How much would you pay for your dream guitar?

ICBM · October 2019

For a solidbody or semi-acoustic guitar it would be around a couple of grand at the absolute outside, and probably much less than that really. I've only once paid over two grand for a guitar, and very quickly regretted it since the neck profile, which had seemed so nice in the shop, quickly turned out to give me hand cramps. I would have to think very hard before spending over a grand on any guitar now. On the other hand I still regret not buying an original 50s Les Paul Custom for nearly £4K, and that was twenty years ago now...

phil_b · October 2019

my dream guitar would cost £150 that way I could afford to buy it

LastMantra · October 2019

I don't have a "dream" guitar.

Teflon · October 2019

richardhomer said:

………... But here’s the thing - good though it was - these things simply aren’t worthy of ‘today’s prices’ as musical instruments.

I’m firmly of the view that there are plenty of instruments around now that are perfectly decent tools for making music on at sensible money....

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

darthed1981 · October 2019

Couple of grand at the upper limit, and then I'd have to have played it and feel it was a guitar I'd pick up every single day.

For most instruments, about 1k.

roberty · October 2019

Got first refusal on a '56 Junior next year... played it at a session about 10-15 years ago and never quite got over it. It's a scary amount of money but you know

My LP Custom is the one though, it's '57 RI with headstock repair. Weighs a ton but is super resonant. Talked Coda down to £2.1k which I think was a reasonable dealer price. Never saw myself with a custom but always admired them

viz · October 2019

All my guitars cost less than 1k each; my dream guitar was £350. I should think 1.5-2k would be the upper limit to get you really amazing quality; anything beyond that is a luxury (which is fine if you can afford it!)

guitargeek62 · October 2019

~£2.5k for an electric, maybe more for an acoustic if it was truly special. Even then, I struggle to justify (to myself!) spending much more than a grand on a guitar when there are so many good options out there for less. If I played more regularly and/or gigged I’d probably feel differently, but it’s purely for my enjoyment of making noise and admiring the workmanship.

markslade07 · October 2019

My current max is about £500 and with 3 kids I doubt I’ll go above that anytime soon.

However, I have been trying to work out where I could genuinely get £3k from to buy a Novo Serus J

rossyamaha · October 2019

I’ve actually just seen mine. Original ES345. The guitar that started it all. £8.3k. If I had the money I would pay that in a heartbeat.

Maynehead · October 2019

I spent £1100 on my dream guitar (which, coincidentally, is exactly the same as what I spent on my dream amp).

I can afford to spend a lot more, but in my mind it would be stupid of me to do so on something that has so little intrinsic value. Even spending that much was predicated by a week of agonising over the justification for it, considering the next most expensive guitar I ever bought was £530

uncledick · October 2019

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.

axisus · October 2019

I have several dream guitars already, and they were a few hundred each. My dream guitars are any built by me, I don't want other guitars any more.

Garthy · October 2019

A grand tops.

rossi · October 2019

Not sure maybe something like one of those B&G hollows with p90's and a sensible neck or maybe a ES 135 .I play finger style jazz as well as electric blues all finger style .A smaller Midtown would be great ,Maybe an CS 336 would fit the bill .Its almost a Midtown so maybe two grand tops .

sweepy · October 2019

I had my dream Les Paul built but it only reinforced why I'm not a Les Paul kinda player, hence its for sale

viz · October 2019

guitargeek62 said:

~£2.5k for an electric

That’s cheap.

thegummy · October 2019

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.

soma1975 · October 2019

I don't have £3k but realistically speaking £3k would be the tops if I had it spare.

Neil · October 2019

Realistically - £1500.

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

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

How much would you pay for your dream guitar?

Comments