Guitar + Inflation = Bad
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- Опубліковано 19 жов 2021
- Baxter and Jonathan share your concerns about inflation and the prices of new guitars, and it's not going to come back down.... or will it? Shipping costs, wood costs, gas prices its not looking great for prices and a healthy supply of guitars for the short while.
As a small builder I’d like to see more folks check out builders in your area instead of waiting forever for a name brand. You will get so much more for your money.
funny how inflation only seems to apply when I'm buying shit, but not when I'm selling.
I feel you on that. When we are the ones buying It's Inflation when we are the ones selling ,it's UN-flation
Try owning a Harley for 20 years... yeah, did not see that one coming in the late 90's!
Yea man ive noticed this, second hand price should be going up too🤘
I would rather guitar makers stick to maintaining their pre-2020 quality even if that means we are all required to be more patient. Good things are worth the wait. I buy guitars with the hope of keeping it forever. I don't want something forced out to catch up on a backlog.
@walkerbetweenworld Thank you for the veiled insult and unrelated apology random internet business genius. You make the internet a better place with your insight and knowledge. God bless you
@walkerbetweenworld Now, that's adorable. I'm not sensitive, I just don't want to read your pretentiousness. Go troll elsewhere.
@walkerbetweenworld you sound pretentious
There will be a huge flood of used guitars soon not just from newbies giving up on guitar, but people losing their shirt and selling everything.
I bought a factory made Broadcaster reissue in January. It was $2,000. In 1950, the Broadcaster sold for $179.95. The case was an additional $39.95. If you punch those numbers into an inflation calculator, you get $2,502.94. My first guitar was a 1964, still unsold in 1967 when I got it, Supro Folkstar, a guitar that was sold by Montgomery Wards as an Airline brand. It was middle range quality but cost 1/3 as much as the Gibson 335 I really wanted. In todays dollars it was a $1,000 guitar. The quality of guitar you can buy today for less than $500 is astounding compared to what would have been the same relative price in the mid "60s. We are spoiled.
You are absolutely correct, and it amazes me how so many people fail to realize that. I would add that now in the modern era we have much more consistency in the production process due to all of the advancements in technology.
All things considered, manufacturing costs are lower today than they were then.
@@mikecorey8370 My point was that guitars have always been expensive, at least the good ones. The Esquire/Broadcaster/Telecaster were designed to be easy to make with unskilled workers. Leo used Ash, not for it's sound qualities, but because it was cheap. He even tried to forgo the truss rod, unsuccessfully. The competition at the time would have been the archtop Gibsons, at a 50% or more, premium. Gibson soon answered the solid body with the Les Pauls, which were still significantly more expensive.
Fender was always about manufacturing costs. What is amazing, and illustrates Leo Fenders genius, is that he designed such a damn fine guitar with all the sophistication of a tennis racket.
@@mikecorey8370
Manufacturing is exponentially more EFFICIENT now than it was then.
However, if we are comparing apples to apples a 50s Fender guitar to a modern day American made equivalent there is no way that the manufacturing costs are lower. Every aspect of manufacturing in the US is substantially more expensive than it was 70 years ago.
Of course, if you compare apples to oranges a modern day Squier Affinity series guitar IS most likely less expensive to produce than a 50s Fender was at the time. That is exactly the reason why the Affinity series is almost exactly the same price as a 50s Fender.
Its almost like basing our entire global economy on globalized trade, just-in-time delivery, and razor thin margins from CEOs making dumb amounts of money by cutting costs was... a bad idea?
The razor thin margins thing is a huge lie to get you to accept price hikes and worker abuse.
Price inflation madness is the asking price of shit bolt on neck Lp Japanese copies from the early 70's. They were crap then and they are crap now. Discuss...
Very true. What could of possibly gone wrong 🤔
Dexter and Jonathan, the sad truth my friends is that guitar prices cannot continue to go up. At this point in time, it’s already costing too much to buy a good player guitar. When wages don’t keep up with inflation, luxury items take a back seat to living necessities such as mortgages, food, bills, etc. I believe gentlemen as you stated, that once prices go up they stay up. I feel sad and somewhat mad ,what inflation has caused ,as a player and collector, my collecting days are quickly coming to an end. Time will tell.
Glad I have 20 guitars. If I don’t get anymore oh well.
Got my custom shop Martin last year before the shortages and I’m sticking with that! There are used options and I probably will go with a bourgeois small luthier. The wages are horrible, companies paying 10-15 per hour for HARD ass work. No one is able to live on that, ppl gotta start organizing cuz these capitalist and owner class elites aren’t EVER going to pay us fair wages. It’s funny that I’m interested in a company named bourgeois 😂 but they do make the best in my opinion.
@@angelg8445 the capitalists pay me great because I work hard, use my brain and Im worth it. You would not have that Martin if it weren’t for CAPITALISM you idiot!
@@Mountainrock70 I know a lot of people who make less than $15 an hour and most of them work MUCH harder than people I know who make over $100k a year. As a matter of fact, I don’t know ANYONE making that kind of money that works nearly as hard as my sub- $15 an hour friends and acquaintances.
