Boutique Guitar Prices

stevie_bees

stevie_bees

Cat In The Hatministrator
Don's (d1dsj) recent PRS purchase, and a eBay auction I recently looked at got me thinking.

Can boutique guitar makers justify the costs of some of their guitars?

Now, I understand the quality of the materials that go in to each of these instruments is high quality and therefore more expensive, and I also understand the extra care, attention, skill and manhours that go in to building them. Don's Modern Eagle wears it's boutique stature very clearly on its sleeve, but I saw an auction for a Collings 290 DC, which is essentially a Les Paul Double Cut Junior, and it's BIN was £2469.

Where do you get to a point of paying for all the plusses of a boutique instrument, to being ripped off slightly??

I realise there isn't really an answer, but I'm intrigued where you think the cut off is?

I just thought that £2469 was a little too much for a Les Paul Junior, even one of the highest standard...

Disclaimer: This doesn't include the prices for vintage instruments, which are a law unto themselves... :D
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

As with many things, when it comes to value for money, the Law Of Diminishing Returns applies. In the case of musical instruments, if you can detect a difference, you will desire the superior example.

In the UK, Fender MIM vintage replica guitars now retail for about one thousand Pounds. Their MIA brethren are close to two thousand. ("Street" prices are lower.) In my experience, the AVRI guitars have always been worth the extra money.

The Custom Shop stuff is better again - with pricing to match. The question is, how badly do ya want it? ;)
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

Companies will charge whatever they think the market will allow and the fact is, the market will allow a LOT!

The fact of the matter is if you're looking at things like a Collings and think those prices are high stop there because they are still very reasonably priced compared to a lot of other stuff out there.
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

This is the auction in question...

Colling DC 290

I just think there's a point where the value of the instrument and all that has gone into it has been exceeded by its price...
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

the guy who invented fire said:
Companies will charge whatever they think the market will allow and the fact is, the market will allow a LOT!

The fact of the matter is if you're looking at things like a Collings and think those prices are high stop there because they are still very reasonably priced compared to a lot of other stuff out there.
Click to expand...

Oh, I know that in the big scheme of things that the price of that particular guitar is nothing compared to some, but can a 'Les Paul Jnr' be so well made that it justifies that sort of price?

In this discussion do bear in mind that I'm in the military and have 4 kids so I always have to shop for the best bargains! Although I do appreciate the getting what you pay for scenario... :D
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

For me, no. I've never spent over $1K for any guitar I own, and rarely spend over $400. I usually buy mass-produced guitars, but try to play before I pay so I can find ones that are built to my standards. In this economy, there are so many used (vintage!) instruments available, and the quality of the budget brands is getting really good. I honestly wonder how any of the premium/boutique brands can survive what's going on in the marketplace right now.

Granted, I have been guilty of playing crap guitars that hindered my playing. I've gradually gotten myself accustomed to paying enough to get a nice instrument, but for me that is still a paltry sum compared to what you've mentioned. I've tried plenty of expensive guitars, but have honestly never bonded with one enough to lay out the scratch. I can't discern a qualitative difference past a certain point.

There are some boutique brands (Suhr comes to mind) that offer unique features, and which I have not had the opportunity to play due to their relative scarcity. Maybe playing one of these would convince me to ratchet up my idea of what makes a great guitar, but for now I'm perfectly content playing cheap axes.

I guess I'm just a Luddite when it comes to fine instruments.

EDIT: I should add that I've actually noticed a trough in the value curve. Many of the low-to-mid priced stuff from the big names actually feels worse to me than a mid-priced budget brand, and I haven't really noticed that it eases up any as I go up into the stratosphere. I have never played a $2K - $3K guitar from any manufacturer that felt as good to me as some of my $300 players. If the price were equal, I still would have chosen the guitars that I have.
 
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Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

As an example, I played a Fender Custom Shop Showmaster a little while back that was for sale at approx £1500. It was fantastic and I fell for it pretty heavily, but I couldn't afford to buy it. I started to save a bit of money but it got sold before I got anywhere near having enough. It was used, and I imagine that the original sale price was probably in excess of £2000, but it did have a maple top, fancy inlays etc so I could see where the extra costing had come from...

I guess I'm just struggling to see £2000+ for a LP Jnr...

I'd expect the mahogany to unleash a choir of angels when I strum an open E! ;)
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

I usually end up in there at some point when I'm in the UK, it's not far from the Trafford Centre - guess where my better half gets left? :D
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

I imagine the knowledge that she's maxing out your credit card on Christmas shopping will prevent you from pulling the trigger on that Collings! ;)
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

High end guitars are worth it in most cases...but they are not for everybody.

The thing about a Collings is that they come out of the box set up to perfection which is something you can't say about all guitars.

PRS is another one...out of the box ready to play.

However I see the same thing in Reverend guitars which are a fraction of the price of a Collings...I see the same thing in PRS SE guitars which are very much a budget instrument.

If you don't care about things like a nitro finish and high end hardware...if you are the type thats going to switch pickups anyway or rewire the guitar no matter what then a lot of high end guitars are NOT worth it.

I have guitars that range from Mexican Fenders to handmade replicas of Fenders...I have bottom of the range Gibson up to high end Custom Shop Gibson...I love them all the same and think they are all great guitars but the high end stuff is of better quality and I do notice a difference.
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

I always justify my purchase of mid prices guitars by saying that I can upgrade them w p'ups and hardware, and if I ever fell on hard times I could resell without losing my shirt. I've stayed away from high end models because I don't make my living using them. After all that, if I sold all the amps, pedals, and guitars I own, I could afford the boutique stuff I've stayed away from.
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

For me, I do understand the time and effort that goes into the guitar and in one sense that does justify the price. The guitar that I have always wanted is the Potvin super bee but at this stage of my life is out of my price range.

On the other side of the coin - I did go to the Montreal guitar show a few years, and apart from the incredible finishing and small detailing work, most guitars that I tried did not play/sound much different from the guitars that I have.
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

I can see where you are coming from Stevie and have thought about this very point over the years. Unless a builder is using premium materials and I mean the top draw grade it does seem hard to justify the prices these days. I think once you decide on a particular guitar the only thing to do is to play as many variants , from as many manufacturers as possible. Only then can you build up a knowledge base of quality of materials, quality of the build and ultimately how well it is set up. It's is easier to justify cost when you have something unique, the problem is when you are buying a standard type guitar and you can't actually see where the extra money is.
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

I really don't think there is a guitar in the world, no matter how well built, that is worth more than a few grand...unless it is also collectible, or maybe a gimmick guitar, like one covered in diamonds or made out of titanium or something.
 
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Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

ItsaBass said:
I really don't think there is a guitar in the world, no matter how well build that is worth more than a few grand...unless it is also collectible, or maybe a gimmick guitar, like one covered in diamonds or made out of titanium or something.
Click to expand...


This. ^^^^
 
Re: Boutique Guitar Prices

I think we should be glad we don't have to spend $50,000, $100,000 and a lot more for a fine instrument, the way classical musicians do.

We're spoiled silly. Maybe we're not as serious about music as we think we are.

On the other hand, my favorite Strat that I've ever owned is my Japanese Squier that I paid $180 for and then spent more than that putting Duncan pickups in - Custom Shop Pickups that Seymour and MJ wound for me.

But that guitar sounded resonant as all get out in the pawn shop and is a very special guitar.

Shouldn't have been...but it is.

So you don't have to spend $2000 or $3000 to get a great electric guitar.
 
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