£8500 for a telecaster? REALLY?

Bigsby

Danielsguitars said:

People buy what they want to buy and you won't persuade them otherwise.

So what is it you want to persuade them to do: Not buy things they want to buy, or buy things they don't want to buy?

rockmonster

Ah ok I understand now that it’s ‘a weird denial of market forces’ thanks PQ.

Philly_Q

rockmonster said:

Ah ok I understand now that it’s ‘a weird denial of market forces’ thanks PQ.

I was pointing you to the thread, not my own comments.  But your opening post did say "Discuss".  You can go on as much as you like about how mad it is, but if people are prepared to pay that price, let 'em pay it.  Meanwhile, you can buy a Telecaster for less than £400 if you want to, the choice is yours.

stickyfiddle

Between the likes of Danocaster, K-line, MB, etc I haven’t a clue why you’d spend that sort of coin for any CS Fender (beyond bragging rights, I guess?)

Equally my MJT Tele is the best Telecaster I’ve ever played and genuinely dicks on anything I’ve ever played from Fender to the extent I don’t even GAS over them at all these days. I’ve changed!!! 

robgilmo

So, a 'master builder' takes a load of parts off a shelf, assembles them, makes them look old and thats somehow 'master built' compared to none 'master built'?

Ok,. Thats an expensive skill , turning a screw driver.

chris78

Way way less stupid than vintage prices. 

CBS tele for 15k? https://www.atbguitars.com/1968-fender-telecaster-candy-apple-red-ohsc
Or how about approaching 50k? 

https://www.atbguitars.com/1953-fender-black-guard-telecaster-ohsc

I bet the masterbuilt plays better too…..

Danielsguitars

Bigsby said:

Danielsguitars said:

People buy what they want to buy and you won't persuade them otherwise.

So what is it you want to persuade them to do: Not buy things they want to buy, or buy things they don't want to buy?

No I'm not persuading anyone because you can't,  it doesn't matter what me or anybody else thinks, it's irrelevant, they buy what they want regardless of the cost, I don't think they're worth it and that's just an opinion.

Same as a 30k watch etc, even if I had the money I wouldn't buy them.

I never understood masterbuilt anyway because they just screw the stuff together, it's mass made same as the other stuff.

SlopeSoarer

Fender obviously realise that there are people daft enough to pay it!

GoldenEraGuitars

chris78 said:

Way way less stupid than vintage prices. 

CBS tele for 15k? https://www.atbguitars.com/1968-fender-telecaster-candy-apple-red-ohsc
Or how about approaching 50k? 

https://www.atbguitars.com/1953-fender-black-guard-telecaster-ohsc

I bet the masterbuilt plays better too…..

I know which one I’d rather buy though. 

Walk out of ATB with a 1968 tele and it’ll still be worth £15k, more so a year down the line.

Walk out of another shop with a Fender MB at £9k which is worth about £5-6k by the time you get home that same day. 

Live and let live, consumers have never had it so good. Don’t like the look of a £9k tele? Plenty of other options from a few hundred quid up. 

Penn

At these prices I’m sort of surprised no one has started to reproduce exact replicas… only a matter of time I’m sure. 

OilCityPickups

I'd never pay eight and a half grand for a Tele, but then I'd never pay eight and a half grand for any guitar - I'm a cheapskate.
Teles have always been to me the ultimate working musician's guitar: Enough to do what you need and no more. Modular, easily customised, but essentially a high quality, mass produced workman's tool. To produce a luxury Telecaster is to me like producing a gold plated, diamond encrusted spanner - utterly pointless  :-)

stickyfiddle

Danielsguitars said:

Bigsby said:

Danielsguitars said:

People buy what they want to buy and you won't persuade them otherwise.

So what is it you want to persuade them to do: Not buy things they want to buy, or buy things they don't want to buy?

No I'm not persuading anyone because you can't,  it doesn't matter what me or anybody else thinks, it's irrelevant, they buy what they want regardless of the cost, I don't think they're worth it and that's just an opinion.

Same as a 30k watch etc, even if I had the money I wouldn't buy them.

