Are Expensive Guitars WORTH the Money???

[@gcr28]

Les Pauls sound amazing. I agree with you, spot on. I have a slash which is basically a standard 50’s with a different color scheme and no pick guard installed, I love it. I had the Seymour Duncan aph 2’s put in it, sounds great. If you make any changes to your Les Paul be sure to save the original hardware and don’t drill holes in it, make sure it can easlily be put back to stock configuration.

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Absolutely, great info!

[@alexolvera7693]

I own a bunch of guitars, my Gibson explorer, and my Gibson Les Paul and my two main guitars. I only use them on studio and live performance. The other ones that used to beat up at band practice

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

I understand that completely. I grabbed a few less expensive guitars to beat up too.

[@rolandvoros6640]

I totaly agree with you. LTD/Epiphone can’t compare to a real Esp or Gibson even with tons of upgrade!

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Amen brother

[@rustyshackleford9557]

I wish I was good enough to play high paying gigs that warranted a pricey instrument. I do work with many label affiliated artists including some blues artists that are in the " Blues who's who" book but at my level, a pricey guitar just wouldn't be reasonable. My main gig and session axes are an 89$ Grote strat with 34$ worth of alnico pickups in it and a stock Grote thinline that cost 155$. It came stock with Jin Ho Korean parts. I'd feel silly playing a pricey guitar at my professional level but we are all individuals with our own tastes and priorities.

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Whatever suits your needs my brother. I’m not a professional anymore, but I still prefer the higher end axes. Just whatever floats your goat.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@@jordansguitarchannel3809 Amen, That is a lovely Les Paul👍

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Thanks brother, I appreciate it.

[@AvroBellow]

Well, you're just being practical. You don't want a pricey guitar when you're out gigging or doing session work because you could damage the thing or it could get stolen. An audience of people who aren't guitar experts wouldn't know a Fender Stratocaster from a Washburn Sonamaster and wouldn't care about the tonal differences as long as they both sound good. I think that this is why so many session guitarists use Godins. The quality is top-notch but the financial investment is much easier to stomach.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@AvroBellow Exactly. Thanks for the kind appraisal. I think I need an intervention. Lol ... ......I am getting old and really need to dump my nice stuff or USE it. I am a big target slingshot enthusiast and yesterday realized I rarely shoot my nice slingshots. ( They are only a 25$ item) So I banded up a 🆕 nice one and told myself to shoot it. I think I need to pull a Fender or Guild out of storage and "live" a little. Thanks.

[@sixstrings222]

I love my Gibson Les Paul ! It's the Best for my hands and fits me like a glove. I'm strictly talking of my experience with their factory built guitars. My old 2000 Custom had some flaws but i can't find any on my new one and it is a Gibson Les Paul Special Tribute. A true bare bones rock machine ! Next is a Standard 50's Les Paul ,and then ...

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Haha. Yeah they definitely feel like home to me too.

[@themannydanny]

Enjoyed the video, but your playing blew me to the moon!!!!!!!!!! 🌕

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Awesome glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by!

[@robertoverbeek9193]

Never been a Gibson fan, but I couldn't agree more about Japanese built guitars. I own a E2 Arrow and a Ibanez s prestige, I'd stand either up against an American made guitar. I bought a music man majesty and it went back, the extra money wasn't justified by the difference in quality...ya just got the USA stamp. Nope I'm Japanese only buyer.

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Amen to that brother. I do love my Gibson, but honestly my Japanese Guitars get more love.

[@JuxtaCrucem]

Yeah, got an Ibanez Pro line, Jackson DKMGT and Fernandes Native pro and they're all Japanese and great quality.

[@AvroBellow]

