The Most You'd Spend on a Guitar?

DaevidJ

Well it was £1.5K... Now £3.7K... 

Vibetronic

I don't really care; if I like it and have the money then I'll get it. My last two have been over £2k; the first of those has been played for (rough average) two hours every day since I got it, so I think it's paid for itself now. I've always said I'd never be bothered about vintage guitars either, but now I guess you can almost consider the old pointy stuff from the 80s vintage, so that may happen in the future...

Gassage

The most I've paid was for the 1961 Strat (7.5k- and a relative bargain), followed by my 1963 Vibroverb (7k) and the 1966 Custom Tele I sold back to Crane (6500- it's on sale at Motopoint for a lot more right now.

gusman2x

It's all relative. If I had more money, I'd spend on something that I thought was "worth it". For instance, if I was considerably richer than I am, I'd spend 8k on a pre cbs strat for sure. As it stands, I doubt I'll be buying any guitars for a while, but I think my limit for any future guitars would be around the £1500 mark.

There's only two guitars left that I want to own at some point: a japanese squier strat (so £3-400), and a Les Paul Custom, which will probably be above my threshold.

JohnnyPlectrum

Once I've owned a MusicMan Mr Horsepower I'll be happy.
Possibly...

Keefy

The most I have spent on a guitar was just shy of £2,500 (CS Strat). How much I would spend is a different thing altogether.

My real-life maximum guitar spend has risen step-wise (not steadily by any means) over the years. My first decent guitar (1985 MIJ Squier Tele, which I still own) cost £175 in 1987, but I got it on credit at £10 a month over 2 years as I simply didn't have £175 in 1987. In the 90s, £500 was about my limit, until the day I fell in love with an AVRI Strat and parted with nearly £1,000 for it. The next jump was to to £2,250 for a CS LP, of which £1,000 came from an inheritance. Since then I have generally paid between £1,000 and £2,000 for a guitar or bass.

As to what I would spend: A couple of years ago I tried a 60s SG Special in Manson's, and it was utterly fantastic. It was a 1964 at £6,800 (or possibly a 1968 at £6,400), but even if I had chopped in the CS LP and a PRS I would still have come up well short. Had I had the money, I would have bought it, but I hadn't, so I didn't.

And there's the rub - this question has two answers:
(1) £2,500;
(2) No limit, if I had the money a the time and the instrument spoke to me.

Philly_Q

Keefy said:

A couple of years ago I tried a 60s SG Special in Manson's, and it was utterly fantastic. It was a 1964 at £6,800 (or possibly a 1968 at £6,400), but even if I had chopped in the CS LP and a PRS I would still have come up well short. Had I had the money, I would have bought it, but I hadn't, so I didn't.

Fucking hell, I had a 1964 SG Special and I sold it for £950. 

Keefy

Philly_Q said:

Keefy said:

A couple of years ago I tried a 60s SG Special in Manson's, and it was utterly fantastic. It was a 1964 at £6,800 (or possibly a 1968 at £6,400), but even if I had chopped in the CS LP and a PRS I would still have come up well short. Had I had the money, I would have bought it, but I hadn't, so I didn't.

Fucking hell, I had a 1964 SG Special and I sold it for £950. 

D'oh!

Fortheloveofguitar

Most I’ve spent is £2499 on the 2017 R8 deals and that was the most I’ve ever spent with £1200 being my max before the R8

I did have a preorder for a £4399 Joe Perry gold rush CS. However I had a serious word with myself as to how ridiculous that amount was for a guitar that really isn’t worth that.

Preorder cancelled!

Musicwolf

Max that I have spent on one guitar was, from memory, £2,600.  That was about 5 or 6 years ago so about £3k in today's money.  I've then spent, again in today's money, >£1k on 6 others.  I still own all but 2 of them.

As a % of income what I spent on a second hand Rickenbacker bass in the early 80s is equivalent to >£9k out of today's salary.

imalrightjack

soma1975 said:

I can't remember who it was on here that agreed to get married saying if his wife got an engagement ring he could have a guitar of equal value... 

Anyway I have copied that and my GF has agreed. Now to save a shitload. I'm thinking custom shop 335 reissue so that much. 

Based on that, I could get a secondhand Squier. At best.

I’ve spent over £3k on second had PRS’. I paid nearly £3k for a custom build. I’d spend more if the cash was around for something special. But I’d probably sell it, as I usually do!

hessodreamy

I think the most I've paid was about £800 for a Rickenbacker 330. At the time it was more than I paid for more car (priorities!).

Thing is, I feel too precious about it and hate to gig with it, worried it'll get damaged or stolen. 

Though I've set myself a vague limit of a grand, though prices have started to creep up of late. I bought and sold a CIJ jag for about £350 only a few years ago and now people are asking nearer £900.

These days I could afford a second-hand Gibbo 335 but, as has been said, the increase in quality/enjoyment probably does start to taper off. 

At the end of the day I have separate the price/quality of the instrument from the quality of the playing and the music I'm making. It's only a small exaggeration to say if you're not going to sound good with an epiphone dot, you're not going to sound good with a custom shop Gibbo 335.

Grocer_Jack

The most I’ve spent is £1950 on a 1964 Jaguar (refin) about 7 years ago. I’m sure it’s worth £500 or so more now.  I will be spending significantly more than that for a ‘special’ birthday in 2.5 years time though - I’ve started saving already. Looking at vintage Strat/Tele/335/Gretsch probably. 

Moving up the Tele curve from a MIM to Am STD to AV64 was instructive - the Am STD was good, but the £1300 for the AV64 is money REALLY well spent. I did sell a Rickenbacker 330 for £1100 as a trade-up to get there. (Some regrets there, as it was a beautiful 2003 Blue Boy - lovely colour. Did anyone buy it from Wunjos about 4-5 years ago? ) 

In short the price point around £1K really works for me. 

JezWynd

 I only have one or occ two guitars at a time and I much prefer one good guitar to half a dozen average examples. Paid 2.5k+ for my 59 hollow body Gibson but I don’t think i’d pay anywhere near that for a new guitar. I’m okay with laying out if i’m convinced that I can recoup 80-90% of my investment if it’s needed and that won’t usually happen with new guitars.

westford

stimpsonslostson said:

I think I'd be nervous playing a guitar I'd spent lots of money on. 
My most expensive guitar is a Partscaster I invested £400 into. 

Maybe when my kids are older I might have more disposable income (& they'll be less "boisterous") THEN I'd consider buying an expensive guitar- I'd love a vintage LP Jr. 

I’m in the same boat, my 2yr old likes to “help” me play and fiddle around with tuning pegs and amp settings, etc. £4-500 would be the most I’d spend on a guitar until he’s older (basically what I’d be willing to fork out for a replacement if he trashed it). Have always fancied an LP too.

Nightswan

I've spent £4,000 each on a few custom shops with a few more to follow in that ball park. I'd happily spend £7-8k for the right guitar. Having said that I get just as much pleasure scoring a late 80's superstrat for £300-£400.