So What Is The Dang Difference Really?

[ricksconnected]

Exactly. The freak show starts when people who cannot justify the cost of nicer instruments start critiquing the choices of those who do prefer the more expensive offerings.

or when the guys buying the more expensive guitars start boasting that their guitars are of the very best quality
when in fact they are not but they refuse to hear it any other way. ; )
again we are talking mass production here.
ive own guitars of all price ranges. for me, I cant justify spending big bucks on a guitar you
cant take out and gig w/o fear's. or one you freak out because it got bumped or a scratch.
I use to try and be one of those cork sniffers but I got educated and pulled my head out of my arse.
nothing wrong with having a few high end guitars, but to set back and critique others because they don't have
said type of guitars or to try and convince others that they have bought the very best of the best is BS.
I will say this, you will find more high end buyers critiquing others choice of guitar that are not of the same
price range than you will the other way around. you see it on every forum. its the nature of the beast I guess.
YMMV of course.

 

[MexicanMike]

or when the guys buying the more expensive guitars start boasting that their guitars are of the very best quality
when in fact they are not but they refuse to hear it any other way. ; )
again we are talking mass production here.
ive own guitars of all price ranges. for me, I cant justify spending big bucks on a guitar you
cant take out and gig w/o fear's. or one you freak out because it got bumped or a scratch.
I use to try and be one of those cork sniffers but I got educated and pulled my head out of my arse.
nothing wrong with having a few high end guitars, but to set back and critique others because they don't have
said type of guitars or to try and convince others that they have bought the very best of the best is BS.
I will say this, you will find more high end buyers critiquing others choice of guitar that are not of the same
price range than you will the other way around. you see it on every forum. its the nature of the beast I guess.
YMMV of course.

It's funny because all I see is a bunch of the opposite. I don't see anybody saying low end models are shit, all I see is people saying that Gibsons are overpriced pieces of junk.

 

[ricksconnected]

I didn't see anybody mention any names brands being junk.
of course I didn't read every post here but I didn't see it.
most Gibsons are way over priced but I wouldn't call them junk
by no means mike. they do very well at what they were designed to do bro.
nobody can ever argue that point. oh and they do make some beautiful
pieces of work in a lot of cases too. I might jump on the Gibson bandwagon
again at some point myself. but no Gibson by far isn't junk. well their amps......
oh never mind. lol

 

[MexicanMike]

I didn't see anybody mention any names brands being junk.
of course I didn't read every post here but I didn't see it.
most Gibsons are way over priced but I wouldn't call them junk
by no means mike. they do very well at what they were designed to do bro.
nobody can ever argue that point. oh and they do make some beautiful
pieces of work in a lot of cases too. I might jump on the Gibson bandwagon
again at some point myself. but no Gibson by far isn't junk. well their amps......
oh never mind. lol

I can't count how many NGD threads where somebody buys a $200 guitar & is showered with praise for how good their buy was. Yet when somebody buys a Les Paul, they are overpriced & you can find better guitars for 3x less! It blows my mind. Those people can have fun playing their $200 guitar, I will be playing my Les Paul.

 

[ricksconnected]

well usually they got a steal for their $200 mike. yeah they are gonna get a praise.
anybody can go spend $2,000 on a les paul. where is the need for "extra" praise in that?
they didn't make a great find usually. anybody can go get that same guitar at that same price usually.
and usually, that $200 guitar is a find that brings a lot of us memories because we either had one or wanted one
back in the day, and some of us still have them lol.
but folks that buy the Les Paul's get their praises too from all of us. most of the time, they bought a guitar that required no
hunt to find. no "steal of a deal" type buy. its a buy anybody could have done in most cases. that doesn't mean that they shouldn't and
don't get any praises bro. they do, and a lot of them.
these cases you mentioned are like comparing apples and....... mufflers or something. ya cant do it because they were acquired
under different situations bro.

 

[MexicanMike]

well usually they got a steal for their $200 mike. yeah they are gonna get a praise.
anybody can go spend $2,000 on a les paul. where is the need for "extra" praise in that?
they didn't make a great find usually. anybody can go get that same guitar at that same price usually.
and usually, that $200 guitar is a find that brings a lot of us memories because we either had one or wanted one
back in the day, and some of us still have them lol.
but folks that buy the Les Paul's get their praises too from all of us. most of the time, they bought a guitar that required no
hunt to find. no "steal of a deal" type buy. its a buy anybody could have done in most cases. that doesn't mean that they shouldn't and
don't get any praises bro. they do, and a lot of them.
these cases you mentioned are like comparing apples and....... mufflers or something. ya cant do it because they were acquired
under different situations bro.

