SOUNDINVESTMENTS
An Eighties Golden Era?
In the last two issues of Premier Guitar I discussed the Golden
Eras of various American guitar makers, and I expressed the
opinion that there have been no Golden Eras since the 1960s.
Furthermore, I’m of the opinion that it is much harder to
come up with a revolutionary idea now than it was in earlier eras, and consequently, we’re unlikely to see any future
Golden Eras of guitar making. That assertion prompted
some interesting thoughts from B.C. Rich enthusiast,
David Kuther, that warrant further discussion about the
fine lines between nostalgic designs, collectible instruments
and true Golden Eras for guitar makers.
Kuther has a different perspective and experience in the guitar market than do I or most of my clientele since I first started buying and selling used (they weren’t called vintage yet)
instruments in the 1960s. I was part of the first wave of Baby
Boomers born in the years after World War II, and much of
the vintage instrument market as we know it today has been
driven by my fellow Baby Boomers. The Golden Era electrics
– the pre-CBS Fenders and the McCarty-era Gibsons – were
made during my youth and played by the guitar gods of the
1960s. Kuther was a teenager in the 1980s and a member of
Generation X, who, as he pointed out, had their own guitar
gods and their own important guitars.
“Each generation creates a new sound and then
when they get older, they long for the sound of
their youth,” Kuther explained. “I grew up
listening to Guns ‘N Roses, Van Halen, Def
Leppard, Metallica, Whitesnake, Poison,
L.A. Guns, Skid Row, Aerosmith, etc. – and
that’s not a sound that was created on
late-fifties Fenders and Gibsons.
“I’m 36 years old now,” he added, “and only
in the past few years have I been in a position
to spend any serious money on guitars. I imagine the same is true of anyone who came of age
in the eighties and I think over the next 10-20
years we will see a major shift as the nostalgia
factor for guitars like Eddie Van Halen’s Charvel
really kicks in and people like myself have
more disposable income to collect these
types of guitars. Growing up, Van Halen,
Satriani and Vai were my guitar gods, not
Clapton and Page (although I’ve since
come to appreciate them and I think
they’re incredible as well – they’re just not
‘mine,’ they belong to my parents). And
as I’m sure you’re aware, expensive reissues
of guitars like Van Halen’s Frankenstrat are
already in production.”
Kuther likened the vintage market to a time bomb that goes off
20-30 years after a guitar maker’s Golden Age. “Since Bernie Rico’s
Golden Age was in the late seventies and eighties,” he said, “my guess
is that the people who currently drive up the prices of the late-fifties
Gibsons and Fenders are of a generation that doesn’t
appreciate B.C. Rich. At some point I believe the collectible
‘vintage-market’ for B.C. Rich will rival that of Gibson, Fender,
etc. It’s just a matter of people like me who grew up idolizing
these guitars becoming old enough to have the disposable
income to match their desire and support such a market.”
As evidence that demand for 1980s guitars is on the rise, Kuther
points to Gibson’s new Les Paul Traditional, which Gibson markets as,
“taking design and visual cues from the eighties and nineties.” Slash’s
new signature model is also based on his 1987 Les Paul. And according to Kuther, Slash’s opening to “Sweet Child o’ Mine” has replaced
“Stairway to Heaven” as the most often-heard, badly played guitar line
in guitar stores.
Kuther’s points are well-taken. I fully agree that every generation has
its own nostalgia and that the U.S.-made guitars by B.C. Rich, Kramer
and Jackson/Charvel are highly sought and considered collectible by
many Gen-X players today. They will probably rise in value as Gen-Xers
become more affluent. But I draw a line between nostalgia and Golden
Era. Golden Era instruments are highly regarded not only for nostalgic
reasons but also because they really are fundamentally different from
anything that preceded them, and they have not been equaled by
anything that has followed. Moreover, they were so well designed that
many of the great Golden Era instruments are used today for music
that was never imagined by the original designers.
The “dive-bomb” vibrato and “Super Strat” pickup configuration are
certainly important refinements that delineate the guitars of the 1980s
from those that preceded them, but not all the trend-setting designs
of that era were actually new. Active electronics, for
example, started with Alembic in 1969 and neck-thru construction goes back to Bigsby in the late
1940s and Rickenbacker in the 1950s. The over-riding factor that keeps the 1980s guitars from
attaining Golden Era status is that they have yet
to transcend the music of their era to become the
tools on which new styles of music are created. It is
my personal opinion that the true Golden Era classics
will still be very highly regarded even 50 years from
now, but I have serious doubts regarding how well
the metal type guitars of the early to mid-eighties
will fare in the future.
While certain guitars from makers like Jackson,
Charvel and Kramer (left) have become highly
sought-after, they do not have the clout of
Golden Era instruments
George Gruhn
has been dealing vintage guitars since the 1960s. Gruhn’s
Guide to Vintage Guitars (co-written with Walter Carter)
is the “bible” for vintage collectors. Visit gruhn.com or
email gruhn@gruhn.com.
