Has anyone played a reissue that is good as an original

SimonC · March 2019

I was surprised to see an 88 Les Paul Standard featured on Norman’s Rare Guitars very recently. It was identical to my 88 Standard, even down to the buckle rash on the back.
Ive owned the guitar from new, and consider it to be an ok Les Paul, nothing more.
I also have a modern McCarty which sounds and plays better in every way.
It amuses me slightly that 80s guitars are now beginning to have some vintage mystique attached to them as well.
it really is all in the mind.

crunchman · March 2019

JDE said:

interesting thread, would be really curious to see what people think about this with acoustics, as that’s probably the real litmus test.

I'm not an expert on other brands, but unless you go for the very old (and very expensive) ones, I prefer a good modern Martin dreadnought. I've got an HD28V now, but before I bought that, I tried a few early 70s ones, and they were nowhere as good as the HD28V, and were about the same price. Martin changed the material used for the bridgeplate around 1968, and didn't change it back until 1988 or thereabouts. I'm certain you are better off with a modern Martin than one from that era.

I've played a mid 60's Martin with the "correct" bridgeplate material and Brazilian back and sides, and I still prefer the HD28V. The HD28V has the pre-war style bracing now marketed as "forward shifted". The post war Martin bracing just doesn't sound as good to me.

I've had mine for more than ten years now, and it does sound better now than when it was new. It really seemed to open up at around 5 years old. For me, the optimum is probably a modern build with 10 or 15 years of real age on it.

TeleMaster · March 2019

I’ve got a 64 Strat. Pre CBS. I’ve also had a 67 Tele.

The big big difference for me is the neck. It’s played in, it doesn’t have that symmetrical neck wear. The wear on the body feels real, and it can often feel overdone on the relic stuff.

I’ve had a few AVRI Teles and a Strat and for me, they didn’t compare to the real thing.

heavyrocker · March 2019

Lots of reissues are as good as some originals. Surely the question though is are the best reissues as good as the best originals? Impossible to answer definitively but on the evidence I’ve seen I would say no. I’ve played quite a few CS Strats and none have been as good as my original ‘63 or even a ‘72 I used to own. Some have been close though.

thebreeze · March 2019

heavyrocker said:

Lots of reissues are as good as some originals. Surely the question though is are the best reissues as good as the best originals? Impossible to answer definitively but on the evidence I’ve seen I would say no. I’ve played quite a few CS Strats and none have been as good as my original ‘63 or even a ‘72 I used to own. Some have been close though.

Yes, I think that is the question and I agree as well, in that I haven’t found a reissue that’s as good as my ‘65. I’ve played and owned plenty of CS Strats, some of which have been really good guitars but the ‘65 to date is all-round better. What does that mean? For me it’s that everything taken together is pretty much perfect, particularly the sound - but maybe that’s just me fitting with a particular guitar. I’m surprised though I can’t find it readily in reissues.

On big names selling their originals, I think if I’d had decades of fun/experience making classic albums, selling out shows, was a masterful player and could raise a million squid for whatever reason (usually charitable purposes) I’d probably sell up too. I don’t think they’ve thought, “CS guitars are better, I want rid of this old thing” - that decision has been made for lots of reasons only one of which is CS guitars are decent enough for me to use now at this stage of my career and say goodbye to this guitar I have loved.

Gerz6558 · March 2019

I've had a 64 Jaguar, 65 Mustang, 67 ES330 and a 68 SG.

I've never been blown away with any of them, they have all gone and been replaced with more recent models. They have all been great, but I've never had that wow moment.

I do think there's a lot of hype and romance attached to them, maybe that drove my expectations to be unrealistic. Got to play them for yourself and decide.

chris78 · March 2019

I’ve played and spent time with both. The best ever tele I played was a very very worn 63 sunburst. I played 8-10 teles in the shop, vintage and cs and it had that “thing.”

The best strat I’ve ever played was a reissue that I’m lucky enough to own.

There are great guitars in any area at any price point, it’s just about finding the ones that speak to you.

JDE · March 2019

Gerz6558 said:

I've had a 64 Jaguar, 65 Mustang, 67 ES330 and a 68 SG.

Was your 330 a sunburst with a retrofit Bigsby by any chance? Bought mine from a guy from
Deansgate around 2007.

mrkb · March 2019

richardhomer said:

It’s probably worth pointing out that most famous players - who can afford any guitar they desire - tend not to play vintage guitars these gays.

Bit harsh mate! Nothing macho about playing old guitars

TeleMaster · March 2019

Joe B, John Mayer, John Frusicante, Josh Klinghoffer, Gary Clark Jr, Dan Auerbach, Jack White, and all of the players who play that kind of style play vintage guitars. They also play modern guitars but they definitely play vintage models.

Danielsguitars · March 2019

TeleMaster said:

Joe B, John Mayer, John Frusicante, Josh Klinghoffer, Gary Clark Jr, Dan Auerbach, Jack White, and all of the players who play that kind of style play vintage guitars. They also play modern guitars but they definitely play vintage models.

