At What Pricepoint Do Highend Guitars Not Sound Any Different?

[dneal]

They sound like they sound, and cost what they cost.

Sound is personal preference, and cost is market demand. There’s not necessarily any correlation.

[Oldguy64]

Over the years I’ve been able to play a ton of guitars.
Initially it was Martins, Taylor’s, Gibson’s.
But as a man with six kids and shallow pockets, I tried to find guitars that played as nice as Taylors and sounded at least as good as Martin and Gibson.

I’ve been able to play those guitars and step across the room and play Yamaha, Washburn, Alvarez, Seagull, etc.

I’ve found that a $1000 Alvarez Yairi, sounds and plays as good as a $3000 Martin...to me.
Or, I’ve found that if I prefer the sound of the Martin, which rarely happens, it doesn’t sound or play enough better to justify the price.

An increase in price will net incrimental improvements.
But, some of those improvements are easily found with a good setup.
I have a sweet little Alvarez PD85S that is, hands down, one of the nicest guitars I’ve ever played. Now that it’s been set up, it’s even better.

Much depends on how much difference YOU hear and feel.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Datcoolguy

Wood can only sound so good audibly, I just dont want to buy a 5k guitar when a 2k option isnt any distinguishably different to the ear.

The simplest answer is that if you don't want to do that, then don't. Go play some guitars and figure it out.

There is no "the ear". Only your ear.

[Loren Tilley]

I agree with the folks who said $2-3k. I think above that a guitar may or may not sound better, but the pricing is about other things.

[fregly]

My Furch was $1600 or so and is as good as anything I've played or owned in the high end realm. In this competitive market supreme instruments can be had for under $2000.

[Mike McLenison]

I've played $500 Martins that sounded better to my ears than $2k Taylors in the same room. One factor for me when I choose my Martin HD-35 was that this model had lighter bracing that was scalloped, thus the top would tend to be driven harder and more dynamic in theory than a D-28 = 5/16" scalloped vs. 1/4" scalloped bracing.

[Kitkatjoe]

Originally Posted by Datcoolguy

As the title implies at what point do the high end Taylor's or Martin's etc. stop sounding any different, say between the $2000 mark vs $3k-5k?

Wood can only sound so good audibly, I just dont want to buy a 5k guitar when a 2k option isnt any distinguishably different to the ear. Playability is also a factor, but again a piece of wood is a piece a wood. At what pricepoint is this basically not a problem anymore?

Thanks in advance

Cash does not create tone.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙊🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Osage

The huge problem with answering this question is that all guitars sound different. Two D-18's will both sound like D-18's but they won't sound identical. Some will be pretty far from each other in fact. Same goes for basically any high end guitars. One might not be any better than the other but they will certainly sound different. An expensive guitar might be amazing and a cheaper guitar might blow an expensive guitar away.

Funny story. A few years ago we were on tour. One night we stayed with a friend who is a pretty serious guitar collector. Serious vintage Martins and Gibsons as well as some very expensive modern guitars. In the morning we had a bit of a geek out session on these guitars. It was fun. Some were amazing, some were ho-hum. We bring our gear in every night and our guitar player pulled out his D-16R and started playing it. It absolutely smoked the bulk of the guitars we had been playing. The owner of the collection knew it too and was pretty shocked. There was over a million dollars worth of guitars in the house and the lowly D-16 crushed it. I've played a number of other D-16's and they are usually very nice guitars but none of them are close to this one. This is just to illustrate that once you get to a certain level of quality price isn't really the thing that makes a guitar sound great.

This post stole my point and said it better than I could, lol. Guitars are individual creations, sometimes sounding radically different than others of the same make and model.

Price should only be considered in terms of your budget. They also can't be evaluated by discussing them, only by playing them. In the example Osage gave, the D-16 wouldn't have been afforded much regard as compared to the other guitars in the room.

I once picked up a mid 40's J-45 in Matt Uminov's shop and when I played it I knew immediately I was playing the loudest and best sounding J-45 I had ever encountered. I still regret not buying it after all these years. It's vintage set the price, others of the same vintage and price, I wouldn't care to own. Like the D-16, it was a special guitar not likely to be encountered again in my lifetime.

Better construction and better materials usually signal a higher price and often, better sound. If you set out to play 100 guitars in the next 6 mos. you'll have a better understanding and the answer to your inquiry will be known.

[LadysSolo]

Originally Posted by lowrider

It's not that, generally speaking, more expensive guitars don't sound better. It's just that the improvements over, Martin Standard Series, Taylor 800 series. Gibson j-45 standard, cost a lot for small improvements in tone. Some find that very acceptable. Others like me, find the sound of the Standard Series as high as we want to go.

Guitars to get better at those upper levels. I just can't go there.

What he said. It becomes a point of diminishing returns, big money to get a slight improvement. I am person who feels I am "worthy" of (can hear and so "need") a $1000 - $2000 guitar, any more and I would not be able to bring out its best qualities. I am very okay with that.

[wguitar]

As I've learned here on AGF there are a number of factors that determine how a guitar sounds (tone, for example), including things like how you play, the pick you use, the strings you have on it, humidity levels, what type of woods it's made of, age, guitar size, and so forth. All guitars are tonally different and each provides a different playing experience. The cost of your guitars doesn't matter as much as how they sound to you. IMHO the point of diminishing returns for guitars is in the $2-3k range, while many great guitars can be found for under $1k. Enjoy making music!

[Joe Beamish]

I haven’t found the ceiling yet. But I don’t mind. Every guitarist I admire plays or played a relatively humble guitar, generally speaking. And I’m happy with the same.

