Gibson is often accused of charging way too much money for their guitars. In capitalism, things are worth what people are willing to pay. But I found something interesting in the new lineup of Gibson Les Pauls. Read on for more info.
2016 – $899
According to the Cost of Living Calculator, the cost of US goods from 2016 to 2018 increased about 4.5%. I just so happen to have a copy of the 2016 Sam Ash catalog and the 2018 Sam Ash catalog, and looking through Gibson’s current line of Les Pauls I noticed something interesting. For most guitar players, the Gibson Les Paul, with it’s trapezoid inlays and humbucker pickups, is an icon. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore the role of the Gibson Les Paul.
I point out the trapezoid inlays for a reason. Gibson has usually put dot inlays on its “cheaper” guitars. The Les Paul Junior comes to mind. So we associate dot inlays with low end Gibsons.
In 2016, you could get a Gibson Les Paul with trapezoid inlays for $899. It was the Gibson Les Paul 50’s Tribute, shown as #5 in the screenshot. No binding, but a real good looking guitar.I tried one of these. It played great and sounded great.
2018 – $1,699
So now it’s two years later. You want a Gibson Les Paul that looks like one. You want the two humbuckers and the trapezoid inlays. Your cheapest option is now the Gibson Les Paul Studio at $1,699, almost double the price. Gibson HAS to know people want a Les Paul that looks like one and costs somewhere a little under a grand. Nope. Screw what you want – Gibson wants to make more money.
I hear you saying that the 2018 Les Paul Studio is a better looking guitar than the 2016 Les Paul Tribute. Yes, it is. But it’s almost double the price.
Hang on – Gibson does have a Les Paul Tribute in the new series. It features cheap looking dot inlays and sells for $1,199. So it’s a cheaper looking guitar that costs $300 more than it did two years ago. Inflation says that to make the same profit as two years ago, Gibson would sell the new Tribute for about $940. So they’ve jacked the price up $260 and made the guitar cheaper by using dot inlays.
Would you spend $1,200 on a Gibson Les Paul with dot inlays?
The good news is that these price hikes will make any Les Pauls you currently own worth more money. The 2016 price for a Gibson Les Paul Standard was $2,799. The 2018 price is $3,399. It’s gone up by $600 in two years. To keep up with inflation, Gibson would need to raise the price by $126.
The most interesting question is “will it work?” I hope not. Gibson had a lot of financial trouble, and as a result has new leadership. It looks like new leadership decided to jack up the price at a rate 5 times greater than inflation. If these sell, expect the price increases to continue.
If you ever wanted a Gibson Les Paul, go grab a Tribute or Studio on the used market while they’re still under a grand. The prices are bound to go up. They are great guitars. But are Gibson pricing themselves out of the market? I guess we’ll find out.
