I totally agree with your comment, specifically on time and practice, having all the best equipment, amp, effect etc is going to make you Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Nolan, Jimmy Hendrix, etc again like you said it takes time and practice, yeah you need something decent to start on etc, but don’t go out buy the most expensive instrument and then it ends up collecting dust. Your comment is great!!!!

Democrats are to blame . Who funded the lab in wuhan?

I agree somewhat. Well sales have dropped significantly, guitar sales are def on the rise. Did they lose some customer base though? Absolutely. I work in sales for a retailer and yes, deals they are looking for but Gibson sales? Still happening. Will it be like pre-covid/covid again. Not for a LONG time.

Bingo

I agree with this.

Same ...

but here you are still watching a gear channel 😆

im sorry to hear that for you.......i think its time to start making custom guitars and selling them for a grand or less

I'm actually glad to hear stories like this. Especially since the Advent of the internet all I see is people running around talking about buying new gear. Buying a new guitar. Buying a new amplifier. Buying a new pedal. Just play the damn things for God's sake. Spend your time playing them.

@@engelsjnI like the maintenance aspect and let’s be honest, Phil is just a chill guy that is enjoyable to listen to. I rarely watch the instrument review videos.

Yes! You only need ten guitars. And 3 amps😊

I dont either, but "want" is a strong word...

More amps than guitars is better

Yes yes you do 🙌

Shhhhhhhush

And everyone who has played along in ripping off the middle class needs to be held accountable by NOT being supported by the middle classes' HARD EARNED DOLLARS in the immediate future. Many will surely under. GOOD RIDDANCE! Greedy opportunists, the lot of them.

PRICES NEVER GO DOWN

@@miserychannel666 Ever hear of supply and demand?

Inflation is the reason everything is so expensive because Western governments are printing money at an astronomical rate while producing relatively little product.

@@joesmith8398 Guitars became a pandemic fad. Now it's over, and there are unwanted guitars.

Including boats and pets

As someone trying to unload a guitar right now, I feel you.

Something I learned from dealing with reverb is call the actual company selling directly. You will get a better price, just go to reverb, see who's selling it, call them up and make a deal that's what I did I saved hundreds

Pro tip, any Japanese products from Ishibashi are cheaper on their website. It's English and my bass arrived in 1 week

That’s not Reverb’s issue, that’s just normal tax law.

@@BasedHyperborean i do realize that reverb are collecting the tax for the state, however if i buy/sell on a different platform like facebook or craigslist the state tax disappears, so from a point of lost revenue it is reverbs problem.

@@dizzy7454Golden advice

You're approaching this dilemma from strictly a utilitarian and budget point of view. I can't speak for other instruments, but guitar purchases apply to basically three groups: (1) players, (2) collectors, and (3) player-collectors. Some people have the money and storage space to buy whatever their heart desires. Collectors strictly go after the historical guitars, aesthetically pleasing guitars, and those that were owned by great guitarists. Players focus on the specific sound each guitar produces. Different guitars produce different sounds based on whether they're acoustic or electric and the specific materials and parts used in the construction of the guitar. Guitars sound very different based on the combination of these features. A Les Paul style guitar sounds fat and rich. A Stratocaster style guitar sounds more shrill and thin. Acoustic guitars made with different kinds of wood and seasoning will sound different as well. There can be many variations in guitar design ergonomics and layout of pick-ups on electric guitars. For any guitarist who plays a variety of different genres and is trying to achieve authentic sounds will need more than one guitar. I currently own three, and I'm looking to buy two more, a Stratocaster and a Resonator. With these five guitars, I can play almost everything I care to play. Inexpensive import guitars are largely very well made now, and they offer the budget player the opportunity to own the guitars needed to play music they care to play. The player-collectors are people who like the best of both the players and collectors' worlds.

😂 supply and demand.

Houses are supply and demand. There's too much demand a very little supply because we haven't really built houses in over a decade.

@@TheSammyreynolds it’s actually a combination of immigration and boomer selfishness.

