The May Edition of The Vintage Guitar News and Views

 



 
Arguably the point has  been  made that the best acoustic guitars were constructed in a short 9 to 12 year span and that span in time was before most off us were born. Now I am not going to argue that particular point in this issue of The Vintage Guitar News and Views, but rather inject some food for thought. I as much as any player or guitar collector love those old guitars made in the late 1930's through the late 1940's  and like any guitar made today ,some were good some were bad and some where tonally ugly. True, acoustic guitars made in this era will probably always be highly sought after by players and collectors alike to those that can afford them but I tend to disagree ( surprised ? ) that these are the best of the best in acoustic guitar production. I personally have heard and own many acoustic guitars that sound amazing and are extremely well built. Some of these guitars were constructed by now defunct and out of business companies due to financial or natural disasters. The R.G. and G. company out of Nashville Tennessee is one such guitar company that made some fine guitars ,they were highly regarded and played by anyone who was someone  in Nashville in the 1960's and early 1970's while these guitars were still in production. Unfortunately the company founded by Billy Grammer ( The Grammer Guitar) was consumed by fire and never rose from the ashes to build another guitar .Takamine guitars started flexing there muscle  in the 1980's and many big named stars to this day play those and more recently produced Takamine guitars. As newer innovations and technology crept into the guitar manufacturing process a more conforming and standard product started arriving for the consumer, now granted none of these guitars may never achieve the cult like status and glory that the older acoustic guitars have acquired, but you never know. I also believe that the Vintage acoustic guitar market is ready for an upswing in pricing. They have played second fiddle to the electric slab of wood long enough in my opinion and I predict that the electric guitar market will soften and stabilize while we acoustic guitar collectors will see a rise in value. All this almost brings me to my point, that most acoustic guitars that have been built since the 1930 era are all bench marked against the big two guitar makers of the time, i.e. It sounds like a "Gibson" or is made like a "Martin" and so on. Much as most amps built are compared to either Fender or Marshall as if these companies are the only companies to ever build a good product.If this were the truth  then why are their so many different choices even within the major companies themselves? The answer to me is simple, with such a wide tonal palette to enjoy and such a varied playing spectrum in which we can participate then choice is paramount to the player to the artist and to the collector. Granted some guitars will be worth more than others because of the perceived magical era in which they were produced, but what is judges as good or not good collectible or not narrowed down to just a handful of guitars made in a certain time frame is rather shallow and narrow minded, but this as always is just my news and view. So until next month , may all your days be re memorable may all your friends stay true and may all your riffs be killer, Greg.

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Posted by Greg's Vintage Guitar News at 5/6/2009 12:31 PM
Categories: vintage guitars,collectible guitars,guitars sales.,vintage guitar news
Tags: vintage amp sales. guitar collections vintage guitar sales collectible guitars vintage acoustic guitars
 

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