Members JasmineTea Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Ha! And you probly thought I'd never do it, well here it is...however I don't think I could bring myself to swatting flys with a Martin. Here's a question: List for a new standard D-18 is $2399. List for a new D-18 Authentic is $7999. Niether of these guitars have a lot of bling, and there are plenty of differences in the specs, but is it $5600 worth of differnces? Is one more "authentic" than the other? Or how about an OM-28GE: $15000?!? What is going into these things that gives them reason to boost the price so high? I think it's pure novelty. I think they've got a little Zager influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ruh916 Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 There will always be rich folk with nothing better to spend their $ on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fireproof Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by Ruh916 There will always be rich folk with nothing better to spend their $ on And there will always be poor folk who say it's not worth the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 There's a little hole in the back so if you sling it low enough you'll get off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Would you change your tune if they came out with a D-18JT and gave you a cut? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d03nut Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 They're going gaga over the Auth 'n Tic at the Martin forum so......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted March 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 That's it. I'm having another (root) beer. D-18JT...that's pretty funny! I don't think they'd offer me a cut though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cldplytkmn Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 yeah i've mentioned the desparity in a thread before... i personally think its just charging the max limit of what they think folks will pay... which is fine i suppose... but not necessarily the most respectful thing you can do toward your customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members learn'r Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 there's another thread going about price of gits.hey JT I think you got it started. well, po me aint buyin any martin for that price.the problem for me is I am goign to study hard before putting down the 4 figure price ...... and it is Martin and others that are making me feel leary. looking at Gibson Jumbo's anyway - not a big $ dread.anybody seen fair priced full size Jumbos - under a grand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by learn'r anybody seen fair priced full size Jumbos - under a grand? http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/J15M.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 With some of Martin's pricing (example: OM-45B Roy Rogers @ $29,999), the only way I can fathom it is that they've wised up to some bizarre rich guy novelty guitar market that they can create at will simply by hanging an absurd pricetag on one of their guitars. Obviously there is a small market out there comprised of buyers with so much money they just cannot figure out what to do with it all... You take something like the OM-45B Roy Rogers model, there's nothing so unique about the construction of a git like that that it'd remotely justify the pricetag - pre-CITES Braz rosewood included (the EI Rosewood version is still $15,000). But the bait for Mr. Rich {censored} isn't the materials or construction; the bait is the pricetag. THAT's the novelty. The illusion of value is created with a price that to a normal human seems like it must have been plucked straight out of the air (because it was); the illusion is made real by the rich twit who actually pays the asking price, and from that point on its value in the market has been set... That's my take, anyway. I guess it doesn't really piss me off that Martin engages in this kind of thing - they're hardly alone in charging ludicrous and seemingly arbitrary prices for novelty crap, and no doubt the gits are at least first rate. Se Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted March 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by knockwood http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/J15M.htm Good point. And a good guitar for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BigBone Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 I support any company who is willing to give me free guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ruh916 Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Is Brazilian Rosewood used on all the real high end guitars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Well, back to Jas' original question. The Authentic has caused quite a stir and at a street price of around 4 grand is sold out well into the fall. The guitars literallly are hand made in the very traditional sense (by only a couple of craftsmen) and one of the big items is the use of hide glue (you know, like horses hoofs). I heard one the other day played side by side with a standard D-18, a standard D-28 and a HD-28 (all brand new guitars). In a word, the A blew them all away - both in complex sound for a 'hog and for shear volume. Would I pay that much for one - no, because I'm not a flatpicker, but if and when Martin makes an 000-18A there is a good chance I'll sell off some of mine and get on the list. The A pure and simple is a players guitar, and it is smart marketing on Martin's part. A lot of the other stuff Martin is doing doesn't make sense to me (the night I saw the A they had a butt ugly white maple (!) small bodied EC special with way too much bling - apparently Clapton commissioned a black guitar and a white guitar. Starkey played it once, but seemed kind of ashamed of it. Me too. edit to answer Ruh916 - not necessarily. The 18A is mahogany, the OM-28GE is braz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members studyscoot Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by knockwood With some of Martin's pricing (example: OM-45B Roy Rogers @ $29,999), the only way I can fathom it is that they've wised up to some bizarre rich guy novelty guitar market that they can create at will simply by hanging an absurd pricetag on one of their guitars. Obviously there is a small market out there comprised of buyers with so much money they just cannot figure out what to do with it all... You take something like the OM-45B Roy Rogers model, there's nothing so unique about the construction of a git like that that it'd remotely justify the pricetag - pre-CITES Braz rosewood included (the EI Rosewood