Does a $5000.00 dollar guitar sound better than a $2500.00?

[Jim Soloway]

Maybe, maybe not. At least in our operation, price has no connection to tone, It's just a reflection of options added to the basic model. In fact, the guitar that I consider the best sounding instrument that we've made in the last year was also the least expensive.

[GuitarsFromMars]

Originally Posted by splatt

some $500. gtrs sound "better" than some $25000. gtrs;
some $5000. gtrs sound "better" than some $2500. gtrs,
some $2500. gtrs sound "better" than some $500. gtrs,
etc etc etc:
who's playing the guitar?
on ANY guitar:
weak players will sound weak;
strong players will sound strong,
mediocre players will sound mediocre, and
beautiful players will sound beautiful (to you):
we may be something akin to equal in our potential to "sound good",
but the specifics & the individuals involved really do make all the difference(s).

anyways,
it might depend upon what the individual player is looking for,
the materials used & the skill-level of the luthier (and how much their time is worth, to both of them),
how much money+time is spent on purely cosmetic appointments,
and
how much the individual guitarist
a) knows about electric guitar lutherie AND how well they know their personal needs, &
b) what their own points of discernment are (which applies both to the luthier, and the guitarist).
imo.
i see a wealth of guitars available at high prices that are not worth their asking prices (to me), as well as a very few guitars at $5K+ that
are most def waaaay worthwhile to play and own.
as well:
i see quite a few guitars around priced well below $2500. that i would consider to be exceptionally worthwhile instruments, esp.
if one considers modifying them to various degrees.
dt / spltrcl

I am with splatt's logique ici...I own guitars that are not pricey,and are eminently useable,on the gig.Others cost more....a lot more

[bluesdoc]

'sounds better' is always in the ear of the beholder. Which makes comparisons pointless. Some of my best sounds, for me, come from my put-together Warmoth +/- parts-o-tele. It just works. It can't sound like my prs or Swan. Better? It's just not a term/concept that translates from one person/one guitar to another. Except for exceptions..... And what splatt said.

jon

[frank62]

Grandpa to grandson: "do you know the difference between a 20 dollar street walker and a thousand dollar call girl?"
grandson: "no"
grandpa "980 dollars"

[RichusRkr]

Well I do have a guitar I paid $5000.00 for- a 1966 Strat. Great sounding and playing guitar(well after I had it refretted). I'd say as a guitar, just guitar value: ie playing, sounding, feeling etc, it is easily worth $2500. So for me the other $2500 is vintage or collectable value which results in only bragging rights if I keep it and investment value if I sell it.
New guitars worth $5000?? Playing and soundwise any electric guitar can only be so good. I mean there is a point where you reached the limit of what an electric guitar can be within the parameters of what an electric guitar is. So laying fancy inlays and wood art aside, I don't think any electric guitar as a player is worth $5000.00 I give the limit at $3000.00
However I've been tempted to pull the trigger for about $3400 for a Grosh Set Neck..

[mad dog]

Price has a pretty tenuous relationship with tone, playability, actual value to a particular player. With newer guitars, probably a closer relationship. With vintage, close to no relationship.

[scottlr]

Originally Posted by frank62

Grandpa to grandson: "do you know the difference between a 20 dollar street walker and a thousand dollar call girl?"
grandson: "no"
grandpa "980 dollars"

... and maybe a bit more soap and water

[English Jim]

I think beyond a certain price point - given that the price is commensurate with quality - it's a matter of taste/personal preference. Is a $3k Anderson 'better' than a $2k Suhr? Of course not, different but not better. Do I prefer one over the other? Absolutely, but not because one sounds better or is better built or for any reason other than I just like it better.

[stephax]

Overpriced guitars are made for professionnal players and all the people who can deduct these "purchases" from their taxes at the end of the year...
Vintage is also a good business...
Let's face it : the best piece of wood, the best luthier, the best craftmanship = all this added cannot go further than 3500 bucks IMO (for a solidbody)

[brad347]

goddangit. I remember when $2000 was the absolute most you would ever pay for any guitar vintage or not.

Unfortunately mowing lawns wouldn't let me save up that kind of scratch at the age of 11 or I would've owned 'em all. By the time I graduated high school in '98, a vintage 'player' pre-cbs strat was juuuust out of reach from my waiting-tables over the summer money.

Now I'll never own them.

[raildog]

Thanks for all the info, I was not only talking about sound as well as build quality and parts and feel, That being said my opinion is there has to be a point to of diminishing returns and it is more about fancy tops and inlays. I feel like this tye dye grosh with fralin pups is going to give me all of the opportunities by being a great guitar and set up well, but then I have to put that much back into it, or the result is still not satisfying. so I have started to take lessons and see from there. thanks,Scott

[phoenix 7]

I would have to disagree with anyone who answers this question with an absolute "yes" or "no." As usual, the answer is "it depends." Many $5K guitars sound better than many $2.5K guitars. Some $2.5K guitars sound better than some $5K guitars. At the moment, my $2.5K Les Paul R8 (with electronics upgrades) sounds a little better than my $3800 Grosh Set Neck. Once I change pickups in the Grosh it could be a different story. The more expensive Grosh does have much better playability that the Lester. But the Lester is an unusally good-sounding Gibson. My R8 also sounded better to my ear than a $5500 boutique Les Paul-type guitar that I carefully A/B'd it with. But I'm sure there are some $5K guitars out there that are better than my R8. These things depend on so many factors. Beware of generalizations!

[bdegrande]

No, there is no reason for a $2500 guitar to have to make any compromises in terms of sound. Above that range, it's all dragon and bird inlays and such.

[daveski]

Simple mathematics would dictate that it sounds twice as good.

[whitehall]

Yes. Twice as good. Always.