Am I crazy, or…

[Ranger107]

Had an original 62 stratocaster I bought in HS for maybe $200. Sold it after college for several hundred. A good friend in Ventura who has his own band and rebuilds vintage guitars told me it would be worth several thousand if I still had it. Who knew, lol.

 

[GtrSmoker]

Had an original 62 stratocaster I bought in HS for maybe $200. Sold it after college for several hundred. A good friend in Ventura who has his own band and rebuilds vintage guitars told me it would be worth several thousand if I still had it. Who knew, lol.

A good strat from that era can go for five figures. The most I’ve ever paid for a guitar was a little over a grand for a new Gibson Firebird that I’d always jonesed for… got it maybe four years ago.

it’s a perfectly fine guitar. But I’ve always been a fender man… and I prefer my Tele and Strat… both made in Mexico… to the Firebird.

 

[Ranger107]

A good strat from that era can go for five figures. The most I’ve ever paid for a guitar was a little over a grand5 for a new Gibson Firebird that I’d always jonesed for… got it maybe four years ago.

it’s a perfectly fine guitar. But I’ve always been a fender man… and I prefer my Tele and Strat… both made in Mexico… to the Firebird.

Yep my friend estimated mine would have gone for 12/15K.

 

[GtrSmoker]

Yep my friend estimated mine would have gone for 12/15K.

It’s a shame a collector’s market has basically priced out the majority of people who would actually be able to put those great old instruments to good use.

I care more about the old amps than the old guitars, and they’re the same way… maybe not quite as bad. But I’ll likely never be able to afford a pre-70s Fender amp.

I had a custom amp built a couple of years ago. It’s the 6g2 brownface Princeton circuit, but with a 12” Eminence Maverick (adjustable sensitivity… very cool speaker). I’ve got vintage RCA tubes across the board.

Great amp, but it lacks the “mojo” of an original.

I DO own a ‘79 Deluxe Reverb… but that’s near the end of the original run, and not as sought after as the earlier models.

 

[RSteve]

Several years ago, I was nosing around a local Guitar Center on a Saturday when a Gibson/Epiphone rep was demonstrating instruments. I'd guess he was in his mid-50s and an incredible instrumentalist. I was quite amazed at his honesty when discussing Gibson vs. Epiphone. He got into a discussion of pedals, amps, modeling, etc. The upshot of his talk was the guitar doesn't make the player. A player plays an instrument that feels right and, of course, what he can afford. He was very frank saying that with all the electronics available, you can pretty well dial in the sound you're looking for. It's all about the skill of the player.

 

[GtrSmoker]

Several years ago, I was nosing around a local Guitar Center on a Saturday when a Gibson/Epiphone rep was demonstrating instruments. I'd guess he was in his mid-50s and an incredible instrumentalist. I was quite amazed at his honesty when discussing Gibson vs. Epiphone. He got into a discussion of pedals, amps, modeling, etc. The upshot of his talk was the guitar doesn't make the player. A player plays an instrument that feels right and, of course, what he can afford. He was very frank saying that with all the electronics available, you can pretty well dial in the sound you're looking for. It's all about the skill of the player.

This is 100% true.

Also, I don’t know if he got into this, but I’ve read that if a player had $1500 to buy a guitar and amp, he’s better served getting a $1,000 amp and $500 guitar than if he gets a $1,000 guitar and $500 amp. The point being that a great amp is more important to one’s overall sound than a great guitar.

I have a hard time deciding whether I prefer my $900 Mexico made Hendrix signature strat or my $500 (but with some important improvements made) Mexico made Telecaster.

Gun to my head, I’d probably pick the Tele. The day I bought that guitar, I went into guitar center planning to get a different Telecaster… the Nashville one, with three pickups. But I played that one, and it didn’t feel right.

So I sat there dejected, when this butterscotch blonde tele with a black pickguard caught my eye. I’d always been fond of that look. Keith Richards, Bruce… tons of icons play that kind.

So I pick that one up, and it’s like an old friend. Played very similar to my first good guitar. An ‘89 or ‘90 American Standard.

so I went home with that $500 Tele. Since then, I’ve had better tuners and better pickups (including a neck humbucker—like Keith) put on. It’s basically the perfect guitar for me.

in fact, I think I’m going to go play it now!

 

[RSteve]

It must be at least thirty years ago when I attended a conference in Mobile, Alabama. One of the men at the conference was an academic, whom I believe was teaching at Wayne State U. in Detroit. His avocation was blues historian and musician. At lunch, during the conference, he asked if I'd do him a favor. He'd been perusing the local pawnshops looking for a depression era Sears or Wards acoustic guitar with a homemade pickup or an early Stella. He'd found what he was looking for, but said he was met with hostility at the pawnshop. "I'm a black man on his first visit to the South and I'm a little afraid of bargaining. Will you get the guitar for me?" There really was no bargaining. Shop owner wanted $100, I offered $50, bought for $75.00. The guitar looked like crap, but with an odd tuning and glass slide, it sounded great. When I commented on the sound, the buyer said, "You should hear it through my home built tube amp." I never did, however.

 

[GtrSmoker]

It must be at least thirty years ago when I attended a conference in Mobile, Alabama. One of the men at the conference was an academic, whom I believe was teaching at Wayne State U. in Detroit. His avocation was blues historian and musician. At lunch, during the conference, he asked if I'd do him a favor. He'd been perusing the local pawnshops looking for a depression era Sears or Wards acoustic guitar with a homemade pickup or an early Stella. He'd found what he was looking for, but said he was met with hostility at the pawnshop. "I'm a black man on his first visit to the South and I'm a little afraid of bargaining. Will you get the guitar for me?" There really was no bargaining. Shop owner wanted $100, I offered $50, bought for $75.00. The guitar looked like crap, but with an odd tuning and glass slide, it sounded great. When I commented on the sound, the buyer said, "You should hear it through my home built tube amp." I never did, however.

Great story. I’ve been a blues devotee since I was about 15. So, late 80s. I got there the same way most white boys of a certain age do: the Stones.

I remember buying that Robert Johnson box set when it came out. I didn’t really “get it” until later. It was just so alien, unlike anything in my universe.

 

[Ranger107]

Love blues. Always wished I could play like BB or Eric Clapton. Still have my 1970s Epiphone acoustic but no good for blues.

 

[GtrSmoker]

Love blues. Always wished I could play like BB or Eric Clapton. Still have my 1970s Epiphone acoustic but no good for blues.