Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

[aleclee]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

1) Well, you need something to play in the meantime while you're saving up money for high-end gear, and for some people that can take years, especially if they're supporting a family. For a lot of people, high-end gear will probably be out of their reach for a long time. Too many other priorities in life.

I think prioritization was Adam's point. Put away $10/wk and that's $1,000 in two years. For a smart shopper, that'll buy a nice toy. Going an extra year without a car payment can fund an entire rig.

I've acquired a bunch of gear over the last 15 years but that's my main hobby. I don't golf, ski, enjoy motorsports, or have a boat. Gear is where I choose to spend my money. For me, there aren't so many priorities in life.

2) The only time I speak up about high-end gear, is when a few members call everything else 'crap' and unworthy. I don't care what someone spends on a guitar, they're paying for it, not me. But when they feel they have to justify their purcahse by trashing more affordable guitars, then that crosses a line and needs to be addressed.

Too bad more folks don't share that sentiment. The term "blues lawyer" gets thrown about quite a bit and it's more often than not the green-eyed monster coming out.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Been all over the price point map for the past 30 years. . Tempted? All I want/need is the right high end guitar. I pretty much play only one even when I have a few in the stable, the others just sit in the closet, cased.

I had THE one back in 05/06 but lost my job and had to sell it. Pretty happy with my current #1, but it is not in the same league. I have yet to find a mid or low price point guitar (barring a couple killer deals on used high end guitars for cheap), that lives up as a total package. YMMV.

 

[DreX]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I own a mid-priced guitar that speaks to me. I love playing that guitar and will use it in church this morning.

BUT, it has some inconsistencies that can be problematic. Those inconsistencies are nonexistent with the Parkers.

What inconsistencies, and how are they problematic? When we're talking about spending an additional $500, specifics should matter. Imagine if a car salesman wanted you to spend another $3000 on a nicer car, you'd expect him to do a lot better than "nicer" to sell you on the upgrade.

There is no guarantee that paying 10X for a guitar will get you even a 10% improvement in quality. In fact, I have almost never experienced that "wow" factor from any high-end guitar. For most bedroom/barroom players, the marginal improvement probably isn't worth the premium. But I can also see how that slight improvement could be the make/break difference for a developing artist.

Comparing a $250 and $2,500 acoustic guitar is not the same as comparing electrics. There's a lot less to a solid body electric. And it's silly to compare such extremes, no matter what the good or service.

 

[DreX]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

2) The only time I speak up about high-end gear, is when a few members call everything else 'crap' and unworthy. I don't care what someone spends on a guitar, they're paying for it, not me. But when they feel they have to justify their purcahse by trashing more affordable guitars, then that crosses a line and needs to be addressed. As many people here have found out from personal experience, not every high-end guitar is sounds great or necessarily made that well. Likewise there are some mid-priced imports that are pretty good, especially with the highly competitive market these days. Buy what you want, but don't put down what other people buy as garbage. No matter what you spend, it's what you do with it that counts. Time spent playing & practicing does more for you than anything else.

In the blues world there's a number of touring/recording bands that use mid-priced guitars (Epiphones, Deans, etc) and some of them are great players. Obviously those instruments aren't holding them back. The bottom line is that what people spend on a guitar is a personal decison, often dictated by their financial, job, and family situations, and while 'nice' to own, it's not required to play or sound good.

I bet if you asked a lot of those big name performers why opt for the MIA Fender over the MIM, or the Gibson over the Epiphone, they would probably give the same vague, avoidant answers we see here, along the lines of "it's just better", but the truth is that on stage a giutar is also a fashion accessory, and having a high priced instrument is much the same as a businessman driving a luxury car to meetings, it projects an image of success. I saw a country performer on TV using an Epi LP, and I have to admit, a part of me wondered if he was cutting costs, but then there are players like Vampire Weekend who play Epis and obviously can afford anything they might want.

I think it's a "that grass is greener" effect for most others, though. If the pros use MIA, then I'll never be "like a pro" with my MIM or MIJ.

