What does 'high-end' mean to you?
 

The term 'high-end' gets thrown around a lot on this forum, but what one may consider 'high-end' may be laughably not to another.

Then there is the constant conflation here of cost with value. Warren Buffet has famously said, "Cost is what you pay, value is what you get." Many here use 'high-end' to refer to a guitar's cost, others use it to describe how good an instrument it is; its value. Others use 'high-end' to refer to either or both, when cost and value are decidedly not the same. But we'll leave that for another poll.

For now, what is the cost threshhold for you to consider a guitar 'high-end'?

That’s simple! It means I can’t afford it!

$850 or more

High end is non truly mass market... in reality probably anything with a cost over about two grand .... lets be realistic, as much as there are lots of folks on here with a D18 , to most people thats an extraordinary amount to spend on a guitar. Six strings acoustic did a study in Feb this year.. average price of an acoustic was just over a grand, for an electro acoustic, around 1500.

I have three acoustics that I paid between $2000 and $3500 each for. Today, it would be between $2700 and $4000 for the same models. They’re great guitars, all I need, and probably all I’ll own going forward. But they’re all standard production model guitars, no “Authentics” or small builder guitars with tuned tops. I’ve played and considered buying guitars in the $5000 range that were Authentics and/or small builder guitars that I either didn’t like more than what I currently own, or sometimes didn’t like near as much as what I already own. I consider the cutoff for high end to be guitars that are hand built by either a small builder or a specialty shop within a bigger company. I don’t own any, never have for more than a few days, and probably never will. But that’s where I put the cutoff. In todays $$$ it may be more like $6000 and up, but when I played a few, they were all around $5000 and up. For other, more discerning players than myself it might be $10,000 and up but $5000-$6000 seems to be my cutoff… It may be as simple as “the price beyond which I don’t own any” - I do realize that I’m very fortunate to own the guitars I do, I’m VERY happy with them. But that’s my feeling about it anyway…

-Ray

I've not selected a figure as I've absolutely no idea.

I suspect, just like beauty, it's all in the eye of the beholder . . . a moveable feast so to speak.

This poll is a little like asking how much you earn or your net worth.

What I can/will say, is that most of the guitars I've bought in this century, I couldn't afford to replace at current prices.

I started a similar thread a wee while back that got a range of responses (no poll however). This might be of interest to you:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=654169

For what it’s worth I voted above $2000 in your poll, but I really mean above £2000.

I remember when the guitar craze hit boys in my school in the mid 70s. 'High end' meant a laminated Yamaha if you were into acoustics and a Columbus or Kimbara Les Paul copy if you wanted a good electric.

If you're rich it's free if you're poor it's very expensive.

This will mean something different for everyone - in my book it's the line where the factory built instruments stop and the one-off, one man or small shops like Collings, Bourgeois, etc start. So not really a price, but attention to detail which an individual desires.

I've built 2 Strats with two different takes on my favorite tone, finish/looks wise you couldn't touch something like thwm at under $5k, and the work I've put in to the finishes is far more than I could justify if I were to sell them, I also wouldn't trade either one for any luthier built electric I've ever seen.

I don't plan to buy any more acoustic guitars, I'm in the process of setting up to start building my own. My opportunity cost runs about $50/hour (if I worked in industry, rather than an obscure area of science research, it would be triple that or more).

So figuring that the way I'll be doing it, I'll invest 200 hours into an instrument, buying one at $10,000 looks like pretty smart money. I'm under no illusion that I can turn out an instrument that will match a professional luthier (which doesn't mean I'm not trying for that).

So my answer is $10k+ because if I were being rational, that would be the better outcome / cost effective choice.

Fortunately, I don't put much stock in rationality ;-).

I respect the question, but I agree it is difficult to answer in terms of $ price.

Quality of the instrument itself is my first consideration. Mass produced vs. handmade, etc.

I haven’t voted because I don’t use price as an indicator of ‘high-endedness’. For me, it’s about build quality, playability, and the sound the instrument produces.

Thanks for the Friday morning chuckle! Funny because it’s true.