Guitar prices new and used today are just ridiculous

Voxman · September 2023

I'm completely allowing for normal inflation here but it seems to me that when I bought my guitars used they were all at realistic prices as compared to my salary at the time. My Les Paul cost me £650 and equated to around a week and a half's net salary. Now, even on a higher salary that has kept pace with inflation (moves, promotions, reviews, bonuses) , the equivalent today would be around a month's net salary.

Yet people are still paying these much higher prices and used prices have shot up because new prices have shot up. Brexit and Covid/lockdown have been huge contributing factors of course, but manufacturers have not only not corrected prices that were artificially over inflated, but have actually kept increasing them whilst still cutting back eg with some manufacturers no gig bag included when it used to be, and gig bags when a hard case was provided previously.

If I was trying to buy all the guitars I have now, even adjusting for guitar age ie newer versions, there is simply no way I could afford to buy all my equivalent guitars today.

Bellycaster · September 2023

Did you buy a New Les Paul for £650? What year was that? What was your job at the time? All important things to consider.

A week and a half's net salary varies a lot depending on what someone takes home.

I agree though, new prices are going up with a bang.

swiller · September 2023

I bought a USA standard strat in 1989 for 350 brand new. Which was discounted from £375-400 i think.
Recently got a S/H version of same year, same guitar £750, which pretty much is the going rate.

Pint of beer in 1989 - about £1.
Pint of beer 2023 £4-5

Think gibsons are OTT i agree, but fenders (especially 80s/90s SH USA standards) are v good vfm today.

DefaultM · September 2023

Buying used electric guitars as a hobby in itself is done for me now.

I’ve actually been playing them recently and it’s quite fun.

guitargeek62 · September 2023

I agree, but the economy’s not linear - an x% change in one thing rarely equates to x% change in another, and luxury goods usually get squeezed more because of scale and other factors.

willo · September 2023

swiller said:

I bought a USA standard strat in 1989 for 350 brand new. Which was discounted from £375-400 i think.
Recently got a S/H version of same year, same guitar £750, which pretty much is the going rate.

Pint of beer in 1989 - about £1.
Pint of beer 2023 £4-5

Think gibsons are OTT i agree, but fenders (especially 80s/90s SH USA standards) are v good vfm today.

Yeah I agree with this. There are some fair prices for Fenders out there. Gibson is just in a strange place with collectors craving certain finishes, flame, years etc. A certain mythology has built up around Les Pauls in particular. Fender still seems like, outside of Custom Shop, to be seen more as a player's tool.

willo · September 2023

Also, and I say this every time, but most new standard range guitars have kept pace with inflation - it's just that our wages haven't.

viz · September 2023

But it’s amazing also to think that a fairly shite superstratty type thing would cost 250-275 in the late 80s, and now 35 years later you can get an incredibly well put together and cool looking Ibanez for 300-500.

Voxman · September 2023

Bellycaster said:

Did you buy a New Les Paul for £650? What year was that? What was your job at the time? All important things to consider.

A week and a half's net salary varies a lot depending on what someone takes home.

I agree though, new prices are going up with a bang.

Used 1990 LPC bought in c2005. I'm just making the point that relevant to my earnings, prices are out of kilter even though my salary has kept up with inflation.

Sassafras · September 2023

It's about time we renamed The Fretboard "The Shocking Price of Guitars These Days!".

Voxman · September 2023

willo said:

swiller said:

I bought a USA standard strat in 1989 for 350 brand new. Which was discounted from £375-400 i think.
Recently got a S/H version of same year, same guitar £750, which pretty much is the going rate.

Pint of beer in 1989 - about £1.
Pint of beer 2023 £4-5

Think gibsons are OTT i agree, but fenders (especially 80s/90s SH USA standards) are v good vfm today.

Yeah I agree with this. There are some fair prices for Fenders out there. Gibson is just in a strange place with collectors craving certain finishes, flame, years etc. A certain mythology has built up around Les Pauls in particular. Fender still seems like, outside of Custom Shop, to be seen more as a player's tool.

Agreed re Gibson and LPs, and Fenders do seem to be a bit more realistically priced in comparison. PRS are also silly prices.