It's a lot like budgeting a vacation, you can either visit somewhere for one day and sleep at a five star hotel, or you can stay a whole week if you stay at a Best Western. If you like travelling, it's hard to imagine you'd shorten your stay just for a nice hotel, and if you like your guitar, it's hard to imagine you'd limit your collection just for one guitar that happens to have a more appealing grain and a nitro finish.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Personally, I get annoyed when I feel like, every time I say something good about an expensive guitar, someone tells me, "No, you're wrong; you're not gaining anything of value with that more expensive guitar. There is nothing wrong with something less expensive." Often this is coming from someone I have trouble believing has ever played the guitar I'm talking about. I get tired of being told that there's nothing about X or Y guitar that could possibly be noticeably better than something a quarter the price. Go play a JEM or a Parker or a USA Jackson or a really good Gibson. Play some of those more obscure brands that get talked about a lot and have a reputation for quality. I'm not expecting you to decide the difference is worth you buying one, but at least understand what I'm talking about if you're going to tell me it's not worth it. And then try to remember I'm not asking for buying advice; I'm simply describing what I like about a guitar I've played.

Sometimes people seem to feel they need to defend the more affordable instrument against some perceived attack, and I think this is also misguided -- at least in the kinds of exchanges I've been involved in. I own Epiphones and Squires and $299 Ibanez. I play them in stores. You don't need to tell me how good they are. Saying that another guitar adds something I find useful or valuable to me as a player, is not the same thing as trashing those other guitars. They still work. They still do what they do. If you never play anything else that you feel improves on that, then you're obviously not going to feel like you're missing anything.

Time for a car analogy: There's nothing wrong with the Fords and Chevys and Hondas and Toyotas that most of us drive every day. They suit our needs and get us where we're going. Does that mean a BMW, or a Porsche, or a Mercedes couldn't possibly add anything nice or desirable or of value on top of that? It depends on your frame of reference. Do we mean that it would be worth most of us tripling our car payments and otherwise fitting this other car into our daily lives? Probably not. Do they offer something in the driving experience that maybe isn't there in many of the cars most of us get around in?

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Personally, I get annoyed when I feel like, every time I say something good about an expensive guitar, someone tells me, "No, you're wrong; you're not gaining anything of value with that more expensive guitar. There is nothing wrong with something less expensive." Often this is coming from someone I have trouble believing has ever played the guitar I'm talking about. I get tired of being told that there's nothing about X or Y guitar that could possibly be noticeably better than something a quarter the price. Go play a JEM or a Parker or a USA Jackson or a really good Gibson. Play some of those more obscure brands that get talked about a lot and have a reputation for quality. I'm not expecting you to decide the difference is worth you buying one, but at least understand what I'm talking about if you're going to tell me it's not worth it. And then try to remember I'm not asking for buying advice; I'm simply describing what I like about a guitar I've played.

Sometimes people seem to feel they need to defend the more affordable instrument against some perceived attack, and I think this is also misguided -- at least in the kinds of exchanges I've been involved in. I own Epiphones and Squires and $299 Ibanez. I play them in stores. You don't need to tell me how good they are. Saying that another guitar adds something I find useful or valuable to me as a player, is not the same thing as trashing those other guitars. They still work. They still do what they do. If you never play anything else that you feel improves on that, then you're obviously not going to feel like you're missing anything.

Time for a car analogy: There's nothing wrong with the Fords and Chevys and Hondas and Toyotas that most of us drive every day. They suit our needs and get us where we're going. Does that mean a BMW, or a Porsche, or a Mercedes couldn't possibly add anything nice or desirable or of value on top of that? It depends on your frame of reference. Do we mean that it would be worth most of us tripling our car payments and otherwise fitting this other car into our daily lives? Probably not. Do they offer something in the driving experience that maybe isn't there in many of the cars most of us get around in?

Refer to my earlier trolling.

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[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Refer to my earlier trolling.

You're going to have to be more specific. This one's 19 pages now.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I've acquired a bunch of gear over the last 15 years but that's my main hobby. I don't golf, ski, enjoy motorsports, or have a boat. Gear is where I choose to spend my money. For me, there aren't so many priorities in life.

