What Killed The Golden Age of American Guitars in 1964?

[@superfuzzymomma]

What a brilliant thesis and presentation! I concur. Who else? Cheers!

[@mybluesguitar]

That's very kind. Thanks so much.

[@jimbonacum8917]

Thanks for this interesting and informative video. And while you are not the first person to suggest that the sale of both Fender and Gibson to large corporations who focused on cost cutting ended up lowering the overall quality of their products there is a bit more to the story. I worked as a guitar salesman for quite a while and I am also a player and collector. The first “real” guitar I owned was a 1973 Telecaster that I bought in 1975. While I wished it could have been a pre-CBS instrument I was thrilled to actually own a real Fender guitar. I still play it today and it will always be “my guitar”. Many of my friends have played it and agree that it is a great instrument. A few months after I bought it I went shopping with a friend who looked at a rather beat up pre CBS tele. He didn't know much about guitars so I pointed out to him that these were considered to be very valuable. But he liked mine so much he offered to buy it and trade me for mine. I considered this but once we plugged it in and listened to it I lost interest in the trade. The old one squealed with feedback frankly sounded terrible. About twenty years later while I was working for a wholesale musical instrument dealer they hired a guy who had worked for Fender. He told me many stories about the golden age and what surprised me was that he said that the pre cbs instruments were very inconsistent due to supply chain issues. Often the suppliers of components like wire for the pickups or pickup magnets would run short and they would use slightly different materials from another supplier. He said this explains why some Fenders from the ’50’s and ‘60’s were, incredible while others were awful. Switching to a more automated manufacturing process produced a more consistent product though and he said the general opinion was that given a choice between a random guitar produced in the old days versus a random guitar produced in the cbs and later years he would go with the newer one every time. In his opinion, it might not be as good as one of the spectacular old ones, but the average quality would still be better. Nowadays the problem has to do with the quality of the wood that is used as the best tonewoods like Brazilian Rosewood are very scarce. But the custom shops can still produce instruments using their stashes. What I think is interesting though is that despite the fact that they are all almost 70 years old, the biggest selling electric guitars are Telecasters, Stratocasters, Les Pauls, SG, and ES 335s. There really haven’t been any successful new designs since 1959.

[@mybluesguitar]

Jim, thanks so much for this interesting recollection. I really appreciate your taking the time to share your memories, and its fascinating to have a first-hand account.

[@JefferyHagen]

To add to what you’re saying I remember my guitar teacher back in 1984 or so had a line on a 1958 ES335 which he finally got to purchase from an older gentleman he knew. He had to have a lot of work done to it to get it to play well and I remember reading an article in Guitar Player magazine with Brian Setzer saying the same thing about his vintage Gretch guitars. I also remember Seymour Duncan talking about how he would count the windings on vintage pickups to find out what gave them their sound. I started playing guitar in 1980 when I was 15 and I remember cheap guitars were a cut above junk. Now you can get an instrument that plays and sounds great for about $200 as I’m sure you know. I spent 33 years in the forging industry and they had the same issues with quality and consistency but by the late 1980’s they made a quantum leap in quality and consistency.

[@Goldsteinphoto]

I think the Strat in particular comes pretty close to perfection of design. All kinds of variations in shapes and features are mostly to give some small functional options and asthetic choices. LP's also made their mark in countless interpretations of dual and triple PU humbucker guitars. I just bought an EKO 700 Reissue. (I had never heard of EKO.) As different as it looks, it is just a wild looking LP and Strat inspired guitar when you come down to it.

[@jamesonpace726]

I'd never before heard it described thusly - thank you! I also suddenly understand an unrelated, familial quandary as a result, all thanks to your brilliant insight....

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks so much, James. I hope your familial quandary works out OK for you.

[@richardmerriam7044]

We're in a new 'golden age'. The vast improvements in Squire and Epiphone instruments have brought high quality products to new players everywhere at affordable prices. The Squier 'Classic Vibe' series is a perfect example.

