During the past 20 years, baby boomers looking to reclaim their lost, garage-band youth have contributed to the surge in vintage guitar collecting. As you’d expect, prices for the best examples have risen accordingly. But whether it’s a pre-World War II Martin flat top, a Gibson Les Paul from the 1950s, or a Fender Stratocaster like the one Jimi Hendrix used to play, there’s an instrument for every type of guitar collector.
Let’s begin with acoustic guitars. The biggest name in this category is unquestionably C.F. Martin, which was founded in 1833. Style designations for its flat top guitars have remained fairly consistent since the 1850s. For example, a 15 is considered a basic model, with increasing levels of detailing and finishing in models numbered 16, 17, 18, 21, 28, 35, 42, and 45. Thus a Martin D-18, one of Martin’s best sellers, is a big, boomy Dreadnought (that’s the "D") with enough extra touches to make it feel special, but not so many that you’d be reluctant to play it by a campfire.
Some of the most collectible vintage Martin flat tops include the Dreadnoughts from the 1930s, but any 12 or 14-fret steel-string models from the mid-1920s until the mid-1940s will bring a good price. The best part about collecting Martin guitars is that the company has made it so easy—vintage Martin guitars from 1898 to the present are easy to date because each instrument has an individual serial number...
Archtops are the other umbrella category of acoustic guitars. Gibson’s L-5 is one of the most coveted. First introduced in 1922, the guitar didn’t become popular until the 1930s, when guitars in general overtook banjos as the stringed instrument most beloved by the public. In 1934, Gibson came out with the Super 400. Epiphone answered with the Emperor. Gretsch competed with both companies via its line of Synchromatics, which had a cat’s-eye sound hole (Gibson and others went with more traditional f-holes). As for D’Angelico, it offered the incomparable Excel.
Other vintage acoustic guitars favored by collectors are the so-called cowboy guitars from the 1930s through the 1950s. These inexpensively made guitars were sold by Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward and featured stenciled or decaled scenes of cowboys and cowgirls on their flat tops. Some bore the "signatures" of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and the Lone Ranger.
Collectors who like guitars with a really big sound usually end up considering a 12-string by Martin, Guild, Gibson, or a host of other guitar makers. Leadbelly played a Stella, as did fellow bluesman Blind Willie McTell. Artists from folk singer Pete Seeger to Byrds front man Roger McGuinn popularized the 12-strings in the 1960s. And both Neil Young and Leo Kottke swear by their Taylors.
Resonator guitars are yet another acoustic category. Some vintage resonators, like the ones made by National, have bodies made from aluminum and a nickel alloy that’s sometimes called "German silver." Other vintage resonators, such as those made by Dobro, have wooden bodies and necks, with a round metal resonator where the guitar’s sound hole would be.
When it comes to electrics, no guitar has had a bigger impact on popular music than the Fender Stratocaster. The Strat was not the Southern California company’s first electric guitar—that honor goes to the 1950, solid-body Fender Broadcaster, which was renamed the Telecaster the following year. But the Strat defined the sound of rock ‘n’ roll and was the choice of everyone from Buddy Holly to Eric Clapton.
Another legendary Southern California guitar maker was Rickenbacker, which started out in the 1920s making metal bodies for National, and even made a Bakelite guitar in 1935. By the 1950s, Rickenbacker was known for Hawaiian guitars, but new models late in the decade caught the eye of John Lennon. When he played a Rickenbacker 325 with The Beatles, the company’s place in history was assured.
Fellow Beatle George Harrison played a solid-body Duo Jet Gretsch. Hollow-body Gretsch Streamliners and Country Clubs were big in the 1950s, and Chet Atkins played a hollow-body 6120—some models with his signature were sold as Tennesseans and Nashvilles. Seminal rocker Eddie Cochran was another early Gretsch customer.
Gretsch’s stiffest competitor was Gibson, whose solid-body Les Paul debuted in 1952. Collectors of vintage Gibson guitars are always on the lookout for a good Firebird or Flying V, and semi-hollow body ES 335s from 1958 to 1964 have proven quite collectible. But the Les Paul remains the most sought-after Gibson electric guitar, the choice of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, The Who’s Pete Townsend, and the Mother of Invention himself, Frank Zappa.
More recent entires in the electric market include ESP, Paul Reed Smith, Ibanez, Jackson, Schecter, Modulus (whose bass guitars are made of lightweight graphite), and Gittler (whose minimalist creations are fashioned from titanium).
Interviews & Articles
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar New!

