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Post subject: How much $ is too much for a guitar?
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:25 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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I've been shopping for guitars (sometimes on eBay, sometimes from dealers, sometimes in the Want Ads) for twenty years--but most of my purchases have been from the last ten years. I'm thinking of 'upgrading' for another guitar, but the idea of buying a guitar for over $1000 (even if it's U.S. made) makes me break out in hives.

Most of my guitars are either U.S. made or Made/Crafted in Japan--this includes Fenders, Hamers and Guilds (the last two now owned by Fender), plus a few other models. Maybe I'm living in the past, but paying four figures for a guitar puts me in a completely different frame of mind-where buying a guitar isn't just something to use anymore, but becomes more of a luxury item. Has anybody else felt this way? Yeah, I'm factoring in inflation for all the stuff I've had for years, but I still can't seem to get used to a $1000+ guitar.


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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:40 pm
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well the cost of your guitar wont make you play better so consider it a long term investment in quality craftmenship


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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:58 pm
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gratz wrote:
well the cost of your guitar wont make you play better so consider it a long term investment in quality craftmenship


True! But I'm used to getting decent quality craftmanship for under $1000 (yes, you used to be able to find really good guitars for under that amount). And that's where I used to draw the line-at $1000. It seems to be getting harder to do, to maintain that level.


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:58 am
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After my great experiences with Schecters and Squiers, I have been in the mindset for the past year or so that anything over $450 for a guitar is just ridiculous.

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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:02 am
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I think if it's a guitar you really love, no amount of money can buy it. To me too expensive all depends on each persons individual guitar budget.


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:23 am
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I draw the line at $1000 myself. For that I can expect to get a very good instrument.


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:52 am
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I used to think anything over $1000 was too much. I have now owned/own guitars over $2000.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:52 am
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Well, you can get a reasonable guitar for 5 bills. I have one I really like I only paid 300 for.

But the refinements of a higher-priced instrument can't be denied. You can't say a $1,200 guitar isn't worth the money. It is.

Do you guys have any idea how much a really good tenor sax costs? A concert-quality cello? Price an oboe or a bassoon sometime. And even a junk piano costs more than a great guitar.

Come over to the studio sometime and I'll run you down on how much I spent on various synths and samplers. When my Kurzweil K2000R was new it cost over four grand. And it doesn't even have keys... i just sits in a rackl!

There are standard pro microphones that cost twice as much as a boutique amp, and even a basic mic pre costs as much as or more than an American Strat.

Guitar players have it easy. :D


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:55 am
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Gravity Jim wrote:
Well, you can get a reasonable guitar for 5 bills. I have one I really like I only paid 300 for.

But the refinements of a higher-priced instrument can't be denied. You can't say a $1,200 guitar isn't worth the money. It is.

Do you guys have any idea how much a really good tenor sax costs? A concert-quality cello? Price an oboe or a bassoon sometime. And even a junk piano costs more than a great guitar.

Come over to the studio sometime and I'll run you down on how much I spent on various synths and samplers. When my Kurzweil K2000R was new it cost over four grand. And it doesn't even have keys... i just sits in a rackl!

There are standard pro microphones that cost twice as much as a boutique amp, and even a basic mic pre costs as much as or more than an American Strat.

Guitar players have it easy. :D


Very true. Guitar players also have many more choices.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:04 am
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Gravity Jim wrote:
Well, you can get a reasonable guitar for 5 bills. I have one I really like I only paid 300 for.

But the refinements of a higher-priced instrument can't be denied. You can't say a $1,200 guitar isn't worth the money. It is.

Do you guys have any idea how much a really good tenor sax costs? A concert-quality cello? Price an oboe or a bassoon sometime. And even a junk piano costs more than a great guitar.

Come over to the studio sometime and I'll run you down on how much I spent on various synths and samplers. When my Kurzweil K2000R was new it cost over four grand. And it doesn't even have keys... i just sits in a rackl!

