Ok, i have a few questions about vintage guitars and amplifiers. For one i have heard people say that the older good guitars get the better the sound and im wondering exactly why this is?

Does it have something to do with the wood or the pickups aging?

Also, what is the difference between modern amps and tube amps? It seems to me there is some sort of preference amongst the better players towards tube amps and im wondering if their tone is better in some capacity or better for a certain style?

Lastly, do amps get better with age? I know it may seem like a silly question but i really would like to be a student of the guitar and know as much about things as humanly possible.

I can say 3 years ago i had an experience where i bought my red hummingbird epi acoustic and put some martin strings on it and the tone was overall pretty nice but after a few weeks of playing i was busy with the 2006 christmas holiday season and didnt play much.

When i went back to play my epi about 4 months later the tone was unreal. I dont understand if that's just the strings broken in, the wood aging or i just wasn't hearing it the first time but it definately seemed sweeter.

Any words of wisdom?

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My lot:
2003 white/white Fender Strat mim
2007 natural ibanez af 105 hollow body
1991 ibanez 12 string acoustic
roland micro cube amp

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that guitars improve with age. I think it's simply a case of "they don't make 'em like they used to."



There are many modern tube amps. It's not only a case of old versus new. I think more importantly than age it's a case of tube vs. solid state and yes pretty much every seasoned guitarist will prefer tube amps over solid state 9 times out of 10. At least that's been my observation. There are dynamics in the tone that simply cannot be duplicated with transistors. There are some new tube amp designs that sound as good if not better than some older designs



Solid state amps will likely not change much with age. In tube amps there is sometimes a slight degradation in the condition of some components but it's usually negligible. Whether tube or S/S the speakers in the amps will change slightly with use. Some speakers require a break-in period before they achieve their best tone.



Some people like the sound of well used strings. It's been my observation that bluegrass pickers will sometimes dislike the tone of brand new strings. Perhaps you have the same preference.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Well, the things ive read was that good quality wood gets a sweeter tone with age but everyone has an opinion and i guess the only way to know for sure is try a quality instrument from the past and compare it with a modern model to put that old wives tale to the test?

Getting back to amps i played mostly acoustic for 20 years then got a tele as my first electric and a friend of mine sold his roland micro cube for 60 and told me its one of the best small amps you can buy. I wouldnt know as im still learning but it certainly seems punchy for a 2 watt amp lol.

Do all tube amps say that they are on the description, what i mean is many amps do not outwardly seem to say what kind they are so how is the electric novice to know?

Thx

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My lot:
2003 white/white Fender Strat mim
2007 natural ibanez af 105 hollow body
1991 ibanez 12 string acoustic
roland micro cube amp

No, it is the case of, "They dont make em like they used to". when these companys started, they were making maybe 3 guitars a day so you can guess that the quality control and attention to detail will be better then nowadays due to the fact they churn out LOADS.

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"Oh, it's a windy and sunny day
And I can hear the faint sound of distant waves
The past weeks have been going by so fast
It's all the same, the bright sky and shining sun
I have a feeling it's gonna be a fun day"

Tube amps generally say tubes somewhere on the price tag or in the name, if in doubt if you can see light bulb like structures on the inside those are tubes.
The micro cube is solid state so i dont recommend poking around inside it looking for tubes.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

Reasons why vintage guitars sound different:

1. Alnico pickups gradually power over the years which leads to a weaker pickup with changes in sound qualities, often described as being warmer and clearer.
2. The nitro finish eventually sinks into the wood or wears away, exposing the pores of the wood to the air, which enhances resonance.
3. Back in the day pickups were all handwound (meaning there was a person there guiding the wire onto the pickup winder). This meant there was different patterns of winding and gaps between the wire in some places. This resulted in every pickup sounding different, sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. Nowadays most pickups are wound by machine, which is much better for consistency, but that means every pickup is the same >_>

There's probably many more, but these are the main reasons me thinks. I never said they sound better, I've never played a vintage strat simply due to the retarded prices of them. Maybe one day people will realize they are just fawking guitars and let them go forth and be played, perhaps in 2012 when the world comes to an end (We'll see Nostradamus >_>).

As for amps, I prefer tube for two reasons: Dynamics and overdrive. They are very responsive to how hard you strum or pluck, allowing you vast changes in volume just by changing how hard you play. Overdrive in a good tube amp is something that has to be experienced, I can't really explain it. These are qualities solid states can only imitate, which is the sincerest form of flattery. Anyways, hope I halped >.>

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

I think as wood ages, it does effect the tone to a degree, probably more noticiable on acoustics, as the woods dry-out and breathe. As you probably know there are many types of tone woods to suit individual taste. Finish on guitars add to different tone also. As for amps, I'm a tube tone lover. Speakers are usually stiff when new and break-in as playin' time and time itsself go by. They say, vibration also affects guitars and speakers to help break them in. There are many things that contribute to your tone, you being the biggest factor. There are a bunch of great players on this site, with a wealth of imfo. In the short time I have visited this site, I have learned alot. dutch

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2012 American Vintage Telecaster 1958
09 Fender american deluxe strat.
97 Gibson les paul special P90's double-cut
65 Princeton reverb re-issue
2010 Guild Gad-F40e

Thx alot guys. Alot of useful information about the pickups and Tube amps.