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by Datcoolguy

As the title implies at what point do the high end Taylor's or Martin's etc. stop sounding any different, say between the $2000 mark vs $3k-5k?

Wood can only sound so good audibly, I just dont want to buy a 5k guitar when a 2k option isnt any distinguishably different to the ear. Playability is also a factor, but again a piece of wood is a piece a wood. At what pricepoint is this basically not a problem anymore?

Thanks in advance

I think this is a very interesting question, I can't say I have played a lot of expensive guitars, but in reference to the ones I have played I have yet to find one that has really impressed me for the amount of money being asked for it. I remember one time a salesperson handed me a used Martin ( I wish I could remember the model ) which was priced at $10000. I strummed it a few times, played a few lines and some fingerstyle, it was dead as a pancake (taking into account the strings were old) I handed it back right away.

As an experiment, the following could prove to be interesting, find a store with a good range of guitars ask the salesperson what you are looking for, style of guitar, some specs etc but NOT the price. Ask them to present you with guitars to play, close your eyes or look away, whatever it takes so that you can not see the guitar. Let your ears decide which guitar sounds the most pleasing, when and if one sounds like "the one" see what it is.

It might be interesting for someone to try this experiment, most likely has already been done.

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Datcoolguy

As the title implies at what point do the high end Taylor's or Martin's etc. stop sounding any different, say between the $2000 mark vs $3k-5k?

Wood can only sound so good audibly, I just dont want to buy a 5k guitar when a 2k option isnt any distinguishably different to the ear. Playability is also a factor, but again a piece of wood is a piece a wood. At what pricepoint is this basically not a problem anymore?

Thanks in advance

You say "different" but I think you're meaning or implying "better." And that assumes that there is a simple hierarchy of good better best and so on in the sound of a guitar. While I expect that some folks here have better ears in terms of training, experience, and maybe even tastes that align with larger portions of people who might play or hear a guitar, I don't believe that there's any such simple rating scale that says one guitar sounds better.

Inexpensive guitars, medium priced guitars, and high priced guitar sound different, not just as price classes or as collections of specifications that may involve greater costs to make or bring higher prices that buyers are willing to pay, but because we (as a group of players and listeners) like guitars to sound different, and we use them different ways. And the player influences how a guitar works soundwise. It's perfectly possible for two players to play three guitars in front of you blindfolded and for you to order the guitars differently in terms of sound quality.

My modest Martin 0015 doesn't sound like someone's else's D45, but that D45 doesn't sound like my 0015. Is one better sound-wise for all things? Not necessarily. It's probable that for more things I do more often I'd prefer the 0015 more times than a D45. Another player might prefer a mid-priced D18 over a high end small body with Brazilian rosewood for more things they do more often. I'm exaggerating types to make my point, but even with like body sizes, some guitars just please one for some things where another one doesn't and it's not necessarily the size of the price tag or where they sit in a brand's catalog.

I sense the real question imbedded in your question that you've stated otherwise is a fear that there might be a better guitar for what you do most often than one you might settle on. What you fear is an unsolvable problem, witness the many buying histories you can read here over years. Buying expensive won't vaccinate you against GAS. If you seek a particular sonic quality, there's probably some level of diminishing returns as you go up the price ladder and there's no rung that will protect you.

Play some guitars in your comfortable price range. Find one that pleases you for what you do. Change your mind later if you tastes or budget range changes.

[tadol]

At no price point do they sound any different - two $200 guitars could sound just as different as 2 $25,000 guitars. Your mistake is to think that there is one pinnacle, absolutely best, guitar sound. There are many guitar sounds, and many are very good. You can find inexpensive guitars that sound as good as the most expensive ones, but its probably gonna be a fluke, or a chance, or involve playing thru 100s to find one that accidentally came out exceptional - and hope an employee at the factory, or at the dealer, didn't already find it and grab it -

What you get with higher end guitars, if you are shopping right, is an instrument that you are far more likely to find is exceptional - maybe 1 in 10 for high end factory instruments - maybe every one for some master solo luthiers. But there is always some differences between them, sometimes so subtle it may just take a bit more experience and expertise to discern them. A really well made instrument is something that takes a while to get to know, and even when well used, may actually be much, much better than when new.

But no one should buy an expensive guitar just because its expensive. Its nothing to worry about - until you pick up that first hand made guitar that grabs you by the gonads and you just know, that whatever it takes, you need to spend a lot more time with this guitar, and its something that will bring you joy every time you pick it up. And then you have to figure out how to pay for it. Until that happens, play, make music, and enjoy what you have -

[Hack Guitarist]

I'm not sure you're phrasing the question the way you really want to. You can have 6 Martin D-45's (a $8500 guitar) next to each other and they will all sound different. You can have three $7500 guitars, one Martin, one Gibson, and one Taylor and they will all sound very different. My guess is that what you mean is 'where is there a point of diminishing returns'. A $7500 guitar is not $5000 better than a $2500 guitar. Speaking in terms of Taylor guitars, because I am most familiar with them, a 400 series and a 900 series may have the same shape and same woods so they are essentially the same guitars. Except the 900 series has better grain in the wood, pretty abalone and mother-of-pearl inlays all over, a sculpted sloped shoulder, gold plated tuners, a nicer gloss finish, etc. If you only want to evaluate the sound then go with the 400 series but if you want a freaking museum show piece that is also a great guitar then get the 900 series. The thing is, you don't have to spend $9000 to get a great sounding guitar.