For many there are, especially with kids to raise. With both parents working, or a single parent raising kids, many people are just getting by as it is. A lot of people live paycheck-to-paycheck. A lot of people have little disposable income, all the more so since the economy tanked 6 years and with the record number of home foreclosures. I question the advice that everyone should 'save up for that one high-end guitar'. What if it's not much different than the one they had that was significantly less expensive, at least as far as they can tell, and the old one did everything they needed? There's no guarantee that making that big expenditure is going to be worthwhile for someone, considering what else they have to give up to get it (including arguments with the family over it). That money may have been much better spent on something for the whole family. Maybe they live in a bad neighborhood or drive an old, unreliable car. Dumping thousands into a guitar isn't really the best use of that money for them. There's a lot of variables in people's situations, and the oft-repeated advice here of 'save up for the big one' isn't always practical, or desirable, for some people. Maybe most people. No one should be spouting off here that any guitar under $1,000 is crap and making other people feel bad about what they have. Buy what you can afford, play it as much as you can, and build your chops.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

You're going to have to be more specific. This one's 19 pages now.

The string bend thing. He's got, as Sir Anselmo said, a mouth for war.

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[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Is one high-end guitar harder on the family than ten $300 guitars? And some people don't have families. Some people are selfish loners who spend all their money on themselves anyway. Personally, I tend to buy based on my own circumstances, not the other guy's.

 

[DreX]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I don't think people with families and budget concerns are really in the market for premium guitars anyway. It's more an issue for 20 somethings and retired old guys, and retired old guys just buy whatever and don't care about any of this... so mostly just 20 somethings. I remember looking at Taylors at a GC and some guy in his 50's just asked me what I thought of 'that one', like a stray fellow customer was nearly the extent of his research.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

For many there are, especially with kids to raise. With both parents working, or a single parent raising kids, many people are just getting by as it is. A lot of people live paycheck-to-paycheck. A lot of people have little disposable income, all the more so since the economy tanked 6 years and with the record number of home foreclosures. I question the advice that everyone should 'save up for that one high-end guitar'. What if it's not much different than the one they had that was significantly less expensive, at least as far as they can tell, and the old one did everything they needed? There's no guarantee that making that big expenditure is going to be worthwhile for someone, considering what else they have to give up to get it (including arguments with the family over it). That money may have been much better spent on something for the whole family. Maybe they live in a bad neighborhood or drive an old, unreliable car. Dumping thousands into a guitar isn't really the best use of that money for them. There's a lot of variables in people's situations, and the oft-repeated advice here of 'save up for the big one' isn't always practical, or desirable, for some people. Maybe most people. No one should be spouting off here that any guitar under $1,000 is crap and making other people feel bad about what they have. Buy what you can afford, play it as much as you can, and build your chops.

No one said any guitar under $1,000 is crap! You are getting defensive.

All Alec is saying is IF someone wants to do it they don't have to jump into the deep end of the pool. As people living in the western world we are all spoiled to our cable, our internet, our newest iPhone, and our restaurants. If we cut out one or more trips to restaurants a month, or carried lunch to work its funny how money piles up. In my life my wife and I made the conscious decision to save the money spent on cable, and time, for toys or just to have in the bank account. You're throwing up all these scenarios and variables that have nothing to do with the conversation. It's all about priorities. Owning a $10,000 Zemaitis or Yarron isn't a priority for me just like owning a Gibson might not be a priority for the OP or you...but having a little extra in the bank to buy a toy is more important to me than the newest iPhone or cable.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

For many there are, especially with kids to raise. With both parents working, or a single parent raising kids, many people are just getting by as it is. A lot of people live paycheck-to-paycheck. A lot of people have little disposable income, all the more so since the economy tanked 6 years and with the record number of home foreclosures. I question the advice that everyone should 'save up for that one high-end guitar'. What if it's not much different than the one they had that was significantly less expensive, at least as far as they can tell, and the old one did everything they needed? There's no guarantee that making that big expenditure is going to be worthwhile for someone, considering what else they have to give up to get it (including arguments with the family over it). That money may have been much better spent on something for the whole family. Maybe they live in a bad neighborhood or drive an old, unreliable car. Dumping thousands into a guitar isn't really the best use of that money for them. There's a lot of variables in people's situations, and the oft-repeated advice here of 'save up for the big one' isn't always practical, or desirable, for some people. Maybe most people. No one should be spouting off here that any guitar under $1,000 is crap and making other people feel bad about what they have. Buy what you can afford, play it as much as you can, and build your chops.