[@JFrit67]

@@richardmerriam7044 True. But as I’m reading this there are Epiphone models edging toward $2K.

[@twangnasty6343]

Agree. I played my sons Epi Sheraton made in China. Superbly made and great sound. Held up well against my beloved 50 yr old Guild X500. Must be a lot of other fine affordable guitars out there.

[@davidcertain2492]

CNC machines helped a lot. The 60’s manufacturing techniques were crude. They used band saws to cut bodies early. I’m a luthier specializing in basses. In the 60’s every once in awhile an exceptional instrument would slip through. Now we can make that instrument every day.

[@mybluesguitar]

It's certainly true that there are some excellent 'entry' level instruments around these days. I have three Squiers, all great guitars.

[@frankdiscussion2069]

in 1958/59 Gibson produced 1800 sunburst Les Paul's now there are 30,000 of them

[@simonvanderheijden432]

That's not how the joke goes..

[@jeffholliday8304]

Very well done very informative. Great video bro. Love you stuff.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks so much, Jeff.

[@andrewjupina464]

Very informative and to the point synopsis, Mark

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks Andrew!

[@gtwfan52]

When Gibson moved from Kalamazoo to Tennessee, many, if not most, of their highly experienced lutiers stayed in Kalamazoo, eventually forming Heritage Guitars.

[@mybluesguitar]

Interesting point!

[@JFrit67]

Terrific, Mark! Well done.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thank you!

[@digitalimager4946]

Spot on. Well said.

[@benwa275]

One thing that has improved is the availability of decent quality "cheap" guitars for beginners. I was born in 1970 and started with a 3/4 acoustic in 1979. It was a horrible guitar. When I was 14 in 1984 and wanted to get an electric, my only options were either very poor quality or too expensive for me. Somehow I found a 1966 Fender Mustang that someone had attempted to stripe like Frankenstrat for $75. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it was better than all the other options. I have played several Sub $700 guitars recently, and they were all decent quality as compared to those dogs available in the 70's and 80's.

[@mybluesguitar]

Excellent point. Entry level guitars these days are so much better than they were back then

[@6stringcodger450]

I have bought and sold Gibsons since 1968 when I bought my first used one. I never thought there was that much special about those guitars. Scarcity is really the only special quality they have even today. The only feature missing today was the low profile fretwire that mine had back then. Even among many collectors this feature gets little respect as low profile frets fell out of favor and most of them have been refretted with modern frets by now. As for anyone starting out today, NC machined and pleked guitars are outstanding...just not collectables yet!

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks for the info. Appreciated.

[@guitarcd]

I can accept the "hand-crafted" explanation for Gibson, but Fender was about assembly line production from the late forties. While maybe someone could do a "conspiracy theory whiteboard" of Beatles appear on CBS to CBS offers to buy Fender, I believe that the real stories from that company's side have been lost to time and legend. What we do know from Leo Fender's account is that even though he would live for decades after, at the time CBS made their buyout offer, Leo was ill enough to worry about dying and saw selling his company as a way of keeping his legacy alive. Plus, while many of the unpopular instrument design choices after 1965 would be made by Leo, it was a double whammy of 1) Leo being an engineer and not a musician, but taking less and less input from working musicians than when he did designing the Tele or Strat. 2) Yes, a new company looking to cut cost corners and still meet growing demand. But again, they were already a factory and not an instrument shop.

[@Goldsteinphoto]

I think your actual point is that today is the golden day of guitars. Even very cheap ones are pretty good. I got a First Act at a pawn shop for $15. (They kept lowering the price until I said OK.) After some basic adjustments, it plays well. I'm giving it to kid to learn on. Consider Brian May made a "legendary" guitar out of odd and end parts as a kid that he used his entire career. And he had never made a guitar before. It just can't be that hard for a modern factory to make guitars.

