Anyone obsess over Vintage Fender guitars?

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I love the old Fender guitars... old American Strats from 60-70's especially the old wood finishes and non-metallic colors that they no longer make. I like old Mustangs and Jazz Masters. And old butterscotch Telecasters. Anyone else?

What's your faves? I think the Walnut strat with gold hardware is the most beautiful guitar ever made. Followed by the Lake Placid Blue. I saw a remake of a Jazz Master in Daphne Blue that is beautiful.

I had a '87 candy apple red Strat I sold which I now kick myself for doing. I also sold my Walnut mini-bass (some weird brand but was beautiful). I now only own a '85 walnut finish Fender Catalina acoustic which they no longer make. It's completely walnut finish with a brown pickguard whereas most acoustics are the ugly blonde tops with mahogany sides. I bought it myself as a kid from years worth of saving. I'm trying to talk myself out of buying a new electric and/or a new Pork Pie snare because I have a 20 year obsession with acrylic drums too.

Any other Fender obsessers?

For Fender guitars, I like the pre-1954 Telecasters with the buttersctoch paint and the bakelite pickguards, as well as the asymetric models like the Jazzmasters and Mustangs. I also like the '61-'65 era strats that had the 'V' profile necks with the veneer fretboards and clay position markers. Back in the 80's, a guitar shop in Maine had a Candy Apple Red Strat from '65 that had a matching painted headstock. --This was one of only two Strats that Fender pianted like this during that era.

Sadly, the original Fender guitars from this era have insanely high pricetags, butthe cool thing is that there are companies that Fender has licensed that produce period correct bodies and necks from this era.

I also like Fender's amps from the the late 50's to the early silverface era before CBS's engineers ruined the circuits. My favorite amps from this era are the '59 circuit Fender Bassman, the Blackface Pro Reverbs and Super Reverbs, Brownface Bandmasters and Concerts, as well. --As you probably know, the circuit of the '59 Bassman served as the basis for nearly all modern amps.

I'm actually a bigger fan of Gibson guitars from the 50's and 60's, and once owned a '58 Les Paul Jr. -- Sadly Gibsons from this era sell for about the same price as Fenders from the same era, if not a lot more.

I don't, but I have to say, that's a pretty awesome obsession.

I obsess over vintage guitars in general. I've played some Fender Strats from the 60's and 70's (almost was given one for free but I was actually too nice to accept it ). Those were good guitars to play. No complaints.

But, well, first of all, I'm more of a Gibson person than a Fender person, although the Jaguars, Mustangs, and Jazzmasters are cool. I also like Telecasters in the contexts for which they were designed.

In terms of vintage guitars, I'm partial to:

Mosrites and related brands like Hallmarks
the more interesting Vox models like the ones with numerous built-in effects
Gretschs
Guilds
ubiquitous (in their era) department store brands like Harmony, Kay, etc.
and plenty that I'm forgetting at the moment (all American, though)

I've seen pictures of Bigsby guitars and think they look really cool, but I've never seen anyone play one or even met anyone who's played one. So I have no idea what they sound like.

Fogman, what is your take on Bigsby guitars?

Another one here who prefers Gibsons, sorry. Currently saving up for a Les Paul Custom 'Black Beauty'. I love the old Gibsons from the 50s and 60s. I've also got my eye on a Marauder at the moment which has had an awful paint job done on it, so it should be reasonably cheap

I've never seen a Bigsby guitar, however I've seen plenty of older Gibsons that had bolt patterns for Bigsby tremolos and fresher looking paint where the Bigsby was mounted, which indicates that many people had them removed and replaced with a standard 2 piece Gibson bridge, which indicates that they felt the same way about the Bigsby units that I do. I don't particularly like them because they don't have much range, and they go out of tune easily. The floating Fender tremolo was an improvement, and the dreaded Floyd Rose and Kahler units a further improvement.

That being said, I generally do not like tremolo units at all on any guitar, and prefer a hard tailstop, as you don't have to worry about them going out of tune, and when the guitar does go out of tune, you can tune it at the top of the neck, and don't have to mess around with fine tuners at the bridge, or an allen wrrench to undo the locking nut if the fine tuners are maxed out. -- Simpler=better.

Also, I looked at your preferance list for Vintage guitars, and have to say this about them:

Mosrite. The old glued in/ set neck versions were great guitars, but I didn't like the bolt ons. I had an old Acoustic Control Corp (the company that made Acoustic branded amps back in the late 60's and the 70's) Black widow guitar which was made by Mosrite in the 1970's. The Neck and the action were typically hallmark Mosrite. IE very low action with zero fretting and a fast thin neck. That being said, the neck pocket had a .25" gap in it, and the neck moced around in it's socket quite a bit. --The guitar looked nice and played fairly nicely, but the build quality was horrible.

Vox Guitars.
The build quality on these was slightly better than the Acoustic that I had, which to say was still not particularly high quality. though I thought that the body shapes were really cool, and liked the concept and sound of the Guitorgan.

