How much would you pay for your dream guitar?

thecolourbox

I've resolved not to pay more than £500 for anything musical now (unless my living arrangements change and I've a spare room for a proper nice piano!) because the stuff I've had that cost more than that didn't feel any better for what I do than the equivalents that cost £200-£300 and they were much harder to sell on if I fancied a change or decided they weren't for me.

If I were to bust the budget for anything it would be an amp rather than a guitar though. Currently playing a Squier VM Mustang and it does for me what all the more expensive guitars I've had couldn't do and I can't really think how paying another grabs on top would make it any better really. Whereas amps sound more different than each other or have more variation in features so if I could get something I liked the sounds of with the right outputs and power ratings etc then I might venture above £500, however it's not likely. I've learnt to lose the vanity which encouraged "better" instruments and amps and realise that actually, I'm rubbish and therefore actually a Digitech modeller and a child size guitar is more than enough for me

stickyfiddle

I honestly don't know the answer to this. I honestly think I've already bought the best guitar I'll ever have in my CS-336, and I've had it almost 15 years. IIRC that cost 1300 used. My other "dream guitars" are a bitsa strat, an MIJ Tele and an MJT Jazzmaster, all of which were under 1k all-in.

I'd fairly happily spend up to 3k or so on another guitar that's up there in quality, but I'm finding those hard to find. I do wonder if a CS Strat (or even vintage) would be a nice thing to have, but I'm not sure whether I would actually get any more enjoyment or utility than I do with my old-faithful bitsa.

ICBM

Teflon said:

That's the thing though. I absolutely agree with you, £12.5K for a new (ish) solid body guitar with bolt on neck is seriously hard to justify. If I'm honest, I don't think these sort of limited run guitars are really intended as "work horse" musical instruments. but are instead aimed primarily at collectors. Unsurprisingly, the guitar in question is in pristine "as new" condition and has clearly been played rarely, if at all. Nothing wrong in that, as I believe all areas of the  market, (be they collectors or players) should be catered for.  

It does, though, place severe temptation in the path of folk like me!  If I'm honest, such a high end instrument would be wasted in my hands, and I seriously doubt I would notice any subtleties it may have to offer over either my Burns, or my CBS Strat. Truth be told, the money would be far better spent on lessons to get the most out of the instruments I already own.

I'd still love to have it though 

Just out of interest, is it a 'Jaguar' Strat? Or something similar...

I know value is what people will pay, but I don't see any evidence that anyone does, for this sort of thing - sellers and dealers advertise them at that sort of price, but that doesn't mean they actually sell for that. As a musical instrument it's not really going to be any different from any standard Strat either - they all vary, it may be a good one or it may not.

I know you don't have the money anyway, but even if you did then buying something like that would be a very unwise investment, I think. At least with vintage guitars there is a large market, and evidence that they do sell for at least something in the ballpark of that kind of money in the real world - although I struggle to understand why, when you play most of them...

For what it's worth that old Les Paul Custom was something very special as a musical instrument, and it would have been a very good investment at £4K at the time as it turns out, but even then I wouldn't pay the £25K or so it's now worth unless I'd won the lottery and money was literally no object.

Vibetronic

Whatever it took I think, as long as I could afford it, which I've already done so all good. I think the most expensive was £2.5k, but as long as it does what I want it to then I'm not too fussed about the price. Luckily I've never had any interest in vintage instruments, which is unlikely to change. 

Roland

LastMantra said:

I don't have a "dream" guitar. 

octatonic said:

For me there is no 'dream' guitar.

Let’s get the semantics out of the way. There is no “ultimate” guitar. That doesn’t stop me dreaming about the next build. As @axisus said:

axisus said:

My dream guitars are any built by me.

The current dream is another headless, with the same old Telecaster pickup choice. This time I’ll use a Hipshot tuner bridge rather than bastardising another Overlord. That will effectively double the price of the guitar.

p90fool said:

It depends what type of guitar it is. I built my own perfect Strat and Tele for about £550 each, 

My previous builds have all been around the £250 to £300 mark, so I guess the current dream will be £550 to £600 with an oil finish.

Now I know that this thread was meant to be about how much you’d spend to buy a guitar. That’s really two different questions: How much would I consider spending to buy a guitar, and What would I have to pay to buy the type of guitar which I’d like? If I were buying then it would be from one of our small UK builders. They need to be designing and selling instruments around the £2,500 price point if they are to make a decent living. Just think of the hours that go into a build, plus the tooling and other workshop costs. So the answer must be £2,000 to £3,000. However I’d get more fun out of spending that sort of money on a bandsaw and a planer/thicknesser.

