Are Expensive Guitars worth it?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- The unbiased truth you need to know about expensive and cheap guitars
0:31 Introduction
1:25 Function
4:23 Form
7:09 Emotion
10:36 Value
11:44 Conclusion
Utkarsh Mohan is a Singapore based writer, musician and artist of Indian origin. Formerly in corporate senior management, he now pursues his passions and is also the owner of the Ministry of Guitar collection
You can also follow him on Instagram @ministryofguitar - เพลง
Expensive guitars are worth it every penny.Eric Clapton once gave advice to buy guitar as expensive as you can afford because you will benefit from quality and craftsmanship.
I can't argue with any of your points. I will give my interpretation of why I feel budget guitars are also worth it... No matter how careful you are, there is always a chance of causing damage to a guitar. You tend to feel worse if you break the headstock on your $5000 Gibson Les Paul than your $500 Epiphone Les Paul. Either way it sucks, and you can get either of them fixed, but it would likely be cheaper to just replace the guitar altogether. Get a $300 Harley Benton or a $200 Firefly. Also, if you want to tinker/mod your guitars, I feel that spending a couple hundred dollars on a guitar and another couple hundred on replacement parts to upgrade, doing a setup can make that $400 and time spent you put in make it compete with guitars costing $1000. Depending of course on what kind of work you do to it. Also, if you screw the guitar up royally, you're not out a lot of money. There are also a number of budget brands that have materials and hardware on par with the more expensive brands, and even better fretwork (rounded ball-end frets are getting more and more common on budget guitars, never seen them on a Gibson, Fender or ESP). Also, if you have, say, $2000 and can't decide between getting a Fender Strat or Tele, or a Gibson Les Paul or SG... you can get budget versions of each and have money to get even more guitars or just upgrade. The options are limitless.
100% agree. The last 5 years Ive had around 50 guitars from squiers, epiphones to various PRS Core, Gibson CS, Fender CS, Suhr, and everything in between.
I realized that the most expensive were really nice, in particular those extra details, the more time they put into the neck to making it feel the best as possible, and the feel on the hand with the finishes is just very nice indeed. When you have a not expensive guitar it is totally fine, but when you compare it with the more expensive you start noticing those things.
But for me I try to get the best guitar that satisfies me at the lowest price. For example I had a DGT core, now I have the SE DGT and even though the core felt better, the SE sounds and plays so good that im happy and dont feel im missing not having the core. Of course if I wasnt limited by money would get a Core, but the SE does what i want a DGT to do perfectly well.
But I also have some higher end guitars like my Schecter NJ USA. I had the import NJ before was awesome, but tried the USA one and that neck wow! The specs were not the same, the neck on the US is a bit wider and also a bit chunkier which suited me better, but also the wenge neck omg, thats the best looking and feeling neck ive ever played. And every time I grab the schecter is just a joy to play, and the details , the neck everything is perfect and the woods are so nice. So yeah, I play that guitar a lot so its worth it.
I had a fender cS tele, that was very nice, didnt connect much with it so not worth it. Now I have a MIM Vintera 50's Modified that I like it more than the CS, 1/4th of the price and I play it all the time.
So also is finding the right guitar for you!
I really only care about functionality and looks to the extent of the overall shape. Beyond that I don't care about figured wood, brand, etc. I would say I actually prefer a somewhat beat up guitar as long as it plays well.
Very Good and on point assessment. For me the most important thing is "playability" (do you consider it Function/Form or Both?) I have 15 guitars and I made sure every one should be very comfortable and easy to play. (low action, neck is fast, body is contoured, etc.) Because you will be the one using them. The audience will only hear the sound, but you the player will be the one producing the sound, and you should enjoy it and must be comfortable. I realize that even if the guitar is very expensive, if it's not properly set-up'd you won't enjoy it. To illustrate my point. I have held and tried a $5,000 Gibson Les Paul or a $2,500 Flying V. But I still prefer to play my $300 Fernandes super strat or the $500 ESP with super low action. ALL because of the playability. Last would be "Value" because as you have said: "The beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Everything is subjective nowadays. Best example: Kirk Hammett bought the "Greeny" guitar that was played by Peter Green and Gary Moore for a whooping $2 million.😯 It's so expensive because of the perceived value, it may have some "historical or sentimental" value. But it's still the same piece of wood that a typical GIbson Les Paul is made of. So is it really worth the $2,000,000? Nah, Even if I'm a billionaire, I wouldn't pay that amount for a guitar. Maybe just $50,000 - $75,000 tops. Anything above $100K is simply pure extravagance, Vintage or non-vintage. The value does not lie on the instrument itself, but on the "attributed value" imagined by the seller or buyers imbued on the guitar. At the end of the day, it's still the same piece of wood that normal guitars are made of.😉✌
I won't bore everyone with my current guitar collection, but I recently purchased a new American Pro ll strat and that guitar rings and sings like few guitars I've played.