version is still $15,000). But the bait for Mr. Rich {censored} isn't the materials or construction; the bait is the pricetag. THAT's the novelty. The illusion of value is created with a price that to a normal human seems like it must have been plucked straight out of the air (because it was); the illusion is made real by the rich twit who actually pays the asking price, and from that point on its value in the market has been set... That's my take, anyway. I guess it doesn't really piss me off that Martin engages in this kind of thing - they're hardly alone in charging ludicrous and seemingly arbitrary prices for novelty crap, and no doubt the gits are at least first rate. Se Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members learn'r Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 ya know a couple things came to mind (imagine that) as i read through this thread. high priced limited guits - help pave the way companys to afford a better price on standard issue. and i bet i got dibs on lowest income most days - (no complants at all either - i am debt free and live very well) so i guess i'm as unique as the other side of the equation. matter of fact no name dropping but i know some big$ pocket folk and we have a damb good time with each other no envy out of either of us. now, that's not to say that if some angel of mercy out there feels really bad about owning a wall of Jumbo's ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrlucky7 Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 I agree with JT when he says that there is a little Zager in this. There is a lot of marketing behind this......hand made or not, nothing justifies that price but marketing and offer/demand. Martin makes great guitars but this is like a fashion show.....our name has a price and this is our Tommy Hillfiger guitar. Good guitars, well built at a reasonable price is what makes a company great......Godin and Larrivee come to mind. Just my humble opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted March 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by Freeman Keller In a word, the A blew them all away That would mean they built better guitars in the 1930s than they are now. What was a standard then is now premium. Inflation calculator? Comparing todays street price with 1930s street price? anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted March 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by studyscoot just a side question. Why is it socially acceptable for average Americans to get pissed off at more wealthy Americans for no other reason other than their wealth? Cause the deck is stacked in their favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kap'n Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Martin makes some really nice guitars in the -18 range and up. Some are just magic. Others are merely decent. Unless you find a magic one, one of the small builders is going to make you a nicer one, for less money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by studyscoot just a side question. Why is it socially acceptable for average Americans to get pissed off at more wealthy Americans for no other reason other than their wealth? I'm not pissed off at anyone for their wealth; it just blows my mind to see what some people do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 With all this talk of big buck Martins, it has occurred to me that this company has cheapened the line with so many models. There was a time when a casual dillitante could know each Martin model. No more. It's an endless list. I think it's time for Martin to get back to basics. Is it a coincidence that as they have broadened their line that so many competitors have cropped up? Their series of limited editions seems only to be limited by their collective corporate imagination. I for one am bored with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t60 fan Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 I'm not sayin' its good or bad, but it is true that Martin has applied the "Martin" name to a broader range of guitars (quality/materials - wise) than any of their more serious competitors. And often with very little difference in their model names. This makes their line literally bewildering to the none-guitar-geek crowd. As a bonefide GG myself, it keeps me entertained, so great. I just question the legitimacy of placing the same "Martin" name on a high-pressure-laminate dread and a brazilian rosewood dread. Bare in mind I said question, which means I'm not sayin' they should or shouldn't, but it is something to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Originally posted by t60 fan I'm not sayin' its good or bad, but it is true that Martin has applied the "Martin" name to a broader range of guitars (quality/materials - wise) than any of their more serious competitors. And often with very little difference in their model names. This makes their line literally bewildering to the none-guitar-geek crowd. As a bonefide GG myself, it keeps me entertained, so great. I just question the legitimacy of placing the same "Martin" name on a high-pressure-laminate dread and a brazilian rosewood dread. Bare in mind I said question, which means I'm not sayin' they should or shouldn't, but it is something to consider. Interesting point, even if you're not taking a position one way or the other. I know this is supposed to be a slam thread, but when I think about it, I really like how diverse Martin is in its array of models. They have more of a something-for-everyone selection base than any other company I can think of. I also can't blame them for capitalizing on their own name (would HPL sell at those prices under any other banner?) - I would do no less in their shoes - and I kind of have to hand it to them for managing to pull off the introduction of something as heretofore sacrilegious as HPL without diminishing the perceived value of the rest of their line. My sole pet peeve with Martin is that frickin' select hardwood wackiness. Some of their pricing is confusing to me, but I'm sure when you do all your production in the US, overhead must be a bitch. As FK pointed out, with some of their stratospherically-priced instruments there is incredibly skilled labor to be considered (I had not considered it)... What the hell am I saying? I love Martin. Damn it. I LOVE their guitars. I just don't like select hardwood. BTW, T60, although I've quoted you I don't want to give the impression that my post is here to refute your comments. I just quoted you 'cause I thought the point you raised about using the same banner for HPL/Braz was interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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