Why are some guitar tops painted and some guitar tops plain? Why do some builders use polyurethane paints and some guitar builders use nitrocellulose paints? Is the reissue bug just a fad or craze ?Are older guitars really better? In the later issues of The Vintage Guitar News and Views I said to ask questions and boy have I been hammered ! It has been a phenomenal response from you the readers and I thank all of you for your questions.So as to some of the questions you the readers have asked ,letme try to give what I believe are reasonable answers. Why are some guitar tops painted and some not ? I believe it has nothing to do with tone or sound (duh) it is about the aesthetics of color for the buying public as well as a way for builders to hide imperfections in the wood and to be able to splice several pieces of wood together to complete a top. I know ,your top should be 1 or 2 pieces of wood joined at the center seam but even as far back as the 50's companies have had to use all the wood they could for their products ,they never imagined that we would be all freaky about this sort of thing 50 years later.It just make plain good business sense to utilize all the woods available and to hide these seemingly imperfections with paint. Personally I covet the mismatched, wood grained, mineral stained, unflamed tops myself. Now "pretty" wood such as flame, fiddleback,curly,bearclaw and the like are perceived to be more pleasant to look at and (now at least) they are not covered up with paint. At one time though some of the prettiest tops I have seen were "uncovered" during a restoration or conversion and rescued from under the painted tops that were hiding them. But these types of tops can now command a higher price tag and are displayed behind a clear ot more transparent finish rather than hidden away never to be seen. All at the same time by creating a larger buying market and even so much as creating smaller "divisions" among the market base of clients.I will leave that subject alone for now and leave it to many a articulate or even imbibed discussion amongst yourselves. Poly finish or Nitro? To me the best ,well one of the best smells there are is when you pop open a guitar case and the smell of nitro permeates the room. That unmistakable smell is what makes this question kinda hard, you see nitro never really cures fully and is in a constant state of evaporation from the moment it is applied to the day it returns to sawdust with that old guitar. I like nitro on all my acoustics as I do believe it does, as time passes contribute to the opening up of the tonal qualities as many people subscribe to. On electric guitars I think the switch to a poly finish was as mentioned by others before me a decision to make the finish on the guitar harder and last longer without fade, a protectant and a cost cutting decision for the production plants as poly dries faster and more guitars can be made to sell.As far as sound qualities on the electric guitars? Well there have been a whole lot of sweet sounds and great players that played those poly coated beauties now haven't there? Some poly coats seemed to fare better than others and the reissues from overseas tend to age and pock just a little differently than their American counterparts. Why? I do not know, they just "relic" differently. Which brings up the next topic,the relic craze. Nostalgia? The bygone days of youth when you first started playing ? From the mildly and elegantly understated aged guitars that are made by master builders and custom shops which are limited in run and will possibly retain and gain in value to the obviously overdone relics that look "cookie cutter made" all intended to stir these emotions in the consumers. Truthfully, do some play better or sound better than others? You bet they do. Limited runs and custom reliced guitars are more hand crafted and have more attention to detail even when it comes to aging the parts and pieces that make of our lovely ladies. Where the mass produced guitars all look the same and are more budget priced, they seem to just use the standard parts and pieces, and if one plays better or sounds better ,lucky you. Which brings us to the next subject. Are old guitars better? Hmmm ,gotta pick my words carefully here.Well some of the appointments look better, I mean I'll take cloth covered wiring and paper caps over plastic any day, but today's wiring is probably better made and the shielding is superior but then again isn't it the quirks that make guitars so lovable? Pickups are next, I mean a good pickup will make any guitar sound better and a bad pickup will make good guitar sound lousy and I am sticking to that statement.I prefer older alnico magnets to todays blends and ceramics ,nope ain't gonna do it. Appointments? well the old parts do seem to get real brittle and crumble to dust and often need replacing, personally I prefer steel tuning keys over others and multi-ply covers and guards over the older single plys ,but that is just my preference. Which brings us to the bare bones of any guitar,the wood used. I do think older wood is better, and older guitars are made of superior wood in my opinion, not that the wood is actually better but