True Vintage Guitar

True Vintage Guitar Thank you for visiting us on Facebook! At True Vintage Guitar, we are passionate about vintage instruments and the stories they carry.

If you’re looking to sell a vintage guitar, True Vintage Guitar can help with accurate identification, evaluation, and may be the buyer you’re looking for. We specialize in appraising, buying, and selling Fender and Gibson guitars made during the golden era of guitars: the 1950s and 1960s anywhere and everywhere in the world. We empower private sellers with useful knowledge about the value of thei

r guitar and help guitar players fulfill their lifelong dreams. Founded by John Shults, a 16 year veteran guitar appraiser and buyer based in Birmingham, Alabama, True Vintage Guitar specializes in helping sellers bring forgotten old guitars out from the closet and into the hands of a guitarist who’s always dreamed of owning it. John's worldwide travel to buy vintage guitars has earned him the nickname “The Guitar Safari Champion” by Reverb and "The Indiana Jones of Vintage Guitars" by Birmingham City Lifestyle. We offer expert appraisal for vintage guitars, market based offers to buy vintage guitars, and a curated selection of the finest Fender and Gibson guitars available to musicians worldwide. Along the way, John sees it as part of his job to catalog all the fine details necessary for authenticating vintage guitar finishes, parts, and seldom seen rare features. Our 72 hour approval period is intended to sho

If you're looking to sell your vintage guitar or are in the market to buy one, True Vintage Guitar is here to help. Our commitment to preserving the legacy of these instruments and connecting them with new owners makes us a trusted destination for vintage guitar enthusiasts.​

True Vintage Guitar | Buying Fender and Gibson Vintage Guitars
Website: Truevintageguitar.com
Showroom: 2301 1st Ave N, STE 104, Birmingham, Alabama 35203
Phone: 659-208-7343
Email: [email protected]

Stay connected with us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truevintageguitar
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/truevintageguitar

Thank you for considering True Vintage Guitar. We look forward to helping you find or sell your next vintage treasure!

08/13/2026

1958 Fender Stratocaster just listed at Truevintageguitar.com! This one has the perfect balance of originality, playability, and attractive price.

The neck heel has a “9 / 58” date signature. It’s just undergone a meticulous refret by my friend Jason Burns who preserved all the original patina on the fretboard and achieved like new playability. That’s a pretty thin line to walk on a Maple board Fender.

The three tone Sunburst is original throughout with clear nail holes and sharp cavity edges. There’s no paint stick mark in the neck pocket and there shouldn’t be (paint stick starts Spring 1963).

The volume potentiometer and the middle pickup tone potentiometer are replacements, but the neck pickup tone potentiometer and the capacitor are original to the guitar. The date code “825” indicates it was made during the 25th week of 1958.

There’s a plugged mini toggle switch hole on the pickguard. Lucky for us, the pickups are original and modified

you can check out all the pictures and information on this one at truevintageguitar.com!

08/07/2026

Custom color inspection on a late 1964 Fender Jaguar I just listed in my website Truevintageguitar.com. This one has just come and is a very nice playing example.

The neck heel stamp reads “1NOV64B” where 1 = model code for Jaguar, NOV = November, 64 = 1964, and B is the standard neck width.

The potentiometer code read “304 6450” where 304 = manufacturer (Stackpole), 64 = 1964, and 50 = 50th week of the year.

The neck pocket shows a perfect paint stick mark. The paint stick was a metal pipe that was hammered flat and screwed to the neck pocket of the body and was used to support the body while the finish was applied.

There is a perfect clear brad nail hole between the neck pocket and the neck pick up cavity. Little brad nails were used in certain parts of the body to support the body so that air could pass around the finish while it cured. The nails were pulled out of the body after the finish was cured and tears a little bit of finish with it around it. We shouldn’t see any paint over top of the nail holes.

This clean late ‘64 Olympic White Jaguar is now available at Truevintageguitar.com!

08/05/2026

I flew into Philadelphia, PA to buy this 1955 Gibson Les Paul Model described as all original by the seller. I noticed some interesting anomalies as I began inspecting the guitar: heavy square shaped checking, orange peel texture in the lacquer on the gold finish, and some areas that fluoresced under the black light in such a way that additional inspection was needed.

I began looking for signs of a headstock repair or prior Grover tuners or something that would have necessitated another layer of lacquer on the headstock. As I looked closely, I noticed that the silkscreen was on top of all the lacquer. That led me to the conclusion that either the silkscreen was fake, or it’s real and this is the way it shipped from Gibson. It had that perfect pixelated look and textured feel of the real silkscreen “Les Paul” signatures I had seen on dozens of other 1950s Les Pauls.

I kept going on the inspection and found a really exceptional example with no solder disturbed, all original parts including the output jack plate, and very little fret wear. I was satisfied and was thrilled to bring it back home.

But I also thought that with these anomalies, my buyer may want additional verification from a third party. I sent it off to Vintage Verified to have the finish analyzed with mass spectrometer equipment to determine if the chemical composition of the finish matched that of period correct finishes - or some later aftermarket finish.

VV determined not only that it did match that of a period correct finish, but also that similar anomalies were found on three other Gibson instruments all with the same serial number range. I thought that was a pretty awesome use of this newer technology.

You can check out more of this one at the listing at Truevintageguitar.com

07/22/2026

Just listed today: 1965 Fender Stratocaster in factory original (yet oversprayed) Sonic Blue finish! I bought this guitar from its sole owner since 1970.

