What would persuade you to spend £20,000 on a guitar?

Ted

Well said Philly Q .... except if you could Harrison's strange mojo in your fingertips when you played his tele - then you might want it .. or not

Voxman

Philly_Q said:

@goldtop ;;; Good points, I totally understand what you're saying - and I do think there's something inherently "special" about old things, not just guitars.  I don't for one second believe that any kind of "magic" has soaked in over time, but to me the very fact that something has survived for decades, acquired that patina of age and wear, gives it something, even if it's no more than sentimental attachment.

Applying that to guitars, if I had a guitar that I had owned for 30 or 40 years it would be special to me - even if if was a spectacularly average example of its type.  But I'm not comfortable owning a guitar that someone else owned for 30 or 40 years.  It's got their wear, their sentimental attachment - and there's also a "not worthy" element because whoever they were, they played that guitar better than I ever will.

And I certainly wouldn't want BB King's or George Harrison's haunted old guitars.

I know exactly what you mean @Philly_Q . I've owned my 1969 hardtail Strat for over 40 yrs now, and I could never part with it not because its the most wonderful Strat I've ever played (although it is pretty nice) but  simply because of the attachnent, personal history and all those gigs we did together over all those years that makes it special to me.

ICBM

Voxman said:

I know exactly what you mean @Philly_Q . I've owned my 1969 hardtail Strat for over 40 yrs now, and I could never part with it not because its the most wonderful Strat I've ever played (although it is pretty nice) but  simply because of the attachnent, personal history and all those gigs we did together over all those years that makes it special to me.

I know what you mean too. I have a 1971 Martin D12-35 12-string, which I've had since 1989 and used on every serious recording project I've ever been part of. Last year a friend was selling a D12-20... it was cheaper, and I actually preferred it as a guitar, so the first thing that occurred to me was that I should buy it, sell mine and pocket the difference - probably about £500. But I couldn't do it.

That's why the only £20,000 guitar I would buy is that '56 Les Paul Custom. I also did some recording with it, and to this day it's the best electric guitar I've ever played - you can hear it on the recording, it sounds very different to the other guitars I used. I wouldn't even be interested in a '58-'59 Standard, unless it was special in the same way. (Assuming I wasn't allowed to simply sell it for the profit.)

Ted

ICBM said:

Voxman said:

I know exactly what you mean @Philly_Q . I've owned my 1969 hardtail Strat for over 40 yrs now, and I could never part with it not because its the most wonderful Strat I've ever played (although it is pretty nice) but  simply because of the attachnent, personal history and all those gigs we did together over all those years that makes it special to me.

I know what you mean too. I have a 1971 Martin D12-35 12-string, which I've had since 1989 and used on every serious recording project I've ever been part of. Last year a friend was selling a D12-20... it was cheaper, and I actually preferred it as a guitar, so the first thing that occurred to me was that I should buy it, sell mine and pocket the difference - probably about £500. But I couldn't do it.

That's why the only £20,000 guitar I would buy is that '56 Les Paul Custom. I also did some recording with it, and to this day it's the best electric guitar I've ever played - you can hear it on the recording, it sounds very different to the other guitars I used. I wouldn't even be interested in a '58-'59 Standard, unless it was special in the same way. (Assuming I wasn't allowed to simply sell it for the profit.)

Is it possible that say Chuck Berry or maybe the Shadows had that 56 as their go-to instrument? Might that explain why it sounded so special?

Philly_Q

Ted said:

Is it possible that say Chuck Berry or maybe the Shadows had that 56 as their go-to instrument? Might that explain why it sounded so special?

To my surprise, I found a picture of Hank Marvin with a Les Paul.



I also found a picture of him in 1485 after the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Ted

Philly_Q said:

Ted said:

Is it possible that say Chuck Berry or maybe the Shadows had that 56 as their go-to instrument? Might that explain why it sounded so special?

To my surprise, I found a picture of Hank Marvin with a Les Paul.



I also found a picture of him in 1485 after the Battle of Bosworth Field.

I heard he was also at the inaugaration Abraham Lincoln. Theres a rumour he now plays in the Foo fighters

Nunogilberto

Nothing.

Blueingreen

Becoming very rich.

I can't imagine shelling out that kind of money for a guitar unless I was worth, I don't know, say £10M plus.  With that kind of money there'd be no point in denying myself a guitar I really, really wanted even at £20K.

Ted

Blueingreen said:

Becoming very rich.

I can't imagine shelling out that kind of money for a guitar unless I was worth, I don't know, say £10M plus.  With that kind of money there'd be no point in denying myself a guitar I really, really wanted even at £20K.

I think that sums it up. The extent to which you are obsessed by quitar playing will dictate the proportion of your wealth that you will allocate to guitar. 

To me, 20k on even for a single guitar is at least in theory a mere bagatuelle. If I had a unit(which is what approx £10m is known as at least in Memphis, TN) then I would budget about 300k for one electric and one acoustic each.

You may be surprised to learn that the £300k figure is in fact quite stringent in the very rarified world of exclusive custom built USA guitars. 

BeardyAndy

Something with some history like a ‘59 Tele with some stories to tell.

Tenebrous

If I had the spare money, what would persuade me?

Just picking up something I absolutely fell in love with. That feels absolutely perfect in the hands, rings out like a bell, and makes it very easy to play what I want to play.

(Doesn't matter if it's £500 or £50000, but if I'd £20k to spare and just found "that" guitar, sure, I'd buy it.)

Handsome_Chris

I am now thinking of all the stuff I'd have before I spent £20k on a guitar.

fretfinder

What would persuade me to spend £20k on a guitar?

Being divorced. Because if I wasn’t beforehand, I sure would be afterwards! 

skullfunkerry

I'm pretty sure that no matter how much money I won, if I had £20k to drop on a guitar, what I'd actually buy is a nice Charvel, a new car, and a holiday

rossi

Ted said:

What if Jimmy Page put his name on the headstock and personally guaranteed that it was the most superb guitar that had ever been produced in the history of the world?

Never trust grumpy old men .

darthed1981

Ted said:

Do you think that the person who forked out £250,000 for George Harrison's crappy old 1958 Fender was either insane or actively enjoyed pissing away money? Or do you think they got a slighly spooky, tingly feeling in their spine when they touched it?

A little from columns A, B and C...

Lewy

All it would take to persuade me to spend £20k on a guitar would be a spare £20k. I can think of at least half a dozen guitars I’d spend that much on without a moment’s hesitation if I had the cash, and at least one I’d spend double that on if I had the money.



I don’t, alas.

roberty

ROI, or even to eventually break even

Better than keeping your money in the bank :-)

Limehouse_Blues

20k could get you a fairly basic spec Ford Mondeo or maybe a 54 les paul Goldtop (at a pinch)

i know which I'd rather own...

Strangefan

Limehouse_Blues said:

20k could get you a fairly basic spec Ford Mondeo or maybe a 54 les paul Goldtop (at a pinch)

i know which I'd rather own...

For me honestly the mondeo