Most Overrated/Overpriced Electric Guitars

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Most Overrated/Overpriced Electric Guitars?

  • Gibson

    Votes: 289 51.9%

  • Fender

    Votes: 93 16.7%

  • Gretsch

    Votes: 38 6.8%

  • Parker

    Votes: 38 6.8%

  • PRS

    Votes: 160 28.7%

  • G&L

    Votes: 17 3.1%

  • Epiphone

    Votes: 32 5.7%

  • Rickenbacker

    Votes: 49 8.8%
  • Total voters
    557
Fenders and Gibsons

I don't think theres enough difference between a LP and a Strat 'performance-wise' to warrant such an increase in price; from my point of view, one instrument is not significantly better than another; plus Gibson finishes are notoriously poor quality. My real problem is with Epis....compare them to mid priced Fenders (The highway-one series, for exampe), and you'll find that while the two guitars retail for similar amounts, the Fenders are just better sounding and better built.
 
Over priced Lennons

This may be crass. I do not know. I absolutely love my Ep John Lennons. I have one of each. I paid dearly for them. $2000.00 per guitar. The most expensive guitars I have offer purchased to this point. Then I heard (read actually) a rumor at the Official Epiphone website that these guitars were actually made off shore. Only assembled in the U.S.A. with American electronics. As much as I love those guitars, I would have never, repeat NEVER paid that much for a guitar not made here, in the U.S.A.


I think the MOSY outrageously priced guitars I have ever seen, were the Washburn Paul Stanely's with either the rhinestones or mirror. Those retailed for $10,000.00 as I recall. For a Washburn?!!!!? I think not.
 
Newbie-Doo said:
...Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul anyone? :eek:
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I recently bought two Les Paul Customs and in the shop was a Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul which was priced at $14,000. :eek: :eek:

The thing was pre-aged, the finish was all scuffed (all part of the pre-ageing).
That guitar was the most over-priced guitar I have layed eyes on!
 
All I can say is, if Gibsons are not worth the asking price, no one would buy them. While I am sure their market share may go down a bit, they are still in business.

The market is what drives the price, and the market says that given a choice between a Black Beauty and a Washburn look alike, 99.9% of people will take the Gibson. Therefore, they can charge more. It has nothing to do with playability (which can be adjust) or minute marks in the finish, it has to do with the name and the sound.

I attached some pics of 3 of my overpriced Gibsons. My 1974 150DC - bought for $422 and is worth $3,000 now. My newest Gibson, a Firebird. And my baby, a custom shop, 24 fret, 12 string SG. Unbelievable sound and playability. It is also the only one in the world. It has a one of a kind neck and is the only one ever made....Priceless to me.

So you guys can buy the washburns and yamahas. I will buy the gibsons and fenders. Why, because I know that usually, I can sell the guitar for more than I paid for it, if I hold onto it for a few years, and I will get the benifits from using the higher end axes.
 

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juststartingout said:
I attached some pics of 3 of my overpriced Gibsons. My 1974 150DC - bought for $422 and is worth $3,000 now. My newest Gibson, a Firebird. And my baby, a custom shop, 24 fret, 12 string SG. Unbelievable sound and playability. It is also the only one in the world. It has a one of a kind neck and is the only one ever made....Priceless to me.
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Nice guitars....

Are YOU the 'model'? :cool:
 
SMC Productions said:
Nice guitars....

Are YOU the 'model'? :cool:
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No, I am not. She was not even alive when I bought the 150DC.
 
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juststartingout said:
No, I am not. She was not even alive when I bought the 150DC.
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Yeah...sorry...I was just being a bit sarcastic! :rolleyes:
 
thehymns said:
Im glad not too many people think Rickenbacker are too overprice, I got mine for $800 new at Sam Ash (I always take advantage of those 20% off everything coupons). I paid $550 for my American Telecaster...I bought it used from a guitar collector who never really plays, he just like to have guitar around. It was a custom build, he wanted the Antique White finish before it became a standard color again, and he probably only played it 3 or 4 times. Well worth the money if you ask me :D.

My acoustic is a 1967 Epiphone Cortez that I payed $750 for. I never would of thought I'd find an Epiphone I liked, but back in the day they were a quality guitar. I prefered the Cortez over every acoustic guitar I played, including several Hummingbirds from the same period.


