How much would you spend on one guitar?

Iamnobody

I found that as soon as I’d broken a price barrier the next level up didn’t seem as stupid/unachievable.

A few years ago a £500 guitar would have been a ‘lot’ for me. As I’ve got older and now earn more I’ve bought (and sold) plenty in that price range. Then I went over £1k and quickly over £2k.

I’ts an addiction - like the transition from a recreational to a hard drug habit. 

If I was buying a guitar now I’d hesitate at £2k but £1k is reasonable and in my mind/current situation normal.

That said my favourite guitar cost ~ £250ish used (and imported) and is a MIM 69 Thinline Telecaster.

Garthy

My most expensive was £379 bought with paper round money (I'm not the kid from the story though). It was  from every penny I had earned and money saved from Christmas and a birthday. I would still struggle to justify to myself spending much more than that now, second hand or new. £4k on a guitar? No, not even with a Euromillions win.

Grocer_Jack

Fifty guineas and not a penny more

Teetonetal

TommyVercetti said:

aord43 said:

guitars4you said:

I mentioned this before - But I could not enjoy spending 5K or 10K on a new kitchen - No emotional gain whatsoever for me and my poached eggs would not be any better - But 5-10K on a guitar is feasible or indeed 5/10K on a trip to watch the British Lions tour NZ or the cricket team on an Ashes tour would be a joy (even a shit tour like this one)

At least a kitchen or similar gets you some big, chunky, heavy stuff that suggests it's worth thousands.
I struggle to understand the obvious difference between a £500 and a £5000 guitar.  One day I will have to play a high-end one to see for myself

Well, quite. It's the law of diminishing returns. A £500 guitar will be a lot better than a £250 one. A £1000 guitar will be quite a bit better than a £500 one. A £2000 one will be a bit better than the £1000 one. The £4000 one will be a little bit nicer than the £2000 one, the £8000 one will be a tiny bit better than the £4000 one etc etc

it's not like, say, houses or cars where there are almost infinite variables that can change as you spend more money.

But with guitars it's not consistantly true. Not even close. At least in my experience. Too often with fender you pay for the USA labour, a relic job or better pups. And gibsons are all over the shop.

Forget price and name tags.

spark240

Biggest spend to date about £2k on my PRS 513 which I got myself for my 50th, and Im pleased to say I think its worth it.

  I think Im a " nice guitar" owner , not really an investor so theres a lot of nice guitars from around £500 - £3k , after that personally I think your in investor territory.....maybe one day.

dindude

I recently bought a guitar for £2k which is the most I’ve spent. That was really me updating my previous imposed limit of £1600. I count myself lucky as I don’t seem to be drawn to the REALLY expensive stuff. I was recently browsing the World Guitars site and amazed at how little I liked and would actually buy money no object. After a certain point you are into things I don’t personally go for, I.e. relics and bling.

When you’re into non-relic’d, solid colour bolt ons, £2k buys you top end stuff pretty much.

MagicPigDetective

I used my 40th birthday to justify buying a new Strat for £1160. With two young kids and a mortgage, I would not go higher, and will be looking well below 1k for my next purchase. In fact I'm considering going for a Vintage rather than a proper Les Paul. Hopefully sometime in the future I will be able to justify spending much more   

DrCornelius

Pretty much every guitar I’ve bought as an adult I bought knowing that when I had to sell it I’d get my money back or at least most of it. I don’t buy new so this site has been a godsend :-)

If I had the money I’d happily spend £10k ( the most I’ve spent so far is £6500) knowing that I’m enjoying renting it until the time comes when my better half taps me on the shoulder and says ‘we need a new kitchen/car/front leg for the dog’

I get so much pleasure out of guitars but I try not to fall in love with them as they nearly always make way for something important or to fund another guitar that has caught my eye.

Ive had to trim the collection right down recently to fund loads of building works but I’ve concentrated most of my funds into a lovely Musicman Valentine which for a Tele fan like me ticks all the boxes.