RaymondLin

thegummy said:

Depends on our financial situations really. I imagine I'm less wealthy than the majority of forum users so for me it wouldn't matter how good a guitar was, I couldn't possibly spend 12 grand - or even a quarter of that - on a guitar.

If I was a millionaire I'd spend more than 12 grand probably.

I think it's a better question for people in the middle; who could pay 12 grand for a guitar and not suffer but not without noticing it.

If I was in that middle ground I don't think even the nicest guitar I've ever seen would make me pay 12 grand. Maybe half that for a couple of the nicest PRS Private Stocks I've seen (they might even cost more than that).

Luckily my tastes aren't expensive though, my "dream guitar" would basically just be the Strat I've got but maybe with the body swapped for one with a "closet classic" nitro finish but even then it's purely for aesthetics.

Pretty much, it is all relative.

Personally, I think the near top level of most brands is my limit.  That means I am happy to spend money on a Custom Shop Strat, but not Master Build.  I am happy to buy a R8, but not a Tom Murphy one or not even a R9 (I know you can get a flame R8 and a light R8 just like a R9 so just have to wait).  I would pay for a core PRS but not a wood library one etc.

About £3k thereabouts is my limit but I would wait for used or sale when it is nearer to £2k-£2500.  That's my limit in terms of a number.

Lewy

My "dream" guitar is a 1937 D-28 which would run to around £50-70k - If I was ever in a position to afford it without materially affecting the security of my family, I'd spend it, but I can't see that happening any time soon!

LuttiS

I find justifying spending money on guitars quite hard.. When i was gigging on a regular basis, i had a £250 guitar that came everywhere with me, and i never really thought seriously about getting another one.. possibly i had dreams of an 80's Jackson soloist in yellow bengal finish.. but never anything i would seriously act on.. think they were around £1200 at the time. 

I have only once impulse bought a guitar, it was just under £500, more than i really had to spare, and pretty close to a dream guitar. Unfortunately it lived in a case for the majority of time i've had it.. time, destructive baby, space etc, so only the original £250 was generally played, as that could hide behind a chair and was a bit tougher when dealing with children.. 

Little while ago started to get the itch again, for a Manson EVO-2.. (no longer available with the 2019 range.. ) again, this was around £1200. 

Moving house, more space, less destructive child, more time, and the "new" guitar has emerged from it's case. And i remembered why i impulse bought it.. 

So i guess the answer would be possibly up to £1200.. but i've come pretty close to a dream guitar with £500 and i'm not sure i'm going to do much better. 

axisus

Lewy said:

My "dream" guitar is a 1937 D-28 which would run to around £50-70k - If I was ever in a position to afford it without materially affecting the security of my family, I'd spend it, but I can't see that happening any time soon!

That is insane money! I can't see how anyone could justify that unless they are a multi-millionaire! Just think of the insurance money, house security etc.

Lewy

axisus said:

Lewy said:

My "dream" guitar is a 1937 D-28 which would run to around £50-70k - If I was ever in a position to afford it without materially affecting the security of my family, I'd spend it, but I can't see that happening any time soon!

That is insane money! I can't see how anyone could justify that unless they are a multi-millionaire! Just think of the insurance money, house security etc.

Not insane money in the context of musical instruments like violins, cellos, grand pianos etc. If you don't consider that any guitars are sufficiently special to be part of that pantheon then that's an opinion you are entitled to hold but I respectfully disagree.

As for justification, my personal joy is pretty high up the list of justifying factors, so as long as it's not at the expense of others, I don't feel that further justification is required.

It's really an academic argument, though, because the sacrifice required to free up that cash would impact my kids' lives negatively and I wouldn't do that.

lovestrat74

Sorry, couldn't resist 

ToneControl

octatonic said:

For me there is no 'dream' guitar.
My dream is to be surrounded about 20-30 high end guitars with different form factors, capabilities, shape, colour etc.
I have achieved my dream.

£3.5k is about as much as I will pay for a single instrument.
I mostly buy around £2k and used.
I've got 2 custom made guitars that were towards my upper limit and two more coming.

same here, but I would pay a little more for a top level acoustic

earwighoney

Lewy said:

My "dream" guitar is a 1937 D-28 which would run to around £50-70k - If I was ever in a position to afford it without materially affecting the security of my family, I'd spend it, but I can't see that happening any time soon!