It's not all that style

I'm building a dc junior to replace a vintage junior for touring, it's played in c #, it's stoner rock type stuff, juniors do sound bloody good in a rock band

xscaramanga · March 2019

When I found my Strat in CCGX, they also had a '63 refin that had reportedly belonged to Chris Rea. I spent quite a while swapping between them and was hard pressed to say which I liked better. That made it a no brainer to go for the newer one (a 50s Hot Rod) at a fifth of the price. But I've only ever played one other pre-CBS Strat and I don't remember anything about the other one (I was 19). I can't say how good that '63 was relative to others of the era. And it wasn't a blind test, so I can't say how much was psychological. I do bloody love my Strat though.

UnclePsychosis · March 2019

I find it strange that (many) guitarists believe that with at least half a century's worth of experience manufacturing guitars for a mass audience somehow the industry has got worse at it. It's nonsense.

Whether or not guitars sound better as they get older is an interesting question but remember that when all those vintage recordings were made those vintage guitars were in fact new guitars.

ICBM · March 2019

UnclePsychosis said:

I find it strange that (many) guitarists believe that with at least half a century's worth of experience manufacturing guitars for a mass audience somehow the industry has got worse at it. It's nonsense.

Whether or not guitars sound better as they get older is an interesting question but remember that when all those vintage recordings were made those vintage guitars were in fact new guitars.

I’m not sure you can use industry experience as a justification - you could say that by the 70s, Fender and Gibson were much more experienced than in the 50s, so the quality would have been better... but it objectively wasn’t. In fact, I would say that the most important thing the vintage guitar market has done is to finally teach the companies how to do it right again...

The other question is whether the old wood was better, even when it was new - because it was ‘old growth’ timber, and was dried naturally in air over years rather than being kiln dried. This *may* be true, especially for mahogany and rosewood, and possibly for ash, but probably less so for maple. So the argument is that the old guitars sounded better even when they were new. But that’s now impossible to test.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter though - you can get great sounds from either old or new. The age of the guitar is so far down the list of factors in a guitar sound that it’s irrelevant to anyone except the player, and that’s largely to do with feel rather than tone.

guitars4you · March 2019

UnclePsychosis said:

.

Whether or not guitars sound better as they get older is an interesting question but remember that when all those vintage recordings were made those vintage guitars were in fact new guitars.

That has been said many times before

All Right Now was played on an 11 year old guitar
Albratros on a 9 year old guitar
And Hendrix just about only played new guitars

Maybe the age of the guitar was not important - Just the quality of the guitar - As such I agree with @ICBM 's comment - I would say that the most important thing the vintage guitar market has done is to finally teach the companies how to do it right again...

Gerz6558 · March 2019

JDE said:

Gerz6558 said:

I've had a 64 Jaguar, 65 Mustang, 67 ES330 and a 68 SG.

Was your 330 a sunburst with a retrofit Bigsby by any chance? Bought mine from a guy from
Deansgate around 2007.

Not guilty!

Voxman · March 2019

Reading through this thread apart from my 1969 hardtail Strat, I don't have any vintage guitars. But its dawned on me that some other guitars I own are actually quite 'old' compared to the list above from @guitars4you. In fact, only 2 of my guitars are in single figures age wise...a 2010 Strat Limited Edition and a Yamaha Pacifica 611VFM.

1969 Strat - 50 yrs old
1976 Yamaha FG145 acoustic - 43 yrs old
1980 Washburn EA30 - 39 yrs old
1989 Epi Sheraton (Samick) - 30 yrs old
1988 USA Tele - 31 yrs old
1990 LP Custom - 29 yrs old
2002 PRS Cu24 - 17 yrs old
2004 50th Anniv USA Strat -15 yrs old
2006 SG Standard -13 yrs old

SimonC · March 2019

Interestingly in the vintage clothing / jewellery / home wares market, vintage is defined as anything older than 20 years.

ICBM · March 2019

SimonC said:

Interestingly in the vintage clothing / jewellery / home wares market, vintage is defined as anything older than 20 years.

Whereas for cars it's one made between 1919 and 1930.

The question for guitars is, is it one made before (say) 1969, or one made more than (say) 30 years ago? Or to put it another way, do you consider the guitars which were so poor that they started the whole vintage market off in the first place to be vintage themselves now that they're 40 years old?

Discuss...

clarkefan · March 2019

It's all too subjective IMO. Your "dog" could be the greatest thing I've ever played, regardless of age.

Van Halen's black and white and red Strat, and SRV's No.1 were by many accounts utter crap by people who've played them.

I've been lucky enough to have had a lot of bursts in hand, including the Peter Green one, and at least two left handed ones (couldn't play them unfortunately).

According to all around me at the time the Green guitar was a complete pain in the arse to play. Didn't seem to bother Green and Moore though

Howdy, Stranger!

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Has anyone played a reissue that is good as an original

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