How many guitars do you own that are older than you are?

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 28 Aug 2023 4:04 pm

I'm almost 72, and I have a couple-three. Maybe more...

Ben Elder · Post by **Ben Elder** » 28 Aug 2023 6:17 pm

I could tell you, but you’d have to kill me.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 28 Aug 2023 6:20 pm

I was born in 1953 and have four guitars older than I am.

(Ben, I love your quote!)

~Lee

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 28 Aug 2023 7:13 pm

I have a 1949 FenderDualProfessional steel. I was born in ‘51.

Doug Taylor · Post by **Doug Taylor** » 29 Aug 2023 4:49 am

3- a 40 Kay upright bass, a 51 Dual Pro, and an early 50s Magnatone lap steel. Born in 55.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Aug 2023 7:03 am

I have a bakelite Rick and that's maybe it.

Erv

Samuel Phillippe · Post by **Samuel Phillippe** » 29 Aug 2023 11:19 am

I'm still trying to figure out if they built guitars before I was born.......
I only own two instruments older than me and they were passed on to me from my father. A Martin uke and an I don't know brand, banjo madolin. Born 1938......

Sam

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 29 Aug 2023 12:29 pm

My first steel, a 1974 Emmons GS-10 was built seven years before I was born-it was built in '74, I was born in '81. The guitar itself has been around for 49 years, and I've had it for twenty-three years. I got it in 1999 for Christmas at the age of eighteen. Right after I got it, I was curious to know what year it was built, so I sent a message to Bobbe Seymour to see if he knew. He sent me a message back and said it's a 1974 Emmons. I found out later on that Emmons called those guitars the GS models, and were built in the early 70s.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 29 Aug 2023 2:58 pm

I have an original Epi Eharp that is a few years older than me and in much better shape.

Jacob Yergert · Post by **Jacob Yergert** » 30 Aug 2023 5:15 am

Born in '91.

'84 Greco Les Paul Custom
'70s Elektra Rickenbacker 4001 copy
'70s Hoyer Jumbo acoustic (a German knockoff of the J200)
'52 Harlin Brothers 6-string steel

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 30 Aug 2023 7:08 am

Jacob,
"Born in "91"!
I've got underwear older than that.

Erv

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 30 Aug 2023 7:30 am

Just one - a circa 1933 Model 37 squareneck Dobro. I’ve had that guitar since 1976.

The instrument I have owned the longest is a 1962 Supro that I got new as a 10 year old lap steel student in 1964.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 1 Sep 2023 2:12 pm

The oldest steel I have is a Fender 400 which was made in 1958, but I was born long before that. However, the oldest guitar I own could be an older one than anyone on the Forum has; it’s a pre-Civil War Martin parlor guitar. Since they didn’t serialize them back then, exact dating is impossible. But I’m pretty confident with the research I’ve done that it was made in the 1850’s.

Chris Harwood · Post by **Chris Harwood** » 1 Sep 2023 2:39 pm

Erv Niehaus wrote:Jacob,
"Born in "91"!
I've got underwear older than that.
Erv

Isn't that begging for the expression; "too much information"?
Hahaha!!!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 1 Sep 2023 8:39 pm

Chris Harwood wrote:
Erv Niehaus wrote:Jacob,
"Born in "91"!
I've got underwear older than that.
Erv
Isn't that begging for the expression; "too much information"?
Hahaha!!!

Well, as long as he’s washed ‘em once in awhile, I guess we’re okay.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 2 Sep 2023 6:34 am

And I change my socks once a week.
I put the left one on my right foot and the right on on my left foot!

Erv

Jacob Yergert · Post by **Jacob Yergert** » 5 Sep 2023 6:35 am

Erv Niehaus wrote:Jacob,
"Born in "91"!
I've got underwear older than that.
Erv

In my 30s Im the ancient guy when I go to the punk rock shows, but the young whipper-snapper on the Steel Guitar forum. Your 30s are a weird place to be.

Duncan Hodge · Post by **Duncan Hodge** » 5 Sep 2023 7:21 am

I own no guitars/steels older than me, but I own many that will outlive me.

Michael Lee Allen · Post by **Michael Lee Allen** » 6 Sep 2023 7:15 pm

74. Two Levin arch tops, Epiphone M, Three different Oahu Iolana double necks, National 1010 Special 8 String Model, Electradair PSG. Maybe an Epi EHARP is older but I don't remember. All the other stuff is newer, a lot newer. Also "fostering" a pair of Gibson ES-150's with matching amps and an ES-250 with matching amp while their "Real Dad" is "now resident in Europe".
MLA

David Farrell · Post by **David Farrell** » 12 Sep 2023 9:18 pm

I'm vintage '74 myself.

I have 5 (3 400s, an 800 & an 'SD-Franken 800') Fender steels, and 3 (Baldwin Crossover D-10, Professional D-10 & S-10 PRO 1) Sho~Buds.

My first love is 'Penny', my '64 Gibson L-G0 I've had since I was 15. I wore the finish off the neck.

1960 Epiphone Cabalero, basically just like my L-G0.

'31 Dobro round neck.

I have a bunch of old Fender amps too.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 12 Sep 2023 9:29 pm

The oldest guitar I own is an old N4 Truetone archtop...I never looked up the ser. #, don't know if it even has one.

I acquired it from my departed Uncle's estate along with an old Silvertone 1482 from 1968. I expect they're both about the same age.....but I was around way before that.

Still, not older than me, my oldest brother gave me his Harmony Archtop when he went away to seminary. I believe it was from the 50s. I regret letting it get away from me, not because it was a great guitar but because of his generosity leaving with me and it was my first guitar...... unless you count the Arthur Godfrey model cardboard guitar I got from selling Burpee's seeds.

Andrew Goulet · Post by **Andrew Goulet** » 16 Nov 2023 2:18 pm

Jacob Yergert wrote:
Erv Niehaus wrote:Jacob,
"Born in "91"!
I've got underwear older than that.
Erv
In my 30s Im the ancient guy when I go to the punk rock shows, but the young whipper-snapper on the Steel Guitar forum. Your 30s are a weird place to be.

I, too, experience this phenomenon. It truly is weird. Like you're standing at a bus stop, but you don't know if you've missed the bus or are still waiting for it to arrive.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 28 Nov 2023 7:51 pm

I have a 1956 Stringmaster D8. Chances are very good that it was built before I hatched on December 30th.

Andrew G, that is a great way to put it. But once you concede to having missed the bus, it makes waiting for the next one a little easier. When you get to your 60’s and (probably) 70’s, walking the rest of the way is the more appealing option.

Madeline Dietrich · Post by **Madeline Dietrich** » 11 Dec 2023 12:14 pm

I am 58. I have a Gibson F2 mandolin made in 1916. A couple of fiddles that both date around the late 19th - early 20th century. My upright bass (a Goetz) was made in 1963 (I was born in 65). And very recently I acquired a Fender Stringmaster T8 which I think is from 1955 or 56 but I'm not sure. Serial number 01115. I've only taken the tuning gears/plate off the first neck and there is some scribbling that I can't read. I have a Harmony archtop that may be older than me, but I don't know.