I played an expensive guitar today

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ricorico Frets: 1220
I went down to Andertons today to take advantage of they 4 for 3 on strings and fancied trying out a Victory V30 and the chap said choose whatever guitar you like. I wanted a LP with a chunky neck and the chap picked out a Custom Shop VOS model at just £5k. 

Plugged it in and cranked up the V30 and was, well, underwhelmed. 

Aside from being told to turn down (how else are you meant to find out what an amp really sounds like) it was a pretty average experience. The V30 had very little clean headroom even into a 100db speaker and was very bass heavy on both channels. 

The guitar was certainly a good one but was it £3.5k better than my 17 year old Standard? No bloody way. 

It was the most expensive guitar I have played and maybe I was expecting something special. The neck was nice and chunky at least. 

Anyone had a similar experience? 
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Comments

  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Most guitars that you pick up in a box shifting shop are not well setup at all and this includes £5k Gibson’s and PRS’s etc
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  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    sweepy said:
    Most guitars that you pick up in a box shifting shop are not well setup at all and this includes £5k Gibson’s and PRS’s etc
    It was set up halfway decently but intrinsically it just didn’t feel like a guitar worth £5k. 
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  • antifashantifash Frets: 603
    Yes, many times. But then there’s the odd occasion where you play something truly outstanding. ;)
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356
    I'm tight when it comes to guitars but I have friends who are collectors,in particular 2 of them own in excess of 160 Gibson's, PRS's, Fenders, Taylors, Martins, Duesenbergs, Guilds and some some appointed guitars.  I've gig'ed pretty much everything from basic USA Strats to Gibson and Fender Custom Shop anniversary models heading well into the 10K territory.

    In all the above the best setup guitars in terms of fit and finish and sheer perfection were Duesenburg's .... a bit too bling for me but the attention to detail and ease of playibiity on those guitars is something else !

    My actual favourite guitar to gig is a friends bog standard blonde Fender USA Tele ...... which cost about £700 second hand 

    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    At the end of the day, it’s a plank of wood with strings on it, no matter how much you pay.

    Some people think (not you OP) that if a guitar is worth so much money it should almost play itself, sadly it is not the case...

    I bought a £150 bottle of brandy once. I thought it would taste like the nectar of the gods... turned out it just tasted like brandy, albeit a little smoother.
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9550
    I’ve never been in the market for an expensive guitar. However I have had a chance to play a few when buying pedals, amps, etc and generally I’ve been underwhelmed. The only exception was a CS Strat at Coda in Stevenage which was exceptional. 
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    I’ve never played a CS Tele actually, when I need to stock up on strings again...
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    Well it was that feeling I got when test driving high-end Les Pauls at Andertons and other stores around the South East.  I could really not find one that had that something. They were all nice enough but for some reason, I could not get out the wallet. 

    Hence I went back to  old Japanese after clearing my little collection 5 years ago. Now looking for more ha ha. 

    Ultimately I am sure there is stuff in the Authentic level that is very good but I could just not find the magic. 
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  • Maynehead said:
    At the end of the day, it’s a plank of wood with strings on it, no matter how much you pay.

    Some people think (not you OP) that if a guitar is worth so much money it should almost play itself, sadly it is not the case...

    I bought a £150 bottle of brandy once. I thought it would taste like the nectar of the gods... turned out it just tasted like brandy, albeit a little smoother.

    Pretty much.

    I do think there's merit in some high end acoustics though. Solid body guitars seem to become nostalgia or aesthetics beyond an earlier point.
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  • gordijigordiji Frets: 782
    Maynehead said:


    I bought a £150 bottle of brandy once. I thought it would taste like the nectar of the gods... turned out it just tasted like brandy, albeit a little smoother.
    In fact the gods have already drank their nectar, while it's maturing the majority of the alcohol evapourates and is called 'la part des anges' or the angels part !
    Over valued guitars will always leave a bitter taste however.
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  • LesbianWithAGunLesbianWithAGun Frets: 785
    edited January 2018
    I opened up a 2009 issue of Total Guitar magazine and the price of my guitar/Gibson R7 I spent £3, 995.00 on depressed me since 9 years ago it was £1, 999.00 or something...