He noticed sometime after he bought it that the Sonic Blue finish was very fragile and wearing away in places. He had it oversprayed to stabilize it. While it did keep the finish from wearing more, it also probably contributed to the yellowing of the top coat that’s caused a pastel blue to look more pastel green.

It’s never a good idea to overspray a vintage finish, but since this was already done long ago, it makes an otherwise unobtainable custom color priced a lot more like a Sunburst. I’ve discounted the price about $35,000 from the value of an untouched Sonic’65 Stratocaster, so that’s ended up being a very expensive overspray!

I personally love the guitar. I think it looks awesome and is an honest example of a vintage guitar with quite the story. You can check it out at Truevintageguitar.com.

07/15/2026

Purchased on location in Singapore 🇸🇬: 1960 Gibson ES-345! From the collection of Dr. Seah Pong Pin and likely original sold new at TMA Ltd music store in Singapore.

I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia buying some vintage Fender guitars when a friend connected me with a luthier in Singapore looking to sell this 1960 Gibson ES-345. I booked the one hour flight from KL to Singapore and flew in the next day.

This ES-345 has all the cool 1960 features including original undisturbed long magnet PAF pickups, long pickguard, Catalin switch tip, and typical slim neck profile. I think that the Bigsby tailpiece and Custom Made tailpiece are likely dealer installed since both are genuine period correct parts. A factory installed Bigsby likely would have been gold to match the rest of the hardware. It’s all original otherwise except a reglued nut and a killer player! The bridge pickup in particular was everything I hoped for in a vintage PAF.

You can check out more of this one at the listing at Truevintageguitar.com!

06/30/2026

Just in from the original owner in Bastrop, Texas: 1968 Gibson ES-330 long neck factory Black with original tooled leather Western case! This is the only long neck/factory Black ES-330 I’ve ever seen and the only zebra lined Western case I’ve ever seen.

Connie received this guitar as a Christmas and birthday gift from her dad in what she thinks was 1969 or 1970. She taught accordion and guitar lessons at her dad’s music store: a franchise of the Honolulu Conservatory of Music in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She told me she remembers touring the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo at some point in either the late 50s or early 1960s. I asked if she met Ted McCarty at the factory, but she couldn’t remember meeting anyone in particular. She remembers seeing the finishing department.

And what a birthday gift her dad got for her some years later! She says she is more proficient on the accordion than she is on the guitar. The low amount of fret wear seems to corroborate that. It appears to still have 1960s orange silk wrapped flat wound strings on it.

I asked Connie if she could remember any details about the case. All she remembered was that this was the original case he gave it to her in.

This is coming soon to the website! Truevinageguitar.com

06/15/2026

(Deal in process) Just in from the family of its original owner! Check out this crazy clean with mega figured neck 1961 Fender Stratocaster in original Sunburst finish with receipt, tag, strap, and fixins.

I purchased this guitar from the family of its original owner outside of St. Petersburg, Florida. It’s a stunning original slab board Strat.

Check the stories for more videos of the killer Birds Eye figure on the neck.

I believe this one is spoken for, but check out Truevintageguitar.com if you’d like to see more vintage guitars for sale.

06/04/2026

Just in from their original owner! Check out this 1966 Fender Jazz Bass I listed today and a 1965 Fender Jaguar I listed last week. Both are 100% original featuring original custom color Lake Placid Blue Metallic finishes.

You can check these out at the Inventory link in my bio or at Truevintageguitar.com

1962 | Fender Jaguar | Foam GreenThis 1962 Fender Jaguar in original custom color Foam Green is an extraordinary example...
06/03/2026

1962 | Fender Jaguar | Foam Green

This 1962 Fender Jaguar in original custom color Foam Green is an extraordinary example of the model.

https://www.vintageandrare.com/product/Fender-Jaguar-1962-Foam-Green-131054

It combines two features found only during a short period in the spring of 1962 on Fender offsets: a matching headstock and a slab rosewood fretboard. Matching headstocks on custom color offset guitars had just become standard in the first months of 1962, while the slab board was discontinued later that same year in favor of the veneer board.

This guitar remains 100% factory original, including finish, parts, and solder. Even the foam under the pickups and the original neck shims are still in place.

Measurements
Weight: 8.6 lbs / 3.90 kg
Nut width: 1.63"
Neck depth: 0.86" at 1st fret
Neck depth: 1.02" at 12th fret
Neck pickup: 6.56k ohms
Bridge pickup: 6.90k ohms

Dates
Neck heel stamp: 1 MAY 62 B
Pot codes: 304 6213

Condition
The condition is remarkable. It required no cleaning beyond a dry cloth wipe-down. There is a half-inch area of finish on the back of the neck near the tuners that appears to have reacted with a vinyl cable.

Playability
Excellent. The bridge mute foam has deteriorated, but the foam under the pickups remains springy. The frets show virtually no wear, the neck is straight, and the electronics function as intended.

Included with the guitar are the original case, bridge cover, Fender box of strings, leather strap, poster with its original owner, and both western suits that came with it.

Now available from True Vintage Guitar, Alabama, USA on Vintage & Rare.

True Vintage Guitar is a professional and vetted seller on Vintage & Rare.

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Address

Birmingham, AL

Telephone

+12059131084

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