However, I would never pay a thousand dollars for a stratocaster or telecaster. I wouldn't pay more then $600 for an SG or Les Paul (which is why I'll probably never own one). I would pay $300 for an Epiphone Casino or Sheraton. The only guitar I'd pay retail for is a Rickenbacker because I think they have a sound that backs up their good looks.
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I agree with you 100%. Have you noticed that there seems to be a lot of anti-Rickenbacker sentiment in this forum?
 
As an avid guitar collector I said PRS. I will never own a PRS period. Way too much money for what they are. Gibson has their good buys and their way overpriced stuff too. I will build a "Partscaster" for 300-400 bucks before I'll spend money on a Fender.
 
Micter said:
As an avid guitar collector I said PRS. I will never own a PRS period. Way too much money for what they are. Gibson has their good buys and their way overpriced stuff too. I will build a "Partscaster" for 300-400 bucks before I'll spend money on a Fender.
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I love PRS pickups though. Get the McCartys and throw them in any guitar that has decent action and it will sound like sex. Even those Saga kits, throw in the PRS pups and it will sound amazing.
 
classicrockman7 said:
Most of my favorite guitar players (with the exception of Jeff Tweedy) play guitars that cost under 1000$ and most of the time under 500$. For instance Beck's main axe is a Danelectro made Silvertone, whith a shortscale neck and one pickup..... cost? about 300$. Then there is Jack White who plays an airline guitar that cost about 500$ before he brought the demand back. He also plays a 150$ domino hollowbody guitar, and a 100$ kay hollowbody. And he gets sound that are nothing short of amazing.
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I'm sorry, have you ever LISTENED to his tone? It sucks! It sounds like someone playing a fucking squire in their garage recording with a Nady SP-5 and a 4 track tape deck! Well if that's the uhm.. "sound" you're going for, then you can save about $400 by buying a strat cause it won't sound any different from their recordings.
 
gvarko said:
And I have owned PRS in the past..

But I would have to say the guitar I most like to play cost me
< $700... It's my Schecter C1 Elite.. It is every bit a PRS without the fat price tag...
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Except for the clean. A kid I played in a band had one. Fantastic distortion, but the clean was muddy as all hell.
 
overrated/overpriced electric guitars

I used to own a Fender USA Standard Strat which was professionaly set up for me. It was a plank when I first bought it. After the set up, it was fantastic. Unfortunatly I had to sell it (bills to pay). Two years ago I bought a new PRS Custom 22. This also played like a plank when new. My guitar techie told me that it was one of the best new PRS guitars he had seen for a long time, but still it played like a plank after a set up. He told me to 'play it in for a few months to see how it handled. It is now sounds good, but I think that the £2500 that I paid for it was way too much, and I would not buy another one, I would proberbly take a look at a Gordon Smith or a Patrick Eggle if I wanted something diffrent to the usual Fender/Gibson stuff
 
Micter said:
As an avid guitar collector I said PRS. I will never own a PRS period. Way too much money for what they are.
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As an avid player, I love my PRS. Worth every penny. It plays like a dream and gets me the tone I am after.

You're right, though. I wouldn't buy one just to hang on the wall.
 
Fender and Gibson

Both Fender and Gibson are very overrated guitars...Personally i've become an ESP fan.
 
Light said:
Professional violin players will pay in excess of $100,000 for their instruments. And that is just the guys in the orchestra. The soloists are spending well over $1,000,000.

When professional guitar players complain about the cost of a good guitar, they sound like whiny asses. Guitars are, with only a very few exceptions, cheap. You DO get what you pay for. Now shut up and play.

And yes, saying things like this is EXACTLY why I chose to stay anonymous on this forum.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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I like this post, i used it to convince myself into buying a new guitar thanks man :D ,

Does anyone know why we pay so much in europe for musical items? It's definately not VAT as we pay nearly double? Mesa stuff is double & i'm not moning i'm just interested
 
Way over rated.

With today's software, I can make a Squire sound as good as I can make a Fender sound so till I reach the toppermost of the poppermost I think all those high end wood choppers are over rated and way over priced. I guess for live gigs it would be great to have that name on the headstock but I'll be damned If I can hear that much diff.:o
 
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All the above. A slightly used LP Custom should cost $350 and an early 60's Strat should cost $600, which is what I paid for them. Of course, that was 30 years ago... ;^)
 
So Aurel, you've been a member since Jan 2009 and you're already dredging up posts that have been dead for two and a half years... you'll fit in well..
 
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