@#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

[jdm61]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

OK, so you have a problem with the price of a Gibson does that also include the high prices of PRS, Fender Custom Shop, etc.. Gibson get's it's bad rap for being owned by a greedy moron....no different than the other company's. Fact is that the price structure and quality is right on par with MANY other big names.

Leo designed his guitars to be affordable, so perhaps paying $2k or a lot more for a Custom Shop Fender is actually the ripoff (but notice that I own one of these ripoff guitars...lol)The original Les Pauls were designed to exhibit the same cost pretty much no object craftmanship that the jazz boxes had. Hence features like the set neck and the maple top. It costs more in materiels and more importantly, in labor to make a Les Paul than it does a slab body, bolt on neck guitar. What would worry me about buying anything other than a Historic or top drawer Standard is where they found the cost savings.

[Aceman]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

I would bump those numbers up by $1000 or so.

I don't think so...As I say, Clapton/Malmsteen/Johnson/[Insert Guitar God of Choice] here could walk in my house, plug my crappy GTX 36 into my little Fender crud amp, and melt your face off in their very own presonal style. But then again, not everyone has mad skilz like me & Clapton/Malmsteen/Johnson/[Insert Guitar God of Choice here]

I would be willing to raise the $ values considerably for acoustics, however. Electric....after 500 bucks, 1k at most, it's all about your heart & your fingers....

[Benjy_26]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

Who ever said we wanted to sound like that? Maybe we wanted to sound unique or different or possibly just not like every other person with a LP and a marshall.

Then why complain about Gibson's prices and QC? If you want to be different and unique, go get a Gretsch or Valco and plig it into something weird.

[Liquid]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

Then why complain about Gibson's prices and QC? If you want to be different and unique, go get a Gretsch or Valco and plig it into something weird.

I do belive I have a gretsch and the only reason im even posting is trying to get one of you gibby lovers to come to the dark side of the not gibson/marshall set up.

[Stratcat]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

Really? How do you quantify sound and feel? Unfortunately, this is nothing more than another subjective argument.

We have A/B'd them at Guitar Center and no one could hear the difference plugged into a Marshall Stack.

[jdm61]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

In my old age I have observed afew things
1 - You are a Les PAul guy, a Strat Guy, or a something else guy. The Gibson issues only apply if you are the Les Paul guy
2 - If it feels good, and sounds good, it is good. These days after about 350 bucks, maybe 500 at the most, you are paying for aesthetics, brand name, whatever - but not tone and feel for the most part. After 1000 - it's all vanity.
3 - I'm a Paul guy - If its a set neck, 22 fret, dual bucker, stop tail, single cut guitar - It's an LP. Gibson or not.

But - if Gibson Les Paul is what you have to have - get one. A real one. But play enough before you buy to know what a good one is. And decide if it must be new and Gibson, or just Gibson. There is something to be said for virgins - and something to be said for the ladies with a little experience. Take your time, be patient and make it count either way. Because with a killer righteous Paul, you only need one. Forever.

Uh Uh......you can be an EVERYTHING guy like me. There are certain things that my Nocaster and '62 Strat reissue can do that non of my Les Pauls can.....making duck-like noises come to mind Steve Gaines got pretty close to doing the Strat thingy on Street Survivors with his Les Paul Custom, but hey....i ain't Steve Gaines and never will be that talented When I hear someone say that the HH Strat sounds "better" than any Les Paul, i have to say NO......it may sound excellent and suit your style and taste, but it sounds DIFFERENT tha any Les Paul.

[big_black]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

I don't think so...As I say, Clapton/Malmsteen/Johnson/[Insert Guitar God of Choice] here could walk in my house, plug my crappy GTX 36 into my little Fender crud amp, and melt your face off in their very own presonal style. But then again, not everyone has mad skilz like me & Clapton/Malmsteen/Johnson/[Insert Guitar God of Choice here]

So because Clapton can rip it up on a $400 Squire, that makes it the same as a $1000 American Fender? Sorry, that's flawed logic...and that has nothing to do with feel (an imprtant aspect IMO). Of course a talented player will sound goo no matter what he is playing. Most of us are not as lucky. I've played SG copies before and they do not feel like my $800 Standard, sorry.

[Stratcat]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

We have A/B'd them at Guitar Center and no one could hear the difference plugged into a Marshall Stack.

This is also why Clapton prefers to play a Fender over a Gibson!

[The Golden Boy]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

In my old age I have observed afew things
1 - You are a Les PAul guy, a Strat Guy, or a something else guy. The Gibson issues only apply if you are the Les Paul guy
2 - If it feels good, and sounds good, it is good. These days after about 350 bucks, maybe 500 at the most, you are paying for aesthetics, brand name, whatever - but not tone and feel for the most part. After 1000 - it's all vanity.
3 - I'm a Paul guy - If its a set neck, 22 fret, dual bucker, stop tail, single cut guitar - It's an LP. Gibson or not.

I'd like to subscribe to the Aceman's 3 point plan. But I have some problems with a few...

I completely agree with point 1. Try as I might, I can't make a Strat work for me the way I want it to work. I hate the control layout and switching scheme. They just don't work for me.

