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My First introduction to the world of Vintage guitars happened in the mid 1980’s. Guitarist magazine (back in the day when it wasn’t in the pockets of advertisers….actually gave some bad instrument reviews now and then and interviewed guitarists on merit rather than celebrity…..I mean come on…. fucking Lloyd Grossman!!!!!! Ahem) ran an article on Vintage and Rare in London. The article had some very sexy photos of some very desirable instruments, I could have happlily laminated my copy to put it bluntly.

The Vintage Electric guitar market as it was then concentrated on American Guitars build from 1950-68, basically before big corporations like CBS and Norlin got their teeth into Gibson and Fender. The market had originally spawned from a sizeable chunk of Rock musicians loathing 1970’s Fenders and Gibsons, and instead buying up old “secondhand” examples from the “Classic” era. Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake is one of these guys who plied his way across the 1970’s and early 80’s Wheeling and dealing, as is Steve Howe of Yes. Both men have considerable collections as does Dave Gilmour, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather, Warren De Martini….etc etc.

By the time the 1980’s had rolled by, the “Classic” era had truly become established. Gibson and Fender were reacting to the early Tokai copies of these instruments and we had seen the First Heritage Les Pauls and Fender American reissues along with their Japanese Squier counterparts. Vintage was in.

At this point in time a 1962 Strat would have cost you around £3000 from a Vintage dealer, but on the street probably a lot less. People were not quite wise to the value of these things pre Ebay and internet. My own driving instructor in 1987 offered me his 1963 Strat for £175 because it was looking a bit “beaten up”…in this era of relics and hand rolled fingerboards its almost comical to think he thought the guitar scruffy. I almost went to the cashpoint there and then but as Im a decent man.. relented and in a fit of honesty explained it was probably worth 20 times that. it was the right thing to do, but I do kinda wake up screaming every now and then.

Perhaps that sense of comical is now coming out for one delicious bite of the ironic cherry. Vintage guitar prices have outperfomed the Stock market almost consistantly for the last 20 years. Many pieces are now no longer played and live in bank vaults and investment portfolios.

However to a hardened cynic like me, I’ve always thought that prices had become silly once we started seeing badly put together firewood from the 1970’s going in West End dealerships for 4 figures. As the classic era stock became unaffordable, retailers were trying to sell us the shit we’d previously avoided as hidden gems.

When I was a lad a Fender Antigua Strat was a badly finished American Strat, with poor quality finish and fit seeping from its every pore. They were £250 worth of guitar on a good day, not £1800 and they were not as made as well as a Chinese Squier or Catalog guitar like a Westone Thunder 1. But in the UK in the 2000’s, they’d likely be bought by some skinny jeaned performing arts student who to be frank wouldn’t know any better. The careerist minded British indie musicians last priorities are pretty much tone, playability and quality….and Tarquin Rhodes-Deprice and his buddies in their BRIT school performing bands lapped them up. Making them fashionable.

The Truth That Dare Not Speak Its Name

The other strange irony of the Vintage guitar boom is this…there are actually more 1962 Strats in the world, than there were in 1962…..thats right…fakes….re-cut a headstock, wrap a body in bubble wrap and stick it in a freezer…let it crack…dip in cold tea for 2 weeks…gig burns….make some neck stamps. I did meet a guy at a party a few years ago who assures me that he built most of a certain Northern guitar shops vintage stock in the 1980’s out of Tokai reissues…..he might be lying, but to be honest….could you or I tell? He did have the originals to work from after all, so if one of these showed up now, how would you know. Theres always been ghostbuilders like Max and his infamous Les Pauls, but to be honest they probably play better than some of the originals anyway.

So what about originallity?

The most popular 3 guitar modifications of the late 1970’s were…

Brass Nuts: The Idea was that Mass = Sustain….look at John Sykes main les Paul…Brass nut…it went out of fashion, but for a year or 2, everyone had one.

Natural Finish….thats right, many of these ” Classic” instruments were stripped down to bare wood. Im pretty sure Ive seen Lowell George of Little Feat playing a natrual finished 1960’s Strat with a humbucker in it

Hot rodded pickups, Humbuckers: I once read somewhere that the Dimarzio Super Distortion pickup was the most popular modification for Fender Strats in 1978….anyone seen Dave Murray of iron Maidens black Strat for example. Thats right, he wasnt the only guy in England with an old Strat doing that most of them were hotrodding and chopping up fitting new pickups and tremelos….which begs the question.

Given the above information there should be loads of these guitars out there right, the vintage market would be flooded with non original instruments particulaly Fenders…….oh…there isn’t??????

