Vintage Teles: Worth The Price of Entry?

[slack]

My biggest reason for digging the modern teles is for real hard rock. With the pro 2 I can crank the bridge pickup wide open with tons of overdrive and never have to worry about mud, and with in reason no ice pick

That made my 1956 Esquire laugh.

 

[Grandfunkfan]

That made my 1956 Esquire laugh.

You missed my earlier post where I gushed about the big, juicy neck pickup that spews cascading rivlets of heartbreaking blues.

 

[slack]

You missed my earlier post where I gushed about the big, juicy neck pickup that spews cascading rivlets of heartbreaking blues.

Now you've gone and made this old thing moan.

 

[msalama]

I would not say losing

It is risky if you've no experience and knowledge of vintage gear. If the guitar is a fake, for example? Poof, there goes your money.

OK, no-one probably counterfeits '70s guitars yet and they're considered vintage these days too, but lots of them are partscasters with unoriginal necks, finishes, hardware and electronics still, and those changes are not always obvious to an untrained eye. So again, risky if you don't know what to look for, and what exactly are you getting into.

 

[24 track]

It is risky if you've no experience and knowledge of vintage gear. If the guitar is a fake, for example? Poof, there goes your money.

OK, no-one probably counterfeits '70s guitars yet and they're considered vintage these days too, but lots of them are partscasters with unoriginal necks, finishes, hardware and electronics still, and those changes are not always obvious to an untrained eye. So again, risky if you don't know what to look for, and what exactly are you getting into.

that is taking into account that the op has some idea what he is looking at , i never buy anything I haven't played or inspected in my hand before i buy it. That is a risk any young kid or novice could make , this Op is some what knowledgeable of what he is looking for
and I am sure he will do his home work before he gets it.

Personally i bought a Chinese fake LP took it apart so I could tell what a fake looks like in detail and compared it my Real LP , i can now tell a fake with in seconds. And I will never buy a unit of any make with out research

 

[tele12]

You missed my earlier post where I gushed about the big, juicy neck pickup that spews cascading rivlets of heartbreaking blues.

So do I want modern or vintage if I want my spewing rivlets of heartbreaking blues to cascade?

 

[BlackASATClassic]

For me, vintage guitars are like vintage cars. Pretty cool, but too much of an expensive headache for me.

 

[pippoman]

You want a Nash.

 

[hepular]

No.

There's no reason related to musical performance why those intstruments cost as much as they do (nor, for that matter, is there any logical reason why a Strad violin costs as much as THEY do. If you're willing to pay the brand premium for nostalgia and magical thinking and 'provolone" . . . oops, provenance. well, have at it.

but, if you want a "perfectly good guitar," there are so many better ways than vintage.

 

[Kodachrome]

I'd probably just end up seeing how many custom shops/masterbuilts i'd be able to spring for with the money i'd have been spending.

I'm considering just building a single CS/MB but I don't want to expand my collection I want to downsize. If I can find a brilliant player-grade vintage guitar I would be hard pressed to hold on to most of the guitars I have now. I don't know that I would feel the same about a modern one but if I do that I can always sell it off too.

 

[Kodachrome]

OK @Kodachrome do you still shoot film and have a your own darkroom with fresh chemicals at all times?
Is it worth it?
Used to be worth it to me and when I moved in 2023 I took all the gear with me but have not concluded it is worth it to set up again including some plumbing investment.

I own a Minolta SRT101, Pentax K1000, Konica Auto S3, and a Kodak Retina IIa that needs repair.
I typically shoot B&W because I have experience with the process and can develop on my own, I've had to take color to be developed but live near a local store that can process and digitize.
I haven't shot since around 2023 myself because I moved and space has prevented me from creating a permanent darkroom to make prints, I don't want to set up & tear down so that's on a backburner.
I also have a backlog of undeveloped film that I intend to have processed all at once but I've been lazy about bringing it in.

I used to play vintage which was cheap.
Later over the decades one thing after another rose to collector prices and I stopped liking the need to be careful and prevent theft or damage.

That makes sense, and would be a concern although I admit I've rarely been to a gig where I can't keep a close on on my guitars - although if I could survive gigs without it I would probably leave it at home for peace of mind.

For music making, there is no advantage or musical value in old Telecasters.
I do run vintage pickups but Fralin’s sound the same.

Buy and use for a while.
Buy well and you shouldn’t lose in a couple of years.

"Buy once cry once" is what my friend used to say.
I don't expect them to be better to play, but I do think the psychological aspect could positively influence the player. In what ways I don't know but when I play guitars I like I am inspired, when I don't like a guitar I end up selling it because it's uninspiring.