    On the flip side, this trend, I'm glad I got them if ever they suddenly cost more than what I paid.

    It seems £4, 000.00 is today's price.
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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16005
    I would agree about the high end acoustics..........some are just magnificent
    I generally think that once you get over £800 the law of diminishing returns applies to electric guitars because there are so many other factors from boards/effects/cables/amps /volume/headroom etc 
    A lot of these £5k guitars are just marketing bullshit wrapped up in a fancy case with nice decals and certificates
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  • WhitecatWhitecat Frets: 5378
    edited January 2018
    “Told to turn down”? While *amp* shopping?

    I’d say “Ok” - hand them back the guitar, switch off the amp and walk out. If they can’t provision for cranked amps they shouldn’t be in the business of selling them. Terrible. 
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  • markblackmarkblack Frets: 1590
    when I bought my CS Tele at Coda I asked to try a pricey Les Paul, just because, I was very unimpressed, it was a nice historic something-or-other but it was just nice... my tele on the other hand :)
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    edited January 2018
    I'm surprised you were told to turn down at Andertons. How loud were you playing?
    I like to crank an amp when I try it, but I've never been told to turn down at Andertons.

     It's a very subjective experience for me when I try guitars. I just immediately connect with some guitars but not others, even when they're the same model. There's probably some subtlety in the way they're set up. But I suspect that I could probably connect with most guitars once I've had time to get used to them and set them up to my taste, provided the frets aren't too low and the neck isn't too wide, and there isn't a sharp feel to the edge of the neck, and the pickups aren't microphonic and the sound is good etc, etc... :)

    It's not a competition.
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3131
    Some guitars are great, some aren’t is often banded about and I’ve said it myself. We’ve always heard folks mention ‘that one in the batch’ and I think in many ways there is some truth, not that the others are all shit, just that one will stand out to you as an individual and be the ‘great’ one. I think this transcends price. I’ve played £500 guitars that have really impressed me and been a joy to play, several grand custom shops that were ok and once (only once) a vintage instrument that made time standstill (or so it seemed). I think the correlation between price and response was only marginally to do with the guitar and more about how I as the player interacted with it. As such, are expensive guitars worth it -depends on the player.
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  • NeilNeil Frets: 3594
    rico said:
    I went down to Andertons today to take advantage of they 4 for 3 on strings and fancied trying out a Victory V30 and the chap said choose whatever guitar you like. I wanted a LP with a chunky neck and the chap picked out a Custom Shop VOS model at just £5k. 

    Plugged it in and cranked up the V30 and was, well, underwhelmed. 

    Aside from being told to turn down (how else are you meant to find out what an amp really sounds like) it was a pretty average experience. The V30 had very little clean headroom even into a 100db speaker and was very bass heavy on both channels. 

    The guitar was certainly a good one but was it £3.5k better than my 17 year old Standard? No bloody way. 

    It was the most expensive guitar I have played and maybe I was expecting something special. The neck was nice and chunky at least. 

    Anyone had a similar experience? 
    What should £3.5k extra feel like? 

    For every grand extra you pay on a £1000 guitar the differences are minimal at best.
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  • The more experience you have as a player, the more you can judge an instrument on its actual worth ( to you)
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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  • KiniooKinioo Frets: 19
    Maynehead said:
    At the end of the day, it’s a plank of wood with strings on it, no matter how much you pay.

    Some people think (not you OP) that if a guitar is worth so much money it should almost play itself, sadly it is not the case...

    I bought a £150 bottle of brandy once. I thought it would taste like the nectar of the gods... turned out it just tasted like brandy, albeit a little smoother.
    Second this.
    (I found it similar with most of the signature models, guitars or amps, when people think they can be/sound like MR XYZ-guitar god only because they have their name written on it...)
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    Is only one Q to ask when looking at a guitar - will it help me play/sound better?
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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