• Evaluate Vintage Electric Guitars

• Select Vintage Electric Guitar Accessories

• Find Vintage Electric Guitars on eBay

• Buy Vintage Electric Guitars With Confidence

Evaluate Vintage Electric Guitars

Evaluate Vintage Electric Guitars

Quality is king when buying vintage electric guitars. Ask sellers the right questions to ensure you get the exact vintage electric guitar you want.

Is the vintage electric guitar stock?

Vintage electric guitars in good shape provide an excellent playing experience, and can serve as a sound investment. Don't cut corners by purchasing a replica or incomplete original.

Look for original hardware. Tuning pegs, bridges, and pick-ups wear down over time and while replacement guitar parts or upgraded hardware might make for better sound or playability, they can cut into the value of vintage electric guitars.

A vintage electric guitar with a worn, but original, finish will usually be worth more than a refinished vintage guitar. A true vintage electric guitar should have the original finish: cracks, dents, and all.

Is the vintage electric guitar made of quality tone wood?

Find a vintage electric guitar that uses a quality tone wood. Mahogany and maple woods are most common on vintage electric guitars. For solid-body vintage electric guitars, mahogany produces a warmer tone, and maple produces a brighter tone.

Quality vintage electric guitars that can provide an acoustic output have a spruce top with a maple back and sides. Less expensive vintage electric guitars will be solid maple.

You'll also find tone woods such as ash, alder, and kornia used for vintage electric guitars. You may even get lucky and find a vintage electric guitar made of Brazilian rosewood. Although it cannot be used in the United States today, it was commonly used on even the least expensive guitars in the 1960s.

Is the electric guitar’s neck joint solid?

Loose neck joints won’t handle string vibrations well and can rattle the neck of your vintage electric guitar, adversely affecting the tone. Some vintage electric guitar manufacturers have glued the neck in place, providing a more solid connection between the neck and the body.

Does all the hardware work?

Every piece of hardware on your vintage electric guitar should be solid and well-seated. Make sure the nut holds the guitar strings in place and doesn’t rattle. Ask if the tuning pegs are solid and hold true. The same goes for the electric guitar’s bridge.

Pick-ups should be shielded from electronic interference with either epoxy or wax. Poorly insulated pick-ups will hum or buzz if they are in close proximity to large electric fields.

Determine the value of vintage electric guitars

Determine how much you're willing to pay before purchasing your vintage electric guitar. Search Completed Listings on eBay to find out how much buyers typically pay for specific vintage electric guitar brands, models, and woods. Just because a vintage guitar is rare doesn’t necessarily mean it is valuable. For example, Fender’s electric mandolin is incredibly rare but because not many people are in the market for an electric mandolin, its value is lower than the widely produced Fender Stratocaster.

Also get advice from other vintage electric guitar collectors on eBay's Music & Musicians Discussion Board to increase your knowledge.

Select Vintage Electric Guitar Accessories

Select Vintage Electric Guitar Accessories

Regardless of the kind of vintage electric guitar you get, accessories will help protect your investment.

• Guitar cases: Guitar cases protect your vintage electric guitar and make it easier to carry. Many have compartments that hold picks and extra strings. Hardshell cases (HSC) offer better protection for your vintage electric guitar than softshell cases (SSC).

• Guitar amplifiers: Guitar amplifiers increase the volume of your vintage electric guitar, making it audible.

• Cables: You’ll need cables to plug your vintage electric guitar into an amplifier.

• Guitar strings: Guitar strings break. Buy them in bulk for your vintage electric guitar.

• Guitar picks: Guitar picks get lost easily. Get extras for your vintage electric guitar.

• Electric guitar tuners: Electric tuners make it easy to keep your vintage electric guitar sounding great.

• Guitar straps: Unless you’re planning on only playing your vintage electric guitar while seated, you’ll need a strap. Straps distribute the weight of the guitar to your shoulders, freeing your arms to play.

• Guitar stands: A good guitar stand will help protect your vintage electric guitar from unintentional damage.

• Slides: Slides are used to rapidly change the pitch of a note. They are famous in blues music.

• Capo: A capo holds down all the strings on a fret. It allows you to play open chords in a higher key.

Find Vintage Electric Guitars on eBay

Find Vintage Electric Guitars on eBay

Once you know what type of Vintage Electric Guitar you want, go to the Musical Instruments portal, click Guitar, then electric and start searching for vintage item listings on eBay.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. You'll find links for amplifiers, acoustic, bass, and more. As you dig deeper into the site, you'll also be able to narrow down your choice by brand.

• Keyword search: Search eBay title listings for specific words. For example, if you want to find vintage tube amps, type "vintage tube amps" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Vintage Electric Guitars With Confidence

Buy Vintage Electric Guitars With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,000.

• eBay Security & Resolution Center: Visit the Security & Resolution Center to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.