Vintage Forum

[danb]

Hello folks,

This is an organizational change to the board set-up.. I'll be moving threads here that fit this heading for a while, so please excuse the dust! The goal here is to discuss the old stuff in on topic to help keep it all together and easier to find

[bluesmandolinman]

I like the idea !

Thanks for your effords

[Celtic Saguaro]

Good idea! #I wonder if a beginner's forum might be a good idea as well, although people looking for their first mando do seem to post first and check where it might best go later.

[Loren Bailey]

Sweeeet!

[Jim Garber]

I know... I am a wise guy... but I have to ask... why does "vintage" end at 1945? If I have a 1954 mandolin is it not vintage. Just curious:

Discussions of all mandolin family instruments, pre-1945.

Jim
Opening the Vintage Can o' Worms

[Scott Tichenor]

I know... I am a wise guy... but I have to ask... why does "vintage" end at 1945? If I have a 1954 mandolin is it not vintage. Just curious:

Discussions of all mandolin family instruments, pre-1945.

Jim
Opening the Vintage Can o' Worms

Dan and I had this discussion earlier today. Please feel free to hound him on this question. I couldn't get by 1945 either.

[mandopete]

The goal here is to discuss the old stuff in on topic to help keep it all together and easier to find

Who you callng old?

[Jim Garber]

I always thought vintage was a funny term anyway -- really refers to wines and the year fo manufacture. It was originally applied to instruments to upscale those old smelly used ones.

Jim

[Eugene]

Another concern, as pointed out by Eric in discussing renaissance citterns, is that when discussing things that are almost exclusively the domain of early music specialists (i.e., subsets of "classical"), they might get lost amongst the inevitable deluge of pre-depression Gibson topics.

[onthefiddle]

Another concern, as pointed out by Eric in discussing renaissance citterns, is that when discussing things that are almost exclusively the domain of early music specialists (i.e., subsets of "classical"), they might get lost amongst the inevitable deluge of pre-depression Gibson topics.

I'll second Eugene on this, and extend Jim's question - shouldn't the term "vintage" have a starting point? I would regard a "vintage" instrument as an older "modern" instrument (modern in the luthier's sense - as in designed for a modern setup with steel strings etc...). This would put a starting point of about 1850 on the term "vintage", though I can certainly understand anyone arguing that it should be different - particularly later. Before 1850 I think there's a good case for calling an instrument "Romantic", "Classical" etc... though none of these terms is precisely defined, and seems to vary according to the instrument.

(jgarber @M ar. 03 2006, 21:07)
I always thought vintage was a funny term anyway -- really refers to wines and the year fo manufacture. It was originally applied to instruments to upscale those old smelly used ones.

I think I might even refuse "vintage" wine if it was 450 years old!

Jon

[Bob DeVellis]

Maybe rather than trying to pin down a specific definition of "vintage" we should just see how it goes. If some further refinement seems necessary at some point, it can always be introduced then.

[Jim Garber]

Thinking further on this, I am convinced that setting a cutoff date does open this can of vintage worms

I realize that it does come from Dan's involvement in the archives as post 1945 Gibson mandolins do present a viable cutoff. OTOH I agree with bobd to see how it develops.

Frankly I see "vintage" as an ever-changing continuum. In guitars, for instance, when I first started collecting, some folks would scoff at a 1960s instrument as vintage. Now some are and not just because they are older.

I suggest dropping the cutoff year and letting things go as they may.

BTW years ago the term antique applied pretty strictly to things made over a hundred years ago. Nowadays tho I think that has gotten a lot fuzzier.

Jim

[Bob A]

The late 40s and early 50s were wonderful years for Gibson, at least in terms of guitars. Whether the same would apply to mandolins is problematic. By that time, only a handful of misguided folk were interested in such instruments, I believe.

Perhaps "vintage" as applied to mandolins should end around the time of the fading of the boom? (Of course, that's only true for bluegrass-type mandolins; even so, most folks on the board are uninterested in European instruments. The end of their vintage period would possibly coincide with the closing of the Embergher shop?).

[danb]

Maybe rather than trying to pin down a specific definition of "vintage" we should just see how it goes. If some further refinement seems necessary at some point, it can always be introduced then.

Heh, yes Scott & I went over that range. I guess it sorta means "old, no longer in production, very nice" maybe? Nobody'll be a nazi about the date range, it's hard to think of something better to put on that forum title in short space.