Went to an actual guitar shop yesterday…

Lewy

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

Depreciation only matters if you plan to sell, and in that scenario you'd likely lose more money on the hand built tele. 

PC_Dave

Lewy said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

Depreciation only matters if you plan to sell, and in that scenario you'd likely lose more money on the hand built tele. 

That's an excellent point. It would be a once in a lifetime purchase, and one as a celebration of something, so selling it would be unlikely. 

Have I talked myself into it yet?

crunchman

Make sure it's exactly what you want.

I bought a Custom Shop Tele 7 or 8 years ago, but after living with it for a while, I couldn't get on with the enormous frets, and the fake "heavy relic" aging really started to grate on me.  I ended up selling it.

RaymondLin

PC_Dave said:

Lewy said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

Depreciation only matters if you plan to sell, and in that scenario you'd likely lose more money on the hand built tele. 

That's an excellent point. It would be a once in a lifetime purchase, and one as a celebration of something, so selling it would be unlikely. 

Have I talked myself into it yet?

Do it, life is short.

PC_Dave

crunchman said:

Make sure it's exactly what you want.

I bought a Custom Shop Tele 7 or 8 years ago, but after living with it for a while, I couldn't get on with the enormous frets, and the fake "heavy relic" aging really started to grate on me.  I ended up selling it.

Oh absolutely -  I think I'd need to spend another couple of hours or so with it before splashing the cash. 

SPECTRUM001

PC_Dave said:

crunchman said:

Make sure it's exactly what you want.

I bought a Custom Shop Tele 7 or 8 years ago, but after living with it for a while, I couldn't get on with the enormous frets, and the fake "heavy relic" aging really started to grate on me.  I ended up selling it.

Oh absolutely -  I think I'd need to spend another couple of hours or so with it before splashing the cash. 

That was a benefit of buying online - I got to have a decent road-test before committing to the purchase. Presumably Project know the items you were looking at, so you could order up ?

Rocky1991

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

PC_Dave

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

You're all correct, life is short, and the past 4 years have been horrendous for me, so a one off treat like that would be a welcome one.

Talk about enablers

RaymondLin

Buy it online, if you don't like it or get MASSIVE regret, then send it back.

TINMAN82

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

dazzajl

TINMAN82 said:

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

I bought mine on here for £800, a California Artist that is an sublime instrument. Savings apply to any used vs new purchase of course and a used Fender CS is a pretty safe investment, once someone else has taken that initial hit. 

Andy79

TINMAN82 said:

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

Absolutely. And he’s actually played it... makes a difference 

TINMAN82

dazzajl said:

TINMAN82 said:

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

I bought mine on here for £800, a California Artist that is an sublime instrument. Savings apply to any used vs new purchase of course and a used Fender CS is a pretty safe investment, once someone else has taken that initial hit. 

Right, if we’re talking second hand and little known brands then I guess that’s different. But I think the point was more that he could order something custom made to his specification instead of the Fender.

PC_Dave

TINMAN82 said:

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

Yeah I think I'm prepared for a depreciation hit - I guess that's the gamble of paying for the CS name and buying new from a shop. Also, because I don't know what it is that I want, having picked it up and realised, I now know that I couldn't buy one sight unseen - that's too much of a gamble for me. At this price range anyway!

RaymondLin

Go in, play it, love it but say 'oh I don't know, it's a lot of money, i need to sleep on it."

Go home, call up, pay and have it delivered.

Then you have a guitar you want, covered by DSR, and have 2 weeks regret free period.

Win win

PC_Dave

RaymondLin said:

Go in, play it, love it but say 'oh I don't know, it's a lot of money, i need to sleep on it."

Go home, call up, pay and have it delivered.

Then you have a guitar you want, covered by DSR, and have 2 weeks regret free period.

Win win

You are correct on all counts. Can I borrow your credit card?

crunchman

TINMAN82 said:

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

That's optimistic.  That's over 70% of the purchase price.

Depending on how you sell it, there might be costs in selling it as well.   Ebay/Paypal fees, or commission on a consignment sale.  That would reduce what you would get back.

You might get a bit more at this moment in time because of supply issues, but I wouldn't bank on that long term.

The other thing to consider is that shop prices for new guitars could well soften a bit.  At the moment, there is not much supply, so they are selling at the full retail price, or very close to it.  Give it a year, and they will probably be discounting off that again.  If new prices come down, that will reduce second hand prices.

