There are many reasons for determining the precise age of your used
guitar. The most important one is probably pricing the instrument appropriately
when you’re looking to sell it. Prices for certain vintage models vary
by thousands of dollars depending on whether it’s a 1963, for example,
or a 1964. You’ll also need to know exactly what your guitar is worth
for insurance purposes.
One of the most valuable and often overlooked resources to help you
identify and appraise guitars is your local used instrument dealer.
It’s so important to establish a working relationship with these folks.
While it may be tempting to call every store in the area in order to
save a few dollars when you’re shopping for something, developing a
loyalty to one or two shops pays off when you need service that goes
beyond a simple purchase. While most shops charge a fee for an official
appraisal, it may take an experienced retailer only a second to realize
that your old Epiphone is actually a Nova 390, produced from 1976 to
1980 in the company’s short-lived Japanese factory. The shop employee
may be glad to look up the approximate value of your ax in a book and
give you an opinion about what it’s worth. But if you randomly drop
by a store that you’ve never been to before and ask for this kind of
help, they might not take the time to look carefully at what you’ve
got.
LEARNING THE HISTORY
If you want to educate yourself to identify guitars, the first step
is to become familiar with the histories of some of the larger companies.
In recent years, more and more books providing information on the major
guitar manufacturers have become available, and they’re a great place
to start. There are some basic questions to ask. When did the company
start building guitars? Where were the guitars manufactured? Did the
company move in the course of its existence, and did it move its production
overseas? Did the model in question change drastically during the years
of production? For example, Gibson’s J-200 started out with rosewood
back and sides and fairly standard X-bracing in the late 1930s. It was
changed to maple back and sides (except for a few rosewood examples)
and a double-X bracing pattern in the ’50s. Yet another double-X bracing
pattern was used during the ’70s, and then a more Martin-like scalloped
X-bracing was adopted when the model was reintroduced in the late ’80s.
These are all differences that would be difficult for the uneducated
eye to notice, yet they drastically affect the guitar’s sound and value.
At the very least, these books will identify the time period during
which the guitar in question was produced, basic information that will,
for example, keep you from paying a premium for a "1960s Martin HD-28"
(you’ll know that this model wasn’t introduced until 1976). Sometimes
you can narrow down even further the time period in which your guitar
was built because of a certain distinguishing feature. For example,
a volute or scroll at the back of a Gibson headstock usually indicates
that the instrument was built between 1974 and 1981 (although some appeared
as early as 1969).
Another thing that the trained eye will immediately be able to pick
up on is whether an instrument was built in the U.S. or imported from
one of the many low-end Asian manufacturers. When I worked in retail,
a customer once walked in with a Ventura archtop for sale. Convinced
that he had a guitar that was built in the U.S. in the ’50s, he stormed
out after I told him what I’d be able to offer him for it. Even if I
hadn’t known that Venturas were made in Japan during the ’70s (which
was confirmed by a quick look in the Vintage Guitar Price Guide),
I knew as soon as he opened the case. It was mostly the guitar’s thick
finish that gave it away, complete with lacquered neck-to-body joints
and drips through the f-holes. The wimpy hardware was another dead giveaway
that this guitar was neither domestically made, as he thought, nor a
high-quality import. The best place to gain this kind of familiarity
is at your local music store’s used-and-cheap section; the more guitars
you inspect, the more experienced you’ll be.
One of the biggest roadblocks in identifying a guitar can often be
the serial number. These numbers are frequently inconsistent or missing
from reference books. In many cases, a serial number by itself is about
as useful as a phone number with a missing digit. Few companies have
consistently used the same system of numbering during their entire existence
(Martin is among those that have). For example, Gibson began using an
eight-digit number in 1977. The first and fifth digits indicated the
year of production (8XXX2XXX meant it was built in 1982). If you tried
to apply this formula to a serial number on an older Gibson, or even
a newer vintage reissue (which sometimes use "vintage" serial numbers)
you’d be making a big mistake.
REFERENCE BOOKS
So, how does one go about accurately identifying a used instrument?
Probably the publication most often referred to is Gruhn’s Guide
to Vintage Guitars. Written by George Gruhn (of Gruhn Guitars in
Nashville) and Walter Carter, the guide is a must-have for identifying
older American-made guitars. Organized into brands, general information,
serial numbers, specific features, and model designations, the book
identifies most major-brand guitars of the past and offers meticulous
descriptions and a wealth of helpful photos. It offers little or no
information on smaller makers, budget instrument makers, and recent
entries into the guitar market.
Although designed to give approximate values for vintage instruments,
the Vintage Guitar Price Guide is also quite useful in identifying
instruments. While it doesn’t describe each model’s features in detail,
it does provide a company history for most of the makers included. The
book’s many photos can be very helpful, and the general listings, which
include many off-brands, are among the most complete available. As with
all price guides, the dollar amounts shown are to be taken with a grain
of salt, but having even a vague idea of an instrument’s value will
make you a more savvy buyer or seller.
Another excellent resource is the Blue Book of Guitars. This
hefty book probably represents the most complete compilation of information
on guitars that have not yet reached vintage status. It’s one of the
few books that lists instruments made by companies such as Kay and J.B.
Player and by individual luthiers such as Dave Maize and Steve Klein.
Besides retail price information, the book includes brief descriptions
of most companies and models listed, as well as a unique section on
grading the condition of an instrument. In a color section, a variety
of guitars are pictured front and back, showing a range of possible
conditions--from 20 percent (poor) to 100 percent (new).
THE WEB
The Internet is also a useful resource for identifying and appraising
used guitars. Although the Web is a constantly changing environment
with more guitar-oriented sites appearing every day, there are a few
sites that shouldn’t be missed. Vintage guitar guru George Gruhn maintains
www.gruhn.com, a
site offering some of the information found in his book, listings of
guitars currently for sale in his shop, as well as a good article on
vintage guitar forgeries. Owners of Gibson guitars may want to surf
over to www.gibson.com,
which contains an excellent search feature. Just type in your instrument’s
serial and model number, and the site will (in most cases) provide a
range of possible years of manufacture. If more information is needed
to identify the instrument, the program will ask further questions to
narrow down the possibilities. A Web site run by the Guitar Base Guitar
Mall, www.gbase.com,
offers a wealth of useful information, including a list of serial numbers
for instruments by D’Angelico, D’Aquisto, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, and
Martin. Duck’s Deluxe (www.ducksdeluxe.com)
includes a page with guitar identification tools for several brands.
And some small retail stores have useful information for dating guitars
on their sites. A good example is Fred’s Music Shop (www.fredsmusic.com),
which includes a complete listing of Guild, Rickenbacker, and Paul Reed
Smith serial numbers.
You can also join guitar-related newsgroups on the Internet, but beware
of advice from uneducated participants posing as guitar experts. Of
particular interest to acoustic guitarists are rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic,
rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz, and rec.music.classical.guitar. You might
also check out rec.music.makers.guitar and alt.guitar.
These resources and the others in the Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual
should help you on your way to becoming a guitar expert. All you need
is hours and hours of paging through every available book on the subject,
countless weekends spent at guitar shops and vintage instrument shows,
a careful examination of all of your picking buddies’ axes, and (let’s
face it) the purchase of a lemon or two.
Excerpted from Acoustic
Guitar magazine, October 1998, No. 70.
