Last month’s column discussed the vintage guitar market from the point of view of the jazz player, and looked at how some solidbody
instruments have far exceeded the value of many archtops of the same years. Suffice to say, the collector’s interest in a particular
style of music plays a large role in determining which type of instruments are going to be collected. Since there are many more people
interested in rock than jazz, there will be more competition to obtain the instruments associated with rock styles. But aside from
interests in a particular style, there are many other reasons why we collect:
Familiarity
People buy and collect models with which
they are familiar. The majority of freshman guitar majors who have started with me come in for the first lesson carrying either a
Stratocaster or Les Paul variant – the guitars they have been bombarded with via popular culture. These students are often very good
players and are able to improvise to varying degrees, but often have no knowledge of the language used in jazz music, or knowledge
of archtop models. Yet they know what a Strat and Les Paul are, and they collect those types.
Tone (Artistic Considerations)
Many serious
players put tonal characteristics before anything else. The year or type of instrument may matter little, so long as the guitar can
produce a particular timbre the player is seeking. Such a player may have many guitars and a very eclectic collection simply because
vintage value is not the top priority so much as the tone. For some collectors, this value can be blended with vintage concerns also.
Not all ‘59 Burst Les Pauls (or Super 400s) sound alike! A serious player/collector may select a particular LP from a bevy of LPs,
trying to match both tone and vintage quality.
Individuality
A collection is often an artistic expression of his/her individuality.
Like many other collectors/players, my own collection is an odd mix that is unexplainable to the untrained novice. One side of the
room is filled with circa 1980 Schecter Strats, while the other is lined with PAF archtops. I have been to many homes to do various
kinds of horse-trading, and seen collections that – to my eye – only a mother could love: old Kraftsmans or Tiescos lined up as far
as the eye can see; every available color of Mexican Tele; old Gretsches with most of the binding falling off. At these times I am
reminded that beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder when it comes to old guitars. One of my customers held up his 1957 ES-175
pickguard with a nickel bracket and said, “I see this as a work of art. My wife sees it as a piece of plastic.”
Financial Gain/Investment
When
one purchases a guitar solely as an investment, there may be no love of the instrument for its sound or beauty. Some investors may
not even play the instrument or know anything about music. This is fast becoming the situation when ‘59 Bursts and its equivalents
are involved.
Nostalgia
For those of us who like to browse for and collect guitars (and antiques in general), maybe there’s something in our genes
that sentimentally draws us to an earlier day: a computer-free, simpler time; a time of craftsmanship and fine materials; a time when
a real sense of art was designed into the product. My impulse to collect antiques – and guitars in particular – can be triggered by
a host of sensations. I love to hear the irregular plodding of a horse and buggy, to see an art-deco radio from the ‘30s, to hear
a real Edison phonograph from the ‘20s. I become glassy-eyed and crazed when I come across some rare guitar or vintage part sitting
alone in the dusty corner of a junk shop. Like many others, the culmination of 1900s romanticism is captured for me in guitars.
When
nostalgia is the motive for collecting, a person (usually a Baby Boomer) might be thinking, “I wanted a Strat when I was a kid in
the ‘60s and couldn’t have one … now I can have any one I want and I want a ‘62.” But more often what I hear is, “I had a Strat when
I was a kid, and I want it back!” Many times this is accompanied by a disturbing explanation of what was purchased with the money
after the beloved relic was sold: a Kramer aluminum- neck guitar, an L-6S, or a brand new Norlin Les Paul. Isn’t it typically human
to realize too late what we had? As luck would have it, I still have the same blonde ‘73 Stratocaster that I bought with lawnmowing
money when I was 16, in 1978.
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