The other thing to consider is that £3.5k is too much for a bolt on as basic as a Tele.  Feline have this for sale on their website for £2300 at the moment. 

Patrick Eggle's T style sells at £2800:

http://www.eggle.co.uk/the-guitars/the-oz

Both of those will as good as, if not better than, the Fender guitars.

There are other small UK makers like Eternal Guitars and Bravewood to choose from as well.

Fender Custom Shop are massively overpriced these days.  If you look at an inflation calculator, and adjust for the exchange rate, what I paid for a Custom Shop Heavy Relic in 2013 would be be about £2950 today.  I got a good price, but current prices are far too high.  A similar guitar now is £3929 on Coda.   Even if there is a bit of haggle room in that price, it's just too much.  I would not buy another Fender Custom shop at current prices.

munckee

prowla said:

I went to some a week ago, PMT, Guitar Centre, and Street Level in Southsea, but didn't buy anything.

I went to The Music Man in Reading this weekend and came home with a little Tascam digital recorder.

What is Street Level, never heard of it?  Just dropped off my 335 for some TLC at guitar centre in southsea and have been to Guitar Store Southampton and PMT following lockdown.

PMT remains the most soulless retail experience ever, when it was nirvana it was great, now they are all on one big wall it seems like a warehouse.

Rocky1991

crunchman said:

TINMAN82 said:

Rocky1991 said:

PC_Dave said:

dazzajl said:

I like to class myself as a pretty decent enabler and certainly, if it brings you joy and you can afford it then you probably should. 

But.... £3.5k for the simplest of bolt in guitars. You could buy a gorgeous hand built tele for less the depreciation hit you’ll take on the first strum. 

It is really lovely though, so......... 

I know, that’s what stops me - it’s essentially a chopping board with a neck and strings. But my goodness it’s a pretty chopping board!

I would have to argue here that there is a fair chance that gorgeous hand built tele would lose more % after that first strum. 

You only live once, is buying used better financially yes, or maybe that gorgeous hand built tele. So what, will you still pay the bills, keep food on the table? Do what makes you happy 

Absolutely. Also, it’s not true that the OP could get an excellent hand built tele for less the depreciation after first strum. That £3.5k tele would likely retain value of minimum £2.5k if sold the next day. If you know where I can get a CS level hand built tele for under £1k please let me know!!

That's optimistic.  That's over 70% of the purchase price.

Depending on how you sell it, there might be costs in selling it as well.   Ebay/Paypal fees, or commission on a consignment sale.  That would reduce what you would get back.

You might get a bit more at this moment in time because of supply issues, but I wouldn't bank on that long term.

The other thing to consider is that shop prices for new guitars could well soften a bit.  At the moment, there is not much supply, so they are selling at the full retail price, or very close to it.  Give it a year, and they will probably be discounting off that again.  If new prices come down, that will reduce second hand prices.

The other thing to consider is that £3.5k is too much for a bolt on as basic as a Tele.  Feline have this for sale on their website for £2300 at the moment. 

Patrick Eggle's T style sells at £2800:

http://www.eggle.co.uk/the-guitars/the-oz

Both of those will as good as, if not better than, the Fender guitars.

There are other small UK makers like Eternal Guitars and Bravewood to choose from as well.

Fender Custom Shop are massively overpriced these days.  If you look at an inflation calculator, and adjust for the exchange rate, what I paid for a Custom Shop Heavy Relic in 2013 would be be about £2950 today.  I got a good price, but current prices are far too high.  A similar guitar now is £3929 on Coda.   Even if there is a bit of haggle room in that price, it's just too much.  I would not buy another Fender Custom shop at current prices.

This may sound a bit sarcastic, but not meant to be. 

If 3.5k is too much for a bolt on Tele, why is 2.8k acceptable? People pay these prices so they are worth it.

I mean don't get me wrong, I do get where your coming from. 

crunchman

Rocky1991 said:

This may sound a bit sarcastic, but not meant to be. 

If 3.5k is too much for a bolt on Tele, why is 2.8k acceptable? People pay these prices so they are worth it.

I mean don't get me wrong, I do get where your coming from. 

To be honest, it's still pricey, but I'd put Patrick Eggle up there with any of the "master builders" at Fender.  He's about half the price of a "master built" guitar these days.

Something from an individual luthier, or small workshop, doesn't have the economies of scale of someone like Fender.  Even the "Custom Shop" is essentially a factory.  They churn out thousands of guitars every year.