[@michaelworse6034]

This > +1

[@merseybeat1963]

This video is basically "a story". A lot of those changes this bot is describing were not done to ramp up production they were done to try and improve the guitar. Nitro wears off and the maple starts discoloring in an ugly manner. Poly was used to improve durability of the finish.The bullet truss rod adjustment was to not have to take neck off everytime an adjustment was needed, not as a cost cutting measure.Gibson going to narrower neck was to make them easier to play and chrome certainly was no cost cutting measure.This Bot recital has pointed out a load of baloney things.The reduction in quality over the originals still exists today which is mainly not as good wood and less hand work craftsmanship and more high volume production.

[@noscrubbubblez6515]

I had no idea how guitars mirrored my life. My first nearly real guitar was a knock-off of an Epiphone 12-string called 'Coronet'. Even thought it's neck was completely broken (revealing 2 straight flat rods instead of a rounded truss) my dad simply filled with the neck with Elmers glue and clamped it till dried. This vid is also consistent with my dismal opinion of Martin guitars. Today I have a cheap Nova Go carbon fiber (plastic?) by ENYA with speaker and amp built in. Astonishing quality in the reverb and endless sustain- which you can hardly believe it's all wireless. I would describe the sound as more ceramic crystal clear, than wooden. I want buy a second one, so when it recharges (2 hours) I can still have one to play.

[@mybluesguitar]

Great post! Thank you so much for joining in the conversation

[@karmicselling4252]

Thanks for the great video. For me, the golden age of American Guitars was ended by the Japanese manufacturers in the late 1970s. For many years in the 1980s, Japanese manufacturers were producing better quality replica instruments than the original manufacturers were. Witness Tokai / Ibanez / Pearl / Greco Gibson and Fender style guitars. Even Squier which was owned by Fender since the mid 1960s started to manufacture such good replicas of Fender guitars that Fender itself started selling them as Fender branded guitars from the mid 1980s. Of course, as always, there was one exception to all this ... Rickenbacker! Rickenbacker 12 string electric guitars appeared in the mid 1960s and have ruled that market ever since. And The Beatles played an important part in that. Still the only manufacturer true to its "Made in U.S.A." label. They have always been built in America. And until quite recently, were always hand built.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks for that post! Interesting

[@garethsigrist8714]

Awesome video and something I hadn’t really thought about before. I think you nailed it with everything you said but if I were to add something it would be that any new invention reaches almost something akin to critical mass and that happened to the electric guitar during this golden age. From a pickup being bolted on to a fully acoustic arch top guitar in the mid 1930s to the end of the golden age almost exactly 30 years later through iteration, experimentation and even a bit of dumb luck the electric guitar had been pretty much defined as an instrument. We’ve continued to tinker with it since then but similar to how a violin or a trumpet or a saxophone are pretty much defined as instruments, a guitar from the golden age could be used to play almost any music made in the intervening years.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks Gareth. Very good points.

[@brutusminimus2612]

This video could help explain how someone can succumb to guitar vintageitus, or how someone is willing to pay 100 x 1000’s or even millions on a used guitar and if the auction room is bare will pay serious money to have a guitar artificially aged / stressed to get the next best thing.

[@swaffy101]

Well done!

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks so much, swaffy

[@DannyDKNYC]

When Gibson and fender changed hands, and they ramped up production in the 70s, quality went down bigtime. The guitars were boat anchors. They couldn’t sell the 70s strats in pawn shops along 8th Ave in Manhattan because they were dogs. In the 1980s when I went to buy a Les Paul on 48th street in NYC, which at the time was the center of the guitar world, there wasn’t a Les Paul to be had. There was 1 black beauty, the only Les Paul in all the stores. I bought it in Mannys. This is the same block that a few years earlier had ‘we buy guitars’, which had many 50’s Les pauls hanging in the window. They were used guitars, not vintage. In the late 60s and 70s it was understandable the quality went down, and the designs deviated. But when the companies regrouped and they actually figured it out, they continued to produce the off the shelf models and sell that. Instead of keeping it simple and just making great guitars, they created 2 price points. Why couldn’t they just produce good guitars with the proven recipie? No one wants Les Pauls or strats that are boat anchors or have poly finishes, Nashville bridges or 2 bolt whammy bridges. People don’t want the designs they came up with during these companies learning curve. It’s the 2nd rate designs they came up with in the 70s and 80s that they continue to produce today to create a cheaper alternative. Remember That was the time that they forgot how they made the originals and were trying to relearn it. Keep it simple and save the whacky designs and colors to the custom shop. Make a standard line that is custom shop quality and specs that are developed from the original designs in the heyday of guitar building. If they stopped over producing the junk, it would be cheaper to produce and cheaper to buy a great product.

