Vintage motorcycle riders have a saying. They say, "Ride Em, Don't Hide Em". On the face of it, the meaning seems obvious right? Do not buy a nice vintage motorcycle and hide it in your garage and keep the pleasure of the bike to yourself and yourself only. Get that machine out on the road and show the world. Let other riders see the bike and appreciate it with you. This is where vintage guitar owners share a difficulty with vintage motorcycle owners. The aforementioned motto is easy enough to say I suppose, but the real life implementation of it is a bit more difficult.
It should go without saying that vintage guitars, like vintage motorcycles can sometimes be quite expensive. So dear, in fact, that the thought of a new scratch or a new dent and it's impact on the value of the vintage piece, almost takes all of the joy out of taking the old pony out for a spin. I suppose that one could not blame the owner of a classic piece for protecting his or her investment. Imagine taking your '62 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster out to a local dive bar for a show, only to have an "enthusiast" knock that beauty off its stand during your set break. Yikes! I just broke out in a could sweat writing that. Understandable to keep that rarefied guitar at home in a climate controlled environment. That kind of guitar is an investment and it makes sense to protect such a thing. However, I have noticed the, "that guitar is too nice to play out" mentality in new places other than the vintage collector circles.
A few years ago I began getting interested in the vintage guitar market. I really didn't have the funds to go after pre-CBS Fenders but I did go looking for entry level opportunities. I bought a few Japanese import Boss pedals (in fact,a long dash CE-2 is still in my collection) and started doing research on which guitars might become collector grade in the years to come. There was a guitar shop in the area that had a nice display of vintage pieces and I began quizzing the owner about emerging trends in the vintage market. One day he called me and said, "Jon, come in and let me show you a guitar that might be of interest to you. Its a real nice Strat." I couldn't wait to get there.
When I walked in, I suspected I would see a road worn '70s Strat or perhaps an Ed Smith era piece. Those guitars seemed to be in price range at that time. I was surprised to see a brand new guitar on his counter. Him grinning from ear to ear pointing at the case. He said, "You asked me about which guitars might be collectible ten or fifteen years from now. Well, I think this is one." That was in 2004 and what he had was a 50th Anniversary Stratocaster, brand new and straight from the factory. He informed me that he could only get one and he wanted me to have first shot at it. $1200 was a great price for such a nice guitar, collectibles or not, so I took the bite. I followed his advice to, "Shove her under your bed and see what things look like in ten years. They are not making any more of these."
Fair enough. That guitar has spent the last nine years literally under the bed in our guest room. All the case candy in tact and the plastic still on the pickguard. That is until about two weeks ago.
An old friend, that I had not seen for many years came to visit me. My wife was out of town so we had the run of the place and decided to pull out every guitar I owned and play them. We compared notes on guitars and told war stories about lost guitars and playing in terrible bands. It was great. I have always been proud of that Anniversary piece so I took it out to show him. While I went downstairs to mix us up a couple more cocktails, he plugged it in and started playing! Oh, the horror of it all! I didn't know what to do, but as I contemplated the guitars loss of virginity, I noticed how great the guitar sounded. Fender equipped those pieces with Noisless pickups and S1 switching. Plugged into my old Twin, that guitar chimed like a bell. At that moment, I realized that Bruce Springsteen was right. Baby, we where "born to run!" When that Stratocaster started to run that night, nothing could have ever run better. It was made to play, not hide under that guest bed.
Since that night, I have played that Strat at two different gigs. By the way, it sounds great through a Mesa Boogie Studio .22 and sounds even better through a DC-5. I have had more than $1200 worth of enjoyment talking to people about the guitar, as it is a rarely seen piece at live gigs. It is on its way to becoming my "#1".
I understand needing to protect the posterity of a high grade, collectors guitar. As I said, your minty '62 Sonic Blue over Oly White should not really come out at open mic night at The Palamino.
But being afraid of scratching the back of your 2001 Deluxe Players Stratocaster during "Jessie's Girl" at your next "mitzvah gig" might be a little over board. Please! Get those babies out of the closet and ride 'em and ride 'em hard! We (players and fans) want to see and hear what they've got.
