Those of us that have experienced the thrill of finding a holy grail of  guitars have also learned that our quest will usually bring us a vintage guitar that is far from perfect. In fact, many times, the guitar you finally find may be so worn out that you have to back away from the purchase just when you thought you had finally found it.

Vintage collectables can come with a number of disfiguring maladies. Some are fixable without devaluing the originality of the guitar, such as new strings. A little farther up the scale you might find sticky tuners in need of a clean and lube. Still farther, some wood cracks a major problem to be sure, but not one to shy away from if they are basically cosmetic and easily rendered stable.