@@Plexi417 part of working hard is making smart decisions. Working at low paying jobs forever would not fall into this category.
I just paid $750.00 for the Epiphone Custom Koa Les Paul these les Paul's are going up in price because they are high end now all you have to do is look at the Specs and well worth it..so of course they will even go higher in price
Yes they are high end Epiphones and I was told they will even go higher in price next year 2022
I came close to buying one of those last year when Sweetwater had them for $650. I ended spending a little bit more on a used Gibson Les Paul Studio because I knew it would hold its value. I will admit that is definitely one of the best looking Epiphone Les Pauls in the lineup.
@@charlesbolton8471 these Epiphones will hold Value I have a 2019 Epiphone Exclusive Deluxe G400 Sg Pro limited Run that now sales on the used market for $600.00
@@charlesbolton8471 many of us consider the original Les Paul to be Epiphone for the simple fact Les Paul invented his solid body guitar the Log in the Epiphone factory in Manhattan New York not Gibson so the reality is Les Paul's solid body guitar that eventually became his Les Paul guitar was born in the Epiphone factory...Les Paul was still associated with Epiphone up until his death in 2009 he was with Epiphone a lot longer than Gibson...1940 - 2009
@@underdog8797
I know that you are correct about Les and his associate with Epiphone, and the development of The Log. The Log is actually on display at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. If you haven’t ever been it’s really a trip worth taking.
I’m also sure that you are correct about that Koa Custom holding its value as well as several other notable high end Epiphones. Maybe I’ll buy one of those Koa models eventually.
As an Economist (and guitar player), watching this was awesome. You did well! It's hard to see the current demand cycle for guitars maintaining this level. Supply will eventually catch up, it's just going to take some time.
Unless they keep regulating. I seem to remember supply always had a hard time catching up in the USSR 😉
Guitars today and with in the past 3 years are becoming more and more professional quality craftsmanship and electronics and its everywhere now the days of budget guitars are rapidly becoming history
Yes and they will hold Value some of the older Epiphones are already holding value and gone up in Value
If you want something, get it now. Even if it’s around in a few months, it won’t be any less expensive - but it may be cheaper.
When the government spends money like it doesn't matter and doesn't care to even pay off the debt anymore,, inflation is inevitable. Add the shipping container and the severe destruction of jobs because of the coof, is it any wonder why this happened??
Truth
They screwed us badly bro!
I was SO fortunate(guitar and gear wise) to grow up and start playing in the era I did.... I started playing in 1970s and bought the lions share of gear (that I started with) in the early 1980s. What was nice about that was that a TON of great vintage guitars, amps and pedals were coming onto the used market. I bought the main guitar I've used (& still have today)for live gigs - a 1969 Fender Mustang from a shop on consignment for (are you ready for this ?)-110 bucks ! bought a piggyback Fender BandMaster amp for 165 bucks... ! bought the original orange Boss distortion pedal for 40 bucks in mid 80s. & about the same time a CryBaby wah pedal for 20 bucks.......better days for sure.
You can also blame Just In Time manufacturing.
Used to be that you had a factory and a warehouse. The factory made goods and the warehouse held supply and product. So on Monday, your warehouse gets 100 parts. By Wednesday EOB you've used 75 parts, leaving only 25. On Thursday, you get another 100 parts and you have some extra parts that you're just storing You still FIFO it, but you have a buffer and that's what the warehouse is for.
But with JiT, you either lower your order or increase your production so that on Monday you get 100 parts, you use almost all of them by Wednesday EOB, and on Thursday you get another 100 parts.
JiT works... Until it doesn't. If there's a storm on Wednesday, you don't get the parts on Thursday. Instead, you get them Friday. You made no product on Thursday and now have to crunch to clear the backlog and get on track. And if the Monday delivery still arrives, you lack the ability to hold a lot of that.
JiT depends on a combination of a flawless infrastructure and maximum production. That's a problem.
Because contrary to what Scotty says, the ship can't give 120%. It gives 100% and after that it starts to break.
What happens when, for example, a certain unnamed manufacturer (whose name rhymes with Ribsun) increases production too much? Shoddy QC and poor build quality. If you're lucky, you get a tiny scratch on the back of the lower bout. If you're unlucky, you get garbage solders and unfinished frets. And when that happens enough, people stop buying your product.
Ayup. 90% of this is on JiT manufacturing. A lot of people blaming the administration, but this for sure 100% would have happened no matter who was at the helm in the Gov.
Loads of companies made the decision to cut orders fearing plummeting sales, very few accurately predicted an uptick in sales. Companies with large warehouses were able to profit substantially, but most don't have that because of the near ubiquitous proliferation of JiT principles.
All these other people can shout "Let's go Brandon" as much as they want, but this whole thing is mostly the result of decisions made more than a year ago... and honestly I probably would have made the same decisions to cut orders/productions with the same information we had at the time.
No two bones about it: This shit sucks. Just be happy we are bemoaning the inability to buy a guitar and not toilet paper right now.
