Tuesday, August 05, 2008Vintage guitar news and views the August 2008 edition.The August edition of Greg’s guitars “Vintage guitar news and views”
Thinking Out of the box
With the fall of yet another American iconic company being bought up by a worldwide multinational giant, is anything ever going to be the same? How can I relate this to the past, present and future of the guitar industry? Well let me see. Company “A” starts production, builds some great guitars, innovates the industry and sells out 7 or 8 years down the road to a larger corporation “company B”. Company B makes some changes to the product, most which are almost irreversible, then bleeds the original company for all they are worth until they too finally succumb and are forced to sell . For all realistic purposes company “A” is gone and so is the original product, never to be again except in a nostalgic nod and wink to the past in a somewhat pale attempt to recapture the glory of days long gone by. This scenario is for the most part repeated over and over through the years until only 2 to 3 large corporations now control the manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution ,as well as hype of almost all the guitars sold today. Sound far fetched? Look again. With this scenario in place , the bottom line becomes …. Well, the bottom line. Their will be a few aha moments and a select few great products come back out to market, and even some “niche” builders will fill the void where once a great product once stood.
As the large conglomerates prey upon our nostalgia and production overrides innovations everyone and everything slows to a simmering suffrage. So where does it all lead and Greg what is your point? Certainly the big boys will continue to crank out and reap the lions share of rewards due mainly to the brainwashing of us as consumers, think about it, we play certain styled guitars because that is our perceived “norm”, you could build the most fantastic guitar ever and if it doesn’t “fit” well, it will not sell. Period. Which is where I now lead us, I have been lucky enough to play and get turned onto some really cool guitars. These are not made by any of the big boys, not expensive, but rather inexpensive (cost only) Very well built attention to every detail and yes they all share the same mold that we have been taught are the right shape. Yet they feel different, they feel…. Better, they seem to be even made better with better attention to detail and finished product that once graced the land in the beginning, yet they cost a fraction of the comparable models that should be the best.
I believe in change, change they say is good, certainly manufacturing has changed ,yet the big boys, the heavy hitters rely on making us think inside the box of constraint, where the unattainable past is the present and the present isn’t anywhere near as good as the past that they want us to buy into……. The bottom line is still the bottom line. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some and will continue to be great products being pumped out for all to be had of that I am sure. But, well, I just wish we as a group would look outside the box, the small builders the lesser known guys and maybe just maybe some change could do us good, maybe ,like our micro brewery buddies they to have learned something from the past and are just waiting for the rest of us to catch on….. But hey like always is just my news and views. May all your days be memorable, all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer, till next month Thanks for reading Greg’s guitars “Vintage guitar news and views.”http://www.gregsguitars.net Posted by gregsguitars at 03:28 | Comments (2)| Post Comment billy Said:gregs vintage guitar news and views posted by greg of gregsguitars.net is a must read for every guitar collecter, player,enthusiast in the world! steve Said:wonderful wonderful wonderful , greg rocks!!! Sunday, July 20, 2008JUly edition of Greg's guitars "vintage guitar news and views"The July edition of Greg's Guitars" Vintage guitar news and views."Starting your collectionThis is an extremely personnel and diversified subject to say the least. As an example, my collection of "keeper" guitars consist of my vintage 1962 Ibanez solid body,2 single coil pickup guitar,not only for her extreme rarity but also because it boasts a unique 1 master tone knob and 1 volume knob for each of her 2 pickups,she is super light (5.8 lbs.) and has the sweetest mahogany neck boasting a 3/8 inch thick solid slab of beautiful Brazilian rosewood for a fretboard. She is also one of the most harmonically dynamic playing guitars I have ever owned. Next is my 1972 Vintage Olympic white Stratocaster for the Fender in me. The 3 bolt neck and remarkable mellow tone and large headstock with bullet trussrod has keeper written all over her. As for my acoustic guitars,well I am off the beaten path for sure, with my Vintage 1969/70 era Grammer guitars,the one I personally favor as my keeper is a worn, well played Mahogany bodied,Alpine spruce topped model G-10 that is just wonderful in tone and playability. As for a spanky sparkle tone I go for my solid flamed maple Grammer guitar ,for a touch of class this girl has an original blue label from R.G. and G. guitars inside her body cavity and a gorgeous Brazilian rosewood fretboard. To round out my collection is my 1959 reissue Bassman with rectifier tube and Jenson alnico speakers,Boss ch-1,delay and of course the Boss compression pedal. Now my collection is far from complete as I still search for my 335ish styled guitar and of course my Tele keeper and to finish rounding my collection out a vintage Baritone guitar would fit the bill nicely. Now, as you can tell my collection is all mine ,rather than as some do,find a multitude of one particular guitar( Stratocasters) or a certain color within several styles ( all Dakota Red) or even all same period guitars (1960 or preCBS), or just various guitars based on price and originality. What I am alluding to is this,There is every reason under the sun for collections as their are guitars made(duh Greg ). That's the tricky,quirky,fun and personnel part of collecting guitars. Each collection is a direct reflection of the likes,tastes,and favorites of you as a collector. That is where the fun is, figuring out where and what you want to pursue,style,playability,color,year,make,or just bargains made in the U.S.A. or made elsewhere?Original?,Reissue?, Custom shop?,or run of the mill? All the above great guitars in their own rights and each having more desirable guitars within each sub category. So sometimes you need to have a plan to make things cohesive and sometimes you can just price shop at a set dollar amount to spend and get the most bang for your hard earned buck. Always remember do your homework,take your time,and take pride in your collection,above all have fun and enjoy your girls and never ever forget to play them,after all they were made to be played! So until next month,may all your days be memorable,all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer , Thanks for stopping by Greg's guitars. ![]() Posted by gregsguitars at 18:55 | Comments (1)| Post Comment jeff Said:interesting and informative article , i can not wait for next months vintage guitar news and views to hit, keep up the good work greg, you obviously love what you do and it shows! |
ABout me:---------------------------------Name: gregsguitars
Search blogs
|