What a lot of people fail to realize is that when comparing a Gibson to another brand, it is like comparing apples to oranges. A $200 IYV Les Paul will play, sound, and look great. You can gig with it or record with it with great success. It has all of the functionality of the Gibson Les Paul at 10% of the cost. So why is the Gibson so much more? There are factors when pricing a product that are fixed, manufacturing costs, or marketing costs. There are also abstracts for pricing, "pride of ownership," and "exclusivity."
I can go to Dollar General and buy a 5-pack of pens for a dollar. Across town, someone is dropping $1500 or even $20,000 on a Monte Blanc pen. Both pens perform the same function. The person receiving my letter or document has no idea a $1500 pen was used to create the document. So what is the benefit of the Monte Blanc? It makes the owner feel good. Using the pen, there is pride in ownership, the owner feels like they have arrived at a certain station in life. When they take the pen out of their pocket, there is a sense of pride with someone says, "nice pen."
The same scenario applies to any luxury brand, Rolex, Mercedes Benz, or Versace. They all have competing products with equal functionality and features but remain industry leaders. So while the audience or listener has no distinction if I am using an IYV or Gibson. Playing the Gibson gives pride of ownership, it is nice when someone says, "hey, nice guitar." In my opinion, exclusivity and pride of ownership are not the only benefits of Gibson guitars, but they are a huge factor in the marketing and positioning of the instrument.