ICBM · September 2023

On the other hand, the quality of low- to mid-priced guitars is higher than it's ever been, so you could argue that in fact, guitar prices - if based on quality - have actually come down... it's just the high-end stuff which is daft.

theatreanchor · September 2023

I just paid £6.90 for 2/3 of a pint in Soho.

It was so nice, I had to have two.

I’ve also spent all day playing very expensive guitars and cheap guitars over the past few days. The best ones? The Sire H7v and Revstar. There were a couple of expensive ones that were far better - but I’m not paying £7k for a guitar.

My point - you can choose your price point and still get a fantastic guitar. It’s what you do with it that matters.

chrisj1602 · September 2023

Used asking prices are mostly ridiculous, almost the same as new, but not always achieved… I’ve watched a few R8 Les Pauls on eBay and they’re not moving and I’ve had decent-ish offers from sellers.

Stevepage · September 2023

viz said:

But it’s amazing also to think that a fairly shite superstratty type thing would cost 250-275 in the late 80s, and now 35 years later you can get an incredibly well put together and cool looking Ibanez for 300-500.

Problem is that shitty superstrat that some one bought for £200 then is now asking over £1000 for a battered up example. The old Charvels and Charvettes no one looked twice at are being put up for near their American counter parts.

It seems everyone is out to buy whatever they can at a low price then try their luck by asking 2-3 times more for it on eBay and reverb in hopes of some one just ignorant enough to just pay it.

Voxman · September 2023

ICBM said:

On the other hand, the quality of low- to mid-priced guitars is higher than it's ever been, so you could argue that in fact, guitar prices - if based on quality - have actually come down... it's just the high-end stuff which is daft.

Absolutely agree re you don't need to spend a fortune to get a good quality guitar.

guitargeek62 · September 2023

Voxman said:

Bellycaster said:

Did you buy a New Les Paul for £650? What year was that? What was your job at the time? All important things to consider.

A week and a half's net salary varies a lot depending on what someone takes home.

I agree though, new prices are going up with a bang.

Used 1990 LPC bought in c2005. I'm just making the point that relevant to my earnings, prices are out of kilter even though my salary has kept up with inflation.

I feel that you’re comparing average values to an extreme outlier there.

distressed · September 2023

This is debatable, especially if you take into account all these stories how almost everybody had like 1 guitar, 1 amp and few pedals well into beginning of this century.

Fortheloveofguitar · September 2023

So many great brands out there now that are still charging fair money for great spec guitars.

Forget the big guns like Gibson etc that are blatantly shafting people with ludicrous pricing. There’s so much better value elsewhere.

ditchboy · September 2023

I paid £1150 for my most recent strat, a pro ii. It’s absolutely superb and I’d consider it value for money. It’s the high end CS models which take the piss, is a CS 3 times as good as my pro? Absolutely not. Do I still want one? You bet.

Danielsguitars · September 2023

The more they go up makes hand made much more value for money or the higher end stuff anyway

6k or 7k is just nuts for a Gibson imo, I'd never have that sort of spare money kicking about.

Deadman · September 2023

I’m specifically looking at second hand standard US Teles and Strats at the moment. In my experience, a lot of the retailers are pricing significantly cheaper than private sellers. I’m seeing lots of retailers at around the £800-£900 mark whereas private sellers are still asking up to £1200 for the same spec guitars.

It’s an interesting time. I spend a lot of time scouring the markets most days and it’s become very obvious to me in the last couple of months.

TTony · September 2023

ditchboy said:

It’s the high end CS models which take the piss

Just the opposite really - they're meeting a market need, not taking the piss (albeit it's not a real need, it's a cleverly created-by-marketing want).

Same as other high-end branded / luxury consumer items. The brand owner has established a market position for their items (Gibson's is primarily "heritage" for a 50/60yr old guitarist, PRS is "quality/bling") which makes them aspirational for their target market.

If CS or Private Stock guitars were cheaper, they wouldn't generate the same "look what I've got" cachet for their owners and that market need would be unsatisfied.

We're all just consumers, trained to consume.

TTony · September 2023

Danielsguitars said:

The more they go up makes hand made much more value for money or the higher end stuff anyway

6k or 7k is just nuts for a Gibson imo, I'd never have that sort of spare money kicking about.

