock 'n' roll cork sniffer.

 

But, I'm wondering, when did pro musicians start seeking guitars from custom builders? Perhaps, that peaked in the 90's and could be the origins of mass produced boutique guitars and cork sniffery on a grand scale!

[jrockbridge]

Ill I know is that the electric solid body guitar is NOT rocket science. I think any manufacturer can make a nice guitar at a high price point,the real trick is making a consistant affordable guitar. I personally like to own things that not everybody else uses and suprisingly enough I find that more often in some budget guitars especially in the used market.

 

I think your words are more true today than they were in the past. The guitars I started on in the 80's cost more than today's beginner guitars (factor in inflation!). My first guitars were hard to play and sounded like crap!

 

To get a decent guitar back when I started, I had to cut down my own tree with a butter knife! I traveled half way around the world bumming rides with thieves and cutthroats to find trees with mojo!

 

Back then, Crate amps were horrible, but that's what I could afford. Solid state was all the rage. Can you say harsh & ice picky?! We thought 8-bit digital was cool.

 

Today, I am amazed that even the cheap stuff sounds pretty good. Certainly, gear has improved by leaps and bounds likely due to the increase in demand.

 

But, I've paid my dues with the crap in my day. I think I've earned the right to my cork sniffery. I only wish I could afford a point to point, hand wired Marshall.

[BlackHatHunter]

To me, it's quite simple. If you think that your SX Tele is better, or as good, as a Grosh T-style, then by all means save the money and enjoy the hell out of the SX.

 

If you actually play a custom, hand-made, boutique guitar and love the hell out of it, then you are either:

 

a. Lucky, because you can afford it, or

b. SOL, because you can't afford it, but have a hard time going back to the guitar you can currently afford.

 

I didn't buy an Anderson or a Melancon or a Crook for any other reason than they are simply superior instruments to anything else I had owned up to now... in my opinion. What others think of these guitars is about as interesting to me as the white stuff that accumulates between your lips when you fall asleep on the couch with your mouth half open.

 

Art is not competition. I don't care what you play, and you shouldn't care what I play. I just hope that whatever you use to go jinga-jing (as the late George Harrison used to say) puts a fat smile on your face. If it does, mission accomplished, and I am genuinely happy for you, because music is supposed to be simple, pure, unadulterated JOY.

 

As for whether an expensive guitar buys you talent or not, that's the dumbest crap going. Nobody said it did.

[GuitarNoobie]

Art is not competition. I don't care what you play, and you shouldn't care what I play. I just hope that whatever you use to go jinga-jing (as the late George Harrison used to say) puts a fat smile on your face. If it does, mission accomplished, and I am genuinely happy for you, because music is supposed to be simple, pure, unadulterated JOY. As for whether an expensive guitar buys you talent or not, that's the dumbest crap going. Nobody said it did.

 

 

[White Falcon]

 

not sure when it started, but it did flourish with internet forums, so I am guessing late 90's, early 00's.... why? because you could seek acceptance and admiration from a community of likeminded (at least with respect to the hobby in question) people simply by what you own.

 

 

yeah i think that's true. i think the boom of the web and forums have facilitated buying gear as a hobby amongst non-players. before this, guitar players would congregate in music stores to discuss gear and playing, with the emphasis being on playing and technique.

[jrockbridge]

Hmmm where to start?...I'll try to revive my viagra enhanced penis with a guitar"!...That to me is the corksniffer mentality, old yuppies living off their money, not good or bad, just the way the "ME generation" is.

 

You mean the, "Me...Al Franken," generation? I hope you don't mind that I circumcised your post.

 

I think Aleve is, to the aging guitarist's fingers, what Viagra is to the penis of a dirty old man. Personally, I don't need Viagra (yet), but Aleve is my miracle drug (I have severe Psoriatic Arthritis).

 

You whipper snappers are lucky. You don't need Viagra, and by the time you do, they'll have something new that extends your orgasm to all day, and makes a woman's vagina as tight as a virgin!