I was fortunate enough to be into the vintage electric stuff before it got out of hand - and my plan was to get 'one of everything' so whatever gig came up, I had the guitar for it.
A friend and I bought and sold them for about five years (from 88 - 93), and I kept the ones that felt right to me - and got really lucky with some great guitars.
The only thing I never found was a Super 400, Johnny Smith or L-5 that I really liked enough to keep.
I can't imagine paying some of the prices I hear about today!
For example, I paid $450 for the Strat, and $1,350 for the Goldtop.
I was fortunate enough to get a mint blackface Vibrolux Reverb and Pro Reverb, too.
I also let a lot of stuff go through - such as a near-mint '59 P-Bass, a '61 dot-neck, a mint '66 blackface Super Reverb with the blond Telecaster to match - a bunch of stuff that I traded up for what I wanted.
My only regret is a '54 Goldtop (with the wraparound bridge) that I had in my hands at Willie's American Guitars in St. Paul. THis guitar absolutely sang acoustically and most of the finish was worn off - not abused but really worn. Mucho mucho mojo.
I was in the store when it came in - and went to the cafe next door to think about whether I really wanted to buy it - half an hour later, having decided I could afford it, I went back in the store and watched the guy who had just bought it count out the money on the counter!
Oh well!
)