i have one relatively expensive guitar and the rest are cheap. an SG may not be too expensive to some however, it is plenty for me. the guitar is very enjoyable to play and i did buy it for artist nostalgia. for me, there are no regrets on having spent the money. my cheaper guitars still play very well though!
True. And I’ll add if it feels better you will play better.
Agree 100%
Yes, I would also say it will inspire you to play more, cos if you are not good doesnt matter how good the guitar is. Also can inspire you to play different as well
Very true and straight up good info! Love the channel keep rockin ! ( everyone says my PRS accoustic sounds better than a Martin that my friend owns.
I have 5 guitars and i use them ALL ! I have owned many many guitars at one point had 20 in the collection.
Being zen in general, i now only own what i'll play live and in studio. Gave the rest to friends and students..
Yes they are! My granpa had an Gibson as worth 3000 bucks and that was a long ago. He was an pro earning money of it at home he played thru an small crap amp and that he still sounded good. He was well educated and skilled but he knew nothing about tech and the construction so he payed a lot of money and got him a very well made guitar that did the job anywhere and everywhere.
Me too have owned them expensive ones, there are differences in material and construction. once played them real deals then the rest will be...more or less, toys.
In now days I go for budget as I need no better. I got me skills as to fix them "raw" guitars and that I got lot of good proven parts stashed. In otherwise them100 bucks for this and that will start to fly in no time and it would not be an bargin at all.
It completely depends on who you are and what you want. Being left handed, I don't get the same options that right handed players do, so I tend to modify my guitars, which makes expensive guitars not worth it to me. The most expensive guitar I have is a custom Warmoth build, and it's not even my favourite guitar to play. My best is a cheap Schecter I bought 14 years ago, but has undergone so many changes that it's not even really the same guitar. I also did a little project with a MIM Fender Strat last year and that thing plays like a dream as well. They're worthless to anyone else, but they've spoiled me. I've gone and played expensive guitars in the store, like up to around $5,000, and they just felt like guitars to me. I don't really need anything more than the abominations I've created. They're nice to play and do what I need them to do. They're kinda ugly, as a couple have been poorly painted by me, but oh well. They're mine and I can't justify dropping thousands of dollars on replacements that will do the same thing but just look slightly better.
Other people might just want what's on the wall at the store for $3,000 and that's their preference.
I loved this video. Thank you.
A good analysis. Nevertheless, it proves that different price levels satisfy different needs: budget priced guitars today satisfy most - if not all - practical needs, while very expensive guitars in many cases satisfy other types of "needs" which are related to people's characters, weaknesses, psychology or they might satisfy the need to put up a show (which is important if the show is essential in one's profession).
PS1: Some expensive guitars specifically possess a quality that has no relation to esthetics but actually the tone you can get out of them. They're just more difficult to build, therefore more expensive. So not all expensive guitars are to be viewed in the same light.
PS2: There are certain builders who grossly overprice their instruments constantly using bogus arguments. They manipulate many people's luck of technical knowledge or inexperience in "tonal" matters offering average to mediocre esthetics and functionality which is in no way exceptional despite being differently advertised.
PS3: When comparing cheap to expensive guitars we should always remember that the average salary e.g. in Indonesia is 16% of the average salary in the U.S. I am sure that Cortek is perfectly capable of building high-end quitars; whether they do it or not is simply depending on their business strategy.
Conclusion: "Better"? It all depends on the situation.
