"Birth year guitar" for 1979 - what would you choose?

p90fool

Much as I loved Tokais at the time (Fenders were well and truly off the rails) "Birth Year Strat Copy" just feels a bit lame to me, I'd rather have a 1979 Fender cheapy like a Musicmaster or something.

A 25/50 Les Paul would be cool though.

Iamnobody

Been their done that with a '78 Gibson and a couple of 2011's for my daughter.

The '78 is being traded for a Ric 360 tomorrow as I didn't use it.

I'm not trying to discourage your purchase at all but don't get something for the sake of it like I did.

That said I know of two LP's in the USA that are stamped with my exact birth date and must admit if it wasn't for import fees etc I'd have bought one.

I'd stay away from Fender for a late seventies YOB unless you have something else to prove its vintage. You could be buying anything late seventies to early eighties if you go by serial number alone.

english_bob

p90fool said:

Much as I loved Tokais at the time (Fenders were well and truly off the rails) "Birth Year Strat Copy" just feels a bit lame to me,

Fair comment. If I was in the market for a birth year guitar (I'm not right now, but who knows...) I think I'd be more inclined to go for something like a Yamaha SG that's an original (as much as any guitar is) design.

Sarge

79 Westbury standard /custom /deluxe
Nuff said.

crunchman

Being that bit older (1969) I'd probably have to look at an SG or a 335. Apparently the necks on those are narrow, which I don't mind, and they don't fetch silly money.

A 69 Tele might be nice but I don't see how it could be any better than my existing Tele.

A 69 Strat is a no-no as it has the big headstock.

Halikus

Silverburst LPC, Burny or a Tokai is my list for a 1980 birth year guitar, just gotta pray for the right one to pop up.

randomhandclaps

djspecialist said:

randomhandclaps said:

It's a 1978. That's cool and that but IMO buying a 'Year my mummy and daddy got their rocks off' guitar is a bit weird.

I've got a YMMADGTROG - a 1977 Yamaha SG2000.

I try not to think too much about the YMMADGTRO bit, and enjoy the fact it's a bloody nice geetar

It must be awkward when your dad looks at it all dreamy eyed though!

TonyR

What about a nice Rickenbacker? They are pretty consistent in terms of build quality.

TTony

english_bob said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

It's gonna be something Japanese I reckon...

That was my initial thought. Be interesting to see what folks come up with.

Another vote for the MIJ of that era.

The YamSG range (if your back can take the strain), Ibanez Artist, Washburn "wing" ranges, Aria Pro models.  Even a Kawai!

albanov

1979? Well, if you like natural wood finishes and brass hardware you're laughing.

I'd probably go for a Guild solid body - S100, S300? Univox HiFlier on the cheap. And I've got a weird liking for the early Ibanez Iceman from that period, when it was still more medallion man than metal. Wouldn't go so far as to actually buy one though.

ChuckManual

Shame you're not a Gibson fan because Les Paul was once asked, out of all the guitars that bared his name, which was his personal favourite.  Without hesitation, he answered; "The 1979 Custom, no question."

...and if it was good enough for Les...

crunchman

Gordon Smith started up in 1979.  A first year of production Gordon Smith would be quite cool.

Whether they would have had serial numbers or any other way of identifying the year I don't know.

McToot

If the OP had been very overdue, I would have offered him my SG1000 - it's a 1980

p90fool

ChuckManual said:

Shame you're not a Gibson fan because Les Paul was once asked, out of all the guitars that bared his name, which was his personal favourite.  Without hesitation, he answered; "The 1979 Custom, no question."

...and if it was good enough for Les...

Was it in 1979 by any chance? Particularly in the Gibson brochure which came as a freebie with International Musician and Recording World that year?

blobb

Here's a 1979 Ibanez musician MC500DS. The quality is something else :-)

richardhomer

Aria PE1000?

SRich

english_bob said:

What would you choose as a "birth year guitar" 

Not to hijack the thread, but being a '54 there's absolutely no chance in hell this is ever going to happen for me......some nice guitars to aspire to though...............

english_bob

ChuckManual;608568" said:

Shame you're not a Gibson fan...

I've got no problem with Gibson, just didn't think a 79 Gibson was likely to be any good, and expensive regardless.

Zodiac51

Hmmm... '79 for a Rock/Blues type dude huh?

Nope, can't think of anything at all.

Oh!.... Hang on what's that under the bed in the spare room?

http://i.imgur.com/Q3tFRTO.jpg

ICBM

Gibson "The Paul"s are cool, and not very expensive. OK they're not a classic Les Paul, but they're a decent guitar made from good quality wood and are almost certainly a reasonable investment these days too.

Just watch out for body seam separation, they can be prone to that and are quite difficult to fix. If it hasn't started to yet it's not that likely to, since most of the shrinkage should now have happened.

If you want something a bit more expensive, a Silverburst Les Paul Custom is probably the best from that era - they do tend to be heavy though! But luckily also sound massive.