January edition of the vintage guitar news and views

The Vintage Guitar News and Views January Edition.

As with my peers concerning the state of todays guitar and vintage guitar market I will add in my own opinion for what it is worth.(no pun intended ). What I see is a halt to the sudden and rapid rise in prices that mint vintage guitars will bring in, such as those we have seen in the last 3 to 4 years and a slow down or market correction,which we are seeing today, not that these guitars are worth any less but rather a more informed market and a hesitance on buyers reluctant to make larger purchase as thy have in the past. I do strongly believe that vintage electric guitars (pre 1964) and pre war vintage acoustics will always be a wise investment for diversity and collectability .

The market for less than mint vintage guitars will not command the prices they did in the past (for now). Usually the price for for a less than mint vintage guitar was worth roughly 20 to 60 % of the going price for a mint version(depending on many factors) but as collectors today can hold out and purchase more guitar for less money in todays market ,they can and will seek the best version and price for a particular make and model that they have been desiring.This being the case as a player first and collector second now is an excellent time to purchase a less than stellar example of that desired guitar that you have been seeking. Which as a guitar enthusiast I welcome , due to the fact that more and more of these guitars will actually be in the public eye and be played and not tucked away in an unseen vault ,which in turn will fuel the market for more of these great old guitars

As the builders are flooding the market with every type of conceivable reissue they can think of I also think this will fuel the market and interest in the earlier (pre 2000) released reissue and relic guitars (think Murphy and Cunetto ) and the limited run custom shop guitars. I do not see a substantial rise in price or value of later releases or cookie cutter relic guitars and actually see the prices of these later versions probably going down as was once the norm for a used guitar.

I also think large auction styled sites will continue to confuse an be a detractant to most new and irregular buyers and sellers as the pricing on such sites tends to be spotty and not an actual informed area where true guitar sellers place most of their gear for sale but rather use these type of sites to increase awareness and traffic to their regular web site. Just because it is old does not mean it is valuable and just because it is valuable does not mean it has to be old and like my peers we tend to do a lot of research and spend a lot of time when doing listings ,so purchases will continue to be made more (I think )from well knowledged and customer attentive dealers as opposed to the auction styled sites.

I have also always believed the acoustic market was way under valued and it has started to respond as I anticipated with prices starting to edge up on certain guitars , an area which I believe will continue to rise. We as guitar players and collectors are a diverse and finicky group to say the least and as older players acquire the guitars they want , the newer player collectors with different guitar hero's ,memories and styles will start to effect the market, so don't be surprised to see guitars enter the arena that 10 years ago you would not have dreamed would. This always is just my news and views to inform and entertain. May all your days be memorable,all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer, till next month, Greg at Greg's guitars."Bottom side up."The Vintage Guitar News and Views January Edition.

The Vintage Guitar News and Views Greg's Guitars

Going for the gold, The 1952 Gibson Goldtop Les Paul.

The December edition of The Vintage Guitar News and Views.

This issue of The Vintage Guitar News and Views we will look at what has made the Les Paul guitar such an iconic guitar and also some of the changes that it has undergone throughout the last 57 years.
Wanting a guitar to compete and to overshadow the guitars that the competition was making out in California ,Ted McCarty introduced the first Gibson solid body electric guitar in 1952,The Les Paul. In body wood choices Gibson deemed an all mahogany model may sound to dull and lifeless and an all maple guitar would (get it?) be far to heavy .So a compromise was agreed upon to make a solid maple carved top,to take advantage of the old world craftsmen employed by Gibson with a set neck and solid mahogany back. Complete with 2 P - 90 pickups ,2 volume and 2 tone controls as well as a 3 way selector switch and a trapeze tail piece.
This was Gibson's first solid body guitar to be produced and was released in 1952 with the patent number of 2714326 in January of 1953. It was produced in two standard ( no pun intended) colors, Black and Gold,although it is acknowledged in several publications that sunburst was the traditional Gibson color in name recognition ,according to other sources Mr. Les Paul himself requested these options. Gibson enlisted Les Paul (r.i.p.) to promote it's new guitar with his (Les Paul) name emblazed across the headstock, securing not only Les immortality but also securing Gibson a bonafide name recognition with their new guitar. Originally produced with a trapeze tailpiece that was replaced in the start of 1954 with the wrap around stop tail piece.
The standard pickup was th P-90 single coil and it was not until 1955 that a test version of Mr. Seth Lovers pickup the "humbucker" was applied to a Les Paul guitar. Even though most guitars would not receive this upgraded pickup until mid 1957. A late 1955 " consolette steel guitar was actually the first Gibson product to receive the new "humbucker" pickups in the Gibson line. But , 1957 is perceived as the era that the humbucker pickup was available guitars. In 1957 the "fretless wonder" was introduced(smaller ,low action frets) along with the "Bigsby" vibrato unit. The tune o matic bridge was also introduced in 1957.
By 1960 the last production year of the first run of Les Paul guitars a 3 pickup version aptly named the Les Paul "Custom" was offered for sale. Interestingly enough these guitars sold for $395.00 without the plush lined "California girl" case and the Les Paul standard sold for a mere $265.00 (if we only knew).
Yes The Gibson Les Paul solid body guitar from it's inception through 1959 only suffered slight but significant changes,from the trapeze tailpiece to the more familiar stop tail piece ,tune o matic bridge configuration. From the P-90 pickups to the P.A.F. Seth Lover humbuckers,structurally and production wise it remained the same, even in it's second incarnation when this icon of rock and roll was reintroduced into production. A true testament to the golden age of guitars and guitar manufacturing in America. Now of course this is not an all inclusive article to list all the minute changes from the headstock angle and size,bindings,color choices,etc.etc... but as always this is just my news and views. So untill next month may all your friends stay true all your days be memorable and all your riffs be killer,Greg at Greg's Guitars.