more the process of air drying for years wood that gets cut and air dries for years more stored on racks and shelves then is made into various parts of a guitar and again sits until orders are placed or new models are designed and then the wood was hand caressed into works of art, that's what I mean by old wood. Todays guitars are being shaped as the axemen strip the branches from the trunks of the trees, green wood being forced kiln dried and mass produced to be shaped and shipped to the consumer. I cringe every time I see a "modern " guitar assembly plant in operation on tour videos, I understand the economics and the tighter tolerances touted, but it just ain't the same as far as I can tell. The marriage of certain parts and pieces seem to be another quandary to amuse all of us guitar nuts.Think about it , most of the guys we idolize play guitars that are made from several different guitar, which dispels the myth of certain era guitars being better than others now doesn't it? Take "Blackie" and Duane's Burst , parts guitars........We all know that certain points have counterpoints and in the guitar world the greatness lies in the diversity, we as guitar lovers want to spend our money on something we can hold,touch,feel,smell,play and admire for all our own reasons and that makes us all part of this huge family no matter what we think individually about certain brands,makes,parts or pieces,diversity is the key because if all guitars are eventually created equal then we would all own the same guitar and it would be like every other guitar on the planet, well except for the color..........Till next month may all your days be memorable ,all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer, Greg at Greg's Guitars.
There have been many
changes in the acoustic guitarindustry through the years,some
good,some not so good and some were really bad. For the most part the
old adage that "necessity breeds invention" holds true. Take the use of
Mahogany wood for example. Mahogany wood was once viewed as inferior
tone wood to be used on acoustic guitars, but was accepted and used as
a replacement for Brazilian rosewood at times.One large guitar maker
even used birch wood ( although called maple) for the sides and back of
some of its guitars. But, back to mahogany. This wood was found to have
properties to better the construction of guitar necks , because at one
point in history acoustic guitar necks were made of cedar, spliced
together. So instead of several pieces of cedar to make a guitar neck
one piece of mahogany wood because of its strength could now be used
and made it possible to construct the neck and peg head out of one
piece. Mahogany also gained acceptance for the back and sides of
acoustic guitars.
Another
replacement or change that happened was the replacement of Ivory ,also
a widely used material for bridge pins, binding,bridge saddles, and
nuts,decoration and sometimes complete custom fret boards. this was
slowly replaced with a celluloid material commonly referred to today as
" ivoryoid". With the advent of longer fret boards to facilitate
players needs and demands and with the wider usage of steel strings
Acoustic guitar builders slowly adapted to the placement of interior
neck reinforcement. This helped keep the neck straight due to the
tension created by steel strings. Using everything from ebony to steel
and finally the adjustable "truss rod " we know as a standard feature
on guitars today. Which are still being refined on modern guitars.
The
change from "gut" or "Nylon" strings to steel strings also created
other changes in acoustic guitars. The greater tension placed on the
guitar tops,bracing and bridges on guitars of "oldie" required makers
to change or alter the interior body bracing for the acoustic guitars
tops and also change the size " footprint" that the bridge made on the
top of the guitar as well, all leading to a better built and sometimes
better sounding acoustic guitar.
During
the late 1960's and early 1970's the tone wood from Brazil became
harder to get and after it came under government control it became
quite expensive also. Acoustic guitar makers scrambled to get as much
as they could and started to utilize the remaining Brazilian rosewood
that they already had. Such is the case for the emergence of smaller
pieces being used to create the backs of some acoustic guitars( 3
pieces instead of 2 larger pieces), and a shift to Indian rosewood as
well. As in regards to experiments with tone woods, builders used
and are still doing so,more laminates,exotic woods and indigenous wood
species in an attempt to replace the lost Brazilian rosewoods,But hey
that is another edition of the vintage guitar news and views
altogether. This article is not meant to be all inclusive or the
definite last word on the subjects covered,but rather an informative
and entertain look at the different aspects of guitars and the vintage
guitar market as I see it and as usual this is just my guitar news and
views. So until next month may all your days be memorable,all your
friends stay true and all your riffs be killer,Greg at gregsguitars.net
February Edition of the Vintage Guitar News and Views
A Heart to Heart with Your Guitar.
