Gibson: Under rated/Over rated/Totally no pt in getting one?

Orville gibson died in 1918...
first "original" lespauls rolled out in 1950s...

Thus the whole historic and VOS craze... the original designer will be Lester William Polsfuss aka lespaul.

Some things may have changed over the 50+ years of the lespaul ..
but i think.. most of them were improvements (imho), EXCEPT for the long tenon, which should be present in ALL lespauls.

this doesnt change the fact that the Gibson lespaul of today is still the "original" lespaul?
 
Gibson's resale and secondhand market value

Gibson guitars have one of the best resale and secondhand market value. Eg. Assuming person A bought a new regular Gibson Les Paul Standard for $3500. He then sells it to person B for say $2700, which is roughly the market value for a used LP. So how much will B resell it again to person C? Probably $2700 also. And all the transactions down the road will also be around $2700 region (depending on the condition of the guitar). The value holds because of the very strong branding power and subsequent demand.

If you take Hamer USA guitars for instance, a brand new Custom Artist may cost say $3000. But on the resale market, you have to price it around $1500 before someone will buy it. Hamer USA may make better guitars than Gibson in terms of quality, but the demand and pull factor are simply not there.

Fender guitars are not bad either in terms of resale value.

Locally, the worst secondhand value is of course the Thai made POTs or NNGs. No doubt some of them are quite good guitars. But expect to buy one new for $2000 and then "forced" to let go for $800 or less!

my 2.5 cents ;)
 
Gibson's under-rated?

their recent production models can be labelled as over-rated but not the earlier models.

alternatively we can find other manufacturers that produce equal/better guitars than Gibson in the shape of the Japanese lawsuit.

But in terms of resale Gibson is the undeniably the unbeatable.
 
i cant say overated or not but I never really like LP though I've owned a few b4 ..I just like strats better .... ca
 
Only a Gibson is good enough!!

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gibson not enough?
 
Gibson guitars have one of the best resale and secondhand market value.

I have to agree on the good resale value. But on the longer run, it would depend on how well Gibson is able to maintain its reputation (inherited from the past) for exceptional quality. Now buyers are starting to re-evaluate the resale price of the newer batch of Gibsons on a case-by-case basis.
 
I like Gibsons, but I'd only buy used.

These are my reasons:
1. First hand prices locally are totally ridiculous.
2. Ordering online has many risks, and you don't get to play the guitar before buying it.
3. The guitar must be well-made and certainly not a lemon otherwise the seller would not have bought it in the first place.
4. I like the 'relic-ed' look :mrgreen:.
 
Orville gibson died in 1918...
first "original" lespauls rolled out in 1950s...

Thus the whole historic and VOS craze... the original designer will be Lester William Polsfuss aka lespaul.

Some things may have changed over the 50+ years of the lespaul ..
but i think.. most of them were improvements (imho), EXCEPT for the long tenon, which should be present in ALL lespauls.

this doesnt change the fact that the Gibson lespaul of today is still the "original" lespaul?

i read the about the history of gibson lp and this is what i can rmb. LP had a design of what seem like a solid body elec guitar back in the 40s. he first went to gibson to ask them to make a prototype and subsequently mass produce it, but they turned him down coz gibson saw no potential in the elec guitar design. only after leo fender made it big with his tele (the first mass produced solid body guitar), only then gibson realise the power of solid body elec guitar, and decided to ask LP back to work on a new solid body guitar.

think of it, gibson was quite b*st*rd hor? long b4 anyone can imagine the success of solid body guitar, gibson brushed off LP, now the LP guitar model is so popular, gibson priced them so high.
 
oh yeah, about the high resale value of gibbie, it is very true. in view of resale value, buying a gibson over a lawsuit or copy is definitely better. but that is if u are planning to sell your gibson. if you are to buy and play and dont intend to sell, then just get a good japanese copy lah, no?
 
I'm fervently anti gibson

Their consistency in making the same model of guitar leaves MUCH to be desired.

Next, the guitarists who I take as influences, well, none of them use gibsons, except for maybe the metallica boys recently, who I sorta lost respect for in recent years anyway.

If I wanted chunky assed necks, I'd actually get a Dean, I'm a fan of pointy guitars, gibson explorers points are rounded, not the razorback.

Price, I'm a student, after a hell lot of saving, I'd actually think really really hard before blowing 2000 bucks on a guitar. Why get a gibson, when i can get a guitar of similar or higher quality at a lower price? Dean USA quality, outright trounces gibson models within the same price range.
 
yea lespaul had some roughly made solid body.. made from a slab of wood? he housed it in a hollow body (aplenty at that time) and it didnt have any of the usual feedback problems and had great sustain.

Gibson is opportunistic la... like most successful enterprises.

Had a jam with my lp today... fooh ... after all that time with my strat ... i realise the lp can complement a band mix very nicely... shiokanarden.

i think we should all just celebrate the lespaul design. dun care about the brand.

Just like how ... some people will pay more for levis jeans... and some think its overpriced and choose LEE instead....
they are all durable, blue and cover your big muff.
 
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in the end, its really up to the buyer to decide. first of all, in choosing a guitar, u must consider whether it suits your needs and give u the sound that you want in a guitar. if it doesn;t, then why bother getting it?

in the end, everyone will have different opinions. it shouldn;t matter if others think its overpriced or overrated or not worth getting, in the end YOU, will be buying it, YOU will be the one playing it.

personally? i wouldn;t buy one first hand considering the quality is indeed dropping. but i find that, for the price, you get awesome tone. if u want gibson tone and mojo, u can only get it from a gibson.
BUT, since i'm personally not too bothered with tone and am more focused on speed and ease of playability, jacksons are my thing. so yeah, in the end, you have to choose and decide for yourself.
 
i always thought that Gibsons are good in terms of workmanship and quality, but definitely not the best.

one thing that prolly make them appear so good in consumsers' minds is imho, marketing.
 
Status symbol... if you've got decent chops, a Gibson headstock somehow enhances your stage image as an accomplished musician.
 
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