I'd much rather spend my money on something out of that branded mainstream, where the money is going on the materials and the skills of the person who creates it, rather than funding a marketing department, an HR department, interest payments to VC funds, executive offices, et al.

theatreanchor · September 2023

Deadman said:

I’m specifically looking at second hand standard US Teles and Strats at the moment. In my experience, a lot of the retailers are pricing significantly cheaper than private sellers. I’m seeing lots of retailers at around the £800-£900 mark whereas private sellers are still asking up to £1200 for the same spec guitars.

It’s an interesting time. I spend a lot of time scouring the markets most days and it’s become very obvious to me in the last couple of months.

I see a lot of this on Reverb - particularly with CS models. I’m almost unsure what things are even worth these days!

chris78 · September 2023

It's almost certainly a really good thing and hopefully prices will inflate further.

I'm as guilty as the worst on this forum for chopping, changing and having too much gear. I couldn't do that if guitars were out of reach. Consuming a lot less in an industry that's damaging for the planet would be good for us all.

Now, I'm just off to look at the classifieds.....

Voxman · September 2023

ditchboy said:

I paid £1150 for my most recent strat, a pro ii. It’s absolutely superb and I’d consider it value for money. It’s the high end CS models which take the piss, is a CS 3 times as good as my pro? Absolutely not. Do I still want one? You bet.

That's a great price & I'd consider that very good vfm too. But I've just had a brief look and current prices for brand new (albeit there's a blue £1379 ex display at Project Music), are a 'Dark Knight' SSS at GAK for £1,416.99 & PMT £1357.59, & for a Sunburst, White etc £1749 (Gear4Music/Absolute Music) with PMT/Reidy's at £1,599. So a fair bit of variation but nothing at £1150 that I can see.

Voxman · September 2023

theatreanchor said:

Deadman said:

I’m specifically looking at second hand standard US Teles and Strats at the moment. In my experience, a lot of the retailers are pricing significantly cheaper than private sellers. I’m seeing lots of retailers at around the £800-£900 mark whereas private sellers are still asking up to £1200 for the same spec guitars.

It’s an interesting time. I spend a lot of time scouring the markets most days and it’s become very obvious to me in the last couple of months.

I see a lot of this on Reverb - particularly with CS models. I’m almost unsure what things are even worth these days!

Yup, it's nuts.

Dominic · September 2023

ICBM said:

On the other hand, the quality of low- to mid-priced guitars is higher than it's ever been, so you could argue that in fact, guitar prices - if based on quality - have actually come down... it's just the high-end stuff which is daft.

This is absolutely true
You can get a fantastic guitar for relatively little money.....something like a recent Mex Tele
I have a Brad Paisley Tele ......it's easily the best tele I have ever played and I've had all the 'Masterbuilt' Nocaster etc etc etc
Thing is ,I suspect Guitar companies have long since realised that in today's world it's not the dream of most youngsters to play guitar in a band .............in fact it's about as cool as the oboe was when we were kids .......
So who is your market ?
Late middle aged sad old fucks who remember Led Zep /Hendrix / etc etc = disposable income , guitar fantasy , hobbyist etc etc etc
add salt and Price accordingly
Overall sales are probably 40% of what they were in 1980 .......so the need is to make extra profit from those sales
Marketing has become so much more clever/sophisticated .......so they rely on bullshit and snake oil and it works !
Fender Master-built strat £8000 .........yeah right .......I'll take the 6 year old Golf GTI with low mileage thanks

Pete.R · September 2023

I'm glad I've bought most of my current collection some years ago when prices were not that high (regardless if new or used),

on the other side, I could sell some of them now for more than I've paid......

hollywoodrox · September 2023

I nearly made a post earlier when I saw a neon pink MIM Charvel San dimas £1599
they’re hard to find in that colour I guess & I’ve always liked them but I’ve usually paid about £400 to £600 for used San Dimas in the past

https://reverb.com/uk/item/73516406-charvel-pro-mod-san-dimas-style-1-hh-fr-m-2016-2019-neon-pink

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Guitar prices new and used today are just ridiculous

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