A Huge generalisational Question.

[Jonny]

OK. Fair enough.

[dave_mc]

Watch out for some 0% deals they may be paid for with discount that would be available on the instrument and therefore not really be 0%.

that's a very good point. I've seen plenty of online shops claiming to have 0% deals, but they expect you to pay the RRP. If you pay cash, you might get 15% discount (or more). As you say, that's not really 0%, in my book anyway. :)

[Fikealox]

All of my guitars atm are second-hand, but I've bought a couple of new guitars and amps in the past (and have lost a few hundred when I sold them). It really helps to call every guitar store within about 2 hours drive that stocks what you want (and internet stores that ship what you want) and haggle with them all. By the time I finish calling around I usually end up with a discount of between 35-45% off the RRP (and probably about 15-20% less than what I would have paid if I had just haggled in person at a store). Recently I could have got a 6505 combo at cost price - but I just didn't like it enough to justify the purchase.

I'm probably not telling anyone anything they don't know, but it always surprises me just how much music stores are willing to discount in order to secure a sale - sometimes even selling at cost in order to undercut a rival store.

[Philly Q]

the big problem is that if you go with the gibson, the "you'll never want to upgrade" theory isn't necessarily true. There are *always* better guitars (at least in theory)- if you go with a standard range gibson, you might find you later want a custom shop model, or a more boutique guitar (e.g. huber or similar).

Well yes, we all know that's true.  But didn't we all learn that by buying a guitar we thought would be the only one we'd ever need?  Then eventually (or maybe quite quickly!) the "I want one of those" feeling came back.

There's no point going from a £500 Epi (or whatever) to a "Made by Paul" PRS just to avoid the "problem" of maybe wanting something "better" at a later date.  £500 or £30,000, your tastes are going to change over the years anyway.

I'm finding a lot of this thread pretty silly, to be honest.  New or s/h, finance or buy outright, worrying about resale value.... we're talking as if jibidy is making some irreversible, life-or-death decision... when all he's doing is buying his first really good guitar.   It's not like buying a house or investing in a football club.

If you want a Les Paul, shop around, find one you like and buy it!!!  You may keep it for life.  You may hate it after six months.  It may be the start of a collection.  None of that matters, if you can afford it, get what you want now!  :D

[Adam.M]

A Gibson LP will probably be worth the ticket price again in 3-4 years provided the economy doesn't go further to hell.

Certainly not 3-4 years...

I'd say the value slides down sharply immediately then wobbles for 15 years, then starts rising up and at 20-25 years it's back at ticket price and rising.

And by ticket price, I mean the equivalent new models price at the time in the future. I've played mid 80's and 90's Gibson's and they're not that expensive... though mostly because the TOM's are damned ugly sometimes. Big blocky ugly things, euurrgh.

And depending on how old the company is, that can be shortened. Take PRS for example, I'd shave the 15 years to 10 years and the 20-25 to 15-25 ... and if you have one that's 25... damn... you're rich.

[ailean]

A Gibson LP will probably be worth the ticket price again in 3-4 years provided the economy doesn't go further to hell.

Yeah I didn't phrase this very well, I meant the guitar will return to the price you paid for it. New prices tend to go up, and the second hand price is usually a % of the current new price, therefore it gets dragged up too.

3-4 years is optomistic for that, but I know someone who recently sold an LP for the same price he bought it new and it was 4 years old at the time.

Agreed, it would take a lot longer for the sencond hand value to catch up with the current new value.

[marantz1300]

Buy the Gibson. You'll find no peace of mind until you do. If you buy a copy,you'll still want the Gibbo.If you dont like it people will snap your hand off when it comes time to sell/trade. Theres some kind of interest free deal with music shops going on now.

[mikeluke]

No - buy my Orville By Gibson Les Paul Custom!

Mike

PS - is that a tad of a hard sell?  :lol:

[jibidy]

Haha I like Philking.

But seriously i think i'll just go with a Gibbo... almost for the learning experience. If i dont like it im sure a can try something else even if i lose money, thats part of the learning experience.

