A Question the Wife Asked??

mcfingers
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:29 pm

As I recently reported I attended a Taylor Road Show the other night. When I told my wife that I was able to play a $20,000 guitar her reply was... What makes it worth $20K? I new that there were guitars that cost even more than $20K I saw a Johnny Cash Signature Martin in a display case listed at $45,000. I know some tone woods are hard to get, some trim is more expensive than others, etc. etc. But, what would make a guitar, lets say the Taylor 35th Edition Brazilian, so expensive? I don't know which 35th edition I played, I was too busy reveling in the moment.
I would love to hear your responses to my wife's question.

Really, I think she was just glad I was telling her about the guitar and wasn't showing her a $20,000 guitar. Sighhhh.


dennisg
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:48 pm

If you're asking if the cost to build the guitar is commensurate with the retail price, then no, there's no justification for the price --other than the demand for the product. Why is there demand? Because Taylor made only a few of these guitars out of the highest-quality master grade Brazilian rosewood that they bought several years ago in anticipation of doing exactly this with it. And once it's gone, no more Brazilian rosewood.

You can make the case that a rare coin is only really worth the face value of the coin. But to a collector, its rarity makes it highly desirable. The same with the guitar. And one more thing: the guitar sounds freaking great.


hasben
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:05 pm

Well put, Denny. Supply and demand plus dwindling natural resources = big money. So it goes...


mcfingers
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:11 pm

Dennis,
I tend to agree that the market drives the price. When I went to the Taylor BTO page and priced out the most expensive guitar I could put together it only... Haha ONLY! came to a little over $12,000. I just thought maybe there was something really special about this guitar that made it worth so much more. I thought it was a really, really nice playing guitar when I played it but it just didn't seem ten times better than the LTD 414 I just bought.

Thanks for your thoughts Dennis,

Steve

P.S. Based on the idea of supply and demand I guess that's why it was discounted to $11,795 for the night.


tom18
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:19 pm

Absolutely based on supply and demand like much in the global economy. The $20K USD price tag reminds me that as I was browsing the music magazines in our local Borders, I came across a copy of 'Guitar Aficionado.' I was pretty appalled by what I saw: interviews with the ultra wealthy and accompanying photos of their guitar collections in glass cases. I immediately wondered if they ever get played. I'd hate to think that the Taylor Denny played and described in his post will suffer the same fate, but it's not unlikely.
Guitars are meant to make music IMHO and I doubt I'll get much argument here.
Tom


BigBear
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:31 pm

tom18 wrote:
Absolutely based on supply and demand like much in the global economy. The $20K USD price tag reminds me that as I was browsing the music magazines in our local Borders, I came across a copy of 'Guitar Aficionado.' I was pretty appalled by what I saw: interviews with the ultra wealthy and accompanying photos of their guitar collections in glass cases. I immediately wondered if they ever get played. I'd hate to think that the Taylor Denny played and described in his post will suffer the same fate, but it's not unlikely.
Guitars are meant to make music IMHO and I doubt I'll get much argument here.
Tom

Tom- I agree with you completely! But it's who plays the guitar not whether it "gets" played! If they let me play a $12,000 guitar the next day it'd be hanging on the rack severely discounted! lol! :cheer:


johnrfeeney
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 9:07 pm

for the most part i believe it's perceived value

yes there will always be true craftsmanship - artistry etc always but after a point it's the value that is percieved by the one putting up the cash

ie - paintings by a notorious convicted killer, or Hitler youth knives

does a guitar play better because Johnny Cash signed or played it - maybe in a Twilight Zone movie but it's what it means to the person


Catman
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:15 am

BigBear wrote:
If they let me play a $12,000 guitar the next day it'd be hanging on the rack severely discounted! lol! :cheer:
If I bought a $12K guitar, I would be hanging on a rack the next day, severely dis[strike]membered[/strike]counted. :(


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