When I walk around Denmark Street now much of what I see is Firewood. Snake Oil and misinformation….Ive seen late 80’s squier Strats labelled as JV era (1982-83) and a host of other guitars no one in their right mind would fucking touch labelled as “Collectable” “Classic” and “Rare”.

Some Firewood

Vintage and Rare have a couple of 1970’s Les Paul Deluxes in at the moment….and ok…people used them. Townsend, Scott Gorham and the like, but lets be honest, why buy a multilaminate fucking sandwich layered LP body thats had a new neck fitted for £1700, when you could buy a used recent reissue for about £1200 in the classified ads. It ll likely be better made and you could take the wife/girlfriend/care giver on a citybreak and maybe throw in a nice dinner too. To put it bluntly no one at Gibson in 1974 gave a shit about build quality until much later when Joel Dantzig at Hamer and Paul Reed Smith actually challenged the big two and perhaps scared them into action as they saw their market share shrink. Townsend trashed enough along the way so clearly even he wasn’t that bothered and his main guitar is a heavily modified 1989 Clapton Strat nowadays.

So given the anathema surrounding the Vintage Guitar market. I did find it interesting when I recieved an email today from Music Ground saying they had some Vintage pieces….Priced To Sell.

The Hightlights include

Please note this is another 59 335 for illustrative purposes only

1959 Sunburst Gibson ES335 for………a nudge under £16 Grand!

The last time I saw one of these it was in Cherry and they wanted close to £40K….even though this burst isnt as desirable thats still a £23K guitar on any good day.

Then there was a 56 Strat, immaculately clean for £16 Grand….didn’t they used to be £20K plus 2 years ago?

Granted the 1964 Strat they had was about £24 grand….but I do wonder, with Simon Cowells talent shows and corporate cover versions dominating the music industry….will future generations care enough about Vintage guitars to sustain such incredible pricing in the future?

Im as guilty as the next guy….my own rather meagre collection of pretty much uncollectable instruments are doing well with one guitar inparticular doubling its money….but hey Im a player….not a guy sticking them in a vault.

Other Collectables such as Wine and Camera’s seem to be doing ok, even in this digital age an old Leica M will cost you a fair bit…..if its the right model that is!

But as a final thought if the kids playing Guitar Hero never make it from plastic box to musical instrument. Will there be an adjustment the market never recovers from, or will it be the easy to fake Metal guitars from the early 1980’s that become the stock options of tomorrow?

Its been an interesting 12 months in guitarland in the UK, although VAT dropped down to 15% last year, if you wanted to buy a new guitar you’d think quite the opposite. The fluctuations in the worlds currency markets coupled with the big manafacturers own price increases has added about 25%+ onto the price of many desirable guitars, as guitars are now a measure of inflation in the Retail Price Index I’d wager that this has kinda contributed to the recent rise of inflation in the UK. Who’d have thought it eh?

When I last looked in 2008 the average dealer price in the UK for an American Deluxe Strat was £949.00…..now some dealers are selling old stock at that price …but for many shops the price is nearer £1100-1200.00 now.

Meanwhile American Standards seem to have gone up to about £849.00….considering they’ve been around £650-700 for the last few years thats quite a kicking your wallet would get if you bought new.

What I find curious is that Fender have now almost made the American Standard redundant. The introduction of the new American Special series has seen to that. Priced at a point between the Highway 1 budget US guitars and the American Standard, this is the Fender Ive been waiting for.

Essentially the American Special is a very canny move. The guitar is basically the upgraded version of the Highway 1 guitar, the SSH model has the modern C neck and Jumbo frets, the SSS model has a beefier 57 style neck with Jumbo fretwire coupled with nice gloss finishes (black/red/sunburts etc), hotter pickups (Fenders sublime Texas Specials as used in the Mark Knopfler sig guitar) and the H1’s 70’s style big headstock and logo.

Now Ive played a few Highway 1’s in my time and the neck is superb….the Super Jumbo frets make it such a fast and fluid guitar to play. I found it actually really enjoyable and Im not usually a fan of Fenders skinny modern ‘C’ shape neck believe me.

So great necks, great pickups: All the strat tones will be there as its got a vintage style bridge….so essentially….why on earth would anyone buy an American Standard?

If you want a modern Strat with a trad tone this is it. If you want more contemporary voicings….splash out another £300 and buy an American Deluxe.

Whats interesting is that there are now 2 ranges of US built budget guitars below an American Standard…but spend another £100-150 on a deluxe and you’d get better pickups, hardware, electronics and in some cases a roller nut and locking tuners.

