Are old guitars actually better than new ones

sunshinewelly

Be honest is it all in the mind. Every single advert i see for a pre 1970 guitar always says how resonant the wood is and how it rings. Is this just advertising spiel or is it true. I have no opinion as I have never played a pre 1970 guitar

Elx

It's bullshit...Stratocasters from the 80s will never sound good, not in a thousand years

MattFGBI

Some guitars are better than others. But it's all quite subjective.

There is an argument that wood gets better as it ages but I would say that's far more relevant for an acoustic than an electric.

jeztone2

Its about context. When I was 18 a 70's Fender Strat was considered junk. You could buy an Antigua Strat for £250.00.

But now 50's & 60's ones are no longer affordable. Dealers have to sell something right?

jd0272

I fear my old Marlin Sidewinder from some 20 odd years ago would not have gotten better with the passing of those years.

Sassafras

One thing I do know is that a good guitar from the 60s can sound amazing and they're usually lighter than a recent build.

Having said that, I bought a 69 strat years ago before I knew how to judge a good guitar and it was crap, really crap.

So age is no reliable guide when choosing guitars.

meltedbuzzbox

MattFGBI said:

Some guitars are better than others. But it's all quite subjective.

There is an argument that wood gets better as it ages but I would say that's far more relevant for an acoustic than an electric.

nail on the head. 

If I was to use logic (or my version of) I would say newer guitars are better. 

There is over 60 years of experience that is now put into guitar production and a shit load of research.

Leo was using cheap labour back in the 50s and 60s and there was a lot of room for human error to occur. 

*tin hat on 

FelineGuitars

Wood ages and often in a way that is beneficial , so old guitars can have something about them, but if it was a lemon back in the 60s it may still be somewhat citrus now.

Quality control in many factories now is WAY superior to what it was back then, but we'll have to see how the newer guitars age

Phil_aka_Pip

The thing with new guitars is the wood they're made of. They may be built to tighter tolerances with (in some cases) better QC, but do they sound better than the old ones did when they were new? And as @Felineguitars rightly said, we need to see how they age.

RaymondLin

In this regard, PRS value sure will go through the roof in 50 years!

ICBM

*Some* old guitars seem to have a magical resonance and tone that no new guitar I've ever played has. Although some have been close, including a parts Strat of ESchap's I have here right now, which vibrates like an acoustic… but it does still sound like an incredibly vibrant modern guitar, if that makes sense. Most old guitars "sound old", even if many of them don't sound that special, just old, and some of them sound old and crap.

Good new guitars are much less variable, but still sound modern. Whether that will change as they get old, and some of them turn into magical old guitars as well, I don't know. My guess is that they will, although possibly not if it's only down to a certain type of old-growth wood - I tend to find the 'magical old guitar' thing is more associated with mahogany than with other woods… I've certainly played more amazing old Gibsons than amazing old Fenders.

monquixote

There is a far greater proportion of good modern guitars that good old ones.

70's and 80's Fenders were mostly a PoS at the time and are an overpriced PoS today.

meltedbuzzbox

monquixote said:

There is a far greater proportion of good modern guitars that good old ones.

70's and 80's Fenders were mostly a PoS at the time and are an overpriced PoS today.

Dan Smiths and MIJ 80s Fenders have a very good rep...

I have never played either personally but I see a bit of a cult following. 

ICBM

I don't understand why Dan Smiths are rated now - OK, for a short while they were the only modern 4-bolt neck, reasonably well-contoured Strats and so values went up… but they have the wrong head shape, crap alloy bridge, over-thick polyester lacquer and every one I've played has had a really skinny v-shaped neck.

Admittedly they are slightly better than a typical '77-'81, and even those starting to be "worth" a fair amount now, but… really? Any modern CS Strat is miles better, and a standard AVRI or even Mexican Classic is at least as good.

monquixote

meltedbuzzbox said:

monquixote said:

There is a far greater proportion of good modern guitars that good old ones.