@@LumaTo
I completely agree with both of you. I have work experience in both retail and manufacturing that supports exactly what you both have said.
I worked in retail for 30 years with about 25 years in management. In the “old days” stores would actually order the quantities they wanted of any given item, and for the most part the store would get it although there might occasionally be instances where corporate would raise or lower the quantity based on previous sales history or availability of product. In the last 15-20 years that shifted to making sure your inventory counts were correct so that the item would be auto replenished when you reached a certain inventory level. This also lead to lower levels of back stock so you were dependent on getting merchandise from the warehouse to the store in a more timely manner. This process caused problems for the company I worked for from the time we implemented it.
I’ve been working in manufacturing in the automotive industry for the last three years and we are having the same issues. The company I work for now supplies parts to all of the Asian automotive brands as well as some American and European brands. Everything made at the facility where I work goes to one Japanese brand. When I first started working at this company the parts we shipped out were used by our customer the next shift they ran. Our customer doesn’t have warehouse space to store more than one or two days worth of parts. So both companies depend on each other to keep production flowing. In the last year we have had serious issues largely due to the microchip shortages but also other supply chain issues as well. Our customer has severely reduced their production due to these issues which has caused reduced production for us. In an attempt to keep from reducing our workforce we have created an assortment of problems for ourselves buy continuing our manufacturing as long as we have access to the necessary raw materials and component parts. We have had to lease extra warehouse space causing an additional expense, we have been storing parts (both component parts and finished product that’s ready to ship) in trailers some of which have had leaks resulting in damaged products, and one that I absolutely hate for the last few months we have been storing finished parts in the incorrect racks for the part (each part we manufacture has a rack that was designed specifically for that part) so if our customer isn’t returning empty racks because they aren’t using the parts we run out of racks and rather than stopping our production parts get stored in the wrong racks which often causes damage to the parts.
"It's worse, you double filtered it & it still came out." Thank you for that, I fell out laughing, needed that!
One must also think about the extensions of markets. I work in the food industry, where things are just CRAZY right now. It's not just product that is effected, but rather all of the smaller things you don't think about. We have a coffee creamer dispenser that takes 2.5 gallon "bags" of milk, creamer, 1/2 & 1/2, etc. our supplier HAS the product. What they don't have are the bags to put it in. So we simply have to find a substitute, as our creamer dispenser is now empty.
So in context of guitars, other incidental things could delay manufacturing, delivery, or effect the final cost of the product. Imagine if things like corrugated cardboard, Styrofoam, those cheap (for now) foamy plastic bags that every guitar is packaged in, saw a significant decrease in supply. Consider even such things as packing tape. All of these ultimately effect the final cost for the manufacturer.
In perspective, working in food, we need gloves...not latex due to potential allergies, but vinyl or nitrile gloves. Before the pandemic, a case of gloves cost about $15 from our supplier. Right now, they are sitting at $60-$80 per case. Granted, the supply chain of these was effected directly by covid, because the general public thought they needed them for everyday living. But the industries that actually need them can't afford them...I'd imagine that the folks that paint or stain guitars also need them. When analyzing why things are costing so much more, now, every factor in it's creation, marketing, delivery, etc. must be taken into account. Something as insignificant (to us) as say pickguard material, or washers for the pots or tuning machines can cost a manufacturer 50%-60% more, now. Doesn't seem like much, but it has to cost somebody, something.
What is cheaper now than in 2019?
@@AndyDion Oh, I know that inflation is a thing...everything has gone up in price. The Pandemic, and it's residual effects have caused prices to increase far more quickly. Those gloves that I mentioned, they didn't RISE in price over a period of time....one week they were $15, the next week, we were told we weren't allowed to order them anymore, as they were $60. This is an issue as well....right now, we are attempting to stock up on just about everything, to avoid higher prices, or simply unavailability in the near future. Tyson foods is eliminating their entire line of precooked products....they have no staff to work those lines. Our product catalog from Tyson went from 26 products to 8.
@@TJEvans98 it wasn’t the pandemic, but the government’s reaction to it. We need less socialism and more freedom. I’m sorry you have to deal with this crap. I just don’t see an end in sight.
@@AndyDion Neither do I....it's been getting worse every week. I can't even make a menu now (managing school cafeterias) until I know what I can actually get in for the following week...I know some schools are having problems sourcing utensils......the great Spork shortage of 2021
@@AndyDion
The government’s reaction to it certainly played a part in the issues we are experiencing now. However, it is far from correct to blame it ALL on the government reaction.
The company I work for shutdown for two months last year because it chose to do so not because of any government mandates. It shutdown because our customer shutdown and when we shutdown so did most (if not all) of our suppliers.
I live in one of the most conservative states in this country, and believe me people here have been exercising their freedom throughout the whole pandemic. When businesses had mask mandates in place and were actively trying to enforce them people either complied, complained about it and were allowed in anyway if they complained strongly, or they refused to do business with those companies out of principal before seeing if there was any flexibility.
