Money is a problem for some buyers and not for others but I ask my customers first

How much can you spend

Why are you buying it? To play, invest, for fun ?

What other guitars do you own?

Most people don't know that a good luthier can make almost any guitar play good or even great.Most people do not think about resale down the road and most people don't understand Vintage guitars.

1st- Know how much you can spend and don't even play guitars out of your price range when your shopping for a guitar.

2.- Always think about resale if your spending over $500.Most players go through a boat load of guitars in a life time and it adds up.If you learn from anyone you meet that knows anything you don't stop and listen.They are the best teachers you will ever find.

3.- If you are buying Vintage find someone,a dealer,friend ,someone that really ,did I say really knows the Vintage guitar market and Vintage guitars.Always buy for resale!! Acoustic guitars pre 1970 that are in mint condition will and do not sound good.The ones that have been played sound better.Unplayed guitars don't go through the process at a cellular level where the wood vibrates as it ages and dries out and gets lighter and develope's Tone.

Don't buy anything with a top crack unless it is discounted accordingly.Always buy Brazilian rosewood when possible and buy C F Martin if possible. Gibson has a few vintage flat tops that are good like the J-200,Advanced Jumbo,J-45 & 50 and others but generally they were not great flat top builders.

Gibson makes great Jazz boxes, and like old martins they will always go up because the price of a new one will always go up . Everyone chased Gibson in the early days and they set the standard and they are good investments.

Vintage electrics is a crazy world.As a dealer I have been blessed with the gift of gab which got me many old guitars to buy sell and just play and yes,did I say YES they do sound GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

But not always.A 54-56-57-59 strat any 50s Strat has a sound you can't reproduce.Why? Well age and  ah Age.What do I mean..Well the wood dries out and does it's thing over time creating great sustain but what about the parts,pickups,pots,switches.They were all made with the technology of the time .Maybe the wire was not as refined,maybe the cooper was better quality or worse,maybe the magnets were better or worse,maybe the pots well you get the idea. What ever the answers they will never be found but  take the way everything was made and factor in time and you get what you get.That sound we grew up on if your my age (53).Than plug it into an amp and you have 25 new variables.I always kept a 64 Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Super Reverb in my shop because they made everything sound better.

Can everyone hear the difference ? No so why do we give up our first born male child for a Guitar with PAFs in it.Why do we throw in the wife if it has Zebras. The same answer we used as kids, BECAUSE they are PAFs.

For those that don't know PAF stands for Patient Applied For. and around 1957 when Gibson developed the Humbucker they had them wound on a machine that had no counter so one pickup might get 9000 winds and another could get 12,000 winds That gave each guitar a different sound.Some good but some GREATTTTTTTTTTT. Now why the big deal over Zebras.That is a pickup where one half is white and the other black. Well pickups had covers on them so if they had a white and a black and put them together who would know,who would care. Who would have thunk it?

So now that I am completly off track what have we learned.

First don't price a guitar by what they are ASKING on Ebay even if one does sell for more money than god has. Use it as a guide and part nof several components to value your guitar or the one you want to buy. Vintage Guitar Magazine has a Vintage price guide made up by hundreds of dealers and Alan does a good job of pulling out the overpriced reports. Than again a Guitar is worth what someone is willing to pay so use dealers with good reputations.I know many and most are more than willing to help you out.

What about all the reissues,relics,rereissues. Some are very good ie: Fender Strat 60s &50s reissues made in Japan are great,The American versions are good but cost much more and they don't sell new reissues from Japan. Relics are a (Funny) joke. If you can't afford a early 60s strat for $20,000 find a harness from that time period for $3000-$5000 and put it in your newer strat. The pickups will always go up and you saved $15,000-$17,000.

Buy real P-90s for what ever they are asking.Can't afford PAFs. Buy Patient number pickups,T tops,.or any early Humbucker They are basicly the same thing very early on but read lots of books so you know what your doing.

Most of all buy a good amp,a good tube amp,A good Fender Tube amp from 1963 to 1967( Black Face) My favorites are Deluxe Reverb,Vibrolux Reverb,Super Reverb,Vibroverb 15" with JBL. Pro Reverb or a Twin for Jazz.The silver face amps are OK but even if they tell you it has been modified to Black Face specs They just don't sound as good but you can get lucky.

My Favorite Flat tops for playing,sound and investment, Martin PRE WAR  D-45,D-28 ,00045,any pre war guitar but VERY big MONEY.             Martin D-28 pre 69,the best guitar for the money,lots of it,ooo-28,oo-28,000-18,00-18, Gibson J-200 most years are good ,Guild F-50R 1971,72,like a j-200 but some had Brazilian Rosewood up into the 70s,Guild,F-20,F-30 from the 50s,D-40s,early,Gibson J-50 or 45 from 50s and early 60s,Gibson LG-2,Advancer Jumbos early, Guild F-612 12 string Rare,

I could go on and on but I have learned over 30 years in this business that everyone has a different idea of what sounds good to them and sometimes it's scarry but you have to get what sounds good to you. Looks play a big role to many people and musicians are generally broke but we all love our guitar no matter what it is.

                                                                                                           Thanks Steve Sassano Black Rock Music