What kind of ridiculous is this?

kentuckyklira

https://www.thomann.de/de/gibson_sj_200_100_years_of_flat_tops.htm?utm_source=meta&utm_campaign=alwayson&utm_medium=paidsocial&media_type=image&utm_content=mid&fbclid=IwY2xjawRaAOBleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqy8cptyIvnNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzQwOTk2MjYyMzA4NTYwOQABHr3_MJbfCj7Ym1KRPibD_b528O0jNbjossyt19uoI3eVooZFoOGQ9UA6jkJv_aem_gF0g925ULBxapMI5dNztOQ&utm_id=120211246076120654&utm_term=120211246076110654

thermionic

That page is in German and uses the European style of denoting a thousand with a full stop rather than the comma we are used to. The price is not €139…

hollywoodrox

What I have to ask myself is would Ronnie Play it 

SlopeSoarer

https://www.thomann.co.uk/gibson_sj_200_100_years_of_flat_tops.htm

Crikey... though it does have 30 day money back guarantee!

And it is currently ranked 51 in sales position!

DavidR

So a highly ornate SJ200 for £28.8K. 

There’s a long tradition of intensely inlaid stringed instruments. One assumes for intensely rich players. The question is whether or not you like them. 

I do like this one actually. The inlays, especially on the pick guard, are really well done. There is a balance to the design of the decoration. Even the unnecessarily complex panel of inlays on the back is a bit cool imho. 

As an object it’s quite beautiful. I’d love to see one. They will all end up behind a glass case somewhere eventually, or locked away unplayed by some wealthy owner. 

The thing that makes me sit up about an acoustic though is the tone, comfort and personal playability. But especially tone. Nearly all guitars are desirable to a player at some level but bling is not the main thing except to collectors. 

As to the guitar from Gibson’s perspective, it’s a celebration both of what they can do and a commemoration of the SJ200 being a great instrument.

Top marks. 

DavidR

Also, this sort of beauty does come a lot cheaper if that’s your thing. 

Sigma SOOR-45VS. Pretty little inlaid OO with as beautiful a slotted headstock as you’ll find anywhere. About £1.3K

Eastman AC630 BD Jumbo. A gorgeous matching white wood (Engleman Spruce/flame Maple) instrument finished off with inlays (although less intensely) and gold fittings. Just drop-dead gorgeous. About £3K. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course. We will all have our favourites. No idea how either play. 

(Nor the Expensive SJ200 for that matter - but I suspect quite well!  )

ICBM

I love that - although I would actually prefer a more subtle sunburst - it’s beautiful, and actually a lot less over the top than some of Martin’s “art” guitars, which is quite astonishing for Gibson, they’re not known for for their tastefulness usually - but the price is ridiculous.

But if I could afford it I would happily play it, including in public - I’m sure it sounds good, there’s no part of the decoration that would affect the sound. The machineheads would need changing though, I’ve never liked those - standard keystones would fit .

MikeP

Should have a mots fretboard...

ElectricXII

It's the kind of thing a Russian oligarch would buy for his "niece" to play on TikTok.

Bowks

I prefer this: https://www.thomann.co.uk/martin_guitar_d_300.htm?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1581403900&gbraid=0AAAAADuDMCXaIIZyFHhC0pEbTdNqfUIpC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkrzPBhCqARIsAJN460nbil1LNsBWrEYuEPqeyXyE4Virynt5-fL1-CNpJTa9xvuvZZ3SNVcaAubAEALw_wcB ;

ICBM

Bowks said:

I prefer this: https://www.thomann.co.uk/martin_guitar_d_300.htm

That's exactly what I meant about the Gibson being unusually more tasteful than Martin's "art" guitars .

I also think the "art" on the Martin will affect the sound, since the top has so much extra wood added to it, it's effectively ply.

And it's almost *three times* the price of the Gibson!

Kilgore

I have an almost puritanical distaste for 'bling' so this isn't for me.

ICBM

Kilgore said:

I have an almost puritanical distaste for 'bling' so this isn't for me.

Me too, but I think there’s a difference between bling and art. I don’t mind the Martin - although it’s not something I would want to own - but I really do like the Gibson.

Likewise, I detest quilt-top, gold hardware, sunburst PRSs… but love PRS Dragons, especially the 2000, and I’d happily own one - and gig it - if I could afford to.

I’m not going to claim this is logical

Soupman

I can't understand the reasoning behind that Martin. They're supposed to be guitar builders (I thought), not makers of luxury trinkets for American and Russian oligarchs.
Here was me whinging on a week or two back about the pickguards on a Gibson dove! 

octatonic

Ah yes… the Gibson SJ-200 100 Years of Flat-Tops, a guitar so extravagantly festooned it looks like it lost a fight with a Victorian wallpaper showroom and won on appeal.

Here is a brief list of things I would rather do than be forced to play or even be in the room with this monstrosity:

Spend a fortnight trapped in a lift with a man who insists his ukulele is a Stradivarius, and demonstrates this hourly using only “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” played in D minor while weeping.

Be forced to explain MIDI clock drift to a colony of mildly hostile ferrets who believe DIN sync is a form of witchcraft.

Polish every chrome part of a 1970s drum kit owned by a man called Nigel who says “it’s got mojo” while eating pickled eggs directly from his pockets.

Sit through a three-hour lecture on tonewoods delivered by a someone from TGP, which insists that alder is a state of mind.

Record an entire prog rock opera using only kazoos, teacups, and an angry goose named Trevor who refuses to stay in time unless bribed with digestive biscuits.

Go to Wales.

Nitefly

^^Come down off that fence at once!