I'm here right now. I have a pretty wide gearlust since I play more than guitar and im also lusting for gear for my kids too, but groceries are pretty nice to buy too. Gear just can't be a priority for me.

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[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I don't think people with families and budget concerns are really in the market for premium guitars anyway. It's more an issue for 20 somethings and retired old guys, and retired old guys just buy whatever and don't care about any of this... so mostly just 20 somethings.

There's probably a lot of truth to this.

I remember looking at Taylors at a GC and some guy in his 50's just asked me what I thought of 'that one', like a stray fellow customer was nearly the extent of his research.

Some people like that glad-handing experience. GC should train their staff to do it more, and keep innocent bystanders out of the crossfire.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

No one said any guitar under $1,000 is crap! You are getting defensive.

Jerry has probably said something like this at one of his more troll-y points, but I don't think anyone here really believes that.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

The string bend thing. He's got, as Sir Anselmo said, a mouth for war.

Nice.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

There is no definitively correct answer to this question that is going to satisfy all customers under all musical circumstances.

If there were a panacea guitar design, it would already dominate the market, leaving the "old stuff" to specialists and sticks in the mud.

Whatever fabulous gear you have today, there is - and should be - the possibility that some novel and interesting sound will come to your attention. A sound that your present gear cannot produce.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

No one said any guitar under $1,000 is crap!

It's been said many times on this forum over the years.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I don't think people with families and budget concerns are really in the market for premium guitars anyway.

Which is why the automatic answer that some guys give on this forum: 'Save up for the big one' doesn't apply across-the-board. If all they can afford is a $500 guitar, they shouldn't be told it's junk. Who knows, the guy with a $500 may be a pretty good player.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I'm not sure I agree with this.

In theory, I could drive a Ferrari if only I was patient and saved up the money for one and the associated insurance and fuel costs. But given my economic position, it would not be sensible for me.

Things have to be proportional, you know? Like if I live in a $150,000 house, and drive a $10,000 car, it seems silly to have $30,000 worth of high end guitars. People have more than just guitars to spend their money on. I could probably manage $3000-4000 on a high end guitar if I saved up for a long while, but that would have to be it for me. The wife would veto any more major guitar purchases on the grounds that the house needs work, the car will need upgrading, she wants more vacations, etc.

It's the reason I drive a Toyota instead of a Ferrari! haha!

I think this is why people have a collection of low-mid priced guitars. Because it just isn't sensible or practical for people to own several high end guitars given the money they earn.

You lost me at "Collection," because buying cheap costs more in the long run if you're going to keep dealing in them. Depreciation is a b*tch.

I actually consider all of my guitars to be mid-priced. I only wrote "high end" in my last post because the typical attitude from the more vocal members of this forum seem to peg "mid-priced" from between 400-750 dollars.

The nicest guitar I have is probably a tie between my Gibson ES-339 and my '08 Gibson LP Traditional. Neither of them cost me more than $2000.

I have to ask - are all you guys buying new? Because the used market is where the deals are.

Since you brought up cars, let's compare a Dean or Epiphone to something like an entry-level Kia. You probably are better off buying one of those new. The previous owner is more likely to have been a kid or a beginner and the miles were hard. But buying a Gibson or USA Fender used is like getting into a certified pre-owned BMW or Mercedes. Sure, it's used, but the odds of inheriting problems brought on by misuse from the previous owner are much lower.

My LP Traditional cost me one Eric Johnson Strat (which I paid 900 cash for to a guy I met in a Starbucks) plus $300. That's 1200 bones for a used Les Paul and it's one of the best guitars I've ever owned. It's run-back-into-your-burning-house-to-save-it good.

And the best part is that if I ever do want to sell it for any reason, I WILL MAKE A PROFIT. That means the next guitar I buy could be even NICER.

I've done this for years with guitars and amps. I have GREAT stuff that definitely craps all over the cheap junk I started with and I've never had to eat any Top Ramen to pay for it.