Vintage

R

richardp69

Enlightened Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
6,036
Reaction score
6,070
Location
Barton City, Michigan
What does vintage mean??? Is there a generally accepted year and before that makes something vintage?? I've seen instruments from the 90's, 80's, 70's and 60's and before called vintage.

Anyone out there know the answer or have a good answer???

At one point, I considered anything pre 1980 to be vintage but I had no reason or science to back that up. Now, I'm curious as to what vintage actually means. (and no, I'm not talking about grapes or other harvest. I'm talking specifically about guitars)
 
Westerly Wood

Westerly Wood

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
13,442
Reaction score
6,680
Guild Total
2
When I click on Vintage Acoustic Guitars on Reverb, it defaults the date to 1980. So everything before 1980. For whatever reason, that is 30 years ago....is that vintage?

I change the date default to 1999, as that is when Westerly production ended, or at least, when I enter 1999 as a date cap, it does not add any GADs or MIC Guilds to my feed. Maybe Westerly RI production trully ended in 2001, I think I remember now. But since GADs started to be produced in the 2000s, when I am searching the verb, I like to limit the feed to only US made Guild acoustics. I know 1999 is not really vintage. But is it arbitrary? Is real vintage everything up to 1970 for instance...?
 
Rich Cohen

Rich Cohen

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
3,179
Reaction score
2,309
Location
Charlottesville, VA
A great question, Richard. It has caused me to think what it means. Folks will have their own individual opinions when it comes to vintage guitars. Generally, I tend to think that a guitar will qualify for the "vintage" moniker if it represents some model that established a standard among its peers. Often such a guitar was put together of quality woods and excellent craftmanship that has withstood the stresses of time. Of course a vintage guitar will come down to us in all sorts of conditions, fair, good, very good and excellent. Sometimes we make allowances for the condition of a vintage guitar, when determining its condition. I've seen sellers use the term "mint" for a vintage guitar, which to my mind is impossible.
 
GAD

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
23,227
Reaction score
18,965
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
Isn’t a vintage automobile considered 20 years or more?

The term is used and abused so much as to have no real meaning any more. The 80s were 40 years ago! How did THAT happen?
 
cupric

cupric

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2018
Messages
1,930
Reaction score
1,362
Guild Total
3
People use vintage to designate many things. With guitars it is often used to refer to a time when the brand was in its heyday. This is pretty subjective, especially with brands like Guild. With most things 25 to 30 years old is vintage. Automobiles are generally 30+. I have always thought guitars in the 30 year old area as vintage. So appropriately 1990.
 
S

Stuball48

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
4,800
Reaction score
2,592
Location
Dickson, TN
A call to the County Court Clerk would reveal how old an automobile would need to be before Vintage license can be granted or anyone you know who collects old automobiles?
 
gjmalcyon

gjmalcyon

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
4,205
Reaction score
2,459
Location
Gloucester County, NJ
Guild Total
13
Jersey will issue historic plates if your vehicle is 25 years old or older and only used for exhibition and educational purposes by the owner.

Owners of modified antique automobiles manufactured before 1949 that are registered in a New Jersey street rod club or an affiliate of the National Street Rod Association Inc. may apply for a Street Rod plate.
 
HeyMikey

HeyMikey

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
5,556
Reaction score
4,908
Location
MA
Guild Total
9
Quick scan of a couple online articles…

Antique - 100+

Vintage - representative of a particular time and/or manufacture, otherwise 20-99 years. Example vintage 1970’s or vintage Westerly era. Otherwise 2001 or earlier as of 2021.

Retro - similar to Vintage or newer manufacture made in the style of something vintage.
 
ruedi

ruedi

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2020
Messages
2,054
Reaction score
2,460
Location
Switzerland
Guild Total
1
I wonder if age allone is the determining factor of "vintage". There is some subtext in this term, maybe referring to a golden age or something?
 
GAD

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
23,227
Reaction score
18,965
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
walrus

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
24,057
Reaction score
8,133
Location
Massachusetts
It's a moving target. In the '90's an '80's guitar wasn't vintage, but it is now. Just like "oldies" radio, the years keep moving forward.

walrus
 
A

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,800
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
richardp69 said:
What does vintage mean??? Is there a generally accepted year and before that makes something vintage?? I've seen instruments from the 90's, 80's, 70's and 60's and before called vintage.
Click to expand...
Currently with regard to guitars it's a bastardized term that means whatever the f--k the seller wants it to mean. But I'd like to see what George Gruhn or Vintage Guitar Magazine says.

As GAD mentioned, the term derives from wine that was dated on bottling. That wine was normally a cut above what's called table wine for every day consumption, and being "vintage" (bottling dated) came to mean anything that was old by some number of years and of better-than-normal quality for the period

With vehicles the original term was "Classic" and the accepted industry voice for collectible cars is Hemmings Motor News whose sole definition is that it has to be at least 25 years old.

Not sure if all states offer a "Vintage" or "Historic" plate program, but if CA does my D25's coming right up on eligibility.
 
Last edited:
dreadnut

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,443
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
I'm with WW in terms of Guilds - vintage means Westerly to me. I consider my (son's) '99 DV52 to be a vintage Guild.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top