So who on earth buys an American Standard Strat these days?

Thinking of my player friends who own US Standard Strats its interesting to see that a pattern soon emerges as to why they own them.

They were all birthday presents…..usually for landmark birthdays such as 21sts or 18ths or even 50ths!

Only one of the 5 guitarists I know with the Am Std Strat guitar bought it used, and they turned it into a test bed for some pickups they was trying out. So in effect the American Standard is really a “house” guitar….a guitar thats unlikely to be used in anger beyond the odd jam in someones living room.

But my problem is this….of the recent American Standard Strats Ive played since year 2000 none has really lifted my skirt. Its almost like they’ve taken the soul out and made a generic, flat and characterless version of a classic guitar. Its the “pasteurised Strat” one without any real spite… bite…. or character. The only people who gig these are called “Barry”……they’ll be in the function band at your local Walkabout, Miners Welfare, British Legion or Pontins. Barry wears a nice jacket and a bowtie with his American Standard and probably chats up teenage girls in the interval….y’know those fame hungry, doe eyed, puppy fat pleasure units with pushy avaricious showbiz type parents….the ones that talk about auditioning for some dreadful TV talent show but never make it beyond Karaoke once a year and whose only rock and roll experiences will amount to some foul sexual pecadillo on the nightshift at ASDA with the Grocery Manager during unpaid overtime……My God…..how wretched!

But back to the guitar…

In past times…people would buy an American Strat and upgrade it, change the pickups and often upgrade the frets etc…..now Fender are offering guitars with these upgrades already carried out for less money than the base model….I cannot see the point of anyone owning an American Standard anymore.

But in some ways I can see exactly what Fender are trying to do with the American Special.

Its priced at around £660 on the street that puts it squarely in competition with Fender Japans own domestic market guitars, these popular grey import guitars (which coincidentally often have Texas Specials fitted as standard pickups) have attracted many buyers. Two years ago the Yen used to be about Y200 to the GBP which meant for about £600 you could buy a really nice J-Craft 57 or 62 type Strat with a lovely glossy finish. Despite the likes of Ishibiashi being banned by Fender from selling new J-Craft guitars, thanks to Ebay and the internet there is still a thriving market of third party grey import dealers, who can get you anything from Fender Japans domestic market range.

However the Yen is nearer Y145 to the pound now, which has made the grey import guitars increasingly expensive and just not the bargains that they once were. Fender know the most popular price point for an electric guitar is around the £500-600 mark. But Fender also knows that despite the increasing popularity of its Mexican made guitars. Many players would rather go the extra yard and buy a US guitar or instead opt for the Kudos of increasingly cultish J-Craft Fenders (the likes of Music Ground in London and Leeds still bring the odd guitar in).

So in effect the American Special kills two birds with one stone…it plays the patriot card and keeps the US guitar affordable and also enables Fender to compete with its own competition from Japanese domestic market grey imports and ranges from Tokai and Levinson Blade also.

Above: A used Relic for £1100 on Gumtree

But to me Fenders product line is still a mess, given they make the same basic designs in 6 different countries now at price points between £150-£5000, everything is now about brand values and marketing terms. If one steps away from the hyperbole of a Parchment scratchplate or a “custom shop” design. What we have are simple classic guitar designs that were born for mass production and also modification

The increased gentrification of the Fender Custom Shop ( A Custom Shop that builds more guitars in a month than a real boutique builder like Suhr would do in a year) has only made choosing a Fender guitar a more complex task and in some cases, a financial minefield. If you look carefully (I did find a couple on Gumtree and Loot), its perfectly possible to buy a limited edition Fender US Custom Shop “Relic” Strat on the used market today for the price of a new American Deluxe….Yes not allrelics loose value, if you have a John English masterbuilt relic its probably doubled in value as John English is now sadly deceased, but for the average team built guitar?

Thats a depreciation of 50% on the Relic in just 4 years…and with ever more reissues and marketing strategies of the worlds most popular Electric Guitar. Fender are selling us the same thing over and over again, which begs the question…

Are Fender not now at the point of actually devaluing their own brand?

As Im not in a band at the mo, Ive been thinking about guitars and amps in a more frivilous way, Ive also been thinking about the guitars Ive always liked but never owned (and believe me thats quite a lot)

The PRS CE 24 was one of those guitars that by rights given my playing style & influences I ought to own. I had a quick look on the PRS website tonight….only to find out they have been discontinued for 2010……….Discontinued…..gone…….