Expensive is a relative term. What one considers expensive, another considers cheap. For me, $800 for a guitar is expensive and $600 for an amp is expensive. Then I see these guys with $8,000 Custom Shop Fenders. $12,000 Custom Shop Gibsons and $5,000 Marshall Pro Tube Amps and here I am with a Godin Session, a Godin Solidac, a GWL Sonamaster, AG-09 practice amp and Line-6 Catalyst 200 solid-state modelling amp and I think to myself: "Are those guys in-fracking-sane? JUST ONE of those guitars costs more than all of my guitar gear COMBINED!" I bought Godin because they're elite-level quality without the elite-level price. My Godin Session is every bit the equal of an MIA Strat (and then some) for less than half the price. My Godin Solidac is kind of like a Les Paul with regard to its body shape but its feature set is completely different. I paid only $350CAD for it (used of course). It has an H-S-H pickup configuration (the HBs are PERFECT for metal) with a trem system PLUS a piezo pickup for acoustic amp mixing (with a separate acoustic output jack). Godins are ALL made in Canada (even the parts) and you're not going to get much better than that. For people who want to sell the guitars they buy, I can totally see where you're going with that. However, I bought my Godins used for bargain-basement prices (Session was $500CAD and Solidac was $350CAD) and they were worth more than what I paid on the day I bought them. I could easily get more for both of them today but I have no desire to EVER sell them. As for my amps, the AG-09 practice amp came in my Washburn "Starter Kit" I bought years ago for $180CAD and I literally JUST brought home my brand-new Line 6 Catalyst 200 (200W 2×12" digital modelling amp) that I got on sale for the INSANELY LOW price of only $250CAD. Last month this amp was over $600CAD. Just try to find a 200W amp of any kind for $250CAD. Just so you know, $250CAD is $175USD. Good luck with that. 😉👍 As for my Sonamaster, I could sell that guitar alone for more than what I paid for the entire kit because I took it to a Master Luthier and he set it up so good that I still play it to this day despite the fact that I own two vastly superior Godins. Hey, if you're just practicing, a cheaper guitar that's more difficult to play is the way to go because it just means that you're going to be even better on your high-quality gear. In fact, my go-to for practicing is my cheap Chinese acoustic because the thicker strings keep my fingers nice and callused. I paid only $220 for it so I don't care if I never sell it. I never want to because this thing plays and sounds better than a Breedlove Discovery S Concerto that costs TRIPLE the price. When it comes to buying new, I couldn't agree more that brands like Gibson and Fender hold their value (especially made-in-USA models) but if you're buying on the used market, you can find deals so good that you could flip the guitar the next day for more than you paid.

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

I’m with you man, the market is weird and guitar prices/values vary so much. Stay tuned to my channel man, I recently picked up some choice used gear for crazy good prices. I’m gonna use some of what you said in the video. Thanks man. 🤘

[@rustyshackleford9557]

As long as a guy can afford it and it brings him some joy then it is worth it. But just like tennis shoes and whiskey name brands have an added price that comes from promotion/advertising expense and legal team expenses necessary to protect trademarks and patents. When you buy a Gibson part of that 3 grand is for chipping in on the salaries of a bunch of well paid lawyers and advertising folks. Part of your cost is to chip in on all those guitars Gibson gives away and part is the expense of operating 2 giant mobile Gibson museums and that Gibby tour bus. Of course we have to chip in on the expense of silly " play authentic" videos. These expense totals are publically available. So long as a guy recognizes that about 600$-1000$ of that 3000$ price tag is solely for chipping in on lawyer's and add executive's salaries and other promotional expenses then go buy a Gibson. Nothin' wrong with that.

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Yeah for Gibson some of that is true, however I do own two that play like they cost that much. A lot of money does go to line pockets, advertising, etc. I can attest though that I’ve put both high and low end guitars through their paces and the high end stuff for me personally holds up better in the end.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@@jordansguitarchannel3809 I agree, Early in my life, I was a regional repair station for Hoshino,( Ibanez) C Bruno and SLM so it goes without saying, I don't pay other's for repairs and set ups etc. And I totally understand why folks prefer some pricey axes. They usually have a bit better set ups and generally a lot better fret jobs right out of the box.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

....and I play some gawwwwd awful venues where my 89$ Grote matches the filthy green rooms and stages. Eeeek!

[@jordansguitarchannel3809]

Yikes. And you’re right, for me personally I like ESP for the fact that they hardly need attention other than a string change and cleaning. What time I do have set aside to record music, videos and practice I need a guitar I’m not throwing on the bench all the time for adjustment.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

I honestly like Gibson guitars. But I believe folks need to realize where a lot of their money goes. So I googled a bit. Gibson spent just under 100 million dollars last year on print and media advertising. That doesn't include promotion costs like that Gibby tour bus or those Gibby museums on wheels or those Gibbys given to rock stars. Again I ain't against " playing authentic" but I believe whether it's pricey bourbon or pricey guitars, folks need to know that the final retail price is not simply a matter of materials and labor.

[@cynthia6389]

No