There are some great guys making pre war style repros of 'unobtanium' Martins/Larson Bros for more affordable price tags, the downside is they growing waiting lists.  I myself had one made for my search which was one of the rarest production pre war Martins (1938 00-21S).  Pre war Larson Bros guitars are sometimes almost as expensive as Martins, and seem to have no replacement and to my ears there's no replacement but I'd be happy with a repro. 

Personally, after owning some very nice guitars, acoustics and flamenco guitars I myself have to appreciate I do not own 'dream' guitars but guitars be it very nice ones or otherwise - but most importantly they just guitars - tools for making music. 

57Deluxe

my dream guitar would only be as good as my ability to play it to any degree, so would be purely aesthetic criteria in reality. £2-3K then would be a tad exorbitant, but I did snag my 335 for much less than retail and would have eventually paid what would have been required.

builttospill

Neil said:

Realistically - £1500.

I could afford more but to be honest, my playing doesn't warrant it.

£1500 would be my absolute limit,  the most I've ever spent on a single electric was £1300 (a used K-Line San B from Coda Music) I think my next dream guitar would have to be a used K-Line Truxton in either Butterscotch Blonde/LPB/CAR. The most expensive guitar I currently have in my tiny hands is a Northern Ireland built Lowden L27 F, it's on loan from my stepfather and it's a stunning acoustic, my Taylor 415 has gone in the opposite direction as my stepfather prefers the neck profile on the Taylor.  

crunchman

I bought my "dream guitar" in 1999, and ended up selling it 3 or 4 years later because the PRS wide-thin neck didn't help my wrist.  PRS pickups aren't great either.

My tastes have changed now, and that wouldn't be my dream guitar any more, but I'm not sure there is one "dream guitar".  There are times I want a Tele, times I want a Strat, times I want a 335, and times I want a Les Paul.  There is no one gutiar that can do it all.

I'm closer with amps.  I have a very early Lazy J 20, which is as good it gets.

If I had the money, I might go to someone like Turnstone or Atkin to build me a really nice acoustic.  I guess that might be in the £4k range.

stratman3142

I have no interest in vintage guitars, so that saves me a lot of money . Also, I'd have to try a guitar first to see how it plays and sounds.

The most I've paid so far is for a new 2014 Les Paul Standard, which was just over £2K (new). And I had to try a lot of Les Pauls over a long period before I found that one.

Rather than have a specific dream guitar in mind, I dream of having a collection of different types of high end guitars. To complete my collection, my eye has currently been caught by the following guitar types (subject to trying them first). I expect I could add to this list.

Gibson SG Standard (Cherry)
Ibanez JEM (or maybe an RG550 as a less expensive option)
PRS Custom 24 (something like the faded whale blue)
Charvel Guthrie Govan Signature HSH Flame

So that places it at around £3K for the guitar (new prices), unless you add them all together which would be £10K or upwards. Not that I'll ever have the money for all of that.

HAL9000

I buy all my dream guitars from a surreal guitar emporium. :-) 

Teflon

Some great comments folk, it's interesting to see things from others view points. Just for completion, the object of my desire is here: https://www.oasismusic.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000002.pl?WD=crs&PN=Used%2dFender%2dGuitars%2ehtml#aCrs59 (fist one on the list: Fender 50th Anniversary).

I just might buy a cheap Fender lookalike tweed case from Amazon, keep it locked, and then tell myself that I've bought the guitar but lost the case key. That would work, wouldn't it?

TeleMaster

uncledick said:

TeleMaster said.  

My 64 Strat is a refin, valued at between £8-10k, depending on the day. I swapped a couple of nice guitars for it. It was my dream guitar. 

I prefer my 2017 Postmodern CS Tele over it. I still love it but I prefer playing that Tele. 

Weird isn’t it. 

Back in the day, my brother had a 64 Strat which I played on occasion and, to be honest, I hated it.  The body weighed a ton and the neck angle was all wrong (didn't have the internet to learn about this stuff then).  As well as that, the bridge pickup had such a thin sound it was unusable.  He sold it with his Twin Reverb for £400 the pair.

To answer the OP's question, I guess around £5k,  Either a nice PRS ME1 stop tail or maybe an old LP Junior.

Well, it’s definitely not that lol. It’s about 7.4lbs and the neck is amazing, it’s amazingly worn in and it intonates perfectly. Pickups are a subjective thing. If you don’t like them, change them. Even in a golden era guitar. 

But I do prefer that Tele.