70's and 80's Fenders were mostly a PoS at the time and are an overpriced PoS today.

Dan Smiths and MIJ 80s Fenders have a very good rep...

I have never played either personally but I see a bit of a cult following. 

I've got a 1980 "Strat" which is a fairly decent guitar so I know they did make some good ones.

I should also mention it's not as good as my modern US Standard and I've seen mint "Strats" up for £2k 

HAL9000

I suspect there was more variation and as many bad guitars as good ones. And this variation also meant that some truly excellent instruments were sometimes produced.
Today I'd guess there is much more consistency so fewer duffers, but also fewer exceptional guitars.

richardhomer

The 'best' vintage guitars I have played are better than the best modern guitars I've played - these include a '54 Les Paul Gold Top, a '54 Strat, my own '63 Strat (which I foolishly sold) and my '64 335.

I have played a lot of old guitars that are not that great, including a '59 Les Paul - and a '65 Strat which I owned.

I have played a lot of modern guitars that are outstanding; Custom Shop Relics are almost invariably great, as are most PRS.

The 'gentrification' of some older American guitars (specifically from the late 70s) is largely vintage dealer hype.

Ultimately every instrument has to be evaluated on its own merits.

ICBM

monquixote said:

I've got a 1980 "Strat" which is a fairly decent guitar so I know they did make some good ones.

I don't doubt it, although every one I've played has been an over-heavy dog. But an old friend of mine has a 1981 "International Colours" Maui Blue Strat which I remember being good too, and those are normally regarded as being about the low point. It's not that they're *all* awful, just that the bad ones vastly outnumber the good by that time.

There are a couple of late-70s Strats in the shop too, both weigh over 10lbs and both are total crap in my opinion. But they're "worth" well over a grand each purely because they're 35 years old.

WezV

it does apply more to acoustics than electrics - but the effect is there

I find old guitars often have some special quality to them... I often notice it first when tuning them up -  they can sound pretty much like any other guitar, then jump to life when you get to standard tuning.  I don't know how much is down to parts bedding into place with use, or the affect of wood cells plasticizing as they age... but either way I believe a guitar gets used to its function with time and gets better at it.

The best example I have it my regal resonator from the 30's.  Its the cheapest guitar a budget catalogue guitar maker ever made.  Made at a time when they were implementing massive cost savings.  Its made of birch ply.   In no way whatsoever could it be considered well made, and its not the easiest guitar to play.

It sings to you when you walk in the room!!!   I have had acoustics that do this before,  but none are as sensitive as the reso.  certain frequencies get picked up more than others.   I have tried different tunings and none sound as good as DADGAD or standard tuning so i suspect its spent most of its life in either of those

Its clearly been heavily played so the real question for me is if it would be as resonant as it is if it had never been played.... or did it survive this long because it always sounded good.   I suspect its the playing that helps guitars age well

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM;522395" said:

*Some* old guitars seem to have a magical resonance and tone that no new guitar I've ever played has. Although some have been close, including a parts Strat of ESchap's I have here right now, which vibrates like an acoustic… but it does still sound like an incredibly vibrant modern guitar, if that makes sense. Most old guitars "sound old", even if many of them don't sound that special, just old, and some of them sound old and crap.

Good new guitars are much less variable, but still sound modern. Whether that will change as they get old, and some of them turn into magical old guitars as well, I don't know. My guess is that they will, although possibly not if it's only down to a certain type of old-growth wood - I tend to find the 'magical old guitar' thing is more associated with mahogany than with other woods… I've certainly played more amazing old Gibsons than amazing old Fenders.

I love it when a guitar is properly resonant - @eschap must have a good one!

Sassafras

That makes sense to me if the wood's being vibrated by the strings for years, it must be affected and somehow becomes more resonant. In fact increased resonance is something I've noticed on all the good old guitars I've played.