Dealers -> Musical Instruments -> String
A Fender guitar is one of the best guitars you can purchase in the world today, whether it’s a new instrument or a vintage one. Fender began with Leo Fender releasing the Esquire model guitar in 1950, but production only lasted for about 4 months before the model was discontinued. The Esquires had no truss rod, and the necks warped quite quickly and easily, causing problems with the need for returns and repairs. Fender then fixed the truss rod problem and released a new guitar model called the Broadcaster, which became the famous Telecaster, the following month.
By the following year, guitars were rolling out at a good pace, despite begin handmade by craftsman, even down to hand-wrapped pickups. But in 1954, the Fender guitar that became the instrument that all other guitars would thereafter be compared to was created. The Fender Stratocaster was an innovation in the arena of the solid-bodied guitar, and brought that type of instrument into the popular consciousness.
The Stratocaster is the Fender guitar that has been manufactured steadily since it was introduced. The name Stratocaster can still make guitarists’ mouths water today, particularly those with custom color finishes. While they’re valuable collector’s items, they’re also superior instruments, and some say they’re the finest guitar ever created.
If you’re interested in purchasing a vintage Fender guitar, look for those created before 1966. While instruments after that are still collectible and highly valuable, earlier guitars benefit from handcrafting and detail. CBS purchased Fender in 1965 and introduced profit-maximizing systems like mass production assembly and cheaper materials, which did change the sound and the quality of the guitars. The shape changed a little from the contours Fender fans were used to, cheaper wood was used, and the machine-wrapped pickups didn’t offer each guitar a slightly unique sound as the hand-wrapped wire once had.
A vintage Fender guitar from any year is valuable and worth owning, but those manufactured before CBS made its changes are more valuable and have what some believe to be the best guitar sound in the world. If you can find an early guitar made with Brazilian rosewood, you should be aware that its highly sought out by collectors because of the ban on importing and using that wood in the United States today. This wood was used before CBS purchased the company as fingerboards on some Fender guitars, but not after, replaced by cheaper, lower quality woods.
Aside from the date of the Fender guitar, you’ll want to ask the seller if any parts have been replaced. While often the original pegs and pickups would wear out over a period of years, it’s best if these pieces are intact and have not been replaced. A refinished guitar is also less valuable than one with the original finish, even if it looks bad. If you plan to play the guitar rather than display it, you’ll also want to look for vintage strings rather than modern strings, to give it that authentic vintage sound.
Originally posted 2008-11-14 14:00:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Rock and Roll Concert Memorabilia Collecting One of the types of collections that is gaining in popularity right now is collecting concert memorabilia. This is because every band seems to be going on tour these days, and in their wake they are all leaving plenty of autographed concert memorabilia for collectors to snap up, stuff into...... -
Movie Scripts Memorabilia -> Autographs: Original -> Movies-> Scripts If you love movies, one of the best collectible items you can find is an original autographed movie script. These are very rare in many cases, but when you do find one for your favorite movie there is always cause for celebration. This...... -
Selling Autographed Memorabilia Most of the people that own autographed memorabilia do not even think about parting ways with their beloved memorabilia. They look at their autographed memorabilia as true crowning achievements in their collections. Unfortunately, there may eventually come a time in their life where they need to part with their autographed...... -
Collecting Vietnam War Memorabilia Finding collectibles that hail from a certain specific area is going to be an easy process if you know where to look and how to look. There are several different factors that are going to come into play when searching for Vietnam War Memorabilia and other types of memorabilia including...... -
Bo Diddley Memorabilia -> Entertainment-Memorabilia -> Music-Memorabilia Bo Diddley is a legend, both for his guitar playing and his role as one of the first influences in modern rock ‘n roll. Born Ellas Othas Bates in Mississippi in 1928, he later became known as the “originator” because he was one of the......
Related Websites -
The Electric Acoustic Guitar The acoustic guitar provides music through strings that were made from a variety of materials, most notably nylon. Nylon is not only kind to the fingers, but the sound it produces is good and crisp. It is especially important for beginners to use nylon since it is easier to learn....... -
Sad News for Music Fans Guitar god Les Paul died Thursday at the age of 94. In addition to the wonderful music he created during his time playing jazz, pop, and country music, Paul also invented the electric guitar that we are so familiar with today. Imagine what today's popular artists would sound like if...... -
The History of the Bass Guitar The electric bass guitar is a staple of the music scene today. It provides the bass spectrum of sound to the likes of rock, jazz, metal, blues and numerous other musical acts. The bass may provide one part of the larger melody, or be featured as the primary instrument. Over...... -
Guitar Buying Advice Walk into any music store and you are bound to find an entire wall covered in guitars; including electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars and plenty of other specialty guitars as well. Purchasing your first guitar is not nearly as easy as choosing the most attractively designed instrument that you...... -
Finding Acoustic Guitar Music Those who play the acoustic guitar are always on the lookout for great acoustic guitar music. There are a number of great collections out there and virtually every hard rock artist has come up with an acoustic version of their music that can be learned and played. To find the......