Members Bucksstudent Posted February 25, 2015 Members Share Posted February 25, 2015 So, I've been looking around Musicians Friend at the new 2015 Gibsons, and they've all gone up in price. This was announced a while ago, but from what I'm reading on other forums, people thought it was a joke. What do you guys think? The 2015 Les Paul Standard is $3759. That's a large increase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted February 26, 2015 Members Share Posted February 26, 2015 The 2015 Les Paul Standard is $3759. That's a large increase. But don't forget you get the Min-ETune system. Two big reasons that I'm not interested in Gibson That and I haven't hit the lottery yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted February 26, 2015 Members Share Posted February 26, 2015 Law of supply and demand. First you supply, then you demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted February 26, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 26, 2015 Law of supply and demand. First you supply' date=' then you demand.[/quote'] What? Oh, I get it. Supply and demand. Supply, then demand. I see what you did there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AJ6stringsting Posted February 26, 2015 Members Share Posted February 26, 2015 Gibson is out pricing themselves.Back in 1988, I was in a band, we stopped off in Grand Rapids , Michigan and I bought a 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom for a little over $1200.00 .... and a 1971 Medallion Series Gibson Flying V for $685.00 back in 1983. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted February 26, 2015 Members Share Posted February 26, 2015 What? Oh, I get it. Supply and demand. Supply, then demand. I see what you did there. This is the move. Last million or so econ downturns, they ( you know, __ THEM__ ) raised. Their wealth is whatever they have numbers for. If for instance the guitars don't move, they'll cut people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted February 26, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 26, 2015 And now that they have dissolved their budget line, they have also seemingly gotten rid of most of their interesting solidbody Epiphones. Standard Les Paul and SG fare with some different paintjobs and unnecessary features like coil-tapping. I love my Casino Coupe, but I'd love another Les Paul with a nice, believable burst. Sorry, I'm ranting a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Les Paul Custom last July. Don't need any more guitars. Those who can afford them will buy them. They are a luxury item, plain and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minning Around Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Everything goes up...except wages.Scott Walker loves that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minning Around Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Les Paul Custom last July. Don't need any more guitars. Those who can afford them will buy them. They are a luxury item' date=' plain and simple.[/quote']Yeah. With so many inexpensive, well made guitars coming from Asia there's no need for a Gibson anymore. Gibsons are now more of a 'want' item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 So' date=' I've been looking around Musicians Friend at the new 2015 Gibsons, and they've all gone up in price. This was announced a while ago, but from what I'm reading on other forums, people thought it was a joke. What do you guys think? The 2015 Les Paul Standard is $3759. That's a large increase.[/quote'] That seems friggin crazy. But I've noticed recently that Gibson is doing this "model year" thing these days. We can all recall that they did not use to do that, you had to decode the S/N on it to determine the run year. Now they are doing this marketing gimmick like they are Toyota and the LP Standard is like a 2015 Toyota Avalon. As a result the prices now drop when the end of the model year is approaching. I bought two 2014 Gibsons, one was the Les Paul Melody Maker (MSRP $999.00 -forget the MAP - $600-something- price paid in late 2013 = $510 ) and the other a Gibson LP Classic. On that Classic they started off in 2014 with a MAP of $1,800+ which I found tempting (believing I could work a discount off from that), but then they raised the MAP to over $2K putting me back out of that market. When sales slumped off later in the year the price went back down, i.e. "on sale!", back to the $1,800+ range, and I got a 10% off that for $1,675 (not bad considering I got new features like coil split that I didn't have before in an L.P). With the Standard, there will be even more margin for the dealers to give you the "what will it take to get your and the missus to strum this baby home today?" routine. It's essentially a Marketing 101 strategy (forget the exact terminology now - I think it was called "market stratification") where you suck off the saps willing to pay top dollar for the "new thing" then you lower the pricing later on to pick up the pikers like me. On a side note, in early 2009 I bought a Gibson Studio Robot on blowout for $999.99. They weren't selling well so they were blown out on a discount. At the time I thought, "what the heck, why not get one now since they are being blown out cheaper than a regular Studio sells for". So I'm surprised Gibson has kept up making these ultra gadgety electric guitars. Frankly the dang thing stressed me out having to carefully tend to it's battery charging regimen. It has one of those batteries that has a bit of memory to it, so you want to use it up, then fully recharge, etc. It was a bit hard to use it out of the box. It's basically lived in its case since I bought it. I'd rather have a $10 Snark in my pocket. While I imagine they've improved with their new system, it's not something I'd want on another guitar. On the one I have, you need to be sure to disengage the tuning keys if you need to manually tune it (e.g.. battery goes dead or it's slower than a manual tweak), otherwise you can damage the system. Too much stress for this old baby boomer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sammyreynolds01 Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 Like everyone said. Gibson is a luxury item. If you want a budget model, by an Epiphone and most of their dealers will tell you that. That's essentially want PRS did until they came out with the S2 models. If you wanted a budget PRS you bought an SE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted March 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 Like everyone said. Gibson is a luxury item. If you want a budget model' date=' by an Epiphone and most of their dealers will tell you that. That's essentially want PRS did until they came out with the S2 models. If you wanted a budget PRS you bought an SE. [/quote'] All guitars are luxury items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 After the price increase and what they've been doing to Kauer Guitars, Gibson can go {censored} itself with a large cactus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members speakerjones Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 I can't claim to care too much, because if I bought a Gibson, it would be a used one. Gibson, much like HCEG, seems to be ignoring the fact that there are tons of boutique builders out there offering guitars at or close to these price points. They are relying on their brand cachet to stay on top of the market, but bad press, business practice, and QC have tarnished their name. For that kind of $ I'd much rather support a small builder who I can talk directly to, who I know will pay attention to the details when building an instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted March 5, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2015 I can't claim to care too much' date=' because if I bought a Gibson, it would be a used one. Gibson, much like HCEG, seems to be ignoring the fact that there are tons of boutique builders out there offering guitars at or close to these price points. They are relying on their brand cachet to stay on top of the market, but bad press, business practice, and QC have tarnished their name. For that kind of $ I'd much rather support a small builder who I can talk directly to, who I know will pay attention to the details when building an instrument. [/quote'] Unlike luthiers and some boutique builders, Gibson have a brand that equals resale value. I think most regular Gibson customers are making investments rather than a guitar to woodshed with, and I've read about salesmen literally telling potential customers that they were not in their target demographic because Gibson apparently wants to appeal to the upper-class rather than the working guitarist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted March 5, 2015 Members Share Posted March 5, 2015 Too many better options out there in that price range IMO. I love my 2000 Gibson Studio Custom Lite, BUT (that's a big butt as Pee Wee Herman put it), I wouldn't even consider a Gibson nowadays if I was buying new. They have issues folks. Let's start with the tuners - those Kluson knock-offs are Crap with a capital C, AND you can't change to conventional brands like Grover or Gotoh without some modification (mine came with stock Grovers). The mini-tune system is nothing but trouble - you will end up in the shop. Neck angles are all over the map - OK so you just buy in person and pick one with a TOM that's not maxed out. And last but not least, that nitro finish that every tone freak drools over is now a total static generator on recent models. Rub the back, pickguard or even a do a bass slide and it's snap, crackle and pop. Henry's waaaay out of touch folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted March 5, 2015 Members Share Posted March 5, 2015 I could care less if Gibson raises their prices. Nobody is forcing you to buy a Gibson. More power to them if they can get it. Don't buy a Gibson if you can't afford it or don't want to pay it. Personally, I think they are not worth it. There are plenty of guitars just as good or better for much less. Much better and much less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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