@@AnAxetoGrind yup, blame people for wanting to keep what they bought and paid for.

@@leftyo9589 boomers would rather their grandkids live in Detroit than sell them that 3rd home they own (in a state they don’t live in) at an affordable price.

"Boutique" is supposed to imply high-end or even rare components or manufacturing. That's apparently not the case anymore and they're using the same cheapo parts as a company like Behringer.

@@jackpijjin4088 no boutique pedal is made out of $25 worth of parts. I make custom electric guitars for a living. Two 500k pots, a 3 way switch , capacitor and the wire just to do that at wholesale cost is more than that.

Cute graphics aren't going to cut it and I'm tired of cartoons on my gear.

Demonfx clones are cheap and as good if not identical to the originals.......thats where my money has went

That's one thing I've never understood is the "boutique" pedal craze. I guess in the end it's like all other things that are in search of tone.

I've got a Copper fire majesty 6 that I wouldn't take less than $2700 for . One of the best guitars in my collection. But yeah the prices are nuts

They've all lost their minds. ESP, Gibson etc.

this right here - for that money, I can easily go to any nice custom shop builder and get my very own signature guitar

Jackson too, out of their minds.

My first 7 string was a Schecter C-7 Blackjack that I paid 350 bucks for used. And it was an amazing guitar. Times sure have changed.

Almost every listing on Sweetwater’s Gear Exchange is like that, too! 😂

I've got an EVH 5150III 50W head for $900 as well as a 2x12 EVH cab for $300 on marketplace, cheaper than what they are going for on Reverb. I bought the stuff new at about $1,900 in '18, now selling it in excellent condition for a total of $1,200. But no one is biting. Probably a few factors in play, such as the growing popularity of modelers, less interest in rock/metal than there used to be, live music/garage bands aren't as much of a thing as back in the rock heyday, etc... I think my price is fair for the rig.

That's the problem with $1500 Epiphones is now everyone thinks their $400 Les Paul is worth $1200

Absolutely. Especially the lower end models like Eart and Harley Benton, i've noticed people charge maybe $20 less than what it costs to buy it brand new. And with the Hb's they're selling are actually the b-stock ones, which they then try to sell off as being one of the "new" ones. So if you buy from Thomann instead of the random person on marketplace you'll actually save like $80-100 lol

It's a ton of people that started during covid finally realizing you can't just buy all the gear and be decent without putting in the practice. Besides that it's just people with "like new" gear thinking that's how the secondhand market works, even for stuff still in production. Modelers are a big deal too; many people are downsizing their rigs to one of the big competitors. I could sell almost all of my gear and still be able to play anything with 1 guitar and the quad cortex. I'm not and I won't, but I could lol

basses are WORSE. A good bass is gonna run a grand, easy. With guitars, you at least have a lot of viable options under that. With basses, not really.

@@user-jq4fz6co8b Not true. I found a 1984 MIJ Ibanez bass for less than $700 as my starter bass to learn on. There are far cheaper basses like Squier, Harley Benton, Sire, etc too. Tired of spending a ton of money on gear...

@@Smart-Alex That's a pretty killer "starter bass," although if you were already swimming in guitars it's prolly easier to drop $700 on your first bass.

@@Typical.Anomaly yeah not selling my guitars, love them :)

Then piano's and Violins and banjos. ♥️🎸🎹.

That's what's up. I bought my EC401 in 2018 for $300 used. I absolutely cannot believe they're $1000 new now. It's a nice guitar but nowhere near the quality of other $1000 guitars I have. The prices on just about everything are ridiculous now.

All music equipment is like that. Synthesizers especially. It's gotten so bad that people already resell the Behringer PolyD (a synth that started sub-$900, around 600 when I got mine) as "RAREVINTAGE" *FOR $1600.*

Sofa is getting worse with age and its not as comfortable as it used to be when it was new.Whats the reason for a guitar price to go down at half after some years if it is in good condition and plays like a new one?

