Another year, another round of price increases from the company guitarists love to hate You’d think that here at Budget Guitarist headquarters we would join the Gibson hate fest, but no. I don’t hate Gibson. I like their instruments a lot. My Gibson Les Paul 70’s Tribute is probably my best sounding humbucker electric. Not that its competition is that stiff. And if I’m honest, I did replace the fairly expensive bridge Dirty Fingers humbucker with a better-sounding less expensive Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates (the world’s best $129 pickup.)
My industry insider friends tell me that the low end Les Paul experiments like the LPJ did not sell well, and the company has learned that there’s no huge demand for “inexpensive” Gibson guitars, but it keeps experimenting around with things like the $399 Gibson M2 and the $449 Gibson Firebird Zero. However, the cheapest guitar in the new 2018 range is $899. I have played the $449 Gibson Firebird Zero, but honestly, it’s hard to play while holding your nose.
Over the past 4 years we’ve seen the Gibson Les Paul Tribute go from $799 to $899 to $999, with virtually no improvements. So 20% increase in 4 years. I wish my salary at work increased 20% over the last 4 years, and maybe for some people it has, but for most people it hasn’t. The Internet is now full of people bashing Gibson for the price increases, but none of that matters. What does matter is sales. If consumers are willing to plonk down the money and buy Gibson guitars, then the company did the correct thing with prices. They’re not in business to make friends. They make money. That’s what businesses do.
Gibson isn’t alone. Fender hasn’t exactly kept the same pricing over the last 4 years either. The Fender Standard Strat, made in Mexico, is $624 as I write this (September 14, 2017.) In 2013 it was around $499. So, yeah, it actually has gone up more than 20% over the past 4 years.
The problem is that the market isn’t exactly chock crammed full of new wannabe guitar players every year. If you make electric guitars, this is concerning. And then consider the huge market of used guitars – it’s massive and getting bigger. Most of the guitars in my collection were bought used.
Gibson is getting picked on for increasing prices and Fender isn’t. Kind of weird, right? But people love to bash Gibson. Just like they love to bash Apple. If you make high quality stuff that is expensive, you’re going to get bashed.
But I’m still sad about the price increases. A year from now, a used Gibson 2018 Tribute will likely go for about $700. A couple of years ago you could get one (used) for more like $500, which is the Budget Guitarist unofficial ceiling for a budget guitar. Gibson Les Pauls (with or without binding and flame tops) are very cool instruments – they sound great, play great, and look cool. Yes, you might have to deal with sharp fret ends on older used models, and yes, they’re overpriced. But sharp fret ends are pretty easy to take care of with a fret end file.
If you want a used lower end Gibson Les Paul, like a Studio or Tribute, now’s the time. In the future, prices on used Gibsons will be going up to correspond with the new guitars becoming more expensive. You might also get a really good closeout deal on a new 2017 Tribute or Studio.
And now might be a good time for the Budget Guitarist Official Price Limit to be increased to $600.
