Everyone wants a vintage guitar. Vintage guitars have irreplicable sound, look cool, and cost a fortune. Fortunately guitar companies have noticed that there aren’t enough guitars leftover from the fifties to go around, and have started selling “Vintage Reissue” models, commonly abbreviated as just RI on auction sites or music stores. Also, certain big names offer relics, or artifically aged guitars that are their best attempt at recreating a vintage model guitar. These guitars are quite nice, and often play wonderful, giving you vintage tone you can’t find in newer guitars, but be careful not to buy one of these used thinking it’s the real thing.

Remember to always ask your seller if the guitar is a Reissue or a true vintage. There is no harm in asking, but paying vintage ‘57 price for a ‘57 RI is a costly mistake. The downright truth of it is that people are deceptive. When holding auctions they may try to skim over the truth, and try to lead you into believing that the guitar you’re looking at is straight out of the 50’s, when in fact it’s a relic. Be wary of a guitar in pristine condition that is supposed to be from the 60’s, because chances are, it’s a 60’s RI.

How to tell what if you’re paying for is real? Don’t get me wrong, RI and relics are gems in their own respect, and are priced accordingly so you will come across prices a cut above the most expensive modern models out there from mass production. For instance, a ‘57 relic Fender Strat is going to cost at least a good $1,000 more than an American Strat from ‘08. Reissues are brand new versions that are supposed to replicate a guitar and how it was made back in the day. A relic is a guitar that has beat up, dinged, worn down, and rusted over, so that it will not only sound quite like a vintage, but it will look like one too. However, if you see an auction on a supposed rare vintage guitar, do your research first, as well as look at the obvious signs.

Some things to consider:

• Are other people bidding on it? - You can’t always trust this to prove a guitar’s legitimacy, but chances are buyers of expensive guitars will also do their research.
• Does it look like a relic? - Check out some pictures from guitar shops online of the relic version of the guitar you wish to buy. They won’t all be exactly the same, but may be dangerously similar. Also check to see if the color of the guitar is no longer being produced.
• Check the serial number - You can always ask for a serial number, and contact the manufacturer of the guitar in question. They know a lot about their own guitars, and might even give you some tips on spotting an impostor.
• Check the details - Sometimes guitars that reissues or relics are just plain fakes. People may try to relic a guitar themselves and sell it, so pay close attention to the headstock designs and hardware type. These are details that are hard for swindlers to replicate.
• Does the seller deal with expensive guitars? - Vintage guitar resellers will probably be a more reliable source than someone who sells other goods, or has never sold one before.

Above all, when you’re dishing out a lot of money to buy an expensive guitar, be careful. If you buy the real thing, you may hold in your hands a gem from a guitar era long passed, but if you’re not, you might be duped into buying something almost as good, but for too much money. If you keep your wits about you and spot look-a-likes before hand, you can save yourself a lot of frustration and plenty of money