How much is my guitar worth? Seems like a
pretty cut and dry question doesn't it ? Well a lot of factors can
contribute to the final answer. How much is it in relationship to the
present market is one answer. How much do you expect to get for her is
another. How much will a buyer ( dealer) pay is quite another answer.
Is she straight and clean? Have any parts ever been changed? Is it
refinished? If parts were changed do you still have the original parts?
Were the changes done professionally? Hang tags? receipts? case candy?
All these items come into play with that one simple question. Can
you and will you send pictures of all the appropriate parts and
different views if needed? This may require you to take apart to some
extent your guitar , are you comfortable doing this? Sure you can look
at one of the auction sites to get a general feel for prices ,and if
that is all you want then that would be my suggestion. If you do rely
on one of these( shudder ) sites for this information then why even
bother calling for quotes? Are you selling your guitar or amp or do you
want to know if you paid a fair price for it when you made the
purchase? If you are selling the item then know that most
purveyors of fine fretted instruments will not nor can not pay top
dollar for your item. Certain overhead has to be met to remain in the
arena here ,so please do not take offense if you are offered less than
you saw on that auction site( which we tend to completely ignore).Now
as far as the condition is concerned,pictured are nice but never tell
the whole story, any changes,let me repeat myself, any changes
whatsoever will impact the price of an instrument even if these changes
made the guitar or bass or amp a better piece of equipment,especially
in the collectors circles. Speaking of circles, there are some
basic price structure circles to know about.#1- collectors
quality,only the best examples of the most desirable pieces fit into
this category and prices are on the steeper side. #2- collector /
players grade, The item still retains most of the original parts.#3-
players grade ,most parts still there but may have wear or finish
issues.#4-players,Some parts changed ,and finish redone or lots of
wear.#5- beaters , almost none of the guitar or amp is as it left the
factory when new .and within these groups are even further sub groups
all with pricing criteria and fluctuations. So if you call someone
for that elusive but attainable answer to you question, know that you
should know most of the answers to the questions that you will be asked
also. Have detailed pictures ready to send via email and be honest, Let
the guy on the other end of the phone know why you are interested in
knowing the price, let us know if your selling,shopping, or need an
evaluation rather than a quick answer. If you do want an in depth
evaluation you may be asked to pay for one, Yes time is money and
nothing worthwhile is ever free, so be prepared to pony up, so to
speak.I Recommend that you purchase a price guide on line or at a book
store , these are helpful but not the rule in establishing a
fundamental price , but again if your guitar is worth 1000.00 dollars ,
no one will pay that ,because they in turn have to sell it to make a
profit ,so they can not pay what they have to sell for.Like everything
, their are fluctuations,standards and exceptions to every rule. Like
always this is just my news and view. I hope it has been somewhat
helpful.So until next month, may all your days be memorable, all your
friends stay true and all your riffs be killer, Greg at Greg's guitar.