Guitars ain't gettin' expensive. The money's worth less, or...worthless. Have a great day!
It's essential to always remember this!
But I wonder why the guys who criticized Clapton for being against random (that's the adjective) measures against the 2020 unnameable thing, that caused thousands of industries to stop, now "share concerns about inflation".
Dingdingding
Let’s go Brandon
Yet the world just prints more money and keeps interest rates at zero
Literally the same thing.
Holy smokes, the top carve on that goldtop behind you !
2019 will be known as the peak of the guitar golden age.
I have a feeling you may be right
I wouldn't dare buy anything made after 2019. They've been forced to move quickly, and that's never good for QC.
No, you have to look harder. Got myself Boss pedals for $20 a pop, a Charvel pro-mod dk24 for $500 and a Fender MIJ 1980s strat for $150 from a offerup ad two weeks ago. All in minty condition. Granted, this doesn't happen every weekend, but you have to be on the lookout for these deals and be available on a moment's notice.
@@MrDream-zm1pw are you replying to the right thread?
@@seanbrooks2583 Woops I guess not, and I can't find the one I meant to reply. But yes, you may be right having a 2021 Schecter that is an awesome guitar, but came with a microphonic pickup and misaligned control plate.
What I really like about this channel is you guys don't just talk playing, notes, chords etc.....you talk about all aspects of guitars....and music etc......very informative!!! Thank you!!! And keep up the great content!!!
We're not gonna have any shortage as long as Mexico stays our neighbor. The Classic Series srats were really really really good. They're easily at the same level as US standard strats. Ask any working band and they'll attest to the fact.
If they play Strats.
I spent my grown-up money on half a dozen $300 (used) to $800 guitars. I didn't go balls-deep (laughed like hell when Baxter said that) into a $1600+ single guitar initially. Bought what I wanted first (Gretsch) then added the other Epiphones & Squiers along the way because they're CV & VM and very comparable to the main brand counterparts and total spent is about $2k not including amps, pedals, etc. Two of my guitar buys were from early quitters and got good deals. :) I'll add to the stable eventually of higher priced guitars someday when I figure out the guitar I actually want 100% which will take forever and be a continual buying spree I'm sure. I'll never sell them though. I've had too much regret with selling my Harley and firearm collection when I was coerced into selling it all when my kiddo was born. The Harley is where the kiddo came into being. ;) ;) ;)
This hits home right now. I’m turning 40 next year and have been playing since I was 7. I’ve been looking to purchase a dream axe for my birthday and the prices have just shocked me. I haven’t really bought any guitars in 10 years and I was completely shocked to see that to buy a CS ES-335 was $6k… 😳🤯
Thing is, there are so many used guitars available on Reverb, Ebay, local shops, etc.
To some degree there definitely has been an increase in price for used guitars, but there's always going to be sellers trying to make quick $$ by selling something undervalue.
As a buyer you have to be patient to not always go after the first thing you see. And if something's been sitting in a shop awhile, you might be able to get it for less than the asking price if you make a REASONABLE offer on it.
Im only 46 but i remember one year my dad made toys out of these bags of kindling for my little brothers and sister and even my cousins. Build your kids toys so you can spend more on guitars!
Even pre-pandemic, I've been saying we need a new model for guitar marketing and sales. Not exactly sure how to do it, but with the increase in players, shortage of technicians, and limits to production, something could/should change. Big-Box closing out Mom n' Pop, Brick and mortar vs. internet sales. I think the whole thing may need revamping.
I had Fender build me a Shell Pink 65 hardtail w/59 pure vintage pick-ups in the Mod Shop was less that $2K and it only took 2 weeks to get her. 😎🤘🎸
You had me at "shell pink hardtail" 🤘
That sounds really cool.
Fender Shell Pink FTW
It is interesting you talked about pumping out guitars and at a cost of quality: I recently (2 weeks ago) purchased a NEW MIM Fender Player Plus PJ Precision bass and upon receiving it from UPS it had an abnormally loud buzzing noise. I performed all sorts of checks and tests, spoke with the store, spoke with Fender, and after letting 2 authorized Fender service techs look it over the second tech found out that there was NO ground wire installed to the bridge before it left the factory. Being under a 2 year warranty it covered the cost of the labor time and material to have the ground wire installed properly. I just picked it up yesterday and it is now dead quiet. It apparently slipped past Pedro the QA inspector at the plant so it goes to show that new doesn't always mean flawless from the factory. These guitar companies need to watch this as it is an inconvenience for the customer.
I’m glad you guys haven’t given in to pressure from commenters saying you get off topic too much. The side tangents are part of the charm of your channel
Prices have gone up, but so has quality. All the guitars I've bought in the past two years would have cost three times as much to get something just as nice in the mid 90's when I first started playing.
