Is "vintage = pre-1980" still a useful frame?

[Maggieo]

Yep. So true.

Jackson is 13, and has been losing weight. I'm worried.

[46346]

For me the vintage Fender era ended in 1981/1982 when Fender stopped producing in Fullerton

aye. i think in the broadest sense, for American products, "vintage" tends to apply to that era of manufacturing by hand. cars, guitars, amps... i remember when TV's were union made in Chicago, Pennsylania, Missouri... they were roughly $300 back then, much costlier than now, but they were mostly hand-built by the people who might actually buy them, our neighbors, or maybe even family.

the values of that method were sold to the lowest corporate bidders in the 80's during the Reagan era , and in general that's when worker value and build quality tanked here in the U.S. there wasn't much special being built here, American cars were well into an era we call Malaise. only ten years later 'vintage' would become a thing as some of us consumers started to mourn the loss of quality off the shelf, and sought out used gear of a certain vintage.

luckily meanwhile in 1980's Japan, they had their decade of pride in quality.

so i think 1980 is a good cutoff for vintage American,
but Japan carried the torch through at least 1990. a 1985 Greco or 1990 Burny might very well be vintage for it's build process and quality.