For
this months edition of Vintage guitar news and views we turn our
attention to the maintenance and upkeep of our guitars ,both our
playing guitars and our investments , which in my opinion they all are
. Winter time is upon us ,dreary days and cloudy skies ,all but most of
our outdoor jam sessions have ceased to exist, the perfect time for
tuning up our guitars as well as general upkeep and cleaning, the
following is standard but sometime items we either forget or put off to
do, so get a space cleared out and enjoy a day with all your guitars,
yule be glad ya did.The first thing I do is oil all my latches on my
guitar cases and inspect the handles for signs of weakness or need of
repair, I take my guitar out and place her on a nice padded work
station while I clean the outside of each case with a 20 per cent mix
of warm water and mean green cleaner , I use a stiff brush and dip it
into my cleaner and give the outside of my cases a good cleaning ,
followed by a good wipe dry with a clean towel. Now while I sit my case
open to dry either in my heated guitar room or place them in the sun if
it shining to air dry while I move on to my guitars. I loosen and
remove the strings from my personnel players guitars and usually have
no string on my guitars I offer to clients until I ship them. I inspect
the frets and dress them as needed, as well as polish my frets. I clean
and lubricate the Brazilian rosewood as well as other rosewood
fretboards using a damp lint free cloth and buff the dry with another
lntfree cloth.I will then follow with a small amount of unboiled
linseed oil to lubricate my fretboard or if you prefer some other oil ,
then feel free to use that, I just like the linseed oil myself. I allow
a little time for this to dry before I buff the fretboard dry being
sure not to leave any oil or residue on my fret boards. This step does
not need to be taken with maple fret boards as that are usually sealed
. Next I remove the truss rod cover if applicable and drop a little
3 in 1 oil on the threads of the rod and wipe up any excess, I then
check the neck for any adjustments I may want to make and restring my
guitars to tune. As for the electronics I will add a lubricant pot
cleaner to the inside of each pot very sparingly as well as the
selector switch insuring to turn them back and forth to spread the
cleaner around and again wipe up any excess that may be there. I then
button them back up and go onto general body cleaning and polishing. For
this step I use a silicon free cleaner formulated for guitars
,available at places like Stew-mac and other websites that specialize
in guitar parts and luther supplies. gently wiping the cleaners off I
then follow up with swirl and scratch remover , followed by a good
silicon free guitar wax , I buff to a good gloss the entire guitar as
well as the back of the necks , followed by a product such as fast fret
on the strings . I then go back to the case and either use a shop
vac or a carpet cleaner and follow with a shop vac to clean the
interiors of my cases. Insuring that the case interior is completely
dry I detune and place my electric guitar back inside, I should note
that I do each step on each electric guitar or bass guitar before
moving to the next step ,that way I do not have to be going back and
forth through each step ,but rather have a assembly line system in
which each guitar or bass gets the same treatment before moving on. This
is pretty much the same steps I do for my acoustic guitars as well,
with the addition to checking the tops ,bottoms and sides for any
evidence of lack of humidity , I will place a homemade humidity device
in each acoustic at the beginning of the heating season and recheck
every 2 or so months until the weather permits I no longer have to use
the heater ,Heaters rob moisture out of our acoustic guitars and can
cause significant damage if left unchecked for to long a period. My
humidifier is basically a household sponge that I have soaked and wrung
out all the excess water that it absorbed, place it in a small biggie
that I have perforated and place that inside a larger biggie that is
perforated also, drape it between the strings and let it suspend inside
the sound hole of my acoustic guitar. It works great and costs a lot
less than store bought humidifiers. Now as for amps, I variac them
up every now and then to keep them loose and in working order, I keep
them covered and condition the outside tolex with your basic armor all,
I might add that I do not hurry in any of these steps, I look forward
to spending the quality time with my girls and they to benefit from
the time well spent. I hope the holidays are enjoyed by all and as us
all this is just my news and views ,so until next month may all your
days be memorable, may all your friends stay true and may all your
riffs be killer , Greg.
November Edition of Vintage Guitar News and Views.
Giving thanks for groovy guitars
This article explores Vintage Ibanez guitars,Well one in particular anyway and what she boasts as far as appointments and playability ,plus a little interesting vintage guitar history. Ibanez got her humble starts by a company going by the name of " Hoshino" ,in the early 40's producing a spanish styled acoustic guitar that was named Ibanez. By the 1970's Ibanez ( which Hoshino had purchased the rights to)was known (good or bad) as the lawsuit guitars, for their blatant copies of more renowned guitars being produced ,Although most were cheaper imitations and copies ,the fact does remain that many Ibanez "lawsuit" era guitars were of comparable if not superior quality to the guitars the were produced to mimic. I will let you be the judge of that point. Now what we have here is a wonderful example of what Ibanez was creating in the early to mid 1960's. I have found an older picture of this very guitar on a German Ibanez website , and also a picture of the one and only Jimi Hendrix playing a very similar model ( upside down of course) in a sunburst color scheme as opposed to the white beauty we see pictured here.Knowing that every guitarist must start somewhere on the guitar food chain , and by no way implying that this guitar was ever owned or played by Jimi, the body shape and era that it was built is reasonable enough to inject that this was the type or at least close enough to the type that Sir Jimi cranked many a tune to the amazement of both audience and fellow band members alike. After playing