Hey man, have fun hunting $200 guitars. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[ricksconnected]

Those people can have fun playing their $200 guitar, I will be playing my Les Paul.

sounds a bit snooty mike. just saying bro.
relax your taking it personal. this thread isn't meant
to be personal. it started out as to educate and I think
its doing that for the most part.

 

[Gunner64]

I have cheapo and somewhat pricier guitars. I have just as much fun playing the $50 squier as I do the $2000 les paul. If a guitar catches your eye play it..if you like it buy..who gives a rats ass how much it cost if you like it...most of the music we listen to wasnt played on 10,000 dollar custom shop guitars...

 

[Wildeman]

$200.00, man, who's got that kinda bread layin around?

 

[Hogie34]

or when the guys buying the more expensive guitars start boasting that their guitars are of the very best quality
when in fact they are not but they refuse to hear it any other way. ; )
again we are talking mass production here.
ive own guitars of all price ranges. for me, I cant justify spending big bucks on a guitar you
cant take out and gig w/o fear's. or one you freak out because it got bumped or a scratch.
I use to try and be one of those cork sniffers but I got educated and pulled my head out of my arse.
nothing wrong with having a few high end guitars, but to set back and critique others because they don't have
said type of guitars or to try and convince others that they have bought the very best of the best is BS.
I will say this, you will find more high end buyers critiquing others choice of guitar that are not of the same
price range than you will the other way around. you see it on every forum. its the nature of the beast I guess.
YMMV of course.

I totally feel you on the educating yourself statement man! Kinda where I'm at these days . Like I said, I'd like another standard but why when I can have a bunch of the same basic guitars that all sound different , look different, feel different and have their own personalities. I picked up a gold top 50's tribute for just over $400 last night. To me that was way more fulfilling than spending another $2500-3500 on a guitar I'll only pull out of the case to record with and only when the climate is perfect and the kids aren't home and ....
it goes back to the law of diminishing returns. Is that standard, other than resale value, $2000-3000 better than the studio as far as a player?

as far as the brand bashing etc, I haven't seen it in this thread either and actually not very often on this forum. Probably cause a majority of the people here play strats and Les Paul's. If guitars are being bought for praise, then they're being bought for the wrong reason.
Anyway, we've all kind of strayed off course on this one. My apologies for my part in that as well.

 

[Wildeman]

So far it seems the focus has been on budget offerings from the big companies. I have bought some absolute gems for pennies just by not going with the status quo, guitars that are totally on par with high end stuff, you can still pick up Fujigen made Ibanez Roadstars for hella cheap (2- 500 bux) these guitars need no excuses. Washburn is another that comes to mind. Im not just rehashing some stuff i read either, i have and still own Gibsons and Fenders but i dont feel at all let down when i pick up my $117.00 Yamaha Pac 402s.
Just sayin that there are bargains to be had where NO compromise is necessary.

 

[MexicanMike]

I have a $300 MIM Strat that can destroy $1,100 American ones with ease, but that's not my point. I don't mean to be snooty but my problem is with ppl who say a $2,100 guitar is not worth it. I disagree. You can kind of understand my frustration when you factor in that I have been playing $200 epiphones $100 fender solid state amps for the last 15 years. Yes, there are gems out there but for the most part, most of the low priced gear sucks.

 

[rick16v]

Thus seems to be a circular argument held by people on their own.

Noone is really fussed how much other people's guitars cost.

 

[Hogie34]

But why do you care Mike? If it's not worth it to them, so what? My standards and classics play no better than the $799 faded studio I have. They look a whole lot nicer is all. I've been playing them for the last 40 years. I've played enough of them to know that there is nothing my nice guitars can do that my "lesser "guitars can't.
There comes a point when you are buying prestige and bragging rights/ego. Not an insult to anyone cause I'm just as guilty as anyone. We like to justify our purchases whether it's high end or low end, doesn't matter. I really don't understand why anyone would give two shits about what someone else spends their money on and plays. I care about what I spend money on and couldn't care less what someone else is playing as long as they're having fun doing it with what they have.

Anyway, so I am at least sticking to topic, with all these companies riding the line with using the made in the USA tag while using cheaper parts every new model year, the gap between a $200 guitar and a $1000 guitar is getting smaller.