[@taylor12elementvb]

Very well said from a 73 year old guitarist that experienced what you are describing.

[@mybluesguitar]

Danny, thanks so much to adding value to this video with your first-hand information. Much appreciated. Yes, I too, remember very well when old guitars were just...old guitars.

[@kenzuercher7497]

I'm also a 72 year old guitarist and remember this time period. Danny is accurate in his assessment from a midwest (Ohio) viewpoint. The one point I want to emphasize is the overproduction of guitars in general but especially low priced instruments! Cheap imported guitars in the 60s were generally considered junk and we only played them until we had enough money to get a better one. Today's imported low priced instruments are vastly better and more playable! However there are enough Strats already built to have every guitarist alive have at least one. When us older players pass on and our instruments are passed on to a newer generation of players, new versions will not be needed. The number of players doesn't seem to be increasing. When I was young, we had one electric guitar and maybe one acoustic. I have ten and that seems to be a small collection by today's standards.

[@SteveninTune]

Good to know my Black and Gold 1980 LPC is a piece of crap I'll be sure to chuck it in the dumpster.

[@maximusindicusoblivious180]

@@kenzuercher7497 I agree in so many ways. I have seven guitars and a bass and nobody in my family wants to learn how to play. There is a glut of guitars and not enough players to enjoy them all. What's worse is these times that we are living in inspires very little time or interest in honing the craft to develop the music that these instruments are worthy of.

[@georgejasper8794]

The other thing is, Gibsons and Fenders were difficult to find in Europe. Thus Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Hofner and Vox. More competition in other brands helped kill the golden age as well.

[@lauranceemory4448]

The Rickenbackers and Gretsches of that ear highly prized: George played a Gretch in the early years, and John played a Rickenbacker (both American brands). You could say competition twixt Fender and Gibson made the golden age, didn't kill it....

[@georgejasper8794]

@@lauranceemory4448 Great point. Fender quality definitely fell off in the 70s. I had a Harrison spec Gretsch Country Gentleman that my oldest brother left to me. Cool guitar, but just not practical for the music I played.

[@lauranceemory4448]

@@georgejasper8794 Yep I got a new Fender Strat on first anniversary of Nixon resigning.... okay guitar, but not as good as my 59 Gretsch dbl anni used. "lookit all those switches and screws!" (hey I was 16...)

[@lucyfuir6386]

With the exception of my telecaster which is only 15 years old all of my other electric guitars are 20 to 30 years old. I didn't start buying "extra" musical gear until the late 90s. I am lucky enough to own 3 1960s amps (princeton, mariner, & a 1484)and a 75 marshall mk2. But I do have the top 4 electrics. a strat, tele, paul, & an explorer.. I have 2 pre 60s acoustics Stella & mastertone.

[@mybluesguitar]

Nice collection!

[@lucyfuir6386]

@@mybluesguitar thank you. Many years & lots of right time right place to make it happen.

[@benallmark9671]

Great piece of work Sir. Much appreciated.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks so much Ben!

