[mathminnick31]

How much is too much to spend on a guitar?

Maybe, to be clear, let's throw in a few contingencies

A) Non paid musician of 5+ years

B) Regularly gigging musician playing out 3+ times per week making $100+ per gig.

(Feel free to add your own contingency)

I think for A), $1000 would be the max and for B), $3500 would be it.

Though I don't get regularly paid, my next guitar in my dreams will run around $3k and my wife says once I start getting paid, we can start to look at them.

Anxiously looking forward to your thoughts.

[aljb17]

Interesting question, I imagine your gonna get a lot of different answers,

I fit into Column A and my #1 is worth around $1000 Canadian off the rack, SO I guess I'm gonna go with $1000,

Now column B is the interesting one, What is $3500 really getting you? I've only played 2 or 3 guitars in this price range and for very short periods of time, Although they are amazing looking, feeling and playing guitars, I feel like there are a lot of great PLAYERS guitars in much lower price ranges, Especially these days with all the custom builders around you can pretty much have whatever your hearts desire is for under $2000.

But If the paid gig was as a session guitarist in a studio that might change things! lol

[Giga Hertz]

At the moment I only play electric guitar at Church once a month or so. I've been considering getting a Les Paul for a while and spending a max of $3K Australian (about $2200 USD). I'm getting some inheritance money so I can completely justify it now.

I think it depends more on what your living/financial situation is like and how much you indulge on other things. If you're saving a reasonable amount of money and don't spend very often, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong if you're going to play it a fair bit.

If you're struggling to make ends meet, I'd be more inclined to avoid getting anything new and stalk out second-hand opportunities.

If you were regularly gigging and/or recording, depending on your financial situation I reckon you could justify up to $5k as a one off.

[thesteve]

A and B are irrelevant. It's all about if you can feel the difference and what the financial impact is going to look like.

[to_be_released]

Originally Posted by thesteve

A and B are irrelevant. It's all about if you can feel the difference and what the financial impact is going to look like.

I kinda go with this.

I like to get good value for money, but I also like to get gear that's nice to play. I've ended up with a mix of cheap and expensive gear. My most expensive guitar was 2500 NZD, as was my most expensive amp. Both were justifiable purchases in terms of where the money came from and the impact on my finances (the guitar was a 21st present, the amp was a reward to myself for getting a 50k scholarship).

I personally would struggle to spend 3k on an electric guitar at the moment in terms of value, because I have a much cheaper guitar that I like more than guitars I've tried that were 10 times the price. However, I have determined that if I were to spend that much on another guitar, I'd get one built by a local luthier rather than buying a fender/gibson/prs/whatever.

[Ted Logan]

A) $1
B) $1

[martinedwards]

Originally Posted by thesteve

A and B are irrelevant. It's all about if you can feel the difference and what the financial impact is going to look like.

yup.

I've played guitar for 35 years.

I've bought and modded all sorts, and built 90.

I've never been paid to play, though I play twice a week in church.

I have friends in exactly the same position and between us we range from 2nd hand Yamahas up to Lowdens.

One friend has a Lowden acoustic, a US custom Strat and kubriki factor Bass and he only plays in church too......

its all relative. an unemployed single parent will have less disposable income than a successful company director.

Seasick Steve manages to wrestle wonderful music out of junk that other folk have thrown away!

[darfaz]

Like others have said, a lot has to do with your disposable income levels. I have three acoustic guitars that are fairly expensive (a Martin HD-28v, Taylor 414ce, Gibson ES-120 if you care). I haven't been paid for a gig in years, and I'm a serviceable guitar player at best. I play at church a couple of times a month. I have zero other hobbies and I drive a 2003 Nissan Altima with 205K miles on it. My guitars are pretty much the only nice things I own, or really the only things in my house that aren't my wife's or kids'. I don't think $3K is a ridiculous price for a guitar. In fact, I think that's a perfect price for some amazing instruments by boutique builders.

[skypeace]

Some good stuff in this thread. In my short experience I have reached the opinion of not expending great sums with the corporate guitar companies like Fender and Gibson, so what has been said about boutique builders intrigues me.

[Leboman]

It all depends upon your income.

[skypeace]

From a practical perspective there is a diminishing return in terms of the utility you will increasingly get once you pass a certain price point. After about a thousand US dollars the slope of utility diminishes quite rapidly as regardless of how much money you throw at an instrument, especially an electric you are not going to see an increase in tone quality or playability that reflects your monetary investment.

Spending inordinate amounts of money on an instrument is not frugal or good stewardship regardless of income.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by skypeace

From a practical perspective there is a diminishing return in terms of the utility you will increasingly get once you pass a certain price point. After about a thousand US dollars the slope of utility diminishes quite rapidly as regardless of how much money you throw at an instrument, especially an electric you are not going to see an increase in tone quality or playability that reflects your monetary investment.

Spending inordinate amounts of money on an instrument is not frugal or good stewardship regardless of income.

I think for electric guitars $1000 is an outdated standard. These days it's probably closer to the $1500 range (current Fender American Professional model is $1400).

That being said, sometimes that monetary investment is less about tone quality and playability and more about being involved (even a little bit in the process) or just keeping your investment in the hands of small builders where you know the money is going into the build and their labor rather than a corporation where your money is actually going into a suit's pocket and marketing campaigns.

[zedman]

It's not just what it's for--or what you do musically--but how much money can you responsibly spend--that will vary from person to person--so for me right now $1000 is beyond my limit.
I didn't spend $1000 or more on any of my gear.
(Although replacement cost could be higher)

[jthomas1600]

Here's an interesting, and I think related, question: Let's say someone put you in a room with 10 guitars on stands and 10 price tags ranging from $500 to $1,500. Let's say all branding and identification was removed from the guitars and the room was lighted just enough so you could play. You're going to play all 10 guitars through the same amp set up and then put price tags on them. How confident are you that you would get the right price tags on the right guitars?

If you can't play a handful of guitars blind and determine which ones might be $500, which ones might be $1,000, and which ones might be $1,500 then it may not make a lot of sense to spend the big money.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by jthomas1600

Here's an interesting, and I think related, question: Let's say someone put you in a room with 10 guitars on stands and 10 price tags ranging from $500 to $1,500. Let's say all branding and identification was removed from the guitars and the room was lighted just enough so you could play. You're going to play all 10 guitars through the same amp set up and then put price tags on them. How confident are you that you would get the right price tags on the right guitars?

If you can't play a handful of guitars blind and determine which ones might be $500, which ones might be $1,000, and which ones might be $1,500 then it may not make a lot of sense to spend the big money.

It's definitely an interesting question/idea. To go along with that, it's interesting how "shiny" and "smooth" imply value to the uninitiated, but for some people who are entrenched in a mentality, it's all about thin finished and sanded necks.