TommyVercetti

guitars4you said:

TommyVercetti said:

aord43 said:

guitars4you said:

I mentioned this before - But I could not enjoy spending 5K or 10K on a new kitchen - No emotional gain whatsoever for me and my poached eggs would not be any better - But 5-10K on a guitar is feasible or indeed 5/10K on a trip to watch the British Lions tour NZ or the cricket team on an Ashes tour would be a joy (even a shit tour like this one)

At least a kitchen or similar gets you some big, chunky, heavy stuff that suggests it's worth thousands.
I struggle to understand the obvious difference between a £500 and a £5000 guitar.  One day I will have to play a high-end one to see for myself

Well, quite. It's the law of diminishing returns. A £500 guitar will be a lot better than a £250 one. A £1000 guitar will be quite a bit better than a £500 one. A £2000 one will be a bit better than the £1000 one. The £4000 one will be a little bit nicer than the £2000 one, the £8000 one will be a tiny bit better than the £4000 one etc etc

it's not like, say, houses or cars where there are almost infinite variables that can change as you spend more money.

agree it is a diminishing returns syndrome - but if you can feel it, hear it, want it and can afford it then no competition many times - can't ever get excited about looking at my kitchen

Couldn't agree more! 

GuyR

So you agree then?

munckee

GuyR said:

So you agree then?

I think he has demonstrated he agrees.

richardhomer

GuyR said:

So you agree then?

Still seems to be some level of equivocation to me....

GuyR

I thought it not entirely unequivocal, that is why I asked. Now I look again, he does seem fairly set on the notion.

Bucket

I like really nice expensive things as much as the next guy, but I can't see myself ever spending more than about 3-3.5k on any newer guitar. That's still an absolute hill of money, and I would feel very bad about exceeding it I think.

Something old... maybe an extra thousand or two on top of that, depending on how good it was.

axisus

My sensible max was £1.5k, but then I did hit around £2k a few years ago when something really special showed up. But I've bought my last guitar so it's not an issue any more

ellwood

The most I have spent is £6k...but £500 - £1500 is comfortable territory. Even then I have to think do I really want it. £2k is a big step. Currently debating back and forth on a purchase....

menamestom

£500 - £1000 for me.  The reason is with a good set up, anything in this range can be a great instrumet, but giggable without worrying too much about theft / damage.   I have 3 electrics and 2 acoustics, which is about as much as I can own space wise without them getting on my nerves, and everything I have needs to be able to be gigged.  Also in the bolt-on world, it’s easy to assemble a top notch instrument for this budget.

No doubt if I tried something out which really felt right and was 3k, I’d want it, but that never really happens.  I’m much more likely to look at something for 3k and think I should sell everything and get it but then trying it is a dissapointment.

I know guitar can be about collecting as well, nothing wrong with that but most of the best players I know seem to have the more humble instruments, especially those who do it as a job.  

Philly_Q

I've bought a lot of guitars over the last 35 years, and the average cost per guitar has gradually crept up, beyond the rate of inflation (although looking back, I did buy a few £1,000+ guitars even as far back as 20 years ago).

The most expensive guitar I've ever bought was £2,700 and I think I've owned five others over the £2,000 mark, but at the moment I don't see myself going much higher.  I guess I might for something really special, but I don't have anything in mind.  At this point £5,000+ for a Gibson True Historic (or whatever they're now called) still seems crazily expensive and I wouldn't dream of paying it, although I guess I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it if I wanted.

Having said all that, my spending pattern has totally changed - if I look back a few years I was sometimes buying as many as 10 or 12 guitars in a year, mostly in the £500-£1,000 range, and I sold nearly all of them.  The recent purchases were more expensive, but there were a lot fewer of them and most are keepers.

musicman100

More than I dare to admit on here lol

Grocer_Jack

I do think you get what you pay for, broadly speaking, up to about £1000-1500, but thereafter I couldn't justify the extra. A used custom shop Fender might be an exception but I wouldn't want to go above 2 Grand. I'm a skinflint so any sizeable purchase as above means I have to sell stuff to fund it. I always buy used. Another rule is that it has to gig ready with no more than a set up. No project money-pits for me, although I know that's the fun of it for many. 

On the other hand if my 'nice' guitars all went I'd probably be happy enough with a MIM Strat or Tele.