$1 in 1980 is about $1.80 today too, keep that in mind. I think they’re talking about last couple years vs this year though
I was lucky to have purchased a few guitars in the last few years. Lately I've been looking at 3 different guitars but the prices went up and it's been driving me nuts. Keep up the great work guys. Love this channel
I'm not a professional musician. I played in semi-pro bands back in the '70s but gave it up after I got married. Now I'm in my sixties and I have a little discretionary income so a couple of years ago I decided to get back into guitar even if only as a bedroom player. This time around, though, I decided that I wanted the genuine USA-made article in terms of Fender and Gibson because I couldn't afford them in my teens and had to settle for cheap Japanese copies.
I started with a Thinline Tele two years ago and a year ago got an American Pro II Strat. However, I've had a hankering for a Les Paul Standard for a while now but have been holding off because I was building a peddle board. Furthermore, over the last couple of months looking around here in the UK (I live in London), Andertons, Peach and GAK between them had only a couple of Standard 60s (my choice) left in stock, maybe perhaps a dozen Standard 50s and one or two Standard 70s. All of them had 2019 serial numbers and it appeared that nobody had received any new stock in well over a year. Furthermore, all of the 60s Standards that were still in stock had plain jane tops that had little or no flame. If I was to spend the best part of $3000, I wanted something a little more aesthetically appealing.
Last week I was watching Trogly's and he was doing his weekly vid on the Gibson Mod Collection and Gibson Demo Shop (on Reverb) and noticed that prices had gone up across the board on the Gibson website. In particular, I noticed that Standards were up by $200. This was a worry because Anderton's were saying to pre-order but that no new stock was expected for at least three months.
This evening I decided to have a look at Anderton's on the off chance that there was some change over the last three or four weeks since I last looked and low and behold they have fresh stock with (mostly) August 2021 serial numbers. Furthermore, prices are still the same and 24 month 0% finance is now available where previously it was 12 months. Perhaps best of all, I found a really nice Unburst Standard 60s with a bookmatched flamy top so I ordered it.
I could have held on probably indefinitely finding excuses for procrastination but then when I eventually pulled the trigger, the only thing certain would be that I would be paying substantially more for the same thing.
While not directly related to the idiot prices of new guitars, we are also seeing a jump in the ask for used guitars. I think that everyone knows that the ask price on Reverb rarely matches the actual sell price. I see trade in letdown all the time. Guy goes into shop, says I want to trade this in, currently going for $2500 on Reverb. Shop owner looks up guitar and finds that they actually sell for $1850 on Reverb and offers 50% of that to be able to service, advertise and make some money on the used market. Guy thinks he has a $2500 guitar, but it's actually a $925 guitar to the shop taking it in. Guy gets angry and says bad things about shop. Shop gets angry because they get slammed on social media. Next seller sees Reverb taking a bigger chunk for no value add and increases ask price to cover the new Reverb pocket picking. Rinse Repeat. Potential buyer rethinks buying a guitar entirely and decides paying the mortgage/rent or eating is a better idea.
Loved those steel drums!
Jonathon was not able to stop thinking about Baxter exposing the fact he wasn’t “aware” of glory holes till the 90’s (which tells me that’s the first time he “visited” an establishment with it in the 90’s). Then he’s imagining his “dirty wood” being “balls deep” in the glory hole….
I’m with Jonathan…😂😂. It took me a few minutes to refocus and Jonathan was such a pro how he handled Baxter’s shocking statement of the show…not the first time I’m thinking! 😂😂
Thank god it was an excellent video and again really well explained by you guys!! Your personalities are great in the videos too! 👍😂. Don’t change a thing guys!!
Edit: spelling
I used to haul Freight in and out of Long Beach Harbor back in the early 2000s. At that time a ship that was in Harbor more than three days cost $80,000 per day that it wasn't moving.
Seeing used cheap guitars that were only a couple hundred bucks two years ago , going for $400-$500 . Is ridiculous !
I live in a port city. There is a shipping container sales place near me i pass everyday on the way to work. Over the past few weeks ive watched them go from probably at least 1000 or so containers to about ten or so today. Ive passed this place my whole life and never see it anywhere close to that empty.
I agree with JC
Right now I'm looking for pre covid guitars. Prices haven't been increased that much and are a much better product than what being produced right now.
Exactly. I wouldn't buy a guitar that was made after 2019.
It's been very hit and miss for me. Some have been fantastic but I have also recieved some of the worst guitars as far as QC goes this past year. I couldn't send them back fast enough. Complete garbage and inflated prices.
I had bought a Fender Geddy Lee Signature bass last year(love it). Since then, it jumped to $200 more this year, glad I didn’t wait!
Prices will never come down if there is a market. If the market goes away, prices come down. Simple economics.
Yes. And the only thing sustaining the market is credit.
Y'all are the best!😀
Do you think the used prices will tank?
I have an affinity for pawn shop/ used guitars, and even there the prices have increased. The demand is up, the product is scarce.
I don't see the prices dropping at all, its just not the way the new market works- once players are willing to pay the msrp for gear and guitars, its what the market will bear.
Those $40K pickups blow my mind, because that's about what my folks paid for a 3-bedroom ranch style house in 1977... and as my father and I have oft discussed, a nickle Coke (60s reference) is still a nickle Coke. Because inflation...
