Appraising & Buying Vintage Instruments : Vintage Instrument Appraisal: Gibson Archtop Guitar from 1936

Gibson guitars are sought after by vintage instrument collectors. Take a look at a vintage Gibson guitar in this free video on instrument collecting from a professional guitar restorer.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• musical
• instruments
• antiquing
• guitars
• mandolins

[kevykev38]

Come on!! Its a guitar not a coffee table! Play the damn thing! I hate the way some people present a "Fine instrument" . You can get close to the same quality today. I happen to own a 1940 L-7 very cool guitar -But I play it. It was meant to be played.

[acountrygent]

I'd feel better (having worked for years in a music store) to be laying Other Peope's guitars on a piece of carpet rather than a hard surface for 'appraisal'

[BeatleSongPlayer]

Don't even look at it!!!!!!!!!!!

[EpiphoneArchtopLover]

@boowannabe I love vintage archtops!! I own an old Super 400 CES and an Epiphone Emperor from the original New York factory :)

[boowannabe]

@EpiphoneArchtopLover

It's an L-7. I had one, same "picture- frame" fingerboard inlays.  Really sweet guitars.

[webusecom]

@kevykev38 your're damn right guitars want to be played they don't want to be lying around or hanging on a wall like a picture or worst kept somewhere under a bed or something like that, if you have a guitar play it no matter how old how new how cheap or how expensive it was

[craiglings104]

I had no idea you could make a sweet Gibson guitar seem so boring.

[TheCurvedEarth]

if that guitar could talk it would tell you to just play it and to stop treating it like a baby!

[EpiphoneArchtopLover]

1:40 correct me if I am wrong, but that's an L-12, not an L-7 like he says earlier.

[instrumentsvintage]

WOW - where is the expert in all of this? Reviewing a vintage guitar on a hardwood table? Come on...

[maidenrulz73]

PLAY IT!!!!

[vibratingstring]

@emann82

No, that depends. Some vintage instruments are hugely influenced by their sound output. It is certainly part of the equation, albeit sometimes trumped by the history of a particular instrument. For instance, a guitar certified to have been owned by Elvis Presley would be worth much more than the same guitar type, not owned by him.

In violins, there are lots and lots and lots of what guitar people would call "vintage" but that doesn't mean they are valuable, special or good sounding.