It’s not unusual for men of a certain age to have a soft spot in their hearts for the look of vintage guitars and the sound of roc… [more]
The Blues Rocker's New Secret Weapon? An Electric Cigar Box Guitar

Johnny Lowe of Memphis, Tennessee, makes guitars out of cigar boxes, furniture, and other recycled objects. These humble-looking i… [more]
Martins vs. Gibsons: The Evolution of American Acoustic Guitars

I started playing guitar when I was pretty young and bought my first guitar when I was 10 or 11. Like a lot of people of my genera… [more]
Archtops, Hollowbodies, and Jimi's Legacy

I grew up in upstate New York in Rochester, and started playing guitar when I was about 10 years old. We had this place in Rochest… [more]
Les Pauls, Strats, and Other Cult Guitars

I started out primarily as a collector and the business aspect of it evolved over time, almost by accident. I didn’t start out wit… [more]
Legendary Luthier Rick Turner on Howe-Orme Guitars

I first started coming across Howe-Orme instruments when I was an apprentice guitar repairman in Boston in 1963. Their guitars hav… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Museum of Musical Instruments

If vintage guitars could talk... they'd be digging this site. With its many themed collections and exhibitions, it'… [read review or visit site]
Vintage Danelectro New!

This site is as cool as the Nat Daniels’s designed Danelectro guitars and amplifiers that grace its easy-to-navig… [read review or visit site]
Vintage Guitars Info

This great reference site features detailed sections for vintage guitar makers including Gibson, Fender, Martin, Gr… [read review or visit site]
Vintage Guitar and Bass

Want to see all the old brochures and ads for your favorite vintage axe? Check out this great site, which showcases… [read review or visit site]
Clubs & Associations: Guitars
Other Great Reference Sites: Guitars
Top eBay Auctions
Recent News: Guitars
Source: Google News
IMPACT: Daft Punk
New York's 92.3 NOW, May 16thThe album's sparkling first single, “Get Lucky,” exploded on radio and the internet with vintage guitar licks and disco beats, thanks in part to the band building anticipation with a TV commercial aired during Saturday Night Live and a teaser video...Read more
Rock Stars Who Will Actually Take My Call (Including Some Who Won't Hang Up)
New Times Broward-Palm Beach (blog), May 16thHe even played us a couple of songs on a vintage guitar, an unexpected treat to cap off our stay. In return, I offered to pay for the toilet we managed to clog up. Okay, by now you might think that all this gushing is getting to be a bit much, and I...Read more
Nelson to host third annual guitar festival
Lancashire Telegraph, May 15thThe one-day event is at The ACE Centre, Nelson, on Sunday, June 2. Live music, free guitar workshops, lessons and recording sessions, guitar valuations and a chance to buy, sell and trade new, used and vintage guitars will all be on offer. Andrea...Read more
Vintage guitar concert May 22 at Holden Senior Center
Worcester Telegram, May 13thHOLDEN — The Holden Council on Aging will host a free concert by vintage guitarist Ken Lelen, who will sing upbeat tunes popular in the Great Depression and play vintage guitars from the same era. The event is set for 1 p.m. May 22 at the Holden...Read more
Reward for stolen vintage guitar? $1000 and another guitar
KATU, May 2ndback - no questions asked. And he'll also hand over another Fender Telecaster (not a vintage one but one that plays nonetheless) as part of the deal. Barnett said he's offering the reward because he knows how attached a person can get to a vintage...Read more
Ali Zafar has bought a vintage guitar to add to his collection
CanIndia News, April 25thThe singer-turned-actor recently spotted a vintage guitar and could not resist adding it to his collection. A source says, `He does not mind spending lakhs of rupees on his music instruments. He has bought expensive vintage guitars as well as microphones...Read more
Ali Zafar has bought a vintage guitar to add to his collection - Mid-Day
Mid-Day, April 23rdHe has bought expensive vintage guitars as well as microphones. He stores all his music stuff in his studio and does not allow anyone to touch his instruments. Ali says, “I am not too big on spending on clothes, cars, expensive rings or watches. But I...Read more
New Larrivee Vintage guitars
miPRO, April 22ndRevisiting the 1940's and 1950's the new all-solid mahogany guitars include an all-body vintage sunburst. Based on the popular -03 Series, the Vintage models feature solid mahogany back and sides but distinguish themselves with a highly resonant...Read more
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Forget TV Pickers, Meet the Real Mavericks of the Antiques World
Coveting The Craziest Cat-People Collectibles



by 