And I would certainly never pay £30,000 for a PRS unless i won the euro millions.

It is certainly an interesting topic, I think its been well covered.

Cheers guys. :)

[marauder]

It took me 5 LPs to get the right one.

Started with an Epi, had a couple of Edwards, a Gibson standard, then a custom shop R8, its been just the R8 for a long time.

There was quite a long gap when I was LP-less between the standard and R8, but when the right one came along, that was it.

[dave_mc]

Well yes, we all know that's true.  But didn't we all learn that by buying a guitar we thought would be the only one we'd ever need?  Then eventually (or maybe quite quickly!) the "I want one of those" feeling came back.

There's no point going from a £500 Epi (or whatever) to a "Made by Paul" PRS just to avoid the "problem" of maybe wanting something "better" at a later date.  £500 or £30,000, your tastes are going to change over the years anyway.

I'm finding a lot of this thread pretty silly, to be honest.  New or s/h, finance or buy outright, worrying about resale value.... we're talking as if jibidy is making some irreversible, life-or-death decision... when all he's doing is buying his first really good guitar.   It's not like buying a house or investing in a football club.

If you want a Les Paul, shop around, find one you like and buy it!!!  You may keep it for life.  You may hate it after six months.  It may be the start of a collection.  None of that matters, if you can afford it, get what you want now!  :D

of course, i probably do overthink my purchases. :lol: But the fact that he posted what his friend said suggested that he gave it some credence, and I just wanted to make sure that he knew it wasn't necessarily true. It might be, of course. Just depends. :) Get as much advice as you can (as it never hurts to have more information and opinions), but then make your own mind up, as you'll have to live with it. That's the best advice I always have.

Yeah I didn't phrase this very well, I meant the guitar will return to the price you paid for it. New prices tend to go up, and the second hand price is usually a % of the current new price, therefore it gets dragged up too.

3-4 years is optomistic for that, but I know someone who recently sold an LP for the same price he bought it new and it was 4 years old at the time.

Agreed, it would take a lot longer for the sencond hand value to catch up with the current new value.

other big problem is that if it takes any length of time you have to take inflation into account, as that's going to eat into any gains in a pretty big way.

[ailean]

other big problem is that if it takes any length of time you have to take inflation into account, as that's going to eat into any gains in a pretty big way.

Granted. I wasn't trying to say you won't lose money, just trying to say that Gibsons tend to gain it back again faster than most.

Jibidy, go play some Gibbo's, any and all you can get your paws on.

[AndyR]

Jibidy, go play some Gibbo's, any and all you can get your paws on.

+1, based on your responses to everything that's been said, that's what you gotta do....

(almost tempted to do so myself... :roll:, nah, fight it Andrew :lol:)

[Brow]

I would say either go Custom, or buy 2nd hand.

Practically every guitar I've ever bought has been 2nd hand, and wouldn't even consider spending that amount of money on a new guitar.

Several years ago I got my 1998 Gibby LP Standard for £825, and it was fitted with Duncans when I got it. So I sold those, got some Mules for it, a setup and now it's a great guitar. I paid just over £600 for my 1997 PRS Custom 22 with Birds, which would've easilly been over £1000 new.

There's alot to be said for shopping around and buying used, it's worked out very well for me :)

For around £350 - £400 you could get a 2nd hand Japanese Tokai LP and with some work, don't see why you wouldn't like it as much as a Gibson in the long run. I really like mine now it's been setup and got RYs in it.

[Lu_B]

Depends on how hung up you are on the Gibson name, if it has to be a Gibson buy one but I recommend the s/h route if you can.

My Gibson LP cost me £1450 brand spanking new, sold it two years later for £950 - £500 quid loss ouch!!!  Swore I'd never buy new again.

Paid £300 for a s/h Tokai MIJ Love Rock a couple of months ago.  In my opinion its as good as the Gibbo maybe not as pretty but its the tone we should be interested in! Its still worth £300 and will be in six months when my tastes change, as they frequently do :)