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Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
Sure, there might be the "in 25 years..." argument, but since when have any of us kept gear for 25 years? There might be one or two pieces, but that's about it for most of us. In 25 years' time, at least a third of us will be in the ground and the rest will have moved on the vast majority of our gear, and almost all of that gear's going to be gathering dust in the corner or in landfill anyway - whether it's booteek or not.
It doesn't really have any bearing on value, either. Apart from a few unicorn pieces (eg Klon), the majority of hand-built stuff is unknown to the majority of the market, and thus will always sell for a fraction of its original price. Guitars, pedals, amps...the more unique they are, the less you can get for them on the used market.
So...buy for what you need now, not for what you think you'll need in 20 years' time...because I can almost guarantee that you won't.
But there are really interesting things out there and they ain't easy to make. I have a wonderful 3-in-1 pedal that has two clones and an original circuit, and I have a super cheap, crap built Aria pedal in the shape of a foot that is probably my favourite fuzzstortiondrive ever. So much so I bought a second one, and if I see one I'll get a third because it will break - and no one has even documented a schematic for it.
We're spoilt for choice
I would add, some manufacturers make incredible innovative designs that stand out and nobody buys them. Boss made the adaptive distortion, for example. The industry collectively ignored it, despite it being absolutely brilliant and now they're hard to find, discontinued and more expensive than retail - all while people were falling over themselves over a rehoused made in China £20 pedal with freekish blues written on it.
We're a funny bunch.
For me there is something in the finer margins with pricier gear (diminishing returns and all that), that you can't get in the lower price ranges. That doesn't mean cheaper guitars are shite, far from it.
What that does mean is that there is someone for everyone in all ranges, and I also agree with what you say, it's never been a better time to start playing because a lot of lower priced stuff is simply bargainous compared to the shite we had growing up.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
Maybe. Probably a factor to some extent.
I also have far more expensive USA guitars, which do look nicer and are put together a bit better but so far as sound and playability are concerned there isn’t much, if anything in it …
So there’s the choice, be a big name snob and fork out, or play it cool with a non descript and let your fingers do the talk and the walk
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
I often look at the cheap clone knockoff pedals and wonder whether I'm the idiot. We spend more on some of our components than those pedals cost retail. The maximum of a run we've done in one go has been 500 units (which is a lot i know). But compare that to machine made consumer electronics pumped out in the thousands and you can see why we don't benefit from economies of scale and so stuff costs more. We spend a lot on R&D for pedals we design, the pedal coming next for instance has taken years to design and engineer everything custom from the case to the PCB etc.
Cheap stuff is cheap for a reason, and for some peoples tastes thats good enough. Others (like myself) like to support smaller brands. I only buy things when i know the quality is higher because if you boil it down nobody needs anything they buy for fun to survive. Therefore if its going to be for fun, you might as well enjoy the best version of the thing you can afford, life is too short.
Agreed, and that helps distort people's image of price changes. I bought a Boss GT-3 a few years ago that had the original receipt in with it: £399 in 1998. Using the BoE inflation calculator, £399 in 1998 is £750 now. Well, a Stomp XL is £600. A Pod Go is £400. Overall a Pod Go beats the crap out of a GT-3 so in some regards we get way more for our money that we used to.
I bought my Epi Dot in November 2000 from the much missed Peter Cook's Guitar World. £329 it cost complete the the hilarity of ordering by phone, them taking the card details, sending me the Switch receipt in the post, and me sending it back to them once I'd signed it. Ah, the good ol' days... £329 in 2000 is now £598 in 2024. Andertons have the Epiphone ES-335 priced at £599. Go to Coda and you can pick them up for £500. The modern Epi 335 is a better made instrument than my Dot. No question. Better pickups, better tuners, better hardware, better finishing.
This exactly.
If I sold guitar gear, I'd have a very expensive top-end as well. Look at the sodding Rolex thread here, loads of posters showing off their wealth and/or knowledge of expensive watches - fair play to them BTW - but you can see the crossover to guitar gear and the market that clearly exists for a high-end.
You'd be daft to NOT cater to a market because you are worried people not in said market consider you expensive.
However...
I think two products for me sum up just how CHEAP gear is at the minute.
Squier Classic Vibe
Boss Katana
Pair those two for < £500 and you have a perfectly giggable rig in any venue, any time. For the "bedroom" guitarist, which many of us are, you are in hog heaven.
Don't like those? Well don't worry, because they started a flood of super-affordable products with exceptional capabilities which mean you can, with some confidence go "wow - I'd love to try a Mustang... I could get a Squier Bullet for £120!"
Truly, it is a great time to be a guitar player.
They all use limited materials/resources to make, regardless of price.
It might be a great time to be a guitar player, but possibly not for an ecologically aware guitar player?
The counter is of course that people still need work, and with sustainable woods and clean energy, we can still produce and consume to a certain extent.
Either way, you would look at a lot of other industries before you got anywhere near guitars, fashion for example...
Can confirm, we put things together here in Buckingham. Our other manufacturing processes; SMD, Through-hole and test work are also conducted in the UK.
A wonderful time to be a player, great options at almost every price!
If I lost it all tomorrow and needed a set of kit to gig, I'd get a Jet of some type and a Mk2 katana W/gafc and a TU3. Boom.
If anyone is interested in parting with £hundreds (or more) for this hand built one-off, please pm me