 

[Kodachrome]

I don't think there's anything you can get from a vintage tele that you can't get from a modern tele. If anything it's the other way around, unless you have a certain style that you think requires a vintage tele. My theory is, once you get to a certain level of guitar, say for example a pro 2, all you have to do is spend enough time with it to get it to do what you need. I still play with a band, mainly blues and blues rock, and all I really need is my pro 2. I'm sure other teles would work too. I need a tele that's equally as good as clean blues as it is with hard rock. I don't know if a vintage tele would work for me. The neck pickup on the pro 2 is the best tele pickup I've played for blues . Rock tone is just a matter of avoiding mud with high gain, again I think the modern teles are best for that. I still have a few other guitars but for a every day working guitar I prefer a modern tele. I have an older vintage style tele that's fun to play at home, but it's more of a novelty than a serious gigging guitar. IMHO

My main gigging partscaster is very vintage in spec: ash, blonde nitro, fat V neck, 7.25" radius, vintage wire, slotted tuners, bone nut, compensated three-saddle, two single coils (Shaw 50s bridge, Texas special neck), 3-way switch, volume, tone. Plays great, sounds very good but I want a different set of pickups.
I'm not personally a fan of modern fenders, they don't feel very good to me - mostly the necks (too thin) but the pickups sometimes too. I own and gigged a shell pink American Special but ended up getting a different neck and electronics so at this point it's a different beast. Thicker V-shape neck, Klein Nocaster pickups, and VIPickups Centralab clone pots.

 

[Kodachrome]

I've played a 1962 Strat since 1975 and I like it a lot but if I lost it somehow, I'm sure I could find a more modern guitar I like. Plus I wouldn't have to deal with the quirks like fretboard wear.
Find a guitar you really like playing and save yourself some money.

That's fair and good advice, but a vintage guitar may be a guitar I really like playing lol
I would probably need to go somewhere to test some.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

Ferinstance, some folks get all wide-eyed over PAF humbuckers.
Back in the day, those at Gibson assembling Lesters and the like had a bin full of humbuckers sitting next to their bench.
Nobody knew or cared what type of magnet (some were A2, A5, and other).
Same for how many windings of wire they had either - or what kind of wire it was.
Ditto for bobbins, screws, etc.
Just reach in the bin and grab a part and solder it up.
Some sounded amazing. Some not. Same with P90s.
And yes, same with Fender. It was all assembly lines.

Today you can go to any number of major or boutique pickup builders and get parts that are consistent in these parameters, which means you get what you pay for.
Mojotone, Seymour, Lollar, and dozens more offer specialized pickups with specific components designed to provide a certain tone and last forever.

Once again, these are the good old days.

 

[Kodachrome]

You want a Nash.

A Nash has been on the radar, I'd like to be able to try one and if possible A/B against others.

 

[FendrGuitPlayr]

My primary question is are they worth the price of entry?

Not for me but some people think so.

 

[regularslinky]

For big $ pro musicians I think acquiring vintage instruments is a tax/retirement strategy as much as anything.

For the rest of us - it depends on what you're looking for. If you want a vintage guitar because you think they are of higher quality, you can get a handmade boutique guitar, built to your specifications, for a fraction of the price from many builders.

If you want a vintage guitar for investment purposes, proceed with caution. I think that market is overdue for a collapse, but I will confess I don't have enough knowledge to avoid losing my shirt, so I stay away.

If you want a vintage guitar because you think it's cool to have an old guitar to play - go for it.

 

[Kodachrome]

No.

There's no reason related to musical performance why those intstruments cost as much as they do (nor, for that matter, is there any logical reason why a Strad violin costs as much as THEY do. If you're willing to pay the brand premium for nostalgia and magical thinking and 'provolone" . . . oops, provenance. well, have at it.

Well as far as vintage Fenders go there might not be a "reason related to musical performance" but they are limited in supply and high in demand. I know that's the primary reason they have inflated price, but I do think there is something to a player's personal psychology that affects performance. I think two guitars of equal physical and mechanical properties could feel completely different depending on a persons psychological reactions to something like the paint or hardware color. That is not magical thinking, it's brain chemistry IMO.

The Strads are a different story, even if we drop their provenance and pure historical values (both of which are indeed logical), there is also the fact that the climatological affects on the wood grown a few hundred years ago, the techniques used to build them, the technology of things like the available materials to synthesize an adhesive to hold them together, and the very conditions of Stradivarius' workshop may have had profound effects on the final product that could well be impossible to ever recreate.

but, if you want a "perfectly good guitar," there are so many better ways than vintage.

I own plenty of "perfectly good" guitars.

 

[msalama]

am sure he will do his home work

Fair enough, I just underscored the importance of Caveat Emptor here.

 

[43mmNut]

I like the history of vintage guitars and I like to check them out.
But, I think it can be a risky investment. The market for vintage guitars could fall easily given that the number of guitar players are shrinking, I believe. And older guitars can have had a lot of work, or reconstruction even, on them.
And I'd say "More Power to Ya" if you end up with one.
I'm happy with my AmPro2 and AVII'51 Teles.