Gretsch. Good guitars! I loved both the 50's and the early 70's Jet models that I played. I also liked the way their older hollowbodies played, though I don't particularly like hollow body instruments. I didn't like some of the cheaper instruments that they made in the late 70's, Though the solid body Chet Atkins w/ built in effects that belonged to the guitarist of the band that I ran sound for was a fantastic instrument. A few months later, I saw one like it in a pawn shop for @ $400 and was saddened that I didn't have the cash to buy it. About two years after I saw it, Vintage Guitar put out an article on these, and now you can't find one for less than $1,200.

Guild. I liked their solid body guitars from the 70's and 80's a lot. They were consistantly good guitars in the 70's and the 80's, when Fender and Gibson were churning out crap. I had an '82 Guild X-79 that I liked a lot save for the wierd body shape.



I'd stay away from the Marauder, as these were one of the cheaper lines made during the worst era for Gibson guitars. Instead I would recommend a more recent faded SG or Les Paul Special, and work with that. If you simply have to have a 70's Gibson though, look at SG's from no earlier than 1976, as well as their Firebrand series guitars. --Occaisionally, you can luck out and find a 60's Melody Maker or a 60's SG with a repaired neck or refinished body for cheap. SG's from '72 to '74 are the absolute worst guitars that Gibson made.

The Ventures were sponsored for awhile by Mosrite (sp?)

I had a Strat copy in the 70s, only actual brand name one I had was and Gibson EB0 bass. Short neck, huge pickup (size of an orange, almost), and would shake loose constipation at 50 yards...

Always wanted Gibsons, for some reason. As long as the sound's right, I'm not too picky.

I can't believe all you people that prefer Gibsons. I hate the way that most of them sound plus they are too heavy and uncomfortable to play. With the exception of the SG it does look cool but its uncomfortable. Some of the old Gretschs sound cool but are too bulky. Its sad though if you go into a music shop or even pawn shop you no longer find used instruments that are cool and have a nice sound due to the aged wood. Now if you find a used instrument its those crappy Squier strats or off brand strat knock offs such as dept stores like Target now sell. Its like the days of cool guitars is gone unless you can afford a new American made vintage inspired guitar or somehow are lucky enough to find a "real" vintage used guitar for sale that you can afford. If you even find a guitar at a garage sale or someone's guitar that they bought but never learned to play so it sit in the closet its always some off brand piece of Chinese/Japanese/Mexican crap acoustic.

I miss the good old days of rock.

The coolest guitar I ever saw was this strat knock off made by Hondo that was all walnut finish, white pickguard. But the cool part was someone had carved the body into an eagle with outspread wings. It was amazing because each feather in the eagles wing had the veins and texture of the feather carved perfectly. I'm pretty sure Hondos were never issued that way someone just carved it after the fact. I should have got that guitar but I was a teen without a job when I saw it at a pawnshop. I also found some other strat knock off that was a metallic teal and someone had airbrushed a surf scene onto it. Totally cool!

And is it just me of does no one play bass anymore? I love the old Precision and Jazz basses and Vox basses.

What do you all think about Ibanez? Some of the new ones look cool. I've never touched one before though. And some of the cheap Schecters look cool.

Any thoughts on Ovation or Applause acoustics? I've thought about getting one of those.

Last edited by Ticker on 01 Jan 2009, 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah they were. The guitars that Semie Moseley made for them were set neck prototypes for their Ventures models, all of which had bolt-on Neck Construction. Other people that used The Ventures model guitars were The Ramones, as well as Ricky Wilson from the B-52's. --Allegedly before he died, Semie Moseley was planning on making a 'The Ramones' Model guitar, though this didn't happen.

Fogman have you seen this?

Click here

I'd like to have this- Click

I never cease to be amazed by your amount of knowledge!

I installed a Bisby B5 tremolo on my Gibson SG and the guitar still stays in tune as always. However, I installed it with very exact precision. This makes a BIG difference. It is possible that home-installation can turn out better than what they've been doing at the factories. It is also true that tremolos are not for everyone, and of course people have different taste . . .



I don't like the Fender ones much. Never seen the other 2.



Ah, once again, different taste. I don't always like things simpler on guitars if the complexity serves a purpose.

However, I do have a personal vendetta against Fender guitars that require you to unscrew that plate on the back every time you change the strings. If it has some advantage, I haven't noticed it. Seems like it's just intended to punish guitar players who don't carry screw drivers with them everywhere. Changing strings with a Bigsby tremolo is a real pain in the rear too, but at least it doesn't require any additional equipment and can be done pretty quickly with practice.



I still think there's just something inherently cool / charming about them. I don't know enough to explain it on a detailed level, but I've fallen in love with my friend's 60's Ventures style (Mark IV?) Mosrite, and his Hallmark Sweptwing. I have a mid-seventies Bluesbender. It has some typical problems for a guitar of that age, but it's beautiful and there's something I really like about the tone. I guess it's the appearance and the tone that appeal to me most about those guitars, in general. The thin neck is good for me because I have small hands. I think the Bluesbender balances well with the SG as my 2 main electric guitars because the latter is so versatile.


