April edition of Vintage Guitar News and Views by Greg's Vintage Guitars
Technorati ProfileWell the old adage that "everything old is new again "can certainly be said regarding the guitar market.
How this relates to popular trends is evident in the resurrection of
N.O.S and reissue guitars that have flooded the market. Not that
reissue guitars are anything new mind you,Fender reissued 60's styled
guitars as early as the mid 80's with reasonable success. But the surge
has hit an all time high mainly due (I believe anyway) to the fact that
a lot of working,gigging and weekend warriors are afraid to take their
prized vintage gear out on the road. Even though the guitarist arsenal
hasn't changed ,the way one perceives his or her equipment certainly
has. So,many musicians (working ones anyways)are turning to "reissues"
or "relic" guitars as a viable alternative to risking damage or loss to
their vintage gear while on the road or performing. So what constitutes
a good deal on one of these types of guitars ? Well like everything
,you have to shop around and be willing to invest some time visiting
dealer web sites such as www.gregsguitars.net or others and looking
over the attributes of certain models within your defined budget. Forum
rooms are another good source to gather insight to other players'
ratings, likes and dislikes on certain models. Then you have to decide,
"How much do I want to pay?" Is the certificate ,case candy and other
non players attributes worth the extra cash that some dealers charge
for such items? Is it something you want to increase the guitars
resale value? Well... The certificate and case candy do add some value
for you at resale some point down the line,but as a player first ,they
really do not make the guitar sound better or play better now do they?
But they should be considered if your sole purpose is to collect
guitars and not play them.The extra cost(s) should be factored into
your final evaluation of any deal regardless ,but as a player whether
they (the certificates)are there or not should not be a deal breaker
by any means. So my best advice that I can give you? Look for guitars
that are early custom shop,or custom shop built before the paper rage
took hold and the cookie cutters came out. A custom run of a
particular guitar ,custom colors,or a reissue that had only a certain
number of guitars built and are numbered to reflect that (like a
Cunetto diamond dealer relic Stratocaster that was limited
in it's run)or even better ,if your lucky enough to run down that old
guitar that still retains all the original parts but has at some point
been "refinned" (shudder, shudder) these guitars are still somewhat
affordable and have that "old tone wood" that we all desire.But hey, like always this is just my opinion. Greg at Greg's guitars.
Posted by Greg's Vintage Guitar News at 3/28/2008 2:07 PM 
Categories: Vintage guitars, vintage guitar news and views, vintage guitar news
Categories: Vintage guitars, vintage guitar news and views, vintage guitar news
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