Quickly becoming my new favorite channel! I have a 64 J-45 that I swear nothing can beat. It will have to be pryed from my cold dead hands. Sometimes it's the player. Martin has spent time with that 61 and knows what it can do and it responds to him. Sometimes guitars just "like" certain players. The owner of the shop that sold me the 64 j-45 tells me everytime I see him that he screwed up and should have kept it, and has offered trades, cash, everything - I won't do it. He had a 64 j-50 as well that "just didn't have it" no matter what he did. So to Martin's point. Some vintage guitars were duds. But the good ones? Extremely special. The shop owner I bought it from swears my j-45 didn't sound as good until I bought it and he told me "that guitar must like you". One of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me!
Martin pointed out an important distinction. With many of the good vintage guitars, you can't really sense the difference in tone through a video recording. They must be experienced in person to really hear/feel the difference.
Interesting video and comparison. For what it's worth the I prefer the tone of vintage Strat also. That said, I think it's a stretch to say that all vintage will 'categorically sound better' than any Custom Shop instrument. I've played hundreds of custom shop and dozens of vintage and they all vary wildly in tone, playability, weight and so on. Great and no so great in both camps. It would be interesting to hear a rounder sounding custom shop, or even a master built and see if the difference is still so obvious. Great channel thanks for the posts.
I have owned a 57 reissue built in 1983 (?. May be off a year or two. Not at home.) I bought it at LA Guitar Center for $500 in 1987. Really cool guitar and now part of my family. Sounds magnificent, but of course, have not been able to compare it to a 57 vintage. Be fun to try.
Jaw-droppingly good! 😮 Seeing that '61 Strat being played and the joy it brings, hats off to you sir! No disrespect to the CS Strat, it kicks serious butt too.
Hi Martin,... next time have a small screwdriver handy... I would've played with the pup height a little to see if you could get the Custom Shop closer .... 1/2 turn up or down on each side, or one side, of the pup... small variations can make just enough of a difference :-) and I have an AVRI ii and I think it wipes the floor with lots of the Custom Shop guitars lol
Love the video, but it’s still not a fair fight. What about type of strings and maybe the age difference of the strings on these two guitars? What about the pickup height? Both of these factors would make a massive difference in warmth and “squawk”. I also see a tendency in these kinds of comparisons that when you notice a difference between the old and the new, it’s automatically a win for the old guitar. But is it really better in all playing situations or just different? Also there is a clear case of emotional bias here, it’s Martins dad’s guitar, it will no doubt be the best guitar for him for many other reasons than the sound alone, and I get and respect that, but it has to be taken in to account.
every time I see a comparison video where an original vintage takes part it comes down to one thing..... if the vintage guitar is a "good" one it proves to have a defined character that you can't find in any Custom Shop Masterbuilt
Quickly becoming my new favorite channel! I have a 64 J-45 that I swear nothing can beat. It will have to be pryed from my cold dead hands. Sometimes it's the player. Martin has spent time with that 61 and knows what it can do and it responds to him. Sometimes guitars just "like" certain players. The owner of the shop that sold me the 64 j-45 tells me everytime I see him that he screwed up and should have kept it, and has offered trades, cash, everything - I won't do it. He had a 64 j-50 as well that "just didn't have it" no matter what he did. So to Martin's point. Some vintage guitars were duds. But the good ones? Extremely special. The shop owner I bought it from swears my j-45 didn't sound as good until I bought it and he told me "that guitar must like you". One of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me!
Brilliant story, love it. ❤️
Glad to see Martin is back. The man with the right hand punch.
Many thanks ;)
Martin pointed out an important distinction. With many of the good vintage guitars, you can't really sense the difference in tone through a video recording. They must be experienced in person to really hear/feel the difference.
The vintage one sounds much more resonant and sweet. Most of the time A/B comparisons are not so different, but here the difference is huge!
Just had the pleasure of playing your Strat Martin........ Mmmmmm! WOW! What can i say! What a fantastic guitar and thank you! :) XXX
Auuuu wow, I'm so pleased you had a go. I'm glad you like it. Feel free to give it a blast anytime yer in x
@@mwaugh94879 Thanks Martin. I really enjoyed it and I will play it again thank you! You can feel the good vibes and history cant you! :) XXX
Interesting video and comparison. For what it's worth the I prefer the tone of vintage Strat also. That said, I think it's a stretch to say that all vintage will 'categorically sound better' than any Custom Shop instrument. I've played hundreds of custom shop and dozens of vintage and they all vary wildly in tone, playability, weight and so on. Great and no so great in both camps.
It would be interesting to hear a rounder sounding custom shop, or even a master built and see if the difference is still so obvious. Great channel thanks for the posts.
Awesome playing martin.. love the tone too.. What about a vid on the gear and set up yr using for these vintage compare vids?
Tune in next week...😉
I have owned a 57 reissue built in 1983 (?. May be off a year or two. Not at home.) I bought it at LA Guitar Center for $500 in 1987. Really cool guitar and now part of my family. Sounds magnificent, but of course, have not been able to compare it to a 57 vintage. Be fun to try.
Lovely playing Martin 🙏 I definitely prefer the tone of vintage Stratocaster. What amp are you using ?
Many thanks for the kind words. The amps a Mesa Lonestar;)
Great video guys!!
Jaw-droppingly good! 😮
Seeing that '61 Strat being played and the joy it brings, hats off to you sir!
No disrespect to the CS Strat, it kicks serious butt too.
Thank you for watching the video!🙌
What a fantastic video have a wonderful weekend ❤😊❤😊❤😊❤😊
Thank you!🙌
Also gotta account for the ebony
Great playing, what chorus are you using 3:00?
Hi there, it's a 80s Boss Dimension C on the second button ;)
@@mwaugh94879 Thanks, sounds great
Hi Martin,... next time have a small screwdriver handy... I would've played with the pup height a little to see if you could get the Custom Shop closer .... 1/2 turn up or down on each side, or one side, of the pup... small variations can make just enough of a difference :-) and I have an AVRI ii and I think it wipes the floor with lots of the Custom Shop guitars lol
Many thanks Mark ;)
Orange is better clean, yellow better rock. I think orange is muddy.
I always played Fender strats, but now i almost play on my Vintage guitars! Cheaper but better...... 🎯
What was the chorus you were using?
Love the video, but it’s still not a fair fight. What about type of strings and maybe the age difference of the strings on these two guitars? What about the pickup height? Both of these factors would make a massive difference in warmth and “squawk”.
I also see a tendency in these kinds of comparisons that when you notice a difference between the old and the new, it’s automatically a win for the old guitar. But is it really better in all playing situations or just different?
Also there is a clear case of emotional bias here, it’s Martins dad’s guitar, it will no doubt be the best guitar for him for many other reasons than the sound alone, and I get and respect that, but it has to be taken in to account.
Martin has more chops than yer average butcher
That's made me giggle, many thanks ❤
every time I see a comparison video where an original vintage takes part it comes down to one thing..... if the vintage guitar is a "good" one it proves to have a defined character that you can't find in any Custom Shop Masterbuilt
also, wire making processes have changed thru the years, different levels of the slight "impurities",... different fullnesses of tone.