Fun episode- y'all went ham deep 🤣
Thanks, guys!
Yeah! I've also noticed the price of everything going up over the last 9 months as well?
Want to understand how crazy the guitar market has gotten. Check Benedetto a boutique company with a lot of fans but a very small buying base of customers. Their prices were always high. Now they are in danger of losing the few that might be able to afford them. This has to mean they are being squeezed. The cost of materials and possibly employee costs must be quickly rising.
I think waiting times will fall as the backlog clears, but as with the price increases there’s a danger in this. You have explained the price increases brilliantly, but during the past 2 years many people have lost their jobs. Further many of those who haven’t do not have the available capital anymore. Coupled with the higher costs, demand is going to fall and the danger for some of these companies is it might fall off a cliff. Whilst the supply chain is a mess at the moment, that won’t always be the case and there is a real danger that the ‘high price’ Gibson thing might become a scenario for many guitar manufacturers. Ten years ago people would look at custom shop guitars as a dream to save up for. When American production line guitars get that label, the major companies will have a problem.
I have 5 guitars 2 amps and a handful of pedals. Just need to stock up on some strings. I can wait this out
So if I'm in the market for a new guitar and my on-line retailer says, "more on the way", should I be wary? Or should I buy now and lock in my price?
As a musician you always NEED just 1 more guitar/bass...but prices are getting too high for most beginner - semi-pro level players. I remember when you could get used LP Customs for under $1k. Those days are long gone. I've been playing for well over 30 years and certainly have what I NEED to accomplish my musical goals, and I have much of what I WANT, so I can't really complain. I've worked with some guitar manufacturers and I've witnessed them cutting corners and letting stuff slide, just to meet their daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly...quotas. It's also painful seeing the comments about quality issues, and you totally know the reasons why, but can't do anything about it. Eventually things will level out, until I'm good with my gear, deals pop up from time to time and when the right one comes along, I'll take it.
I was in a store the other day & they had lots of guitars and prices hadn’t gone up yet.
That could change, but so far hasn’t
I was there to look at pedals
Lots of them too.
when do ya'll think prices will go up again?
Well being I’m paying more anyway I might as well just buy American. Give me a PRS or a Gibson.
I feel bad for younger people 20 to 35, i dont know how they will ever save for retirement .
Used prices are through the roof here in Canada.
I like these guitar business type videos. Good stuff!
love the chibson on the wall XD
I'm waiting on my Fender Jagstang I pre-ordered in July it is suppose to be here to Texas in December.
Hoping that changes
You want it to change to February? ;-)
@@Pannemat sadly that may happen oh well it will be here at some point
Amen Daniel, and we all know the reason for that. Love you guys, it was great to see Sean yesterday. Good lookin and intelligent young man. Better then looking at Baxter’s mug…Kidding of course.
I just got a Sterling St Vincent looked a few days after I got it and the price had gone up $50. Glad I got it when I did
Ball’s deep indeed - flatten the curve, two weeks, you guys are funny.
I once tried to use a bicycle pump on my Telecaster. that was also bad
I bought my 3 guitars in 2020, but they were all made prior to the pandemic. So I didn't have to wait to have them made. None of them have the problems that the ones made during 2020 have. They weren't rushed through production. Companies had to catch up to the amount of products ordered that had fallen behind due to less employees and their warehouses running out of stock on popular models during the pandemic.
I have a 1993 Fujijen bass for sale and I think I need to put the price up to get something else decent when I sell it.
😎 Thanks Casino ⚓️
Across the board, guitars and guitar related products prices have greatly increased. Building parts guitars have come to a halt for me. Parts l prefer have doubled +.
The belly on that gold top is priceless.
my worry is the conversation will be the same years from now. Will I be regretting all the guitars I didn't get for ONLY todays current pricing?
I just got a J45 standard for $2400 shipped out the door new, glad I did when I did,
Got my AO '60s Tele , 70th Anniversary Esquire and American Pro II Tele so I'm good....for awhile!
(Phil Hartman Frankenstein voice) “Higher-BAAAAAAD.”
I kind of went guitar-crazy over the last three years with purchases. For once, I’m glad I lacked discipline. By 2025, I expect one grand to be the new $500 for ‘budget-friendly’ guitars. They might also be exploiting all these new players who just jumped in due to the pandemic (and/or cultish Swift/Mayer worship). No bueno.
I was just thinking the same thing.Bought a bunch of git’s,the past three yrs.Glad I did.😊👍🏿
@@teknomanning Yeah, believe me, it wasn’t out of any sort of foresight on my part! Mainly windowshopping online while working (eventually from home) until I had a moment of weakness. Lather, rinse, repeat. I think I’m good for awhile now.
Although I DO need a second quality acoustic….
#ItNeverEnds
@@docdaytona108 same here. I work in Covid so when I home I like to get as far away from reality as possible. And you know the rest. No planned thing on my part. No favorite brand. Just bought A Brian May Red Special. I’m done
Folks are spending less on services and travel and buying more goods. While prices are going up on guitars, I got a new affinity JM and it under $300, quite a deal.