I never understood masterbuilt anyway because they just screw the stuff together, it's mass made same as the other stuff.

Yep. And high end cars, stupid ugly sneakers and ludicrous handbags - a certain category of wealthy idiots people have actually been shown to want to spend money on something even more when the price goes up. 

It's called the Veblen Effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good ;

And boy do I see it a lot living in Abu Dhabi...!!  

Strat54

Masterbuilt by the masterbuilders team more like,  yet still you guys think you are buying a guitar 'built' by one guy. 

I have written proof by an ex senior masterbuilder that a run of 150 guitars sold as masterbuilt by him were in fact not. He told me that he only built the first five or six. Its just marketing nonsense to up the price. 

GoldenEraGuitars

I don’t think anyone is under the illusion that MB fenders are built by one person, in the world of mass manufacturing (which is what fender do) it’s a ridiculous notion. There are videos on YouTube showing that these MBs involve other people too. 

But I’ve said it before, if you’re willing to pay £4k plus on top of CS prices for a good £80 setup and name on the headstock then fair play to you.

Each to their own, plenty of choice out there.

Stevepage

I think we’re just going to have to accept that anything new coming out is going to cost far more than we’re willing to shell out. Don’t get excited for anything new anymore and just keep what we have. The market needs a correction

SlopeSoarer

OilCityPickups said:

I'd never pay eight and a half grand for a Tele, but then I'd never pay eight and a half grand for any guitar - I'm a cheapskate.
Teles have always been to me the ultimate working musician's guitar: Enough to do what you need and no more. Modular, easily customised, but essentially a high quality, mass produced workman's tool. To produce a luxury Telecaster is to me like producing a gold plated, diamond encrusted spanner - utterly pointless  :-)

Some say cheapskate, some say sensible!

stonevibe

A fool and his money...

ditchboy

I personally can’t see how my elite model could be bettered. It cost me £1300 which stung at the time. 

TeleMaster

ditchboy said:

I personally can’t see how my elite model could be bettered. It cost me £1300 which stung at the time. 

I've had one of those Elites. I don't like the neck profile, too flat, the edges weren't rolled, the pickups were noiseless and I'm not a fan of them, I prefer the look of the button style tuners, it was heavy. Admittedly a lot of those are subjective so this is just my opinion, but I have a CS and it's much lighter, the neck profile is a 60's C which I prefet and the finish is much nicer. So for me, it would be better in pretty much every way to an Elite/Ultra. 

Bigsby

Danielsguitars said:

Bigsby said:

Danielsguitars said:

People buy what they want to buy and you won't persuade them otherwise.

So what is it you want to persuade them to do: Not buy things they want to buy, or buy things they don't want to buy?

No I'm not persuading anyone because you can't,  it doesn't matter what me or anybody else thinks, it's irrelevant, they buy what they want regardless of the cost, I don't think they're worth it and that's just an opinion.

Same as a 30k watch etc, even if I had the money I wouldn't buy them.

I never understood masterbuilt anyway because they just screw the stuff together, it's mass made same as the other stuff.

As someone who builds and sells guitars, perhaps you can expand on that comment a bit? I've never really understood this as an argument, despite hearing it repeated a lot: Aren't all guitars either screwed together or glued together, including all mass produced ones? So should we dismiss all expensive guitars as just bits of wood screwed or glued together, and simply refuse to buy anything that costs more than a Harley Benton? I don't believe that, but it seems to be where the argument takes you.

As for Masterbuilt - and I'm sure you know this already - it provides customers with the opportunity to have more options for their guitar, and a conversation about the build with the guy who is building it. It's so popular that some builders occasionally close their waiting lists as they're too long. The bit that I don't fully understand (and perhaps this is what you meant?) is why dealers are ordering masterbuilt for their stock, as the two most important factors no longer apply (choice and personal involvement). My best guess is customers of these guitars are under a misapprehension regarding what they're buying, or perhaps it's just bragging rights. But I don't think the blame for that lies with Fender, who are simply providing a highly demanded service, (and to me, they seem to be very honest about what's on offer).