Resonance Vintage Guitar — Naming the Lingering Scent That “Vintage” Forgot to Hold

This is a personal reflection, not a critique of existing classifications or values.
I don’t intend to define or impose anything.

The term “Vintage Guitar” often feels too rigid, too heavy with expectation.
It’s not just the word itself—it’s the atmosphere that sometimes surrounds it.

I’ve grown weary of the closed-off sense of superiority that can cling to those whose love for “vintage” runs deep, especially around 1950s and ’60s models.

So I’ve quietly adopted my own name: “Resonance Vintage Guitar.”

I’m not particularly attached to terminology, but when words risk misunderstanding,
I’d rather create a new one than be swayed by someone else’s vague sense of value.

Vintage Guitars

Even by my own standards, “Vintage Guitar” typically refers to Gibsons and Fenders from the 1920s to 1960s.

Some insist only the ’50s and ’60s truly qualify.

Others argue that anything post-1980 shouldn’t be called vintage at all.

I understand those boundaries.

But the idea that anything old must be vintage—I can’t accept that.

So I find myself without a fitting category—especially for guitars that exist in the in-between spaces of time.
Nothing quite fits.

Orbiting Meaning

And perhaps that’s why I hesitate to use the word “Vintage” for guitars like “The Paul.”
Not because I dismiss it—but because I respect it.
To claim it would feel presumptuous.

So I tried to imagine a word that evokes something gently aged, quietly elegant,
meaningful without being grandiose—a beloved item, a keepsake, a lingering scent,
a rare piece, a shadowed presence, a trace of life.

Not mainstream, but orbiting vintage—its echo, its satellite, its periphery.

ScALETONE.’s Note

I’m not here to define what vintage means.

I just felt that “Resonance Vintage Guitar” was the right name for something quietly meaningful.

Antique, retro, cheap, old, used, bizarre, collectible, junk…
None of these words carry inherent value.
And I have no desire to debate which word is most appropriate.

But maybe the one most obsessed with the word… is the one trying hardest to escape it.

This is just how I feel.

You just love your guitar. That’s all.