But I remember them so well…

They came out in 1988 as the affordable PRS guitar. The first PRS with a bolt on neck, originally they were called the Classic Electric, but Peavey threatened to sue over the name (ironic really as Peavey have never made a classic design in their history). They had alder bodies to give them a more strat esq tone. The market was confused at first, so gradually they offered black faced headstocks so they looked more PRS, then maple tops, bird inlays etc and the guitar became established in the PRS line. The body was changed to Mahogany in 1995, although at one point I believe both wood choices were available. A 22 fret model became available from 1994.

The most famous user of the CE24 is probably Alex Lifeson of Rush who toured with a mixture of PRS models from the early 90’s through til 2004. Brian Forsyth from 90’s rockers Kix was also an endorser

But lots of other working players, gigging guys, people in cover bands alike and pro’s used them, they were the workingman’s PRS. The entry into the US made line….the PRS I could afford.

I guess I always liked the shape of PRS guitars since I saw Gary Moore use an early one on the “Wild Frontier” tour in 1987. When I eventually played a Custom 24 a few years later I thought the body was too thin and insubstantial.

But in 1991 there was a Classic Electric in metalflake red sitting in the window of Chas Foulds and son, it sat there for years. I tried it twice and liked it, but the price at the time was simply too high…..so the guitar sat there for another two years. A guy who lived in the street behind me bought it, I went to see his band…..he was running a top flight guitar into a nasty Yamaha multi FX unit (one of those infamous “Car Stereo” sized ones popular at the time) then into an old Burman Valve combo….it truly sounded awful.

So I forgot about the PRS CE until 1999 when I was offered one by a mate of a mate….of a mate…..in a dodgy pub….it was £400 and had been lent to a local punk band who’d duly beaten the shit out of it. Had it been a good colour I’d have said yes, but it was a green maple top one with an ornate flame…..I didnt know the guy selling it very well, assumed at that price it may have been hot and duly declined.

But then in 2005 PRS released the 20th Anniversary models and the did some mahogany bodied guitars with hot rod dupont style paintjobs. The CE24 in Blazing copper looked gorgeous

But at the time I was in telecaster heaven recording the Heroes’ debut album and had neither the funds or need for such a guitar.

Then a year later my nephew asks me to go with him to buy a Gibson Explorer and we walk out of the shop with a CE22 in Cherry Red. I spent some time with it and liked it.

But even now to players of perhaps my age PRS have that “Bank manager” guitar vibe about them. Something too pristine and not very rock n roll. PRS clearly get this too and have introduced the Mira in recent years, essentially a stripped down mahogany bodied guitar simillar to a Gibson SG. As the hedge fund managers dissapear and the baby boomers start to die off I guess PRS have to make something for the alternative nation. The Mira is nice enough and ironically I was offered one when I bought my SG last year, but again it was the wrong colour.

For now that remains the cheapest entry into owning a American made PRS, especially the new X’ version which substitutes basswood for mahogany (I know ridiculous….Basswood was good for 80’s Floyd type superstrats cos it was cheap light and easy to apply flashy paintjobs too, why oh why PRS are using it is a joke).

The CE appears to be destined for collectability, unless of course PRS start up production again, but to me there a guitar that made PRS a more affordable choice for the everyman player and they also managed to combine Fender like Clarity with a Gibson like fatness. For that they are an important model and if I ever find the right guitar in the right colour…..who knows I might get the wallet out. The Gumtree hunt starts here.

Well

A year after the bankers collectively destroyed our pensions and forced Gordon Brown to pump about £500+ Billion into the financial system I thought we had seen the last of the City trader types and their tasteless excesses.

How wrong I was

I chanced upon Future Publishings new title about 6 months ago. Guitar Afficionado is probably the most innapropriate guitar magazine ever. As I gazed upon it in my local independant newsagents (WH Smiths seem to be steering clear of this one) I was drawn to its glossy cover.

As I tend to speed read most magazines in about 3 minutes, I almost fell over laughing, it was like a Chris Morris sketch come to life.

Guitar Afficionado is basically aimed at the well healed 45-65 year old, Ive not seen a reference to playing the guitar….just owning them, like racehorses or women I suppose. All articles are on things like Vintage wines, Fine Wristwatches, Luxury Supercars, global travel and aside from a couple of Guitar related articles, the whole magazine looks exactly like the FT’s “How to Spend it” magazine, all fine art, luxury brands and world travel. I don’t know if the suits on Dragons Den play guitar, but if they did, this would be their magazine.

Now I think their probably is an upmarket audience for a mature guitar magazine. But Germany’s guitar and Bass magazine already publish ‘Guitar Dreams’ which despite all the adverts being for expensive boutique kit is actually about music, classic artists, vintage guitars and rock n roll.