** guess I could have gotten the same point across and just posted what rickv16 posted lol thanks for making me look like a babbling idiot *

 

[MexicanMike]

Thus seems to be a circular argument held by people on their own.

Noone is really fussed how much other people's guitars cost.

Yeah, fair enough.

 

[MexicanMike]

But why do you care Mike? If it's not worth it to them, so what? My standards and classics play no better than the $799 faded studio I have. They look a whole lot nicer is all. I've been playing them for the last 40 years. I've played enough of them to know that there is nothing my nice guitars can do that my "lesser "guitars can't.
There comes a point when you are buying prestige and bragging rights/ego. Not an insult to anyone cause I'm just as guilty as anyone. We like to justify our purchases whether it's high end or low end, doesn't matter. I really don't understand why anyone would give two shits about what someone else spends their money on and plays. I care about what I spend money on and couldn't care less what someone else is playing as long as they're having fun doing it with what they have.

Anyway, so I am at least sticking to topic, with all these companies riding the line with using the made in the USA tag while using cheaper parts every new model year, the gap between a $200 guitar and a $500 guitar is getting smaller.

or when the guys buying the more expensive guitars start boasting that their guitars are of the very best quality
when in fact they are not but they refuse to hear it any other way. ; )
again we are talking mass production here.
ive own guitars of all price ranges. for me, I cant justify spending big bucks on a guitar you
cant take out and gig w/o fear's. or one you freak out because it got bumped or a scratch.
I use to try and be one of those cork sniffers but I got educated and pulled my head out of my arse.
nothing wrong with having a few high end guitars, but to set back and critique others because they don't have
said type of guitars or to try and convince others that they have bought the very best of the best is BS.
I will say this, you will find more high end buyers critiquing others choice of guitar that are not of the same
price range than you will the other way around. you see it on every forum. its the nature of the beast I guess.
YMMV of course.

This comment set me off. I felt like it was directed at me. I'm not boasting about my gear. Don't give me flak for playing expensive guitars & I wont give anyone flak for playing cheap ones.

 

[Ghostman]

$200.00, man, who's got that kinda bread layin around?

no one, really...

 

[Ghostman]

Bottom line: Every guitar should be measured singly, as to whether or not it's worth it's value. Some cheap ass guitars play like dreams and are gems. Some super expensive guitars are shit, should be scrap wood.

Every guitar is different, and it's price is not a direct indication of how good it is.

However, I will say this. When looking for a really nice guitar, you'll probably have better luck looking at the higher end guitars than the entry level stuff. But that's probably because, as stated somewhere recently, the entry level guitars are not given the time of day for proper setup, tuning, etc. Where as guitar shops will spend the extra time on the higher end stuff, because they want to make sure they sell the high margin gear. When you go to a store, and pick out two seemingly identical guitars but at opposite ends of the price spectrum, the shop is going to make damn sure that the high end product plays and sounds much better than the cheap gear. It's only logic that dictates this.

 

[Ghostman]

This comment set me off. I felt like it was directed at me. I'm not boasting about my gear. Don't give me flak for playing expensive guitars & I wont give anyone flak for playing cheap ones.

I will give you flak for not liking Nickleback.

 

[saxon68]

I do get irritated by the insinuations that people with cheaper guitars cant afford more expensive ones. In the day and age of Zzounds and Sweetwater, you can get whatever you want at a reasonable payment. Example, Zzounds most expensive 6 string that doesn't require a call in for 12 pay price is 333 a month, same one is 85 a month at Sweetwater. Most households waste that much easy, at my place that's 2 movies a month and a couple take out meals cut out. I could easily justify that payment and my wife wouldn't blink an eye if it was a pretty top lol. And believe me, I have tried SEVERAL guitars in that price range, none moved me to buy them. (She REALLY liked a couple PRSs at guitar center, but I didn't bond with them). My Charvel I got for 250 bucks, guy didn't know what model it was or it would have been a couple hundred more. The V I got in trade for a damn Line 6 unit I could hardly give away, so I would say I have 100 in that. So at this point I have 2 guitars that play well, and hold tune. My next one will likely cost more as I would like a Charvel whammy machine. Point is I have about 400 in my guitars and I am happy with them and its not because I cant afford more. When I was younger I had real Gibsons, American Strats and Kramers, I dont feel bad about what I have now.