her for quite a while now and coming to the conclusion that even though she is never going to be worth what the same era ,Fender or Martin, or Gibson guitar is worth ,I have decided that she is unique enough,plays good enough and has many nicely though out features that she is a keeper, and I can fully understand why Jimi played one similar to this mode. She just has such wonderful dynamic harmonic explosions tucked away in her, the neck is to die for and well since she is a little on the small body size , she is light enough to play for days. Her is the run down on some of her features..1 piece ash body with the pickups mounted directly on top of the body ( directly coupling for superior resonance) , the pickups themselves are unique in the fact that under the metal covers are 5,yes 5 huge round alnico I magnets that are so large as to only 1/3 of each magnet couples between each individual adjustable pole screw,that alone accounts for ( in my book anyway) for her tremendous tonal qualities. She is routed for the pots and wiring only beneath her 1 piece plastic pick guard located below the pickups. Another interesting and in my opinion superior design is the way her controls are laid out, no 3 or 5 way selector switch to bump and fiddle with while playing ,no sir ,this girl boasts one master volume control for both the front (neck) and rear (bridge ) pickup, this enables the player to dial in an indefinite array of tonal possibilities. As for a tone /treble control she has just the one master control for this ,which I like as it certainly adds to ease in playability and control of my sound.I do not see as to why the electric guitar manufacturers today don't do this as a standard feature.,The neck as I have stated is to die for, 1 solid piece of Mahogany ,perfectly sculpted for a fir like a glove to your fretting hand, and smooth as oriental silk, non bound (thank goodness) with a zero fret ( lord does she stay in tune) and a beautiful 3/8 of an inch thick slab of Brazilian Rosewood for a fretboard with a 10 radius, I love it and am seriously considering making an exact copy to place on a Tele.The only weakness and the only thing I have ever considered changing ( i wrestle with ) is the bridge setup. Now I am no fan of the cheap thumbscrew rosewood adjustable bridge on ANY guitar . let alone an electric, but, this one does stay where it is supposed to and does have compensation for proper intonation, but I would like to try a bigsy or Gibson style bridge and tailpiece but shudder at changing her from her original state, ah decisions decisions...She is one of the most in tune guitars I have and many friends alike agree all the way up and down the fretboard ,which makes my even happier that I acquired her.The headstock has an arrowhead shape with a single all encompassing string tree bar, metal Ibanez logo and ,(ugh) open back tuners, another point I have considered replacing, but hey like they say,"if it ain't broke ,don't fix it" Dynamically harmonic,sweetly sustaining,and extremely light in weight,yes this old girl ia as unique as it gets in the world of guitars. Who knows ,maybe the exact features that Jimi liked about his own 60 era Ibanez, before his change to an easier accessible American guitar? I hope you enjoy looking and remember to take the time to enjoy the obscure guitar for what they are and you as I may be delightfully surprised in what we find. As always this is just my News and Views. So may all your days be memorable, all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer.Greg,"Cool made easy"
The October edition of
Vintage Guitar News and Views.
After settling on a budget, here are a few
tricks to help you when treating yourself to your guitar. I really can not
stress enough the importance of this first tip, play with your hands and ears,
not your eyes. A pretty guitar that does not sound good or does not feel
comfortable will not be played as much as a guitar that say may not look as
great but has the tonal qualities and feel you really desire, so take the time
necessary to choose your guitar,you will be glad you did . In purchasing a guitar there are specific
questions one should ask the seller to insure that the guitar you are hoping to
purchase is free from any defects and is in proper working condition if it is
an electric guitar. Also you should be asking questions as an inspection
process for the seller, who may not have working knowledge of guitars. This is
both helpful to the seller of an item and to you as a purchaser. The first
question as a buyer that you should ask in purchasing an acoustic guitar is the
neck straight; this can be determined by the seller by placing the body of the
guitar on the floor and holding the headstock and sighting down the neck. This
will show any bows or twists in the neck. A bow if not to pronounced is acceptable
as to you or a luither adjusting the truss rod to compensate for either a back
bow or a front bow. An additional picture could be requested to determine how
severe the bow is. The second question should be ,is there any damage to the
guitar. Then if no damage is inspected ask if ANY repairs have ever been made
to the guitar, repairs can be a neck set, a refret,a new bridge, new nut
or a new saddle, some of these repairs are not harmful to the guitar, but some
can detract from the value especially if it is a vintage guitar, In which you
want almost no work at all in the way of either repairs or work done to
the instrument. A visual inspection for repairs can be accomplished on an
acoustic guitar by the seller by loosening the strings and taking a small
extendable mirror and a small flashlight and looking inside the cavity of the
guitar for ANY extra bracing, any extra small cleats of wood along seams,
broken braces, extra wood around the underside of the soundhole,and any cracks
that may not show through the top of the finish on the outer side of the
guitar. Always ask for extra pictures on any thing you want to see or on any
questionable repair work. A good seller will; be happy to do this , if
your questions are not answered or if you cant get the answers you want then
the guitar in question might not be the one you want. I hope you find these
guitar buying tips helpful while on your quest for tone. See all my articles at www.gregsguitars.net May
all your days be memorable, all your friends stay true and all your riffs be
killer, Greg. vintage guitars here.
