Why Are Guitar Players Obsessed With Vintage Gear?

It's not universal. I'm not at all obsessed with old Les Pauls or Strats or vintage amps at all. Quite the opposite in fact, which is why I am all about Fractals, guitars with active pickups, Strandbergs, digital everything.

A '59 Les Paul doesn't have any animus for me, but a '59 Les Paul played by Les Paul? Yeah, that's got serious something going on.
 
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If I had the ridiculous money some people have I would most certainly own a burst and a 61 Strat why because I could. That said about as vintage as I get is mid to late 90’s PRS’s it’s about what I can afford lol.
 
The vintage market is not really dominated by guitar players as much as collectors/investors/dealers.

Might as well equate Vintage gear with how the Art market functions more than anything else at this point.

It's really an irrelevant topic and out of reach for mere mortals.

But hey, a wealthy modern-day Pharoah can line his Sarcophagus with '59 'Bursts and Tweed Deluxes. :)
 
Same goes for vintage vehicles. Its' all a matter of taste and who really cares? For example a 1965 Mustang Coupe went for $1200 back in the day and now goes for more than $20k. Instruments, art, vehicles, etc, all up to the collector to what they want to pay. For some, it's sentimental.

By the way, here's my 65 which I got because it's my birth year :)
 

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My take? It's another way people make themselves feel good. I do it. Just not with crazy, overpriced, vintage gear. I have few nice things, and not afraid to admit that part of it is show.
It can also be a place to park some investment money, if not for your own retirement, for your kids. And while it's appreciating in value, it can hang on your wall, or be on display in your man-cave, for friends to marvel at.
Personally, I try to be practical with spending money, just not when it comes to guitars or trucks. Those are my 2, don't-care-if-it's-more-than-I-need, it's-what-I-want, indulgences. Even the Axe Fx III might be in that category...
 
Same goes for vintage vehicles. Its' all a matter of taste and who really cares? For example a 1965 Mustang Coupe went for $1200 back in the day and now goes for more than $20k. Instruments, art, vehicles, etc, all up to the collector to what they want to pay. For some, it's sentimental.

By the way, here's my 65 which I got because it's my birth year :)
Ha.... mustang Sally
🤘😜
 
Yeah value is extremely subjective. To some a Jackson Pollock painting is a great artistic expression that's worth millions. To others it looks like an old used drop cloth from a sloppy house painting crew. Good luck figuring out how that whole dynamic works.
 
Yeah value is extremely subjective. To some a Jackson Pollock painting is a great artistic expression that's worth millions. To others it looks like an old used drop cloth from a sloppy house painting crew. Good luck figuring out how that whole dynamic works.
Yeah and some even use horrible art to launder and funnel money from foreign adversaries to help fuel their meth and prostitute addictions.
 
Because people say it’s better than current obtainable stuff, and guitar players always lust after what they can’t have, thinking it’s the key to magical tone and amazing chops....

After all, most famous guys with that really cool gear sound pretty good, so must be the gear right ?
 
I think what David Gilmour did with his iconic and vintage gear (auctioning it off for charity)
says an helluva lot about who he is as a person. The gear hoarders whose living rooms are so
full of amps that no guest has a place to sit down are also saying an helluva lot about who
they are as people. ;)
 
I got to play Joe Bonamassa's '59 Paul (the one originally owned by Craig Chaquico) through his Dumble Overdrive Special.

It was cool. It sounded really nice.

I'm happier with what I've got.
 
I'm not watching that video. The obsession with vintage is a classic case of flawed logic.
Vintage gear simply has the largest pool of items to fall into both the awesome and crappy categories.
I've played new guitars that are every bit as good as the best of vintage, and I've played the very best of vintage.

There are exceptions. Some things aren't made like they used to be. Also, wood has changed as we've moved towards fast grow farmed trees.
 
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