I have problems with points 2 and 3. I'll start with 3. Only a Les Paul is a Les Paul. There's Les Pauls, there's Les Paul copies, and there's Les Paul "inspired" guitars, and there's fancy-pants Les Paul clones. But echoing the 1940s Gibson slogan- "Only a Gibson is Good Enough." (Then again, Epiphone had a slogan "When Good Enough Isn't Enough")

Regarding point 2... Asian made guitars have come a long way since I was a kid. When I was learning to play, a Japanese guitar meant a space age looking guitar with a lot of switches and knobs, but the best action you could get out of it was an inch at the 12th fret. Better suited for slinging arrows than making rock. These days there's a lot of really, really great guitars being made really really cheaply. The key is the precision machining- there's such close tolerances on these things. What separates the expensive guitars from the cheap guitars is the materials. That's the same from cheap guitar to expensive guitar and expensive guitar to really expensive guitar.

If it doesn't matter that you're getting a Basswood or Philippine Mahogany body instead of regular Mahogany or quality lightweight Mahogany- then it doesn't matter to you. If decent electronics and pickups don't matter to you- it doesn't matter to you. If you don't care about getting a nitro finish- a poly finish will suit you fine.

What it comes down to is when you find a guitar that completely suits you- you know it. Yeah, you'll find guitars that will fit the bill easy enough. When you find that magic combination of wood, hardware and electronics, it's like a lightbulb going off. Sometimes it's coming to an appreciation of what you have. Maybe your $200 guitar is perfectly suited to you. My #2 guitar is a $200 Japanese Tele that I've made into my rock machine. I've got and had a lot more expensive guitars- but that cheap Tele suits me. But my #1 is my 2001 R8. Again, I've had more expensive guitars- but this guitar is the cat's pajamas.

[big_black]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

What it comes down to is when you find a guitar that completely suits you- you know it. Yeah, you'll find guitars that will fit the bill easy enough. When you find that magic combination of wood, hardware and electronics, it's like a lightbulb going off. Sometimes it's coming to an appreciation of what you have. Maybe your $200 guitar is perfectly suited to you. My #2 guitar is a $200 Japanese Tele that I've made into my rock machine. I've got and had a lot more expensive guitars- but that cheap Tele suits me. But my #1 is my 2001 R8. Again, I've had more expensive guitars- but this guitar is the cat's pajamas.

It suits you, which is cool...but does it feel the same as an American-made Tele? Probably not. That is my issue with Aceman's post.

[The Golden Boy]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

We have A/B'd them at Guitar Center and no one could hear the difference plugged into a Marshall Stack.
This is also why Clapton prefers to play a Fender over a Gibson!

Did you listen to ANY of the Cream reunion concerts? You're telling me that sound is comparable to any of the original Cream recordings, studio or live?

Clapton prefers his Strats because they do what he wants them to do. Not because they sound or feel just like Gibsons.

[Benjy_26]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

OK, lets use the Gretsch Brian Setzer model and the Gibson Les Paul as a comparison (both are essentially signature models).

The Gretsch is a $2,970 japanese guitar with a 3 piece maple neck, a laminated body, and a Bigsby tailpiece and a bridge that moves VISIBLY when you use the aforementioned tailpiece. Not to mention the minimal control setup and the fact that it ships with a 9-42 set of strings and comes intonated for an 11-49 set (on the ones I've had experience with).

The Gibby is an AMERICAN made guitar with a bookmatched maple top, solid mahogany body, nitro finish, rock solid harware, and individual volume and tone controls for each pickup. gibson charges $2,300 for this guitar.

Remind me again: who's getting riped off?

[The Golden Boy]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

It suits you, which is cool...but does it feel the same as an American-made Tele? Probably not. That is my issue with Aceman's post.

It feels nothing like an American Standard Tele.

HOWEVER- it feels more like my old 65 Esquire than any American Standard Tele made in the past 20 or so years...

[Benjy_26]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

We have A/B'd them at Guitar Center and no one could hear the difference plugged into a Marshall Stack.

Can't account for tin ears and ham fisted amp settings, I suppose.

[Mephis]

Re: @#$&$&@ gibson, why so much $$$

In my old age I have observed afew things
1 - You are a Les PAul guy, a Strat Guy, or a something else guy. The Gibson issues only apply if you are the Les Paul guy
2 - If it feels good, and sounds good, it is good. These days after about 350 bucks, maybe 500 at the most, you are paying for aesthetics, brand name, whatever - but not tone and feel for the most part. After 1000 - it's all vanity.
3 - I'm a Paul guy - If its a set neck, 22 fret, dual bucker, stop tail, single cut guitar - It's an LP. Gibson or not.

But - if Gibson Les Paul is what you have to have - get one. A real one. But play enough before you buy to know what a good one is. And decide if it must be new and Gibson, or just Gibson. There is something to be said for virgins - and something to be said for the ladies with a little experience. Take your time, be patient and make it count either way. Because with a killer righteous Paul, you only need one. Forever.

Build a les paul clone through warmoth for less than $1000. Yes, that has to include the good quality pickups, finish, and fretwork.

You're guessing is completely off. I would venture to say a gibson standard is worth around $1300 for the quality. People who play guitar often froget that we're the lucky musicians, we don't have to pay $20k to have something descent.