History of the Gretsch Guitar
Written by vintage on November 20, 2008 – 8:26 am -By Johnny Stall The Gretsch Guitar has a long and wonderful history going back more than 100 years. The Gretsch story begins in 1883 when Friedrich Gretsch started up a small musical instrument shop in Brooklyn New York, where they made banjos, drums and tambourines. Unfortunately Frederich wouldn’t get to see his company reach the peak of its success because he passed away only 12 years later at the young age of 39. The company was taken over by his teenage son Fred who ended up building the company into one of America’s top importers and manufacturers of musical instruments. So in 1916, a bigger facility was needed and Fred moved the operations to a huge ten-story building. While in this new building, the demand for guitars started... more
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History Of Gibson Guitars
Written by vintage on November 20, 2008 – 8:24 am -Gibson was a musician and a woodcrafter (luthier) who enjoyed building musical instruments such as archtop guitars, mandolins, and harps . The earliest electric Gibson guitar ever recorded or seen had a perfectly solid wooden rectangular one-piece body. In 1896 Gibson opened a little store and kept on experimenting and creating innovating new ways on how to build stringed instruments. In 1902 Gibson was bought out by investors who called their business Mandolin Guitar Manufacturing Company. From 1902 to 1944 some of the finest Gibson guitars were produced and now are considered vintage guitars and highly collectible . Some of these guitars include the Gibson L-5 archtop introduced in 1922 Gibson f-5 mandolin - 1923 Super jumbo flat top... more
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Dating Vintage Guitars and Amps by Source-Date Code
Written by vintage on November 20, 2008 – 8:12 am -Introduction. Sometimes there just isn’t enough information on electric instruments and amps to allow them to be properely dated. And many people ask me to try and determine the year of their old amplifier, or to help them with the year of their older off-brand electric guitar. Since I primarily collect amps by Fender, and guitars by Gibson, Fender, Martin, National, Epiphone, Gretsch and Rickenbacker, I really can’t help them with these other less popular brands. As you have probably noticed, there is plenty of information here to help date the brands that I am interested in. But where does that leave everyone else? Well I’m not one to leave you out in the (informational) cold, so here’s something that I use quite... more
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Buying an American Standard Fender Stratocaster Buyers Guide
Written by vintage on November 20, 2008 – 7:58 am -By Mark P Andrews American Standard Stratocasters herald from the Fender factory in Corona located in California. Originally called American Standard until around the year 2000, they then underwent some changes and were marketed as American Series Stratocasters. This year, 2008 some further changes were introduced and this particular stratocaster reverted back to the American Standard name. This label identifies them as the regular standard Fender offering of the Strat model. Essentially, they are all the same, identical except for the selected color. The American Standard will say Made In USA right upon the front of the headstock. A typical street value for this make of guitar as a ballpark figure would be around a thousand dollars new. For... more
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The Fender Stratocaster and the Legends Who Play It
Written by vintage on October 19, 2008 – 6:58 am -The Fender Stratocaster (Strat) electric guitar was first designed by Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares with involvement from musicians Rex Gallion and Bill Carson in the early 1950s and commercially introduced in 1954. It’s been manufactured continuously ever since it was originally designed. It has become one of the (if not the) most famous guitars in the world. It’s been played by countless guitar legends many of whom are listed below. Due to the immense popularity of this model, musicians are listed here only if their use of this instrument was especially significant — that is, they are players who: 1. Have long careers and a history of Stratocaster use. 2. Have a particular guitar that was unique or of historical importance. 3. ... more
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