I was so close to getting a les paul custom :(
I mentioned on another thread that I found what feels like the last Vintera 50s Strat in North America. One would hope this might cure of us some of our bad consumption habits, but I know better than that. There are things we actually need-
As the pandemic winds down, demand for new guitars will drop and a bunch of the 16,000,000 new players will unload their pandemic purchases. Used guitars will then go down in price due to availability which will cause a 'freeze' in the price of new units.
You think that this is going to "end"?
So how many Shishkov Violinmaster Custom Shops have Casino ordered from Fender?
We have at least 1 coming :)
@@CasinoGuitars
Too bad I can’t afford it, because it looks like it is going to be something really special.
Prices for consumer goods go up. They don't go down. Scarcity is a standard method to drive both demand and sell price up. Fender and Gibson are putting all their emphasis on overpriced Custom Shop gear that fewer can buy, but those who can do because they think that they are getting something better, which typically means it has had the shit beat out of it so some wanna be can think that they played the darn thing for 50 years. So long as such people will buy, the market will respond to the highest margin option. That margin will also go to the guitar shop, although it will be a minor piece of what the maker gets. Non USA made guitars are for the most part excellent, and much of the denigration comes from snobs who do not actually know what they are talking about or manufacturer marketing that implies one set of pots is better than another with no data or science to back things up. A Squier out of the box today is a superb instrument. Get a setup done on it by a professional and you won't hear a difference over a guitar costing 4x as much. Squiers and to a lesser extent Epiphones are the guitars for most folks today. Why would anyone spend over $2K on a Chapman with horrible service and support when you can get a Squier for one quarter the price that is excellent out of the box.
In the olden days, we played our guitars, didn't wrap them in plastic, didn't hang them on the wall in glass cases and when something wasn't right got a pro to make a fix, or even tried it ourselves. Wire is wire. Physics is physics. Today's guitars at the basic level are better than those made in the past. We see high prices on vintage, but forget that the vintage we see are the ones that survived and were not junk. There were really bad early Fenders and Gibsons, they just didn't survive. Most anything made by either in the 70s was a piece of junk which opened the doors for Ibanez and others. Better guitars at better prices.
Much of this inflationary pricing is pure market manipulation and profit taking. I have nothing against profit, and if the market is stupid and buys into the lies and misdirection, that is the fault of the buyer, not the seller.
COVID-19 brought a boom in guitar sales, but Fender also has very good data that over 80% of new guitar buyers don't make it past the first year. We are already seeing a glut of pets going up for adoption that were obtained when everyone was at home isolating. Now people are going out, and going back to workplaces, and there are a lot more dogs and cats available.
The smart guitar shop that finds itself inventory constrained would be smart to contact buyers from the boom and ask how the playing is going and when the buyer says that they aren't really playing anymore, offer a fair price to buy (not trade) that guitar. There will be lots of guitars in the used marketplace. Whether they show up on eBay from unknowns, or with decent folks getting hosed by Reverb, or in a local guitar shop that a buyer trusts remains the big unknown.
Be well.
I’ve bought 4 guitars since the pandemic started… an American Performer Tele, two Player Strats and a Player Tele. The Performer has gone up $200 since I bought it and the Players had gone up $100 last time I checked
Without going deep into socioeconomic systems and certain truths, it’s been frustrating to wait for months for a guitar while inflation visibly rises.
If only there were some sort of asymmetrical safe haven asset that is based on a decentralized protocol that could counteract inflation
I believe the guitar companies that are out already will not be able to give us the discounted price ever again so I think this will open up a whole new catalog to new guitar builders for them to offer a discounted price to get their name out there but they will have to be competitive with the hardware and the materials used
Great time to own a guitar shop.
Jonathan increasingly reminds me of John Candy’s character (Barf) on Spaceballs, albeit more svelte and hip, but equally a really adorable and good-natured sidekick with constant amusing, comical facial expressions.
Did you just say all my guitars just appreciated! Sweet!
Not many people know this.. but clapton's single this is gotta stop was written about guitar prices going up ...
On the bright side, its a great time to sell off all those decent but mediocre guitars you have collected over your lifetime and consolidate down to a few really nice ones that can actually get some playing time.
We need a Baxter and Jonathon podcast
Its gonna take 5 to 6 months to get me a Taylor 324ce from Taylor. Does that sound crazy considering Taylor makes 1000 guitars a day? Sounds kinda crazy to me but thats occurring to my dealer
In 2003 I purchased a les Paul standard and a boogie nomad on the same day😳
I don’t have then now cus I’m an idiot and I traded them latter?Both together in uk £2600 brand spanking!
I just paid £1350 for a 1x12 Fender pro reverb😳
Your custom shop strat is relatively the same price as back in the fifties inflation accounted for.
Looking at the glass half full, your guitar has increased in value.
Doesn’t matter when people can’t afford to buy it when you want to sell it lol . Glass half empty…. Lmfao have a great day Rosewood Steel. Hope you get the humor.
