Should Heritage worry about the new Gibson prices?

[mark555]

On 5/10/2019 at 5:06 PM, TalismanRich said:

Hangar,   part of that might be that the pricing on a lot of used guitars has gone from fair to questionable to completely insane.  It started with the '59 LP Burst craziness, and now everyone who has an old guitar thinks its worth 3-5 times what it was worth 10 years ago because it's old and has "mojo".    Sorry, but those Norlin LPs from the late 70s with 3 piece bodies that sold new for $600 are NOT all going to be worth $3-4000.    

It used to be that when you bought a guitar it went down in value.   Now people think that after 5 years its worth 25% more than they paid for it.       Sorry, but it's not reality.

The "collectable" mentality can be expensive.   Anyone who has a stash of Beanie Babies, Trolls, or Cabbage Patch dolls will tell you that.

After thirty years of owning my strat from new, it's now worth about £200 more than I paid for it. That's a long time to wait for it to get to that, and allowing for inflation, it's still worth less than I paid for it. But I bought it as a working guitar not an investment.

[mark555]

People will buy Gibson because they aspire to the brand, and in some cases don't know where else to look. I'd always prefer a Heritage, but they are like gold dust over here in the UK. I'm holding on to my 555 because I won't be able to replace it. 

I'm in the market for a solid body in the near future, but that will be neither - I've settled on finding a nice PRS.

[JAM]

At 5 Fenders, 2 Heritages, 2 Martins, an Epiphone, an Ovation and a Kala Uke, I am at D -1 Guitars ! And that says Nothing of my dozen Amps !

'D' standing for Divorce, I'm afraid that my Guitar Buying days have come to an end !!

In fact, it took the 'Perfect Storm' of a 65th B'day, a 20th Wedding Anniversary and Christmas for my Wife to buy me my New-to-Me 2009 H-150 !

So current Prices aren't much of a concern to me.

The exception might be a '401k Guitar', the 'Right' Vintage Axe that I could reasonably expect to out-pace my 401k in the coming years. I've personally known a well-respected Vintage Guitar Trader for many years who would be happy to fix me up if I choose, in fact, he's keeping an eye out for me.

While I've seen/played many current Gibsons, of varying price points, they seem to lack a certain je ne sais quoi as compared to Heritage equivalents.

Hopefully, there are enough enlightened Buyers/Players out there to keep the Blood Pumping at 225 Parsons Street !

cheers!

[pro-fusion]

The market for genuine Gibson/Heritage/USA Fender/PRS etc. is, of necessity, going to have to become more specialized.

If you walk into Guitar Center now, you'll see a wall of relatively well-built Chinese/Indonesian solidbody guitars. The Korean ones now are so well-built that their higher prices are reasonable. Apart from a few of the very cheapest axes in the store, pick one up and you'll generally find decent hardware, decent fretwork and good playability. Way more than good enough for a beginner or a casual player, and you can afford to have several, if you want.

What they don't have is that final 5% of tone and playability that you get on an expensive pro-caliber guitar (whether from the USA, Japan or Europe). If you're a good player, you'll notice the difference right away.

Personally, I think it's reasonable to pay $2,500 (maybe up to $3,500) for a solidbody guitar that does everything I want the way I want it. What I'm not willing to do is pay $5,000+ for a solidbody electric just because it looks like something Peter Green would have played in 1969 and has the right logo. That's where Heritage comes in. The educated consumer who can see beyond the logo and wants the best on a traditional solidbody design.

Jazz boxes are a different matter. They're not just a baseball bat glued/screwed to a cutting board. There's an entirely different level of craftsmanship required to build a good one (more akin to a violin). The market for these is also much smaller and more discerning. Not very many teenagers these days are going to walk into GC and say "I want the guitar that Wes Montgomery played!"

[deytookerjaabs]

26 minutes ago, pro-fusion said:

 

Jazz boxes are a different matter. They're not just a baseball bat glued/screwed to a cutting board. There's an entirely different level of craftsmanship required to build a good one (more akin to a violin). The market for these is also much smaller and more discerning. Not very many teenagers these days are going to walk into GC and say "I want the guitar that Wes Montgomery played!"

 

 

Actually, I'm shocked how many boxes are in GC these days as 10 years ago you basically had just the Epi Broadway/JP. Now you've got the D'Angelicos, Ibanez's, plus a few more Epi's, The Loar, and some I might be forgetting in GC's all over the country. 

 

There's a market at the bottom dollar import range no doubt. Still, yeah, different beast from a real Super Eagle. 

[Unique]

I saw a Summer NAMM interview with Eastman the other day. They are asking 2,300 for a nice looking Korean built jazz box. Wow!

For that kind of money I would rather find a Heritage or Gibson.