Source Audio Blog

Vintage Guitar Gear - Do You Buy It?

Friday, February 23, 2007

Posted in: Artist / Heroes

What guitar player has not looked at a picture of his or her musical Idol, with their guitar of choice in hand, and not sought out the same instrument?

If you grew up in the 70's, chances are pretty good that you lusted after a cherry sunburst Les Paul, or a Fender Strat. The players of the day used those, and our plans for greatness might as well have included the best instruments of the day. If Jimmy Page used it, it had to be the best, right????????

Flash to 30 years into the future, and those 1950's and 60's guitars can cost more than a nice condo.

Now, I have written many magazine articles on vintage guitars, so you could definitly call me a fan. But there's a point where it just gets silly. And that point is when people think that old is better than new, just because, well, it's old.


I recall when I worked in a primarily "boutique" musical instrument shop in Los Angeles, and I dealt with many vintage "snobs" on many occasions.

One fellow was looking for a delay unit, and a used and beat up Echoplex caught his eye. After A/B'ing the unit with numerous delay pedals which sounded and performed better (yes, I am aware that this is a relative word), I sadly came to realize that the gentleman wanted the Echoplex due to fact that it brought him back to his youth.

Now, that's fine with me, in theory. I have a couple of Zap Comix from my teenage years, and those "stepping stones" to the innocent times in life are important. But I knew that if he closed his eyes, he'd much prefer the newer, better performing units.

You might love Les Pauls, Stratocasters, Vox AC30's and Marshall Plexi's - I sure do. But I also love PRS McCartys, Tom Andersons, Mojave amps and Matchless amps . They are just as great as those that inspired them, in my book.

Same thing with the Hot hand. I like it more than my original 1976 Mutron III. And, more than my friend's original Univibe.

The great irony is, that the new state-of-the-art equipment that we play now, will achieve vintage status in 25 years. 

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