Yeah, interesting concepts, nice body design. As for quality, it was pretty good for the price they were sold for at the time, right? I heard they were originally kind of mid-range, price-wise.



I really like the wide range of really impressive models. I agree, some are disappointing. But they come close to having something for everyone. I love my 40's Synchromatic (acoustic). Not the best model or year, but still has a beautiful tone. My former room mate had a Corvette that I used to enjoy playing. I thought it was a great guitar for such a low price (well, compared to other Gretsches). White Penguins, Black Penguins, White Falcons. Seen vintage ones in action and was impressed, though I've only gotten to play the reissues in guitar stores.



I also like them for their overall consistency. Electric and acoustic. Don't know a whole lot about all the models, but I think it's a brand that's a bit under-appreciated these days. I have only seen Guilds from the 70's and earlier. I have no idea what the later ones are like.

If I ever had the opportunity to get endorsed by a guitar company and get any of their guitars I wanted for free as long as I played them at every gig, I'd go with Gretsch or Gibson. What about you? (Just a fun fantasy question.)

As for Ticker . . .

I find Gibsons to be far more comfortable to play than Fenders, in general. Odd. The variety in body shape offered by Gibson is really nice. I think the body shape of the SG, and the Flying V can be quite advantageous, depending on what you're doing. Never found a Les Paul to be uncomfortable either, but maybe I was distracted by the beautiful sound coming out of it.

I don't like Ibanezes. They're just not right for what I want to play, so it's a matter of taste.

As for favorite guitar stories . . .

Well, obviously getting to play an original 60's Hallmark Sweptwing was pretty cool.

I also used to play my friend's 60's Gibson acoustic which used to belong to Lightning Hopkins and had his initials etched in it. The guy's brother used to work in a guitar store, and one day, Lightning Hopkins came in to sell a guitar, so the brother held onto it and phoned up my friend, who has kept it in very good shape.

Another TX acoustic guitar moment. I went into the local acoustic guitar shop to pick up some strings or something. On the wall was a 50's Gibson signed by Willie Nelson. It was only $700 because the back had been replaced. Apparently, when the former owner (the one who sold it to the shop) presented it to Willie for him to sign it, Willie said, "Oh, I remember this guitar! I borrowed it from a friend a long time ago and replaced the back." Because the story and signature aren't Officially Authenticated, it all negatively affected the value. It had a real nice sound and I would have bought it, but I used that money to move across the country instead.

First off, Kahlers were what a lot of companies used in the early 80's when Kramer guitars ws basically buying up all of the Floyd Rose units for their guitars. Kahlers were used on by Charvel Jackson, BC Rich, and Hamer for a while, then they all started to use Floyd Rose tremolos when Floyd Rose ramped up their production to meet demands. --All of the 'Shredder' style guitars came with either Kahlers, Floyd Rose, or Floyd Rose licenced tremolos.

Actually, I've known a band that had an endorsement deal with Gibson in the early 90's. They had a Gibson Rep travelling with them, who was basically in charge of the guitars that they were playing. After the last song of a gig, the Gibson Rep put the guitars (the weren't owned by the band, they were owned by Gibson) back in their cases and locked them away. In that light, I wouldn't want an endorsement deal from either a guitar or amp company.

I generally don't like Ibanez's 'Shredder' style guitars, however their late 70's and early 80's Artist models were really good. --They were very similar to Gibson Les Pauls, only with a symetric double cutaway body.

In 1984 to 1985, right after Fender was bought back from CBS by it's employees, Fender hired luthier Philip D'Aquisto to design a range of guitars for them that were more similar to Gibson instruments. Aside from a few prototypes made by D'Aquisto, these were all made in the Ibanez factory in Japan along with the rest of the range of Fender instruments at the time. I had a Fender Esprit, which was essentially an Ibanez Artist with slighty wider, and differantly shaped body that was made from Alder instead of the Mahogany that Ibanez used on their Artist instruments. Also, all of the hardware, including the pickups was made by Schaller. --This was an excellent instrument that far exceeded the build quality of anything Gibson made at the time.

If you really want a very high quality Les Paul copy, look around for an Orville (Gibson Japan) or late 70's early 80's Burny, Greco, or Tokai Love Rock. These were made in Japan, and sold primarily in Japan, and were excellent copies of 50's Les Pauls, and can still be had for less than a used Les Paul.

It probably has something to do with body size. As a small woman Gibsons are just uncomfy and too heavy. Maybe for guys a Les Paul isn't noticably heavy. SG's always poked me the wrong way.

Here's my guitar story- in 1985 a member of Chet Atkins band played my lame Fender Bullet (precursor to the Squier Strat)when our group went on dinner break. His keyboardist also played our group's keyboard which normally I would strongly have opposed but since they were professionals and famous ... well you know it was cool.