Deciding on a
vintage electric guitar -
some questions and answers!

Check out my new blog for more information on electric guitars!

Acquiring and playing a vintage electric guitar is definitely the way to go. I myself, have never bought a new guitar. I don't know the feel of a new guitar or the new guitar smell. (does that even exist?)

For me, vintage is it!

Later on this page I will outline what to look for before you fork over your hard earned cash!

My first vintage electric guitar was a 1968 Gibson SG Special (bought in 1972). I didn't know what I was doing, I just knew that I wanted the guitar Pete Townsend of The Who played at the time.

Before I started taking lessons, I found one at a local music store. I opened the case, looked at it and said "Yeah, that's the one". I paid 200 dollars for it and off I went. I never checked the neck, or electronics or looked for any damage. I honestly didn't know what I was doing or what I was to look for in a vintage electric guitar.

Lucky for me, it turned out to be a great guitar which I have to this day. More on this one later.

The next vintage electric guitar I bought was a mid-60's Messenger . This guitar was used by one of my all time guitar heroes, Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad. I finally saw this guitar (below) on their second album.

With no access to any kind of research, I had no idea what to look for. Again, I didn't know what to check for in a used guitar and again, I lucked out.

The aluminum neck was perfectly straight but the single coil DeArmond pickups sucked to the nth degree. Too thin in sound and very screechy at volume. It still had a great tone at lower volume.

In the early '80s I bought one of my current babies, a mid-70's yellow Fender Stratocaster .

By now I've been playing for quite a while and learned over time what to look for when buying a vintage electric guitar. The only problem I could find with this one was a wavy neck. To check a guitar neck, sight down the body towards the headstock. A decent neck should have a slight curve upwards to the nut.

This guitar had a neck like ripples on a pond. I didn't care because I wanted a Telecaster neck on it like the poster I had of Jimi Hendrix playing at The Newport Pop Festival in 1969.

I have refinished this guitar over the years ( a big NO-NO, more on this later), changed the electronics, added a Floyd Rose bridge and so forth. The only original part of this guitar is the body and neck plate with the serial number.

The latest guitar I have bought is a 1982 Gibson Les Paul Custom with Tim Shaw pickups. I got this beauty off of eBay in 2008. What a great guitar! Tons of tone, beautiful ox-blood finish! I love it!

The internet is a great way to buy (and even more so, research) a vintage electric guitar. The Les Paul's owner had a lot of pictures noting every possible angle and any damage or defects. It was easy to research the pickups and the date of manufacture via the serial number. I was very comfortable bidding and consequently winning this guitar.

Over the last thirty years or so I've learned (mostly by trial and error!) how to set string height, intonation and neck curvature. If you're so inclined, you can learn these yourself or have a competent guitar tech do them.

There are a few things to look for when you buy a vintage electric guitar. This list is not complete and I'll add to it as time goes on.

First a disclaimer-- I am by no means the final authority on guitar collecting. The following list is things I look for and is not definitive. But still, it works for me. If you want to go ahead and repaint or refinish your guitar or change pickups and electronics, go for it. Just keep in mind it will decrease the value as a collectible.

What to check for:

1) Finish

2) Electronics- pickups, pots and wiring

3) Pickguards, bindings and other laminated plastic

4) Fret board and frets

5) Headstock and tuning keys

Finish--(also overall appearance and appeal) Be careful here, refinishing a vintage electric guitar is a definite NO-NO!

Remember the SG Special I bought as my first guitar? The previous owner stripped the translucent cherry finish and replaced it with a natural finish thus destroying any future vintage worth. I had repainted this guitar numerous times, replaced the soap bar pickups with humbuckers and replaced pots and switches and what have you. Back in the day, serious guitar collecting was in the future. It was no big deal to refinish a guitar or change parts. This was much like buying baseball cards in the mid-60's and clothes pinning a Mickey Mantle card to your bike spokes because you were a Met fan!(guilty)

Again, research is the key. some factory finishes (especially nitro-cellulose) crack and check with age. The guitar should look its age (again, research!)

Electronics-- again research wins the day for checking pickup serial numbers and pot dates. The internet is again invaluable.

Pickguards and other plastic-- Are they original? Sometimes this is hard to check with replacement parts everywhere you look.

Fret board and frets-- Does the guitar have the original neck? Some like Gibson are glued into the body but some guitar manufacturers made removable necks. Fender is the big one in this regard.(Some early Fenders had a date stamped on the heel of the neck). On the Strat I bought, I replaced the neck with an old Telecaster neck (with some modification). Do the frets show normal wear for the age of the guitar? Have they been replaced recently? Again research your instrument!

Headstock-- Check this part of the guitar very closely. I dropped my SG years ago (strap slipped off the holders- this was way before the advent of strap locks!) and broke the headstock in two-- Vertically along the outer tuning keys. AAARRRRGGGHHH! Ended up epoxying the head back together. Still looks like crap. So check the headstock for any of this type of damage. Also look for nicks and missing chunks. It's very easy to swing the guitar and smack the headstock on mic stands, walls, fans, whatever. Also check for replaced tuning keys.

This list will get you off on the right track. As far as pricing goes, this is a touchy subject I will address on another page. So let's keep this kind of simple for now.

Buying a vintage electric guitar can be a very gratifying experience. Just do your homework, which thanks to the internet, can be so easy now, and you'll come home with a beauty to appreciate and cherish for years to come.

Check out my new blog for more information on electric guitars!

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