The guitar is one of the most versatile instruments in the world, and they become more flexible as manufacturing techniques improve and new design ideas are incorporated. So why is it that so many experienced guitar players desire to own a vintage guitar? Surely, a new, modern guitar would be best? This is simply not so, and below we will explore why.
First and foremost, like good wine, a quality guitar can mature with age. Overall, the tone of the guitar will usually mellow, as the wood the instrument is constructed from continues to harden over time.
Scarcity is also a big factor when deciding if a guitar should be considered vintage or not. Certain manufacturers such as Martin, were famed for producing very short production runs of individual designs. As certain designs were found to age very well, the scarcity of the actual units produced made them instantly vintage.
For some models, such as the famed Les Paul Gold Top, it is the actual finish of the guitar, which makes them desirable.
This particular model used bronze as part of the dye to turn the top of the guitar golden in color, and with age, the bronze content takes on a greenish tint.
For other models, such as the Fender Stratocaster, the vintage models date back to a certain era of the corporation which manufactured them, back to a time when manufacturing and quality control processes were deemed to be far better, this produces a superior instrument.
Lastly, we have short run, often termed “signature” guitars. These are often endorsed by a well-known musician, and will incorporate design concepts upon the advice of said musician. Fender in particular is noted for the number of signature series guitars they produce, and although not all of these can currently be considered vintage models, there is no doubt that they will eventually be seen as such.
An offshoot of the whole vintage guitar scene is that of vintage amplification. Certain amplifiers, such as the VOX AC30, and the Fender Bluesbreaker, along with many of the older Marshal amplifier heads and speaker cabinets, are noted for their particularly rich sound reproduction capabilities. Almost always, these amplifiers will use older tube-based circuitry, which give a much warmer sound. Although some of the early MOSFET amplifiers are also become desirable.
Many vintage guitars are to be found in the hands of collectors; quite often, these owners will not even be capable of playing the instrument with any great expertise. Instead, they take pleasure from owning a little piece of music history in the form of the instruments which produced all of those classic sounds which we still hear today.
Vintage guitars not only offer the musician a better playing experience, they also allow the owner to take loving care of a piece of history. Many of the vintage instruments we see today, have been entirely restored, at great expense, to make them look, sound and play as close to the original manufacturing specification as possible.
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