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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 their 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!

10/11/2026

I’m in Los Angeles California today after just buying this incredibly cool and very rare pair from the son of a legendary Fender employee: Babe Simoni! Virgilio Babe Simoni started at Fender in 1953 and completed his journey at the Co. in 1970 when he left to follow Leo Fender to his new company, Music Man!

Babe Simoni is known for being the orchestrator of a very uncommon Fender guitar made in the late 1960s called the Fender Custom or Maverick. The rumor was that they were made from leftover stock of Fender Electric XII guitars which were disassembled, band sawn into a different shape, and reassembled as an entirely new model called Fender Custom.

this previously Unknown bit of paperwork that I received from him son confirms that story in writing from an internal memo from late October in 1968.

this one is special and not just because it’s from the designer himself, but it’s also apparently the only factory custom color finished Fender Custom that we currently know exists. If you look at the catalogue listing for the Fender Custom, you can see that it was offered in Sunburst only.

i’m not even sure exactly the proper name of this color. It could be a very late 1960s version of fiesta red, but it’s so orange in person that makes me think that it could possibly be a one off custom color or possibly one of the colors eventually used on the Fred Tavares custom color chart from 1970 called salmon.

i’ll have these back home to my shop in Birmingham Alabama next week and can see if there is any information hiding inside the guitars that may lead us to the right answer.

10/07/2026

1953 (or 1954?) Gibson Les Paul Model just listed! This all-gold variety trapeze bridge Goldtop sent me on quite the journey to find out why it had a 4 prefix serial number.

Gibson’s solid body electric guitar serial number scheme from 1953-1961 had a digit prefix to indicate the year then a four or five digit consecutive number. This guitar has a 4 prefix indicating 1954, so why does it have a trapeze bridge??

I first wanted to check the neck angle to see if it started life as a 1952 or 1953 Goldtop with trapeze bridge. It has the ver low neck pitch only found on Les Pauls from those two years. Gibson updated the neck pitch in late 1953 to allow the strings to wrap over the updated tailpiece with studs going into the top.

Next I checked the potentiometers and found a 134323 code. 134 indicates the manufacturer (Centralab), 3 is the last digit of the year (1953), and 23 is the 23rd week of that year. So both the neck angle and the potentiometer suggests that the guitar started life in 1953.

So why the 4 prefix? I’ve owned a lot of 1950s Goldtop Les Pauls, and this finish does appear to be an original Gibson finish from the 1950s. I think the evidence suggests that it may be a factory refinish about a year after it was made. Gibson did have trouble with the gold finish and many were refinished at Gibson.

I don’t put too much weight in the evidence of the case, but for what it’s worth, the case is a 1954 era case with domed lid. 1952 and ‘53 cases have a flat lid.

So anyway. Gibson guitars are fun. This one is available now at Truevintageguitar.com.

09/24/2026

Late 1961 / early 1962 Fender Stratocaster just in from the widow of its original owner out of Prince Edward Island, Canada 🇨🇦! This one has been played and loved but never abused or modified. It’s housed in its original Canadian export case and retains its original hang tag and instruction manual since it had been loved so deeply and for such a long time, I tasked my friend Jason Burns with a vintage correct refret. Jason has done many of these for me and his experience shines in this refret. It retained all the character and wear of the fretboard, the factory style crowns, and factory style fret ends. It’s a joy to play.

Check out this awesome slab board late 1961 Fender Stratocaster on my website Truevintageguitar.com (inventory link in bio).

#1961

09/16/2026

Check out this typo I found in the 1963 Gibson catalog. As I was listing this 1965 Gibson SG Custom for sale, I went looking through old GIbson paperwork to see if it was mentioned. Most of the mid 1960s Gibson SG Customs and Standards have the Gibson Deluxe Vibrola with lyre engraving on the plate, but sometimes you’ll find the Bigsby B5 factory installed from Gibson. I didn’t see it mentioned, but I did notice that they accidentally typed “vibralo” instead of vibrola.

This 1965 Gibson SG Custom is one of the less common variants with original Bigsby B5 tailpiece. And since it’s an early ‘65, it has the ‘64 style wide nut neck width measuring about 1.71” (1 11/16”). That’s the standard neck width for today, but the vast majority of Gibson guitars made mid 1965 through 1968 (and later, depending on the model) have the often disparaged “skinny neck” width measuring about 1 9/16”.

There aren’t many of these around so I went looked through the Gibson Shipment Totals 1937-1979 book to find out exactly how many. Only 236 SG Customs are listed as having shipped that year.

I’ve just listed this guitar for sale at my website Truevintageguitar.com! You can check it out at the inventory tab in my bio.
—————————————————————————————
I’m John Shults and my company is True Vintage Guitar. Coming to you anywhere in the world from my home base in Birmingham, AL, I buy, sell, and appraise vintage guitars. I specialize in electric guitars made by Fender and Gibson during their golden era: the 1950s and 1960s.

Website: Truevintageguitar.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Shop phone: 659-208-7374

09/09/2026

First batch 1962 Fender Jaguar! I had been looking for one like this after seeing on at pristinevintage. I was thrilled to find this one that was found in the storage unit of a relative of the seller after they passed. I spotted the subtle tells of the early Jag and jumped at the opportunity.

1. 9 hole pickguard: the first batch of the Jaguar guitars have a slightly different screw pattern than later Jags. The screw on the bass side of the bridge pickup is missing. I thought that maybe only the first batch had that feature until I looked over and spotted a 9 hole guard on my untouched d&b 1965 Jaguar. I’ve no idea why it has a 9 hole guard too.

2. Slot pickup screws: or flat head if you prefer, but it’s a panhead screw with a slot. Call it whatever you like! Anyway, the first batch has slot screws there instead of Phillips head like later guitars.

3. January 1962 dates: I couldn’t wait to take it apart when I finally got the guitar in to find out what dates were going to be on the neck heel and on the on the body. They are both marked “1/62” which is the earliest dates I’ve personally seen on a jaguar. I’ve been told there are 12/61 dates but I haven’t seen one. I think they’re probably from the same first batch.

4. Narrow nut width: most of these first batch jags that I’ve seen have the what was later called an “A neck” width or the narrow nut width. Since this predates the stamp with the neck codes, I think this is just called a narrow nut. Some people would have considered it an upgrade at the time, but later standard production Jaguars typically have a B neck with or one 5/8 inch. I’d be curious to know if there was a change order made after this first batch which designated them all to be one and 5/8 inch wide.

This one is now available my website: https://truevintageguitar.com/products/1962-fender-jaguar-first-month-1-62

09/02/2026

Just in! An original 1956 Gibson Les Paul TV Model. It’s an awesome player on all original equipment. You can call it a TV Junior if you like. I don’t mind, but the catalogs and price lists showed them separately.

This one is a very interesting example with the close pickup placement (54-56) and the factory long bushings (56 and on). It’s the only one I’ve seen with those two features.

Check out the listing at the inventory listing in my bio or at Truevintageguitar.com

08/26/2026

Now available: 1962 Fender Custom Telecaster that I picked up on location outside of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia back in February! It’s back into great condition on 100% original parts, solder, and finish. It’s now available at my website Truevintageguitar.com.

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!

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+12059131084

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