September edition of Vintage guitar news and views.
The
September issue of “Vintage Guitar News and Views”
Going back forwards
Well, with the cost
of everything going up, just how far up is the high going to be ? No one knows
this answer, but I feel that everything is just hideously expensive. I mean 18
K for a car? 250 K for a home? Shoes, shirts, 30 to 50 bucks a pop, This is
ludicrous, and vintage guitars ?sheeze,
gimme a break, I mean the average you and I can’t afford sweet old vintage gear
,that’s just a fact, So ,is all this out of kilter ? All askew? There will
always be people willing to pay more and more for collectables and that forces
the average guy or girl out of the price game, other than a lucky break here
and there stumbling on a sweet guitar at a reasonable price. I mean I do
understand that 1962 (picked at random) is gone and will never come again and
even though a guitar can be made today exactly like that sweet old girl, the same
weight, color, feel, tone, It could be vastly inferior or vastly superior to
the original or the original itself could be crap, but, there lies the crux.
“The original 1962.” Original 1962 guitars
are only made in 1962, never before, never again!
So if everyone wants
a 1962 era guitar and only so many were originally made, we then enter the
world of supply and demand, which in turn factors the pricing index’s, which
fuels the ever increasing in prices for a limited supply of goods with over
market saturation of demand regardless of whether ¾ of the consumers wanting
the item can even afford it. The desire is there and that in turn adds more
fuel to the fire. So Greg, what’s you’re point?
I don’t really know, except that price fluctuations will always occur
within a market and that prices will always rise on the long run as long as
there is a limited supply of goods , especially
one that is sought after , often duplicated, can even be replicated , but never
fully actually authenticated as a time period correct piece. Even if every
detail is correct, but the actual manufacturing date is in the past, never to
be revisited again, and I guess that is where the mystique of it all lies, today
is gone, never to return and somehow tomorrow just isn’t the same. Well that is
until the day after tomorrow. So today’s bargains may just very well be
tomorrows collectables that we can afford to buy. Just some food for thought
and something for you to digest. As always this is just my news and views, so
may all your days be memorable, all your friends be true and all your riffs be killer,
Till next month, Greg at Greg’s guitars .Gregsguitars.net
Vintage 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."gregsguitars.net
industry through the years,some
good,some not so good and some were really bad. For the most part the
old adage that "necessity breeds invention" holds true. Take the use of
Mahogany wood for example. Mahogany wood was once viewed as inferior
tone wood to be used on acoustic guitars, but was accepted and used as
a replacement for Brazilian rosewood at times.One large guitar maker
even used birch wood ( although called maple) for the sides and back of
some of its guitars. But, back to mahogany. This wood was found to have
properties to better the construction of guitar necks , because at one
point in history acoustic guitar necks were made of cedar, spliced
together. So instead of several pieces of cedar to make a guitar neck
one piece of mahogany wood because of its strength could now be used
and made it possible to construct the neck and peg head out of one
piece. Mahogany also gained acceptance for the back and sides of
acoustic guitars. 