@juventinos81 Unknown electronic condition, no manufacturer warranty, unknown if the truss rod has been messed up, potential fret wear, could need a neck reset or new bridge if it's an acoustic, "they're selling it so there has to be a reason".

@@jackpijjin4088 I am talking about guitars that are in good condition.You describe instrument that its better to throw away than try to fix it.Usually only fret wear is something that someone has to deal with when buys a guitar and it can be easily done with 150-200 euro/dollars. I have an electric guitar that i bought 20 years ago for 1400 euros.The only thing that i changed was the frets because they were in bad condition.From nickel i put stainless steel frets.If i am going to sell this guitar why should i sell lower than i got it?With the new frets its better than it was,the paint is still great without any dings and scars,that particular guitar is still in production and now it costs more than i bought it.

​@jackpijjin4088 nahhhhh..I used to score guitars for a fraction of what they cost new.

I'm proof of this... I picked up a $18K PRS, a $16K PRS a $6K PRS and a 10K Les Paul all this year... no desire to even look at the base line USA, or Import stuff.

The rich get richer. Bottom line.

@@Joe-mz6dc For sure, but I also don't think the market is as flooded on high end stuff and vintage, so it comes down to supply and demand as usual.

@@Sams911 then I'm proof opposite, I picked up a $400 Schecter, a $180 Schecter, and a $80 project Harley Benton this year. No desire to even look at the asinine prices of custom shop USA etc.

Really? They’re not busy buying kempers?

I have one sitting in my house. I bought the stupid thing as a cheap alternative to a JC but don’t even have the gumption to take it out of the box. So I can have to get another app on my phone and learn to tweak 75 different settings to get a JC sound out of it? What a waste

@@OldManDoom totally understand. But, take it to a GC to trade on something else and you'll be lucky to get 40% of what you have in your new amp. I used the Katana amp as an example of prices being artificially high on a lot of gear. GC and retailers on Reverb are probably stuck with a bunch gear that no one really wants yet they're still asking way too much in a heavily saturated market. I'm thinking we're headed toward a bursting bubble at some point and a lot of retailers are gonna take a bath.

Tell that to Nintendo. They like to rerelease 15 year old games for $60

@@OldManDoom I just plugged mine in and started jamming. Never even hooked it to the internet. It sounds just fine without downloading some app. I can’t imagine a bunch of people returning them unless they were dumb enough to think it would replace their tube amp for live performances. I bought mine for couch jamming. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Absolutely right...I counted one day on GC used gear page ...149 used Katanas between $149 and $199. They're everywhere.

20 years ago, a burger and fries at my favorite joint was 3.25, today it’s 9.95, so the ratio is about the same…

Yup. I bought an American Strat for $650 back then, too. And I bought a Mexican Tele for $275. I also bought a new Mesa Dual Recto for $1300, and that amp is now $2900. Everything is 300% the price it was 20 years ago, and none of it is as good as it was back then.

I bought my stuff 20 years ago for reasonable prices…. Has been true for just about every market…

The cost of the materials has maybe more than quadrupled to make that guitar. And so has the labor. So its not really a wonder the base American stuff is $1500 20 years later.

@@MicroSBs has your pay quadrupled?

6 years ago, I bought an American made Stratocaster Deluxe, brand new. It was the high-ish end guitar that I had always wanted after 30 odd years of playing. My 401K was through the roof and I had plenty of money to splurge on a dream item. I sold it last year because I had to. I lost my $125K/year job in the beginning of 2020 and started a business. Things were going GREAT in the beginning, but this has been a shit storm 4 year period, economically. My biggest customer’s sales have been reduced to 1/8 what they were in 2021, so my sales to them have been cut down from $50k/year to $6k so far this year. Trying to say anything more about that without getting into politics is impossible, so I’ll leave it at that………….

@@danielduplantier3741you don’t know much about economics if you think one guy has that much influence over things. Also inflation is up everywhere in the world do some research.

​@@mbrownie22 Inflation under Biden: 20.3%+ Inflation under Trump: 7.2% I think I know who I'm voting for.

