January Edition of The Vintage Guitar News and Views

Terms of Endearment
From time to time in explaining the condition ,shape or originality of a vintage guitar or piece of vintage gear,I get the response " what does that mean?" Nothing wrong with that question , not everyone is savvy to all the terms used in the vintage guitar arena,so here are a few terms of endearment that you should get to know.
-Clean:Where as the finish is in great shape from any major nicks or mars ,rips or tears.
-Straight:All the solder joints,tuners,keys,knobs,switches,frets,finish,color,and pickups as well as the pick guard are all original and intact,usually with the original case or cover if it is an amp.
-O.H.S.C.: Original Hard Shell Case as came from the factory.
-Period correct: The guitar or amp is original to a certain year or model and some parts may have been replaced with correct parts from another guitar or amp.
-Period correct case:May not be the original case as from the factory but is a correct case for the vintage piece.
-Refret or refretted: the original frets have been replaced with either period correct frets or frets that the previous owner may have wanted as far as size is concerned,if they were same sized frets as the original they would be ? period correct, see how it all comes full circle?
-Refin or refinished:This refers to the original finish having been at some point either repainted or recovered due to fade or a particular owners preference,i.e. a sunburst stripped off a guitar and a Fiesta red finish reapplied .
-Players grade or players guitar: Usually a vintage guitar ,but not necessarily, that has had some changes that may or may not be period correct it still retains some respectability of originality to it but not everything is original.The body and neck may be all that's left of the original guitar or bass and everything else has through the years been replaced for one reason or another, not a bad thing ,old wood is where the tone is, but not as desirable as an all original straight piece of vintage gear.
-Route or routes: not something everyone wants to hear, but during the life of a vintage guitar somewhere someone has replaced a single coil pickup with a humbucker and had to enlarge the cavity that is in the body to accommodate the larger pickup(s),This does effect the price of a vintage guitar ,but you have to be the judge on how bad you want it, and if the route is a professional or hack job and if the route has or has not been professionally refilled and rerouted back to original specs.
-Second or Factory second:For a while some guitar manufactures let people buy guitars that were deemed as inferior at some phase of the construction process, most blemishes or rejections are impossible to find some are obvious, the Factory would stamp a 2 somewhere ,usually under the serial number or on the back of the headstock to indicate this, according to some experts this does not really effect the price when dealing with highly desirable vintage gear as long as it is straight ,clean and original.
Tweed: The name given by collectors to the striped yellow and brown covering on amps and cases usually from the 40's and 50's.
-Tolex The rouged brown,white,blck covering on most amps and cases since the early 60's ,other colors do exist.
-Pups: The pickups in a guitar or bass guitar.
-Pots: The word usually said in place of the potentiometers, the controls for volume,tone,gain,bass,treble,etc
-Caps: Again a word used in place of capacitor ,these are the small electronic devices usually wired into a circuit to either combine some aspects of the build ,since you can not really wire each and every piece internally together ,some caps also bleed of unwanted noises, or treble or bass frequency's as determined by the builder, it is not uncommon to see the caps replaced in a amp.as these do deteriorate over time.
-Buckle rash: Usually the backside of the guitars body is covered in small or large areas of finish deterioration ,mars,scratches and finish removal due to usage.
-Ding: a small impression (sometimes not so small) that is pressed into the wood and finish but that does not go through to or expose any of the body wood or break the finish.
-Dink: An impression or mar that shows wood through the finish.
-Swirls: Usually light circular scratches that occur on the finish due to polishing the guitar over the period of it's life.
-Checking:Where the clear coat finish has actual lines throughout the surface of the guitar or bass,not a bad thing, not something that goes into the wood itself ,it is an aging and temperature change condition that almost all guitars will have on them at some point in their life.
-Neck set: Almost all acoustic guitars will at some point in their lifespan need to have the neck removed and a portion of wood shaved off to correct for time and pressure taking its toll on the wood itself and properly realign the neck angle with the body for continued playability.If done properly it is usually of no concern if not,it is usually a noticeable ugly mess and may not be able to be corrected.
-Re cone: When an original speaker coil drops or wears out the speaker is usually re coned, this does hamper the original tone as to how the amp will sound , usually they never sound as good as the original, but things happen and with amps it really is no big deal,it just depends on how original an amp you desire.
Now these are just a few of the terms most widely used or that you may hear when a item is being described to you or on a website ,So now that you understand some of them you will be better able to make a determination of the price that is being asked,always ask for clear precise pictures or clarification of anything that may cause concern and remember that some changes or replacement parts are not a bad thing , some things just wear out. As always this is just my news and views, So until next month ,may all your days be memorable,all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer,Greg at Greg's guitars. days be memorable,all your friends stay true and all your riffs be killer,Greg at Greg's guitars.