[@denAlexVA]

I am 71 years of afe and have owned vintage guitars since 72". You nailed it involing the Beatles in 64'. Fender's guitar production skyrocted! However, I will state that Fender's Golden Period ended in mid 1962. That was the curtailment of the "Slab Board Strat. After then cost cuting ruled. I am fortunate to own a 54, 58 and a 62. Possibly Gibson's golden age died in 1961. The SG model had tons of problems with the neck joint- Bad Enginering? 335's were still decent . But guess what, due to high tariffs in the UK you guys could not get American guitars. But here in the States, young guys wanted new guitars! Damn! In 1966 I got a Kingston double pickup for Xmas for 60 bucks. Crap!. The next year I got a Fender Mustang Crap. Meanwhile older guitars were lanquishing in pawn shops and music stores. I got wise later and have owned Sunburst Les Pauls- 2 1960's . As to the Custom Shops: they are producing high quality instruments. I am proud to own a few in my collection. Thank you again

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks for the first-hand info. Very interesting and much appreciated!

[@denAlexVA]

Here is a topic that you may want to explore. Why are people paying high dollars on 1970 Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls? Same cost as to buying a Custom Shop model from either Fender or Gibson? The worst woods, costing to the n'th degree involving manudacture, Do an article on that! It should be well recieved. 5 grand for a 70's deluxe or standard?

[@dukeford8893]

@@denAlexVA I don't get it, either, except that those guitars are now pretty old - they're "vintage" which drives up the price. It will piss some people off to read this, but I'd buy a Custom Shop guitar before I'd buy a Norlin or CBS-era anything.

[@denAlexVA]

@@dukeford8893 Same here! I own 4 Historics and 2 Custom Shop Strats

[@CJZM7777]

Overall, I agree but there are at least 4 great American guitar makers today. Gibson Custom Shop, Fender Custom Shop, Heritage Guitars and Paul Reed Smith (PRS) core models. And, there are great guitars produced overseas and in Mexico by American companies too. Fender Mexico, Fender Squier, Epiphone (Gibson's entry guitar) and PRS SE (student edition) all produce very nice guitars.

[@mybluesguitar]

There are indeed some great guitars about today

[@daveduffy2823]

Sorry, it was me. I was born in 64. 😊

[@mybluesguitar]

Ha ha. Shame on you, Dave! Good year, though. I had a '64 Firebird I for a while. Fabulous guitar.

[@5150show]

Incredible. ❤

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks as ever, my friend

[@michaelworse6034]

The top loading , rosewood neck Fender telecaster is what I , personally, never tried to achieve, and never will . Really

[@craigtittsworth9440]

Great video!

[@mybluesguitar]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much, Craig :-)

[@djhoneylove5710]

No guitar is completely immune to the ravages of age. If you actually are privledged enough to play a 1950s Kalamazoo Les Paul you may be surprised at how badly it plays. It started brilliantly, but decades of improper temperature and humidity turned it into hell. So sad. It is also just as possible for a 1950s LP to sound and play sweetly, but it is a roll of the dice. If it is just about playing go for the reissues. Joe Satriani said in an interview that he worked in a guitar store that specialized in vintage instruments and only a fraction of them were playable. People with means would buy them without even playing them.

[@mybluesguitar]

Interesting. I'm sure there were plenty of duds in all periods. Thanks for your comment.

[@robertcalvin2643]

Well I have 1969 Fender Strat and it will never be sold - it is better than an LSeries Strat that I owned.

[@davidbaise5137]

Remarkable that the music - the Beatles in particular, made the guitar industry so attractive to CBS and Norlin and others These conglomerates, (Gibson’s parent company was a cement company from South America I think) - they knew NOTHING about instrument manufacturing.

[@Edward1312]

I dont agree with this thesis at all. Modern guitars are on the whole better made because they are more consistent and accurately made because manufacturers are plecking them and using CNC machines. Also on a solid body electric guitar the quality of the Pick Ups is far important than the wood used, Brazilian rosewood is therefore over rated IMHO. The reason Vintage guitars are so overpriced is because not many were made, so market price is far more about supply and demand IMHO, than quality. Innovation over time has led to many improvements in manufacture including stainless steel frets and using your example location of truss rod adjustment, most vintage guitars had the truss rod adjuster under the pickguard cover making adjustment fiddly and time consuming.