​@@mbrownie22relieve all student and CC debt, and inflation vaporizes overnight. It's historically normal to do this. It's weird that we don't.

@@gracefromabove9057”inflation would be worse under Trump than Biden,” WSJ

For real? Hard to believe that your home brew plays better than your Fender Strat's. What brand and model pick-ups did you use?

@@audiophileman7047 just random ceramic ones I found on Amazon lol. and yes it really does play better than both my Fenders; as crazy as that is to say, the neck I bought was a carbon copy of a fender neck.

@@audiophileman7047 just random ceramic ones I found on Amazon lol. And yes it really does play better than both my Fenders; as crazy as that is to say. The neck I bought is a carbon copy of a fender neck.

What models are your fender strats?

@@didamnesia3575 I have an American Performer 2018 and a MIM Player series 2023. Both sound different but feel exactly the same. When compared to the Chinese neck; the radius of the neck was spot on, and The headstocks fit like puzzle pieces.

That's just crazy talk bro

It’s that your philosophy with a pair of underwear too?

You sell your electric every time you want to play an acoustic guitar, which you now have to go buy? And vice versa?

Loook at the over consumers justifying their 60 guitars 😂

@@user-qs7ph1uh5h I doubt it. Why are you conflating two unlike items?

How do you like the Vintage ii?

@@jameslonglove it’s a great guitar but if you don’t like the big 50’s V neck don’t bother.

Where did you buy it for that price ?

@@DK-nq9wv Exactly. No way in hell did he get it brand new from a dealer for 1500. Maybe what they were when that came out at 2099.

@@DK-nq9wv found it on reverb from a mom/pop shop. It’s a 2022 model, but it never left the box. They had a floor demo model and 3 in the back sitting in boxes that they never sold. When I got it, everything was in the original box and all the case candy was still in its plastic so I believed their story. If you look you can find things.

Gibson reportedly spent over $3 Million in legal fees suing Dean, and they just had their verdict overturned by an appeals court. I bet they think the guitar buying public should pick up the tab for their frivolous lawsuit. And if Gibson uses their option to retry the case they will try to pass on the additional legal bills to their customers. The lawsuit and initial verdict were stupid in the first place. Nobody with half a brain could look at a Dean V and mistake it for a Gibson Flying V.

I was in the local GC this morning for some strings. Was killing time between two doctors appointments and took a little look around. When I saw a $1000 Epiphone I thought that the Apocalypse must be right around the corner.

But they still had recent price increases!! 🙄🙄

yeah, what happened to the American special strat that retailed for $999 in 2019? got one new for 15% off at sam ash back then.

@@johnsmith-ug5tp I think dealers on reverb that aren’t box stores may have dropped their prices just to get the old stock out the door cuz they have to buy the new stuff or they lose their dealership status but as a whole fenders dropped nothing.

Nothing wrong with the MiM Player series at all. Played several and they feel every bit as good as the double priced American counterparts. The Player Plus is even better.

@@ckatheman Not my experience. Total junk! To compare the MIM to MIA is laughable, Night and day.

@@johnsmith-ug5tp There were subtle differences, but nothing that affected my playing or the sound compared to one another - both the player and player plus were just fine - the plus especially with the rolled fingerboard - I literally could not have distinguished the necks apart if I were blindfolded. I also have an Indonesian Squire that (with the exception of the junk tuners and saddles) - also plays and sounds just fine - for a lousy 150 bucks.

I hate when that happens. Ammo and precious metals can be the same way.

Maybe, depends on the factory. If they have less work to do they’ll likely lay people off to reflect the demand.

Keep an eye on Reverb - I got the Tahitian sunset model for $450 last year.

Fender FSR Candy Apple Red HSS - $499 when it came out in 2014/2015. Used around $300-350. New in 2024: $729.99. Used for $550-600. Same mid guitar it always was.

Not here. People are still asking more than retail for se from 4 years ago. They are asking 15 percent less than current prices. Often better prices at retailers reselling the same thing.