@@hogie1259 Absolutely, Hogie! But remember, there are a lot of people that were unaffected, work-wise, with the Covid-19 shutdowns. They have money to spend, but will have a hard time finding a new instrument or the prices will be so high, they will be looking at the used market. Working musicians, who were out of work during the shut-downs, will be hard pressed to buy anything. But, they too will be in a seller's market if they chose to part with any of their instruments.
And the money you borrowed to get it is now worth less
I must be the only one who buys guitars to keep them. All this resale value stuff is funny to me
@@gunkanjima3408 GunKan, I have a number of guitars, myself, that I don't plan on selling. But it's a good idea to keep track of what they're worth and put it to paper. If I happen to pass away, I want to make sure my wife knows the value of my instruments so she doesn't get ripped off if she sells them.
Speaking of supply chains, I ordered a bigsby part through fender back in the spring. By the end of september I was told, "lord knows when you'll have it" and I cancelled the order and bought it on ebay
California requires certain trucks. That’s the choke point. California is to blame.
Definitely a manufactured crisis.
Where’s Brandon?
It's usually pretty safe to assume no matter what it is, if it fucks over the common man California is usually involved.
Agreed. Need to be 2011 or newer trucks to enter the port and only union members. No owner/operators allowed. Plus vax mandates. You can't even haul loads through California with out meeting certain regulations. Self inflicted wounds.
If they weren't so stupid they could at least temporarily lift all those regulations until the ports weren't backed up.
We talk about wanting to wait for a quality guitar instead of rushing but ppl complain when things slow down because a state decides to be more ecological
Musicians are a special bunch…
No. Biden, Pelosi, & Schumer are to blame.
Just 1 more reason to buy locally used from fb marketplace. So many amaxingg affordable guitars on there in my local area. Just picked up a lp standard mint condition 3 days ago for 1/4 the cost new and its a darn good one to
Buying used locally is just better for everyone and everything
But then you get endless people thinking their 90s Squier affinity is worth $300…
@@gunkanjima3408 Don't forget the people who message you to let you know your 3 year old Les Paul Std is no way worth more than $100 and, oh, by the way, will you drive 80 miles to meet them at 10 pm in an Arby's parking lot in a sketchy neighborhood. FB marketplace is the go-to place to meet buyers and sellers who think Craig's List is too fancy.
It’s a nice place to score deals. I picked up a Gretsch Streamliner semihollow a few months ago for $250
@@RobThesman I have been buying and selling on Marketplace for two years everyone I met has been honest friendly and come to my door and let me try the gear before I buy it so your statements untrue. And I'm sure there are some scam artists down there but before I buy I asked several questions important questions that only a guitar player and owner and buyer and seller would know and we have a conversation for days before I buy the gear and then they come to my house and I watch them pull the gear out of the car and bring it into my home by theirselves no one with him never had an issue so some people may have bad experiences and I'm sorry for that but all my experiences have been totally excellent and I scored major deals just got to Mesa Boogie 2 x 12 horizontal cab with the wheels for $250 in mint condition plus all the other great pieces of gear I own I could go on for days of all the gear I bought off Marketplace that's incredible.
Retail prices are way up but go to trade a guitar in and the stores look up the price on Reverb and offer you tops 40% no matter the condition or if yours comes in a $100 plus case for a guitar that didn't come with a gig bag. Speaking of gig bags, Gibson are you serious a gig bag for a Bozeman made instrument
Income distribution is the problem not inflation. In simple terms the share of income going to capital / Producers is growing at a faster rate than the share going to wage earners. The only thing sustaining sales is credit spending. As long as the credit is available the market will continue to grow and prices will keep climbing.
I only pay cash, I only buy new, and I never spend more than 2% of my available cash on any guitar or amp.
The problem isn't the government or guitar shops, or Guitar Companies. It's people spending well beyond their means using credit. Stop using credit, spend within your means - and prices will fall.
I find that the price of air guitar has remained very low...
Literal inflation
BROOOOO the Girls on wild music had me dying!!! LOL
It will be interesting to see what the Covid guitars (Covitars) prices get to as we get older. may be sought after by collectors?
I find that unlikely because the quality has been dodgey - a lot of guitars have been rushed out to make up for lost time. If anything they might be avoided by collectors
@@joeykelly5642
Yet “vintage” guitars from the 70s have now reached the same prices that guitars of the 60s were at 10-15 years ago.
Same thing goes for amps. My amp died a horrible death and I was about to pull the trigger on a Fender Princeton 1x12 and while I was debating that or DRRI prices on both jumped almost 300.00. Prices jumped across the board on all tube amps. Now I am kicking myself for not buying sooner but also thinking do I go Tonemaster because at least that won’t blowup like the Fourth of July and is about 500.00 less. I hate that I may have to lower my wants because of prices of every thing, Toilet paper is freaking 14.00, 4 steaks were 46.00. 1200.00 for a cell phone? How do I justify that kind of money for and amp when I need to provide for my family. Maybe another Boss Katana here I come. Damn🤬