Oh my , these guitars

I can't understand it. I can go to a real working luthier and have a truly hand-made and unique instrument, built exactly to my specification from the best woods for no more than 20k.

People still want that name. I live in the heart of bluegrass music country. Lots of people around here pretty much worship Martins. Joe Morrell, the founder of Morrell Music (which started in Bristol) built "The Grand Guitar" out on the side of US 11-W and I-81 as "The World's Biggest Guitar-Shaped Museum" sometime back. When I moved here 19 years ago it was still in operation, with a small radio station in it, and various instruments and memorabilia of country music stars displayed. The building is shaped like a Martin dreadnought on its side. It's got the logo on the headstock, was strung with large ropes, and had inverted round skylights in the "soundhole" on either side. You really ought to see this thing! But it didn't do much business as "roadside attractions" went out of style in the '60s and everybody's in a rush to get to their destinations. It sat vacant for a good while and got a bit run down, but it was bought at auction recently and there seems to be something back in it again. I think it may be the liittle AM radio station again.

Here's my opinion:
Under 1k to 1.5k pricerange: Laviree, Tacoma... aka. lesser known, but high quality, good sounding guitars..

1.5k to 2k guitar: Taylor, maybe some Martins, still, Laviree, Tacoma, etc. etc. Gibson, whatever floats your boat...

2k to 5k: Good semi-custom made guitars.... Collings, etc. etc.

5k+ : Like greybeard said, a true luthier, making the guitar to your exact spec's, with your suggestions along the way and, your name on the headstock... 8)

The only production Martin I've played that I've ever truly liked was an all mahogany jumbo, that looked like this: http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?p=z&g=c&m=000-15S

Other than that, the only other Martin I've truly liked was a 1968 D-28, a beat up and stuff, but it played like a dream, truly no fret buzz, even when i snuck in a powerchord when I was playing it... :oops: :) Real good price too, about 1800 dollars (for obvious cosmetic reasons, but no bracing problems, neck problems, etc. etc.). I'm gonna get scoffed for this, but I've tried a 2k D-28, brand new, and it played, and sounded about as good as my Seagull, which was a 1/4 of the price. I don't have anything against Martin, or any bigname, hige pricetag guitars for that matter, but I can't get over that you can find better guitars for the price if you actually keep your eyes off the headstock... :roll: Just my opinion...

I think its more on the player rather than the guitar which go so high range as to sound them excellent.I mean if all of them are touchdowns then where does the role of player goes... :!:

Oh, and incidentally, Paul Allen is indeed a guitar player. He's doing a show soon, can't remember the details but they announced it on the local mix station last week.

It's really simple.

The price for that guitar is $100k because that is the price for that guitar. It's a rarity.

The price that Martins sell at is based on the price that they will sell. If the price was set at a point beyond what the market would bear, they would no longer sell.

The value of a guitar is in the ear of the beholder.

The value of money is in the wallet of the beholder. $3000 for a guitar may seem ridiculous to some. To me I'd have to think long and hard about it, but I still could pull the trigger. To people with the resources available, well they may not even think twice.

But to pay that much for any guitar based on the name alone is silly.

The decal on the headstock contributes less to the sound than your bridge pins do.

I don't know. I had the chance to play an old Gibson Hummingbird once, at over 18k it was obviously way out of my price range, but is was so sweet it pracatically had to be pried out of my hands.
If I were ever to be in a position to buy something like one of these I would definatley go for an older model, the aging seems to have alot more to do with the sound, to my ear anyway that the name on the headstock.

But to pay that much for any guitar based on the name alone is silly.

The decal on the headstock contributes less to the sound than your bridge pins do.
+ 100,000,000 8)

And john, what did you mean by touchdowns??? :?

I could never understand Martin pricing.

How on earth can they justify a 5.5k price-tag for a laminated top guitar?

Mind-boggling.

Martin pricing isn't really to hard to understand. Why is it any different than say Taylor's pricing?

What guitar is Martin pricing at 5.5k with a laminated top? I'm not familiar with every model they have so I was just wondering.

As far as the D-100 goes, you are paying a good deal for the inlay work that is on the guitar. Yes it is tacky looking but that inlay is not done with a CNC machine. Any guitar with that much inlay will cost a pretty penny. And it is not a guitar that is expected to sell to the everyday guitarists. It is more geared to the excentric, the collector, since it is modelled after the 1,000,000th Martin guitar.

And with all due respect to the many guitar makers out there and peoples opinions of those guitars. Please don't try to make people believe that your Seagull is as good or better than a D-28. And that is no knock on Seagull. Yes some buy a certain guitar because of the name on the headstock but those are usually newer players. Most buy a Martin because of the build quality and the classic Martin tone. It's the same for Taylor, Larrivee and other well respected makers.

So, do you have to show up with the deed to your house just to try playing that guitar.... Imagine going to GC (not that they would have one) and saying "Hello... I'd like to try out the $100K guitar, thank you very much... what... of course I am considering buying it... umm... do you take American Express??"

Another thing that contributes to price is labor. Some guitars are cheaper cos they're made overseas. With ompanies like Taylor, Gibson, Martin and some Fenders, you're paying for good ole US labor. Alot of people think MIM and MIA strats are roughly the same quality, the only difference is with thet MIA you're paying for the labor. I guess guitar makers have unions too! hahaha.

I think by touchdown i meant , the flagship guitar.(By flagship it means , the best one can make... 8) .

These days my high action classical guitar seems good.Martins are a wishlist :wink: