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Saw this at the guitar store near my daughter’s house.

Droolworthy

pretty cool but you already have several guitars that are cooler than that one.

I feel like we're going to shit on this a lot, which is a shame, because it's probably a very nice guitar.

But is that not crazy expensive for what is a new guitar, basically factory built?

Surely I wouldn't get less guitar for the money going for something actually vintage? Better still, I could go to a Gordon Smith or similar and get a coupleaguitars for the same price?

I bet you could make a decent Epiphone SG into something like this but I have to say the workmanship was top notch.

$5k is something I'd pay only if I was filthy rich which I'll never be so I'll stick to my guns - bastardized budget guitars. At least the headstocks on my guitars are safe from parting ways with the neck at any moment and that makes my sleep a tad more peaceful. At the same time I do understand how expensive it is to produce anything in the US(custom shop prices are still over the roof) and I do appreciate a beautiful Gibson guitar.

Bacchus wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:25 pm I feel like we're going to shit on this a lot, which is a shame, because it's probably a very nice guitar.

But is that not crazy expensive for what is a new guitar, basically factory built?

Surely I wouldn't get less guitar for the money going for something actually vintage? Better still, I could go to a Gordon Smith or similar and get a coupleaguitars for the same price?

A vintage, early 60s SG would be a lot more than 5 grand. You could maybe get an SG Jr with issues for that.

Gordon Smith are great guitars but not the same quality. Nowhere near. Neither is my Eastman, brilliant though it is. They are more in line with non custom shop Gibsons, and for a fair bit less.

Gibson Custom shop are factory built, but by hand, not machine. They are great guitars, but they are overpriced - an R9 is close to 6 grand, more if you want Murphy aged. They should probably be around £4.5k if you look at similar guitars that don't have the Gibson name - when I bought mine in 2015 they were a bit cheaper and I still waited till they knocked £1k off. Fender are the same - a relic Strat is over £4k now, for a guitar with a bolt on neck.

However, it's the best guitar I have ever owned or played, including some nice vintage stuff. Some of that is tangible (construction methods, wood quality etc) but mostly its about how it feels. There is a law of diminishing though returns such that an R9 isn't twice the guitar that a LP Standard is, and a LP standard isn't twice the guitar that an Epiphone is and a Harley Benton is still a good guitar for a fraction of the price.

I love the 64 version of the guitar Paul posted, it's got a bigger neck than the 61, but I don't think I could justify buying one. I certainly wouldn't pay more for a relic than a VOS, although I get that more work goes into them.

I'm probably the only person here to defend them, but there is a reason I sold almost everything else after buying my R9. I'd prefer a small number of really good quality guitars than a bunch of OK ones.

There's also an option of finding a good luthier from a second or third world country and order him to built your dream guitar. It'll have all the bells and whistles, arguably even better electronics and hardware and will cost significantly cheaper than the real deal Custom Shop.

sunshiner wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 7:21 am There's also an option of finding a good luthier from a second or third world country and order him to built your dream guitar. It'll have all the bells and whistles, arguably even better electronics and hardware and will cost significantly cheaper than the real deal Custom Shop.

I don't know about other countries, but now if I was in the market for a handmade LP style and had the money available I'd look at something like this Ivison (a small UK builder) for £1-1.5k less than the Gibson

At first I thought it was Ivision and thought what a dumb name for a guitar company. Nice guitars. I know of Belarusian luthier Vaschenko, he's been popular on forums like My Les Paul etc. I remember when he first started reposting orders in English that some random American viewers of his Belorusiuan forum had sent to him and after some time he was making guitars almost exclusively for international clients. He's SGs don't look as good as Les Pauls though and I doubt he does as convincing finishes as Murphy Lab.

Tbh I'd be happy with a current SG Special in Pelham Blue or SG Junior from Gibson if I could even afford them, they are still plenty of money. The aging and checking would come naturally from playing and dragging it outside to -30C and back in again to +20C in winter. Then again Gibson style guitars are too fragile motherf...rs, I'd be having nervous breakdowns every time I bumped them.

The current Special and Junior are nice guitars but they’ve got a slim taper neck and I can’t get on with that.

I’m probably tempting fate here, but unless your gigging heavily or abuse your guitars the necks aren’t that fragile. Even then my friends Epiphone SG has been knocked off the stand by drunk idiots at gigs without any damage to the neck.

Yeah, I hate slim taper necks either, they are the worst, thin and wide like an effing fence plank.

I've worked a little bit with mahogany, it's usually significantly weaker than maple. Some heavy ass blanks can be tough, but all the special literature says nothing matches hard rock maple anyway. And from my personal experience it's much denser and stronger, even lightweight blanks. I've also owned SG and Les Paul style set neck guitars. They should be treated gently while guitars themselves can weigh a ton. I'm a very sloppy dude and can't have anything that fragile around or I'll break it. Fender style low maintenance guitars are what I like, though I started as a massive Gibson fan because of the Juniors and Specials and Kalamazoo era Epiphones.

^^

That's lovely! I don't know about that one, but they are usually fairly sensibly priced too.

Yeah, Kalamazoo Epiphones and Gibson Melody Makers are still reasonably priced. The key word is still.

These double pickup Olympics and double pickup SG Melody Makers have the neck pickup route so close to the fretboard that there's very little meat left that holds the neck. Wilshires and Crestwoods have the neck pickup moved back towards bridge more like on a proper SG, so the joint is a bit stronger

What’s reasonably priced? The closest you’ll get now is a beat up one pickup model of the one rob posted for about $1k (In cherry/natural not blue). Nice one pickup Olympics (in cherry? Go for closer to $1,500, and I’m sure that one Rob posted would be upwards of $3k.

Wilshires, crestwoods etc with p90s or mini hums go for more, though you can generally always add $1,500 for that color.

The only “cheap” Kalamazoos anymore are the Mustang clones (KG-1, KG-2) which go between $700 and $1300 depending on model and condition.

What’s reasonably priced? The closest you’ll get now is a beat up one pickup model of the one rob posted for about $1k (In cherry/natural not blue). Nice one pickup Olympics (in cherry? Go for closer to $1,500, and I’m sure that one Rob posted would be upwards of $3k.

Wilshires, crestwoods etc with p90s or mini hums go for more, though you can generally always add $1,500 for that color.

The only “cheap” Kalamazoos anymore are the Mustang clones (KG-1, KG-2) which go between $700 and $1300 depending on model and condition.

EDIT: found it, I was close

"Reasonably" priced to the actual vintage Gibson/Fender stuff which is now in tens of thousands of dollars. Wislhire/Crestwood is a peer model to SG Special, SG Standard and SG Custom made at the same time, in the same shop, by the same people and with the same specs and materials minus the pickups. Early sixties SGs go for up to $30-40k and you can still find a Crestwood or a Wilshire for around $4-6k

Ah, yeah by those standards these are at least attainable. NGL $3k for that olympic is actually better than what I’ve been seeing, almost to the point of wanting to sell my 66 Mustang for it.

Reasonably priced as in a place that has a Coronet for over £10k has one of these for £2k. In sunburst, granted.