Vintage - Retro - Classic labels

Haych

This observation is equally as applicable to guitars and other bits of kit as it is to amps but had to put it somewhere and here seemed most appropriate.

Ever since picking up the guitar some 30 years ago (goodness, shouldn't I be better at it by now?) there has been a nostalgic hark back to the tones of yesteryear.  My first proper valve amp was a 'vintage' voiced job and many, many manufacturers seem to have been marketing guitars, amps, pedals, pickups and much more aiming to capture some of that retro vibe.

But, how relevant is it any more?  What does 'vintage' or 'retro' or 'classic' actually mean?  When I bought my first valve amp it was aimed at something from the late 1950s I guess but couldn't the vintage and classic label also be used to describe the 70s stadium rock and 80s hair metal phase?

When do such labels stop being descriptive of a certain era and just mean something not contemporary?  And does something new created for the purpose of sounding vintage actually sound anything like what they aim to sound like?  Or is it all just hype to convince guitarists (who generally are stuck in a technological time warp) that new-old is as good as old-old?

I dunno, it was just a thought bouncing around this empty skull of mine so thought I'd throw it out for opinion.

midlifecrisis

vintage, classic, retro,  just marketing names for "Old"