The real truth is most folks can't tell a 'good' guitar from a 'bad' one or an 'average' one and use their eyes and the MSRP to judge value.
i really like your videos,due to the insight into the human mind as well as being Guitarded like the rest of us! lol.... great work.... hello from minot north dakota usa
This goes back to your discussion of needs vs. wants. No one NEEDS a $10K guitar...a decent guitar in the $700-$1000 range will work for almost all guitarists. WANTS are a total subjective thing and are driven by your dreams, your means to purchase it, and whether it makes you happy. VALUE should not be confused with cost alone.
I looked at the thumbnail and said, "I know what that is."
Totally agree. Im not a full time musician I play for fun. And it’s more fun to play nice instruments, like it’s more fun to drive nice cars or fly in nice planes. Can a cheapie get you by? Yes. Will you prob enjoy a private stock gem more, given similar specs? Yes.
"Probably the 2 million dollar car will be worse at getting you from A to B" 😂😂 very true
Great, well rounded, discussion as always, Utkarsh. Thanks for supporting our habit. 😬🤣
I am commenting before watching because I suspect we are on the same page: Expensive things are worth it if they have intrinsic value and were expensive because they work well and were crafted.
Things like diamonds and Gucci bandanas are not worth it, they are a symptom of a corrupt and inequal society.
The exception is art, which is a completely different philosophical endeavor.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Sign me up when you release tickets for the Ted Talk. I'll fly down
Are expensive guitars worth it? I think the answer is it depends. Let's say we can afford one so money isn't a problem. Now I ask myself what am I paying for? Just because I can afford it doesn't mean I'm getting a good product because I pay a lot of money. If I was only paying for good quality then that would be fine but often we're paying for fashion, branding, image, USA labour and manufacturering costs, etc.
How much better is say a US PRS Silver Sky than an SE? It's debatable. Yes it's better but is it thousands of dollars better? Will I get much more satisfaction from owning the expensive one, will it sound way better, last longer and give me less issues? Not an easy answer for me. The same could be said for US versus Mexican Fenders.
When it comes to acoustic guitars I'm on different page to you. I can easily spot the superior wood and tone. It's easy to immediately see and hear what I'm spending my money on. At least up to a certain point.
Yes some electric guitars have beautiful veneer tops and you can see that you paid for that lovely wood but this is only a cosmetic thing but most are painted solid colours and it's debatable how much a solid block of wood adds to the tone.
Just happened on your channel from your last tonewood video. Really like your content and presentation, guess the marketing experience pays off 😂. Subscribed
S
Thanks. Appreciate it
What I've noticed with pretty much any product is that it's usually worth it to pay a bit more and get the mid-range version (if you can afford it) rather than the cheap version, as companies really do cut corners. However, the difference between mid-range and top-shelf is usually slight and is often cosmetic, and not necessarily a good value. I'm convinced companies make high-end versions because they know someone will pay more for it -- not because it's actually better, but because there are folks out there who will be more for something simply because it's marketed as such.
The Victorian era writer Adam Smith discussed the “value of use” and the “value of exchange;” how you feel about expensive guitars probably correlates highly with your position in this regard.
Maybe one way to put it is that it depends on how valuable dollars are to you. The value of $5,000 or $10,000 can be very different from person to person. I know some younger guys who play and to them, $1200 for a guitar would be holy grail territory. But for some other people, that's dinner money.
Fully agree. When I bought my first guitar I really really wanted an Epiphone Explorer but that was 750 sgd. I had to ‘settle’ for the Les Paul which was 600 sgd. At that time , 750 sgd was a dream budget
In 2002 i bought a Japanese Fender from 1968, pink paisley, 3 point backplate, never played for 330 euro, now i now what people wanted to pay i sell it when i am in need! Sometimes you have all the luck! Thanx..... 🙏
if you got the money to burn, sure. why not? i love my cheap chinese ibanez, its stable, the pick ups arent amazing, but they sound fine. it looks cool, ive had probobly 100 guitars over the past 30 years, and about 5 years ago i had lost everything i owned. i went lomger than i wanted to until i saved up enough to get a new rig, and as soon as i got together a couple of hundred dollars i went into a couple of pawn shops until i found the perfect set up for the amount of money i had. sure i would love to have something a little better, but i addore what i have now. especially after loosing my ass in a messy divorce, ive learned to not take what i have for granted.
