Are $8K to $10K CS Les Paul's really necessary ?
- Thread starter JMP/HBE
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One of Jerry's Kids
Bonamassa has an 8K Telecaster
That's very crazy indeed. I bet Ralph Macchio got his from the pawn shop and look what he could do with it. Beat Steve Vai's ass.
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Completely unnecessary. Past about $1500 you're paying for luxury appointments. You can get sublime tones from thousands of guitars in the $1500 or under range. Most of your guitar heroes recorded game-changing music on guitars that cost a fraction of those rich people's vanity collection guitars.
I mean, if you're the kind of person who spends $8000 on a guitar just to say you did, well and good, but it has nothing to do with tone.
I mean, if you're the kind of person who spends $8000 on a guitar just to say you did, well and good, but it has nothing to do with tone.
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
This right here. Hahahaha.
LLL
New member
Crazy cryogenic'd unicorn pubes, in fact.
No but really, those Callaham H/SRV single coils are the bee's (unicorn's) knees (pubes).
LLL
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LLL
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LLL
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They loved it especially because no one had ever seen arpeggios done with a slide before.
Some say, "It was movie magic".
Not I.
I say, "It was the Debbil".
beaubrummels
Well-known member
I think it was Ry Cooder
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
That's not how my comment was intended. Someone said it wasn't worth ten grand to get long tenon construction and avoid weight relief. I was just pointing out that the R8s and R9s offer that for less compared to the uber-expensive LPs.
No opinion one way or another about chambering myself. Long ago I found I usually preferred lighter guitars, not because of weight itself but because generally the lighter ones tended not to require as much volume to light up and come alive. I always figured it was just physics - it simply requires less ambient sound energy to make a lighter mass vibrate along with your amp in a room.
As for the long tenon, I'm not claiming that it lasts longer (?) or that it sounds better. I like 'em myself because, again, they usually feel a bit livelier. The difference isn't extreme; IMO the individual neck wood usually has more effect on the liveliness of a guitar than the type of joint.*
Still, just as set-necks generally feel a bit livelier than bolt-ons, long tenons generally feel a bit livelier than rocker or short tenons.
Just to be clear here, I have more short tenon guitars than long tenons and I'm quite happy with them.
I've got three set-neck Fenders that I like, too. But I don't turn my nose up at bolt-ons.
In fact a refinished '63 Strat is the liveliest Fender I own.
As a Gibson owner since the 1970s I absolutely find modern prices hard to accept, though.
One of my major regrets gearwise is that in '82 I let my then-fiancee talk me out of buying an actual '59 Burst.
The price? Under $4k including the original case, from We Buy Guitars on 48th St.
The memory of missing that one still galls me.
I own a nice bunch of Les Pauls today. But the last time I bought a Gibson brand new was more than thirty years ago.
*Ace, I totally agree with you about wood and individual tone character. Seemingly identical instruments can sound and feel quite different.
I'm the guy who used to drive to Veneman Music and audition guitars two dozen at a time to pick out one or two really good ones.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
I had no idea they were chambering the R8s and R9s now. Philistines.
I guess only VOS models are still made the old way these days.
But even those run about five grand - a lot less than ten or twelve.
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Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
Apologies!
But there are people who will try to go to the grave that I could give a guitar with short/chambers and would just howl to the moon at the awesome tones, \just because they thought it was long/solid.
And I bought my Yamaha Classical at Venemans.
alex1fly
Well-known member
Collecting and playing are two very different activities.
ErikH
Well-known member
In 1959, a Les Paul Standard cost $295 (add case + $42.50). A Les Paul Custom $395 (add case + $47.50). See link below for price 1959 price list.
https://forgottenguitar.com/2016/02/...ist-from-1959/
What's the inflation rate from 1959 to 2021? From the site link below: The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.64% per year between 1959 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 817.71%.
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1959
According those numbers:
$295 in 1959 is worth $2,707.25 today (2021)
$395 in 1959 is worth $3,624.96 today (2021)
I'll add in the case to the price:
Standard w/ case: $337.50 in 1959 is worth $3,097.28 today (2021)
Custom w/ case: $442.50 in 1959 is worth $4,060.87 today (2021)
Based on those numbers, today's MAP prices for non-Custom Shop models are not far off. In fact, a GoldTop Les Paul Standard today runs $2499 w/ plush case.
Maybe the bigger question to ask is this, "Is the Custom Shop necessary?" I mean, their prices are high (Fender's aren't far off either in certain instances), and with the regular production line of Standards and Customs priced where they are, why have a Custom Shop? Certainly it's not necessary.
pcorn:
https://forgottenguitar.com/2016/02/...ist-from-1959/
What's the inflation rate from 1959 to 2021? From the site link below: The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.64% per year between 1959 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 817.71%.
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1959
According those numbers:
$295 in 1959 is worth $2,707.25 today (2021)
$395 in 1959 is worth $3,624.96 today (2021)
I'll add in the case to the price:
Standard w/ case: $337.50 in 1959 is worth $3,097.28 today (2021)
Custom w/ case: $442.50 in 1959 is worth $4,060.87 today (2021)
Based on those numbers, today's MAP prices for non-Custom Shop models are not far off. In fact, a GoldTop Les Paul Standard today runs $2499 w/ plush case.
Maybe the bigger question to ask is this, "Is the Custom Shop necessary?" I mean, their prices are high (Fender's aren't far off either in certain instances), and with the regular production line of Standards and Customs priced where they are, why have a Custom Shop? Certainly it's not necessary.
pcorn:
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