The latest issue of Guitar Afficionado includes….and I quote

Our latest issue (and hottest yet) features:

• John McEnroe’s incredibly rare Burst
• Lost Guitars of the Hard Rock
• Golfing with Alex Lifeson
• George Gruhn on the rarities no one wants
• San Francisco in a Mercedes SLS gullwing

Plus, the Fender Custom Shop La Cabronita Especial, 2010 Porsche Panamera, Mel Bay’s 1973 D’Aquisto, Andy Warhol’s favorite guitar, and more.

I love Alex Lifeson and John McEnroe for different reasons, I love the fact that both men have made successes of their lives…and more importanty they’ve made their own money…..honestly. Alex has had quite a career with Rush and John with his Tennis and now Television and the last time I looked Gordon Brown hadn’t subsidised either of them. Alex lifeson is supposedly quite a golfer although I hope he’s not been learning bad habits from Tiger Woods.

BUT!!!!!

I sort of think the target audience of this magazine are precisely the sort of people whove gotten rich of our collective misery, as our pensions erode and our terms and conditions of employment decrease in the favour of the government and big business I guess it’ll be ok as long as Miles and Charlie can do a line of coke and afford the PRS they’ve never learnt to play, but y’know £5 grand, its just a drop in the ocean….sniff.

But please don’t get me wrong.

I dont think theirs anything wrong with aspiration, theres nothing more I like to see than a self made person who’s a success story. But in the UK according to official figures actual social mobility has been at zero for the last decade. If your born poor you stay poor if your middles class, your job may become increasingly casuallised and you might not live in a house the size of the one you grew up in. These are the new realities of living in Britain now. The fact that the state had to rescue the entire financial services industry a little over a year ago leaves a rotten taste in my mouth and its not a 1945 Chateau Batailley Pauillac Grand Cru Classe either.

But theres something unreal about this magazine. The fact that WH Smiths are not stocking it, speaks volumes to me. Its almost taboo like pornography. Theres just something immoral about it. Future haven’t advertised it on any of their websites. Ive never seen this mentioned on music radar….its like a little exclusive club of (scuse my language) cuntdom.

Perhaps the real question Future should be asking of themselves is, where is the target market, does it exist outside of Surrey? I often go to London and browse Denmark St and I remember the besuited yuppies in Soho Soundhouse trying out the latest Mesa Boogie or PRS and y’know what……it didn’t stop that shop from going under. I don’t see stuff flying out of Vintage and Rare, they’ve had some of that stock for 2 years, that Tangarine American Strat Deluxe is in a different shop every time I go there, but i know the serial number and I know its the same guitar, its been passed from shop to shop like a Thai hooker when the ships come in. So the good times are not returning.

So who is buying “Guitar Afficionado” and more importantly where did they ultimately get the money from……????

I don’t know about you, but Im thoroughly sick of Ebay.

What was once a prime example of people power on the internet is now just a greedy corporation. In order to sell your musical (or non musical) kit, your subject to using Paypal, having those commision charges, as well as sales commision knocked off, then the priviledge of Paypal holding onto your remaining cash for 21 days as it accrues interest in their business account. Add to that the threat that if the buyer complains, Ebay award in their favour, so your out of pocket with a potentially soiled item to resell…. and its all a bit shite.

This has become reflected in the sites users nonsensical pricing of items in recent months, as sellers try to claw back some profit, often a used item on Ebay will be more than the equivalent used or sometimes new item in a dealership. A ridiculous situation all round.

In the UK there is thankfully now an alternative

I chanced upon a site called Guitarmart before and although the idea seemed promising, the site was badly laid out and confusing.

Now Guitarmart have recently relaunched the site, its free for private advertisers and is essentially funded by the bigger retailers such as Chandlers selling stock on there. Although its early days yet, the range of kit on the site looks promising, as do some of the prices if you look hard enough, and although the usual buyer beware rules apply (always deal in cash, face to face transactions, nothing by post and do your research before buying), anything that removes the stranglehold on used musical kit Ebay currently have has got to be a good thing.

In recent times Ive been using London Gumtree and have been managing to find choice bargains on there, but for selling, they want your postcode with the advert and if you give a non London postcode it won’t accept your advert. Gumtree is owned by Ebay and it appears that they have cottoned on to those of us in the provinces wishing to tap into a wider audience.

With VAT in the UK about to go up to 17.5% again and the threat of more job losses in the New Year, I suspect Guitarmart and sadly Ebay will do very well in the months ahead.