'vintage status' has a wait time now approching 0

[Forrrest]

How old should gear be before it can earn a title of 'vintage'?

i'm sure we've had this thread before but I think we're at that point where it now takes 0 seconds!
pretty soon gear that isn't even released yet will be considered "vintage"

[psychedelicrelic]

I would say 20-30. Most of my gear is 20+ except my pedals and a bass.

[devideva]

It's vintage when it can't be duplicated any longer.

[IEatCats]

I've always just kind of assumed that 30 years was the low bar for vintage.

[bigchiefbc]

My definition was always "older than I am", but I may need to revise that at some point as I get older. It still feels weird to call anything made since then "vintage"

[pigmaker]

i think ebay considers vintage anything pre 1980 but fuck ebay anyway

[JohnnyC]

Vintage = something that is too old to be considered “used”…but not as old as grandma. “Vintage” imperfections/battle scars also = mojo….
Retro = something that is so old and outdated and out of style…so not cool anymore…but has some sort of historic/sentimental attachment to old people.
Antique = really old and most likely made of wood

[psychedelicrelic]

A lot of our gear are literally going to be antiques in a few decades.

Fuzzfaces and fender amps on antique roadshow.

[backwardsvoyager]

I always thought vintage meant 25+ years old, at least for guitars anyway.
It's definitely a term that gets thrown around way too easily now though.

[rustywire]

I've come to associate vintage with "early production examples" without an arbitrary time period attached.

The Klon Centaurs with the figure, are something I'd consider vintage in spite of being <20 years old.
Same with the original Way Huge pedals.
Any DMM from the 70s or 80s is a "vintage big box" not to be confused with the big box reissue.

Any American-made Ampex equipment.
With vinyl: promos and original pressings.
1st generation autos, etc...

While I associate retro more with conscious styling or aesthetic drawing its influence from pop culture........before ultimately influencing counterculture after an arbitrary period of being passé.

Fedoras, bell bottoms, tie-dye, haircuts.

....and I think antique refers to goods made prior to the 1950s.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

lol i heard someone the other day refer to some early 2000 shit as vintage....even 90s is hard so say "vintage"

its really lost all its meaning. like most "buzz" words, its just marketing gobbledegook now. don't mean a thang.

[JohnnyC]

Im trying to imagine vintage gear being like the wanky world of wine.

<cork sniffery "tone">
Here we have a 1969 vintage fuzz face...smell the aroma of those transistor... Leaky naff naff

[pigmaker]

lol i heard someone the other day refer to some early 2000 shit as vintage....

LOL i would love to hear the context

[Casavettes]

I associate vintage with emptying out my bank account

[D.o.S.]

Im trying to imagine vintage gear being like the wanky world of wine.

<cork sniffery "tone">
Here we have a 1969 vintage fuzz face...smell the aroma of those transistor... Leaky naff naff