I would classify things slightly differently: 1) Sound; 2) Playability/Comfort; 3) Appearance; 4) Emotion/Sentimentality. Value would be a derivative (assuming you could reduce the above four to some number, you would divide that number into the price. Finally for a very few guitars, there is Investment value. I put those in order of importance, though Sound and Playability are both extremely important.
It’s funny. I have only three guitars now: a Taylor 815 I bought in 1986; An Eastman Pagelli arch top; and a Jim Redgate double top classical guitar I bought this year. So all acoustic, though the Pagelli has a floating pickup I rarely use. I sold my only solid electric this year. It was a PRS Vela. I liked it but wasn’t playing it.
For me, there’s much more difference in sound in acoustics when you spend more. This is especially true with luthier made classical instruments. My Redgate replaced a Bernabe student model. That guitar, at $4k, was light years ahead of a typical $1000 classical guitar. And the Redgate, which is several times more expensive than the Bernabe is also a huge improvement in sound (playability is similar).
On the last point, I fully agree. If you can afford it, and it makes a difference to you, then yeah, it’s worth it.
Thank you. I agree with your structure as well. Separately I deliberately kept the investment aspect out of it after some thought. But it is also a factor
@@ministryofguitar I think it’s a true factor for only a small section of guitars, mostly special limited editions, some vintage guitars, and some guitars from select luthiers. There’s a strange mechanic that goes on in the classical world. If you order a top flight guitar from someone like Redgate, you get put on a waiting list. In four or five years the guitar will be delivered. At that moment, you can sell the guitar for more than you paid for it, because there are lots of people who would like to skip the waiting list. I imagine you could do the same for a Langdouc.
The other thing you didn’t mention is that there’s very low risk in buying used, especially for guitars that have decent demand. For example, I bought my Vela for $850 and sold it seven years later for $900.
A problem with this is maybe that guitars (as cars synths etc.) become an asset and less an object to be used as intended (ok Gibson 😅).
When there is a glitsh in economics the market is flooded with these "assets" (Rolex a.o.) so there is a bit of a faux aura about it, at least to me.
In the 80's in rock people whom did so were called "posers", no real commitment.
As for quality control. QC is a choice, a decision on what and how critical it is before calling something a reject.
Then in case of a reject how is this handled?
Quality control is often times not what people think it is and on how it works.
If they stay in tune and plays according to personal preference then I dont care about price
vintage no; people seem to think anything old = automatically expensive (& not every older guitar is better..)
newer models; 2nd-hand yes, depending on their condition (if they lived hanging on a wall & are in pristine condition, then by all means knock a 3rd off the price)
mid-price/partscasters; worth it? can be, finding the good one is part of the fun!
..i know fuckall about acoustics, but i seem to prefers yamahas (& always play using fingers as its more dynamic than a pick)
MIJ is a bit of a con these days, prices have skyrocketed because of 'word-on-internet', when your 80's japanese mid-tier copy is more expensive than a £650 gibson, or £450-ish MIM fender... just buy the gibson or the fender.
MIK has become the new MIJ; they are generally better quality/make than the MIC range (whether that's artifical because the manufacturer decided these ranges have different/better parts is up to them, but you'll more likely get 'named' pickups on a MIK than a standard say Epiphone or MIC Tokai)
You pay for quality once.
No, they aren't worth it. They are for pros only in my opinion. I am a hobby player having a Gibson tribute and a Harley Benton SC 450 plus. They both play fantastic and I don't find big differences between them. I also have a USA fender strat, but I like my Yamaha 612 better, even a Squier 98 made in Taiwan is not so much worse. I also have a Spear LP-style - also very nice and a PRS SE custom 24
they are all nice guitar, just the feel changes due to different necks. Now, the sound isn't so important to me. My Boss GT 100 is giving me enough nice tone possibilities, I don't need anything more.
Some expensive guitars are worn it , some aren’t, Collings guitars are worth it
$300-$500, is my comfort zone on musical instrument purchases, either new or used. I'm playing for fun, not making any real money, and don't like the added worry you'll get with expensive equipment. My answer is no. Thanks.
Not really. They are worth it only if you plan on reselling it. I bought a Harley Benton TE52 a couple years ago in butterscotch and i replaced all the electronics with Fender USA parts. Everything!
Tuners, bridge pickups, controls etc. i even refinished the back of the neck and it’s the smoothest and best feeling neck I’ve ever felt.
