Vintage versus New

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

I don't think this topic has been chawed on in a while.

Vintage equipment versus new? I've had both. Acoustically, had old vintage dobro's, and had them custom built.

Currently I have 2 eharps and a Clinesmith cast aluminum 8 string.

Personally, vintage dobros are just not worth the money. Even if you want that vintage sound, you've be better off buying one of Beard's reimaging of the vintage dobro.

In my experience, vintage laps are a crap shoot. I was lucky in that the eharps turned out great, but they were also cheap, much less than $500.

But once you cross that $1,000 mark, I'd much rather have new. Clinesmith is making some of the best sounding steels ever made right now. Rather than roll the dice on questionable electronics and disintegrating parts, I'd rather support a living luthier and no worry about quality.

What say thou non-peddlers? Let the games begin.
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Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

Allow me, as Oscar Wilde said of the youth of America, to offer up the full benefit of my inexperience Very Happy

...

But from my amateur perspective, it definitely depends on the style...multineck console steels, for instance...there are a few new makers that do that but you will pay handsomely. A rare instance where vintage instruments are the practical and less expensive (and not just more romantic) choice. My slightly beat up Stringmaster T8 was a great deal and I love the tone and versatility. A Clinesmith non-pedal triple is 4800 base price.

On singlenecks, there are probably no end of great deals out there in vintage guitars...but everybody and their mother seems to have made a lap steel at some point (30s-60s particularly) and I would imagine quality and condition varies widely. So you kind of have to know what to look for. I love the idea of Rickenbackers, but there's so many different kinds out there its too expensive of a gamble for me not knowing the difference between Bakelite, Silver Hawaiian, panda, etc. And additionally, single neck lap steels are much more represented on the "new" market. From very, very cheap Chinese imports, to the sort of intermediate range on up to boutique masterpieces, there's no end of options as long as you just need one neck.

So for non-pedal console, I think most of us who go that route get pushed into vintage whether we like it or not (and...I like it Smile

), but for single neck steels there are more options on both sides. One benefit to getting a new, and perhaps cheap lap steel...no one is going to read you the riot act if you modify it to suit your requirements.
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I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Combining vintage and new has been working out fine for me. By purchasing a carcass, fitting it out with a quality combination of vintage and new parts, and bringing it back to life, it's possible to achieve the best of both worlds:

Noah Miller · From: Rocky Hill, CT

With regards to acoustics, I agree that much of the time the newer ones sound better. The big exception is squareneck tricones, where the hollow necks of the originals give a noticeably different sound than the National reissues. When it comes to spider bridges or Weissenborn types, the newer guitars tend to sound better and are more consistent; modern Weissenborns, in particular, can handle heavier strings than the originals.

When it comes to electrics, it's all down to the sound you want. I absolutely love my Clinesmith, but that's partly because it sounds like it was built in the 1940s. If you want the dark warmth of a '30s New Yorker, your only option is to get an original with three sets of pickups. Other electric steels can be replicated with more conventional pickups, but at the end of the day, a new "reissue" will often cost you more than an original. In some cases - like the Bakelite Ricks - there are materials that are quite difficult to replace. In other cases - like a '40s Epiphone - nobody is set up to built replica pickups.

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

I play a newer Dobro-a Gretsch G9210 Boxcar, and it sounds incredible! I'd just started playing Dobro December 25th, and before then, a friend of mine let me try out his all metal Dobro roundneck and it sounded awesome too! it had sort of a combination of acoustic lap steel/Dobro type tone that I loved! I play a squareneck because I mainly play lap steel style. My Gretsch Boxcar sounds wonderful at church, at my house, or at jam sessions without amplifications. I decided to play dobro because, along with pedal steel, I needed an instrument where I could play steel acoustically, so in December, I got a Gretsch Boxcar and it's with cerebral palsy, it's my size, and I don't know if I could handle the weight of one of the bigger Dobro guitars. I love both old and new Dobro guitars!

Stephen Abruzzo · From: Philly, PA

With vintage, you are "stuck" with what you get unless you want to change the electronics around.

The same applies to entry level new steels too.

However, if you deal with more expensive steels, and depending on the luthier, they will build you what you want. And THAT, was the wonderful thing about dealing with the late Tom Pettingill. Lap style, woods, electronics were all up for discussion...and he encouraged that too. He loved getting his customers involved in every aspect of their build. It stirred his creative juices. Of course, he could afford to work that way as building steels was a hobby to him.
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Four Pettingills and a Clinesmith Aluminum. Fender Blues Junior. Quilter Mini-101.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Are you talking about laps or resonators?

Big difference. And with resonators a proper setup means as much - sometimes MORE - than the age or price/
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Brooks Montgomery · From: Idaho, USA

For both electric and acoustic, it just depends on what you "scored". I've bought and traded both new and used (like most everyone here). I tend not to be as emotionally attached to the new stuff. I've got a few old guitars that are just haunted with good music.
Some take finding the right tuning, amp, pedals , or strings. Lately it's been my 1939 Slingerland Songster tuned to E, run thru an old 60's Princeton blackface. It's a barroom blues monster.

Edit: ...but that being said, my cast 8-string Clinesmith is pretty freak'n awesome. A6.
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first.

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