There are standard pro microphones that cost twice as much as a boutique amp, and even a basic mic pre costs as much as or more than an American Strat.

Guitar players have it easy. :D


That is tru, and imo somthing is only worth what some one will give for it. I laugh when i hear a guy who is playing a 1500.00 dollar taylor say i cant afford an old martin. My Dad shopped for my 72 D35, and found it in a newspaper classified section for about half of appraised value.

Shop around, and look, be willing to wait. I traded for my Am Deluxe Tele, which the guy wanted 1000 for, for some pa stuff i had 600 in maybe.

That is one of the many reasons i have never bought a guitar at a guitar store


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:05 am
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Too much is when you have other bills to pay and you buy the guitar instead of the things you kid(s) need/and/or bills. If you stretch and save, nothing is really out of reach, just don't steal from other bills. That would be too much. I agree with Gravity Jim, $1200 guitar is worth the money. Someone also said, the amount of $ doesn't make you a better player either.

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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:06 am
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I don't think I'll ever pay a grand for a guitar. One way you could avoid the high price is by going to guitar center on black friday. 20% of a grand is 200 bucks.... but still 800 is a lot for a guitar (IMO). But if you apply that discount to less expensive models like 500 bucks then they become 400 buck ... a 400 become 320 and so on. My 200 dollar Squier was 160 which I couldn't pass up. Wait till the sale and get what you want.


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:14 am
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It absolutley depends.

If it's something you want, that you know you can make a part of you, then price should be no object, as long as:

a) You don't have to remortgage the house
b) Can still feed yourself
c) Pay your bills
d) And are not loaned up to the hilt for the next forty years.

If those considerations are not an issue, go for it. Sometimes the price is just a number, a little gateway to get what you want - if that makes sense.

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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:02 am
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'really aqree with the sensible folks who say you gotta feed and clothe and house and insure your self and family first. Period. Never compromise the basics.

Unless the instrument(s) help pay the bills, it should only come out of silly-money.

That said, 'personally think of guitars and amps as a lifestyle / hobby / sanity-seeking / spiritual experience. And have saved nickels and quarters for long durations in pursuit of fairly pricey guitars and amps.

And how much are you going to use it? In a Chicago train station, a pack of smokes costs over $8.00 in the machhine. That's 40 cents for a one-use 8-minute cigarette, 5 cents a minute...$30. per hour, plus later medical bills.

You buy a $25 book and it takes 12.5 hours to read. $2 per hour.

Buy a nice guitar for a grand US, play it 1000 hours and your "hobby time" is from then on costing you less than $1 per hour. Your fisrt hour of playing costs $1000 per hour, your second, 500, your thred, 333, your fourth, 250....

And a nice cello can go 8 Gs, easy. A grand piano, 15 or so. Math is fun. Buy what you can afford and want...then play it to reduce 'hourly cost.'


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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:08 am
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JSJH wrote:
'really aqree with the sensible folks who say you gotta feed and clothe and house and insure your self and family first. Period. Never compromise the basics.

Unless the instrument(s) help pay the bills, it should only come out of silly-money.

That said, 'personally think of guitars and amps as a lifestyle / hobby / sanity-seeking / spiritual experience. And have saved nickels and quarters for long durations in pursuit of fairly pricey guitars and amps.

And how much are you going to use it? In a Chicago train station, a pack of smokes costs over $8.00 in the machhine. That's 40 cents for a one-use 8-minute cigarette, 5 cents a minute...$30. per hour, plus later medical bills.

You buy a $25 book and it takes 12.5 hours to read. $2 per hour.

Buy a nice guitar for a grand US, play it 1000 hours and your "hobby time" is from then on costing you less than $1 per hour. Your fisrt hour of playing costs $1000 per hour, your second, 500, your thred, 333, your fourth, 250....

And a nice cello can go 8 Gs, easy. A grand piano, 15 or so. Math is fun. Buy what you can afford and want...then play it to reduce 'hourly cost.'


Ummmmmmmmmmmmm... I have no idea what you mean. :? :? :?

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