David Davidson is the co-owner and co-founder of Davidson’s Well Strung Guitars. It would be extremely reductive to call it just a “guitar shop”, but rather an immersive experience in the true beauty of Vintage Guitars. The immensity of their inventory is made available for customers in a very elegant and comfortable space, where David and his business partner/daughter Paige, as well as all of their staff, will let you try some incredible pieces from their collection. Currently, worldwide, there is no place like Well Strung Guitars in Farmingdale, NY. We’ve asked David to answer to a few questions regarding his story, passion and future expectations.
Question: Good morning David and thanks for being here today with us! So let’s start with the (only apparently) easiest question… What does “Vintage” mean for you?
Answer: That’s a good question. To me it is probably about the “passage of time” for instruments that were made before the 1970s. Although I do not buy guitars made in the 70s on a regular basis, I do happen to trade them with customers from time to time. But definitely I would set a limit, for Fenders for example, to 1975.
Q.: When did you buy your very first “vintage” guitar? Which one was it?
A.: I recall that very well, it was 1970 and I read a “Gibson Guitar” listing in a local family estate sale. My father drove a young, 12 years old me there. It was a beautiful, Cherry Sunburst Gibson ES-125 TC, so a Thinline model, with its hardshell case in beautiful condition. It looked very “rock and roll” to me at the time. Unfortunately, the lady selling it was asking $100, which I didn’t have since I only had $40 from selling newspapers! My father was able to bring the lady down to the $40 I could afford, and I went home happy with my first “vintage” guitar!
Q.: When did you realize that those “old guitars” had something special?