So far i like my little cube but i will someday definately upgrade. Anyone know a good Tube amp they can recommend?

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My lot:
2003 white/white Fender Strat mim
2007 natural ibanez af 105 hollow body
1991 ibanez 12 string acoustic
roland micro cube amp

It is not just a case of solid state vs tube to me. There are a lot (probably most, really) of older "vintage" tube amp models that will pale in comparison to a modern SS amp. My point is that some vintage stuff was only mediocre then, and -- compared to modern gear -- sucks now. "Vintage" does not always mean "good", and "tubes" do not always mean "better".

Just my opinion ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

I recommend the blues jr., 15watts of pure tube tone, great practice amp and great for open mic/blues jams. I use mine in pubs and small bars with no problems, easy on the back too!

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2012 American Vintage Telecaster 1958
09 Fender american deluxe strat.
97 Gibson les paul special P90's double-cut
65 Princeton reverb re-issue
2010 Guild Gad-F40e

I'm on board with that. There are some S/S amps made these days that equal or best some of the poorer designs of old tube amps. However, there are also big improvements in tube amps today and many new ones blow the old ones away. (And sorry folks, the Hot Rod Deluxe is absolutely not one of them.) The Super-Sonic and Vibro-King come to mind as being better sounding to my ears than any vintage Fender I own or have ever owned. I currently have a Rivera Fandango that blows the doors off my '72 SF-VR in terms of tone and versatility and is about equal to it in sensitivity and dynamic response. The VR can't even hold a candle to the Rivera in the reverb circuit. I'm seriously thinking of selling the VR because there isn't anything it can do that the Fandango doesn't do better except the Vibrato circuit which I have a pedal for and don't use that effect much anyway.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

There are guitars that sounded great 40 yrs ago and still do,by the same token there are guitars that sounded atrocious 40 yrs ago and always will.That is electric guitars.It seems alot of acoustics improve with age as they become "played in" for some reason(maybe the vibrations of the wood)they sweeten in tone,that's evident with my 83 Yamaha FG 346 that sounds much better than it did new,it has aquired a beautiful mellowness over the years.As far as amps go maybe it's the tubes and caps etc they used years ago that added to their great tone(in some cases)or the speakers that take on a great tonal character over the years.I have a 69 Bassman amp and 66 Leslie with a JBL K-120 that sound just superb,and the sound seems to improve over time,at least it certainly hasn't deteriorated.The same can be said for my 83&84 JCM 800s.I don't know the exact cause for this tonaal improvement but I'm certainly glad it went that way instead of getting worse.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

You said a mouthful there, slinger. That fact is actually the main reason I feel so very strongly about staying away from the vintage guitar market. Not so much from an investment perspective but from a player's perspective. I truly believe that about 99% of the vintage guitars on the market are poor guitars. I'm not talking about the scams and fakes. I'm talking about genuine authentic vintage guitars that are just not very good. And the ones you see for sale (like that $150,000 Tele lefty posted a week or two back) that are in pristine condition are very likely total crap even if they are genuine. Manufacturing practices were not very consistent in those days so you ended up in a crap shoot as a buyer. Then, WAY more than today, you had to try them all to find one you liked. Some were aweful and some were spectacular. It's my belief that the spectacular ones are mostly gone and all that's left is the mediocre and the lousy. The good ones that had mojo and vibe and literally drew the music out of you? They got played to death because you couldn't put them down. They now look like Stevie's Number 1 or worse off even. The one's that did nothing for you because they were lifeless and boring? They're the ones that stayed in their case under Grandma's bed for 45 years because nobody wanted to play them and Grandma kept them for sentimental reasons. When she died somebody hit the jackpot and the buyer got a crap guitar for 15K.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Statement number one is true!!!!

Statement number two, no way with Fullerplast that was used as undercoat no finished gets adsorbed into the wood no matter how long., The stuff was like amour.

Statement number three the hand wound part true and that today's pickups are much better for consistency is true. But they are generic an in many ways lacking character.

Acoustic instruments change more with age then solid body ones.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I disagree on that last point. Virtually every pickup maker in the world including Fender (the Custom Shop, that is...) have been studying those amazing examples from history for decades. They're doing the reverse engineering thing so to speak and they're quite good at it. They know how to reproduce those tones and they are doing so on a regular basis. And then they also offer slight improvements as well. The only thing generic about today's best after market vintage style pickups is that they are consistent but what's wrong with that if they are consistently good? I think the reason we see so many mediocre OEM pickups has to do with marketing. Why install your best at first when you can later sell 2 or more sets of pups for every guitar by offering optional upgrades or after market upgrades?

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.