[@mybluesguitar]

There are indeed some great recently made guitars, Edward! I have a few of my own that I really like :-)

[@6stringcodger450]

Verry Correct! I have owned so many LP's since 1968 when I bought my first used guitars. At that time, the older ones were cheaper than newer ones! I only miss having one with the low profile frets...really felt fretless. The NC carved and Pleked guitars of today are really the best overall quality I have seen in my time. Just had a refretted LP Pleked to perfection a few years ago. Technology wins!

[@brucereed4145]

I don't think anyone is arguing that quality guitars are no longer being made, of course there are. He uses the term "Golden Era" as a way to determine the benchmark in quality that was set in those years. As the instruments made by Stradivarius are those by which subsequent pieces are measured.

[@Edward1312]

@@brucereed4145 My argument was that modern guitars ie those made on CNC machines are on the whole better made guitars.

[@crazypainter56]

you Forgot Gretsch played by the Animals 'Hilton Valentine who played a Tennessean same as George Harrison

[@mybluesguitar]

Ooops. Yes, I did.

[@countfloyd8901]

same with winchester arms

[@mybluesguitar]

Interesting!

[@dukeford8893]

Winchester's quality did fall off considerably after 1964, but for different reasons (mostly) than what was happening in the guitar business. Ironically enough, there's a lot of parallels between building guitars and building rifles or shotguns.

[@timculp]

$265.00. I'll take a ten. Please.

[@mybluesguitar]

Ha, yes, me too, Tim!

[@mattesrockt8054]

Yes Sir🤣🤣🎸🎸🎸

[@lauranceemory4448]

Median income 1959 was $2600 a year, so you could almost buy 10 of them and nothing else. Sorry guys, but people always ignore what wages were paid to buy those "bargains"

[@gdavis2018]

this is cool. When explaining the motivation for kids in the USA post 1964, sounding different than the ‘invaders’ was NOT what the thinking was. Everyone was copying them! Trying to, it just came out American.

[@mybluesguitar]

Some great music certainly did come out of it!

[@guitarsofold100]

Hi ! lets not GUILD the Lily !!! If you watch Ted Wood fords Chanel he exposes the POOR standard of work at GIBSON in the 50's. Fender had many 50's rosewood slab boards instruments RETURNED with TWISTED NECKS warranty issues that were kept under wraps! As a young player in Melbourne Australia in the 60's there was we well saying amongst repairers and players that they shipped the worst guitars to down-under!!! It was hit and mis... As you watched the repairer SIGHT the board on your NEW U.S.MADE FENDER /GIBSON guitar to deem it a GOOD ONE !!! or A DOG!!!! You sadly left out GUILD GUITARS !!

[@mybluesguitar]

Yes, my error in not including Guilds. Do you have a link to the channel you mention? Cheers!

[@RondelayAOK]

Love guild

[@Chiller11]

Interesting episode. I was unaware that Norlin was Panamanian based. I assume that was for tax purposes. I’ll have to research a bit to figure out who the principals were. Same basic dynamic today when private equity firms with little understanding of a given product/market buy out private companies. Subsequent decisions are based solely on shareholder interests with little regard for the health of the company or the benefit of the consumer.

[@mybluesguitar]

Yes, it was new to me until I did the research for the video.

[@mattevans060972]

Makes sense. Good video. I’m skeptical though that there was something special or particularly good about the construction in that period. I suspect that there was wide variety in quality and the bad or average ones over the years ended up getting throw away. While the ones that survived to now were the best ones. (I’m not disputing that quality went down in 1965, I just mean to say that a “regular” Strat today will on average be as good as a “regular” Strat in 1959. Custom shop will be much better than average in 1959. That’s my guess anyway, I can’t prove it!)

