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I feel it's so much better that it's Bonamassa owning one of these than some hedge fund manager, or popstar acting on the advice of a financial adviser about music related investments.
You could argue that it's only because of people like him "mythologising" that the values are inflated in the first place, but its not a zero-sum game, the value is not being taken from somewhere else, it's creating new value in the history and culture of electric guitar within the wider culture.
He's probably sold it on consignment and will get a percentage as a commission. It will still be a sizable sum of money though.
The guitar is a wreck, is unplayable and has intrinsic value AS A GUITAR less than a modern Custom Shop reissue.
*it's the investment potential and the mythologisation helps in that regard.
The demand for Gibson to reintroduce the Gibson Les Paul (in 1968) all came in the mid sixties from guitarists who had somehow managed to play a fifties Les Paul for a few moments.
People always want what they can't have, so when those artists used the LP in 68, demand for them went up and then they were brought back and they were turds, pancake body etc. Which reinforced the myth that the 58-60 were better. They were, AT THE TIME. At that time they were better than those being made in the 70's. We know why, cost cutting and whatnot. Trying to scale up production etc.
Are they better than the guitars made today? I revert back to my bet, double blind test 50 Burst vs 50 Modern LP.
Again - Human Engineering, Progress, Intelligence?
Twitter
Guitar Forums
The Internet.
Guitarist Magazine
Ebay
So what was it?
Rinse and repeat, this happens with everything else, it doesn't need the internet, all you need is see them in person or a magazine or TV. They were around back then.
The myth is that they are some special guitars made in a way that no modern guitars can match. BS. Absolute BS. If you are happy to spend that money or want an old guitar, fine, your money, do what you want. They are however not better guitars than modern LP.
1) Agree the LP we know from the late 50's was not popular at the time - But one day, a man from Surrey, reading a comic, plugged one into a Marshall combo and created a legendary voice, that neither was ever designed for - Yet the race was now on to replicate this new tone and find appropriate the 'tools' to do likewise - A man who would later run for the highest office in the USA acquired two of them - But disliked one of them and sold it to a man who played in a band that was named after a German hot air balloon - The demand for such guitars meant Gibson took notice and re-introduced the line - But the new 'accountant' led bean counters, from a corporate machine called CMI, 'reduced' the guitars attributes/qualities
2) It was during the late 60's and early 70's when the term 'better' was first used to describe the 50's models - And that was based on a comparison of the day between the 50's models and the 70's models - This in turn created the 'vintage market' - Even when I started full time in 1978, the phrase vintage existed for a product that was barely 20 years old
3) I agree we can't define better - Personally I think the term should be 'preferable' - But equally this is about taste and opinion, about old v new and neither is right or wrong when it comes to your own taste - But can we make them today like we use to - The more anal you are about the vintage detail, then the more you realise that Gibson have yet to make an accurate historic replica - Yet the demand for all the R7, R8, R9 etc replicas is big business - And I agree there are many many fine examples of these replicas - I think today, when you look at many other boutique, custom built, high end guitars, then in many ways the golden era of guitar building is with us today, be it replicas or new models, with or without vintage based influences - Today, many such replicas will allow us to play, perform and enjoy such guitars for many many years
4) I believe it is more preferable to carry out your own blind fold test, rather than listen to someone else carry one out in front of you - That way your own feel, touch, response etc is in your own hands and also your that human contact to offer a better and personal evaluation - But as I mentioned above any conclusion from such a test is all about your own preference for any such guitar - Not better
5) And maybe the big one within any conclusion - The owner of the guitar in question paid £50 for it in the mid late 60's - I think Bernie M said he paid around £100/110 for The Beast a few years later - I recall them costing £2000 around 1978 - I know there are many FB members who can offer some good financial advice - But if I'd have purchased one in 1978 and accept today it could/would fetch at least £175K for an original example, then that is not a bad investment - Yet how much more pleasure the guitar would offer me, as against looking at an annual statement of my new increased funds - The R8's and R9's are great guitars - I've sold them and whilst I've only ever played 4 or 5 original 59 LP's (including Greenie) I would admit that the 'playable' aspect of many replicas is more preferable to me than an original - For whatever reason that is - But the R8/R9 replicas today are ten a penny - And that is not meant to be an insult to many of us who own them - It is a fact of todays successful market place and consumer demand - As such they don't have the history, nostalgia, mojo or whatever term you can use to talk about an original example - Are they worth or aren't they worth it - They may well not be for many of us, but we are not the consumers for such vintage guitars - There are many collectable items available today, were the later version has been improved upon in many many ways - Does this mean the original old designed versions should be dumped as no longer valid - Or do we just accept there is a market for both old and new, to some buyers/owners - As a tool to do the job, then a £5/10K LP replica will do the job for any/many pro based player - But for some and probably easier to accept/appreciate if your funds allow you to participate in the vintage world, that there is some magical 'mojo' (agree a non-definable word in this case) in many such old guitars that is not in a new replica
SG Standard - 2017 (I believe) picked up in a crazy sale. It's a nice looking thing, sounds decent, but I wouldn't pay the current prices. It doesn't feel like the quality is up there with the Fenders and Musicman guitars and basses I own. Feels fragile. it's unique in my collection.
LP Tribute - 2017 - bought new in another crazy sale. Again, sounds decent, looks nice, it has better QC than some of the much more expensive LPs.
Both of those were well under £1k.
I've tried Custom Shop Gibson guitars and been very underwhelmed and disappointed with the paint finish, fret ends and rough binding. Sound great, poor QC.
I remember one lovely looking 335 which had one of the worst paint jobs I've experienced! I did not buy that one.
I've tried a few standards - nothing mindblowing. I've tried 2 Thunderbird basses and again concluded they felt and looked pretty shoddy considering the prices.
But equally, people are free to spend their money how they want and it can't be argued that vintage hasn't been a solid investment.
People do, for whatever reason, seem to believe old = good. It amazes me that previously derided 70s Strats are now fetching bigger and bigger prices. Why? Do people honestly believe objectively that a 70s Strat is better than a modern one? There may be the odd good one but in percentage terms, the chances of a modern one being a better quality guitar must be hugely higher.
With apologies if Mr Elson is reading this, I actually think it is pretty hard to find a poor quality modern guitar these days...
Each to their own.
yes, I believe that the reputation of the 58-60 grew in the 70's due to all those turds, without the internet, words travel slower, and the worst the QC got in the 70's the more elevated the burst era got and the bigger the myth became.
Had I been working in 67, I would have answered the phone with "You can't buy that guitar, you can buy this SG instead, they don't make the LP anymore because nobody bought them!"
Then Gibson decided to listen and put them back out on the market again, but they were not the same, without the internet, they tried them in the shop in person, found them to be crap, but the used one hanging in the window made in the 50's is better.
BAM !