Two weeks ago I bought a Fender Tele player series in butterscotch. THEY SOUND THE SAME AND THE NECK FEELS BETTER ON THE HARLEY BENTON. They look the same too. The big difference is the Fender logo on the headstock. And I paid $125 for that Harley Benton. And probably 250/300 on the upgrades.
The Fender is slightly lighter in weight.
Just like working shirt 😊 low quality fabrics = low mood
Depends on the person. I prefer versatility. This might not be the best analogy, but do you want a Ferrari? Or would you rather have a basic car, truck, and a motorcycle? Each will get you from point A to point B just fine. A Ferrari is top of line for what it is, but going the other route allows you to save gas with the car and motorcycle, plus you can haul things in your truck.
Using that same logic, should you get a Gibson Les Paul? Or would you be better off with an Epiphone Les Paul, a Player Strat or Tele, and some kind of PRS SE? Sure there are some people who go for the Gibson, but I think for most people, you'll get a lot more versatility and bang for your buck by going with 3 'working man's" guitars.
*Just to clarify, expensive guitars are definitely worth it (IF you can afford it). It's hard to deny the quality you get, but a lot of people are paycheck right now so that's why I said it depends on the person. I've been saving up for an Epiphone Les Paul for a few months and unexpected bills and other things keep coming up. A Gibson just isn't in the cards for me, but then again I don't feel like I need a Gibson. Would it be awesome? Yes! But do I need it? No.
@@JacobS-q7c I appreciate that. I'm going to check it out!
A $1000 guitar is absolutely fine. Beyond that your paying for name.
I don't know.. I have a fender EJ strat and a suhr tele and I must say there does seem to be a discernible stepchangenin quality for the extra k. When it comes to the frets especially.
I am planning to buy an electric guitar and your video has been helpful. However, since you mentioned Yuval Noah Hariri, he is overrated IMHO.
I agree on Yuval Noah Hariri. However I did like his framing of imaginary concepts
Monkey D. Luffy agrees
Depends
I would spend 15, 000 Dollars on a Tuefell BirdFish guitar
But I wouldn't get a Private Stock PRS .
Maybe I'd get a Mark Holcombe 7 string and customise it until it was truly my Guitar.
Tbh I would rather treat my Girlfriend to a luxury weekend if I had that kind of disposable income.
....and a Girlfriend
Yes and no. Some guitars like Ibanez.. Offer a cash for functionality deal. Then you have idiots like Gibson selling a remake of a 1978 Gibson Flying V (The actual vintage flying V 1978 is around $4-$8K).. So gibson remakes this guitar calls it the Kirk Hammett Custom Flying V remake... "limited edition" (it's selling on sweetwater.. not exactly rare)... for get this... $15,000.
Now the Flying V 1978 REAL vintage guitar.. $4-8K.. worth every penny. Modern remake with a kirk hammett picture thrown in the case for 2x-3x the cost of the actual REAL vintage guitar. Lets just call that "not cool"
So yes.. More money buys more quality to a point... After that a fool and his money are soon parted. The guitar industry is for sure filled with a lot of marketing bullshit. And the skies the limit when it comes to over charging you. At a certain point.. Unless your building a guitar from valuable metals and jewels there's just no way that amount of wood could really in any true form... be worth more then $4,000 after that.. .Your just a guy that likes being ripped off.
Anything over 4k is just a gimmick. A 10k guitar isn't twice as good as a 5k guitar and so on. Every guitar can break, crack or go out of tune. Super expensive guitars are just like eating an overpriced steak with gold flakes on it.
Have you ever owned any guitar in that price range? Not played in a store or a friend's, actually owned it, paid the cash for it?
" Mr. Bonks I understood the Chipper Chicken part, yah." - Martin Short "Franck"
@@BrazzyRosewood Yes! I've owned plenty. Flamenco guitars, Les Pauls, Esp, Jackson, Martin. I've also been in a few bands and was always playing my band mates guitars, plus going to the guitar store and playing there. I would say before inflation, anything after 3k, it really doesn't get too much better. I've owned Ibanez guitars in the 1200 range that were better than 3k shred guitars. Price is just the name and the greedy person who is selling it. It's also the fool like me who buys them. I still own about 12 guitars. Only play seven of them.
Basically guitars are just man earrings.