[@TheNoncritical1]

I agree with you. I'm old enough to have experience with vintage instruments and can attest that there were unremarkable guitars produced in the 50s and early 60s. I'll go further and say that starting in the early 90s, we entered into what I consider the second golden age of guitars. I own a 2001 Les Paul Custom "authentic" which I consider the finest example of this model that I've ever owned. It sounds beautiful and plays itself. It took a long time to find one that I consider the ultimate keeper. That's something that can also be said about the 50s era guitars as well. A guitar has to speak to you in a way that you know that this is the one. My point is that, money aside, one can find a modern manufactured instrument that rivals anything ever produced in what most consider the golden age of guitar making.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks Matt. Very much appreciate your input. You make some very valid points. From personal experience in recent years (I used to have an SG/LP) decades ago) I did have a '64 Firebird I and that was a fabulous instrument. Beautifully made and sounded wonderful. And yes indeed I am sure there were a lot of duds made in 1950-64!

[@dcamnc1]

Another reason to hate the beatles.

[@mybluesguitar]

😂

[@kalkidasofficial]

😂😂😂

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video have a wonderful day also I cut my wrist when my family was sleeping with a knife ❤😢😊

[@mybluesguitar]

Thank you. Please do not harm yourself. It will be very upsetting to those who love you!

[@stevesteve1965.]

Thank you for that..👍 if I could recommend one book that explains the Gibson issue through these years its summed up in "The million dollar Les Paul" by Tony Bacon.. it'll frustrate you and annoy you but a great read.

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks for that Steve. I shall have to look that one out. Tony Bacon has written some great books, all wonderfully illustrated.

[@stevesteve1965.]

@@mybluesguitar , yes, I have a few of his books, certainly knows his stuff.. the million dollar Les Paul will expose the cataclysmic ineptitude at Gibson ..I won't spoil it.

[@jamesbarrick3403]

you can get an Eastman any day of the week for $1500 that will go toe to toe with any murphy labs LP. But people tend to be snobs, and they want that headstock.

[@mybluesguitar]

True

[@stevehughes1510]

Can't argue with that synopsis, blame it on The Beatles.....lol

[@MiguelAMunoz-vu7os]

that's just your theory?, cheers!

[@mybluesguitar]

Thanks Miguel. Yes, I think there are a lot of coincidences that point the finger towards this kind of conclusion. But..yes, essentially just theory. Cheers, Mark

[@PopPop_2]

Would it have anything to do with Les Paul customs went from $1800 in the 90's to over $5k now?? Not worth it. I'll buy Shecter all day long for $800..

[@thecaveofthedead]

Luckily Japan brought them back by the late '70s and still provide that quality for working musicians who can't afford the very high custom shop prices.

[@mybluesguitar]

Many fine instruments are made in Japan.

[@DouglasMcLaughlin-kq7hk]

What made them desirable? Initially to be a cool guy, you had to have whatever was in the pictures. Later, they were "used" and far cheaper and hence even more desired. Louder amps weeded out the poorly made or weak instruments. Recreations of those memories are what you buy now, or you buy the old ones at a premium. I've got 25 yr old "recreations" wisely bought with desired attributes. Plan ahead.

[@39MercFlathead]

April 1964. The Rolling Stones played the Orange Show grounds in San Bernardino. That was really it. All downhill due to Mick Jagger who doesn't even play guitar!

[@mybluesguitar]

He's actually a pretty good player! There is footage of him somewhere playing Brown Sugar through a Fender Champ, backstage in maybe '69/'70. Thanks for the mention of the Orange Show Grounds!

[@shanemcconnell1736]

I haven’t watch the video yet, but I’m just guessing, that’s where CBS bought fender and somebody bought Gibson and everything turned corporate?

[@mybluesguitar]

Almost :)

[@arno-luyendijk4798]

Sorry Fender, those narrow necks are not fit for me. Alas Gibson, I have become a massive Hagström fan because their enormously stable tuners (have to be tuned only after two weeks) far outdo your notorious quick off-tune going tuners (after each session of string bending).

[@mybluesguitar]

I'm a fan of Grover tuners myself, but it sounds as though the ones on your Hagstrom are pretty awsome!

