Collectability and rarity ruins everything. As I said to the folks in the shop when I had one of my old guitars in for a little bit of work last month “When I bought this it was second hand, now it’s vintage”. 20 years ago I threw myself into a drum kit wearing it (it sounded great), I might think twice about that now, or at least calculate how many mortgage payments I could make selling it before deciding if the amusement was worth it.
Below is a ’58 Flying V, super rare, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and leaning on a tree in my garden. Or not, it was £140 on ebay.
It’s an Epiphone reissue made in China to an average-to-reasonable standard, and as such is an “official” version of the ’58 V as original manufacturer Gibson is Epiphone’s parent company.
It’s been customised quite a bit, all the black plastic I had from another long broken V and it fitted just nice with a little trimming. The big V shaped tailpiece was in the wrong place so I moved it and routed the body underneath so the strings could still reach the ferrules at the back (the strings anchor on the back of the body), the truss rod cover is now the proper tw0-hole version and there’s a tacky plastic silver Gibson logo on the headstock, just like the original.
It probably looks more like the ’83 Heritage Reissue Gibson made when they first tried to make accurate reproductions of their classics, but what the hell, it’s a flying V in a tuxedo, what’s not to like?
It’s cheap, it’s a fake, so why bother? Because it’s a joy to play, that’s why. It hangs in perfect balance with the front strap button moved to the back, the neck is chunky but comfortable and the original pickups which I had been ready to ditch sound great, medium to hot output with a warm fuzziness and fat bottom that I’m sure most folk will hate. I’ve found myself taking this into the studio ahead of far “better” guitars for months now. It just makes me glad.
Price, brand, cache, age and origin, none of it really matters. If you like it you like it and don’t let anyone tell you can’t have fun because their thing has more zeros on its price tag.
And you know that’s not just guitars I’m talking about.
I’m no guitarist but I know what you’re saying! Very true :-)
It’s been said that I’m no guitarist either :o)
I genuinely resent the vintage thing. I can no longer gig half my guitars (which isn’t so bad as I never gig these days anyway). The price tags never reflect the worth of the thing either. John from Strung Out got a shot of an original 59 Paul and said it was “alright”. I’d want a bit more than that for my £200 grand. Then there’s the junk that you just can’t put down. I was playing a wee parlour sized Washburn the other day – fairly cheap and rubbish in many ways, but I want one so badly. Actually I think I need it.
If it makes you happy….
“If it makes you happy….”
^^^ Exactly this. I bought a daft wee thing this week for silly money but, for me, the emotional worth far outweighs the financial.
My most precious physical possesions are all small or old or oddball, some are replacements for childhood favourites and some speak of a day to rememeber.
You can’t define or explian some things and nor should you have to.