[@arno-luyendijk4798]

@@mybluesguitar just got confirmed yesterday again: I played my Hagström DLX again after two days and the tuners were steady as concrete as ever so far.

[@reverendg5937]

Corporate Greed. Ruins Everyrhing. The Man Destroys all he Touches!!!!

[@gunterbartel959]

I love myLes Pail de luxe maybe 67?

[@mybluesguitar]

De Luxe are nice guitars. I had a '74 many years ago.

[@gunterbartel959]

@@mybluesguitar I showed my lefthanded sunburst de luxe to a Gibson promoter on a Gibson show. He said: " Mighty god, don't sell it!" He believed it' s 67 from a zero serie.Never leave it!

[@mybluesguitar]

@@gunterbartel959 Wow! Definitely keep it!

[@gunterbartel959]

@@mybluesguitarRecorded 2 Tracks from a rehearsal of my band in 2018 . Afriend released it on his YT-page kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGSle36Gfq2cfdU

[@stockholm1752]

Boy, you know how to invite trolls. Good luck.

[@stockholm1752]

P.S. I meant that as a compliment. 👍

[@mybluesguitar]

Ha ha, all are welcome!

[@Seventysongs]

Jimi Hendrix and many others used Fender pre CBS. Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, Robin Trower, Jeff Beck...damn Englishmen...Lowell George...shit, another American...lol

[@mohamedtlass3842]

I disagree that 64 was the last good year. I have lots of excellent guitars from 65 to 70

[@mybluesguitar]

Sure, there are good guitars from most periods.

[@adampoe2797]

Wow, just more insp, education

[@rayfuerschbach6361]

How can this guy have possibly have missed Gretsch and Rickenbacker? He includes Harmony? Yeeeshhh. Fender was past it in early 1964. And the Gibson Les Pauls, aimed at the jazz market, were a failure as well

[@thomasbruneau4504]

Meeeh....not so much. A major factor yes, but not solely responsible. $$$$$ takes over. Read the long post below by J, Many crappy guitars were made for various reasons during that time period. Nostalgia at any price?

[@splat_records]

Gretsch

[@mybluesguitar]

Ah! Yes. What was their story in the corresponding years?? Another great name in American guitars.

[@splat_records]

They were sold to Baldwin in ‘67 and left Brooklyn a few years later. Their golden age falls around the same timeframe as Gibson and Fender.

[@Wladimir-y8h]

Leo Fenders paid housewifes to assemble the guitars. The finest guitars, nothing can match today??? Ridiculous.

[@mybluesguitar]

Well they sure are different. I've had two '64 guitars and they had a very 'handmade' look and feel about them. An EB2 bass and a FB1. Great guitars, no longer with me :(

[@ZillianZilch]

It was actually brought to an end by greedy capitalists. They could have upscaled without changing manufacturing methods but their profits wouldn’t have been as big.

[@brucereed4145]

I would venture to say that Mark's point is that the explosive, unprecedented demand sparked by the appearance of the Beatles is what started the ball rolling. The rest is history.

[@BlueberryStinkFinger62]

Epiphone once again rules Over Gibson just like they did in the good o'l days..JC Curliegh Restored Epiphone back to where they should be in 2019/2020 when that happened it was over for Gibson..I have videos of my 2021 High end Epiphones with the specs so there's no debate or arguments..my 2021 Epiphone custom koa Les Paul is no longer available..also the Gibson solid body guitar aka Les Paul wouldn't even exist today without Les Paul and Epiphone..you people seem to always leave that out..we already know the truth..the Epiphone Quingdao Epiphone facility is completely American owned and operated by Gibson Epiphone USA with American and Asian luthiers and only Epiphones are made there...

[@michaelworse6034]

Meh ….

[@jeffholliday8304]

Oh, if you could go back in time, it would be fun to walk into the Gibson plant with $10,000 in 1960

[@mybluesguitar]

Wouldn't it just!

[@PT_English]

$265 🤣"That's as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs."

[@mybluesguitar]

Lol!