Huge guitar purchase, am i being an idiot?

Huge guitar purchase, am i being an idiot?

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kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Friday 17th July 2015
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Been looking at a les paul to sit alongside my telecaster (squier affinity), only recently started playing but really enjoying it so figure i may treat myself. Now i have been looking at les paul futuras, classics and studios etc and now i have seen this http://www.gak.co.uk/en/gibson-2013-custom-shop-ha... granted its a huge step up in price but is it worth the extra? I am after a guitar for life and can get this on 4 years 0% so starts making a bit of sense(ish) and doesnt seem that much more than other equivelent custom models.



If its not worth it any thoughts on which model would be best considering it would be a keeper even looking at the 50's tribute they have for under £600.

For a bit of background the guitar will be shared between me and my dad who already has a gibson 335 custom, fender jap strat, and a large heritage (he can play by the way so not trinkets)

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
Yeah i will definitely bring him along as its nice to have his opinion as he saved me a few hundred with the telecaster as told me to get a specific affinity as best set up one in the shop and initially went in for a 50's vibe.

It is a lot of money to spend but i have been playing now for a few months and still picking it up daily (have a fender mustang sampling amp to play with) so feel like it wouldnt be wasted money.

I will take a look at ebay and the like as issue i have with a lot of the modern ones is the e tuning, not that i wouldnt use it id just prefer the extr into the quality of the guitar and not gimmicks like the tuning system.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
Also been looking at the les paul peace in purple that nevada music have (and changing the control knobs) only possible issue with that is that i was hoping to sell the hard case to recoup some expense as i have my guitars so far an acoustic, banjo, and the telecaster out on stands and would do the same with the gibson so little need for the nice case, but not sure i would get much for the hemp case compared to the custom case.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
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Thanks for the advice you are right i am certainly not good enough yet to warrent the guitar, one of the drivers for the purchase is that it would be something i could share with my dad as said earlier hes getting on a bit and im 35 and you start to realise that there will be a time when your parents wont be around and see this as a way to treat him and spend more time with him, we are close and are like mates but it doesnt help to further that.

As im writing the this the obvious answer is obvious i should take him down to a few shops and let him pick i guess!

When i bought the telecaster i got them to get a selection and remove the price tags so we wouldnt be influenced by price, may do a similar thing with the les paul, but tell them a top limit!

The main reason i fancy one is im a huge Knopfler fan and the way he makes it ring is just stunning.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
quotequote all
Never heard of those but i have also been looking at the heritage 140/150 but would need to hear one.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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Just to be clear when i say guitar for life, i dont mean my only guitar for life, i just mean a les paul good enough that i wont want to but another les paul. I so far have not played one and this is a worry as i do find my dads gibson which granted is a 335 to me doesnt feel to great due to size. As for weight it doesnt concern me too much as will pretty mich always be sat whilst playing.

The first thing i need to do i get down somewhere and try a few as been looking at ones as varied as the vos in the first post down to the 50's tribute at £569! And of course i may find them all unplayable.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Friday 24th July 2015
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Im hoping to get down to a shop tomorrow as otherwise i will be unable to for a few weeks so will have a better idea of what im after then and as said it may prove that a gibson style guitar would be better than the actual gibson.

If id of thought about it properly i would of got the epiphone les paul instead of my telecaster as the tele is the guitar ive always fancied, and that definitely will be replaced with either a second hand telecaster or a custom (not reliced!)/masterbuilt version.

As said earlier i do quite like the heritage 140 and 150 but fear this would have to either be an ebay,which i hate, or blind purchase as not many in the UK.

Thanks for help so far.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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Current thought is to try and get to pmt next Saturday and try their les paul deluxe (pelham blue) which they have up for £1249 and the les paul traditional (seafoam green) up for £1150 ish) and see if either of these suit.

My preference only on looks is the blue deluxe so will see if a preference once played. Both on 0% October ffers with various places.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Monday 27th July 2015
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Its not that i don't get that there are probably better guitars for the money, but there is a draw to the new guitar player to a fender or a gibson. I have a few nice watches and its the same after an omega and rolex you start to look at the more boutique makes. I suspect i will be the same with guitars as i do have an addictive personality so i can imagine i will end up with a few different makes down the list ne, its just that for my first big purchase i would want a fender or a gibson. The fender i really want is a custom shop or masterbuilt telecaster and whilst its a squier and im honestly not trying to compare it to a masterbuilt guitar i have a telecaster so it would feel as though im replacing a guitar not adding one to a collection.

That said i am trying to get pmt onboard with shipping a les paul traditional pver to their birmingham store so that i can try one of the purple ones back to back with the pelham blue deluxe to judge by sound and dare i say it looks to see if a i want either and b i have a preference as only £100 ish between the two so same ballpark price.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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I have arranged to go to a place on Saturday to try out a few les pauls.
A 50's tribute £569
A studio £780 ish
A deluxe £1149
And a tradition for around £1300

Going to try and take price out of it and just pick the one i fancy as this is what i did with the the telecaster and ended up with the cheapest as it was my favourite of the ones i tried.

I think my dad is going to but a gretsch if he can piggy back a deal, he did tell me which one but i cant remember and its not the white falcon as id of remembered that name.

Im interested as to what i will come back with.

Of course if i see another version on the wall or one gets suggested then i may as well try that as well, im so glad the place has sound proofed rooms smile

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Saturday 1st August 2015
quotequote all
Well im back, went to guitarguitar in Birmingham who were fantastic spent last ts of time with me but also left me to my own. No pressure to just buy the expensive one and went through from the lower end up to a lovely secondhand model which just wasnt the one for me unfortunately as i could tell it was a good one. Luckily the one i preferred the looks of also found to be the best to play for me as found others to either the frets to raised, to hard edged or the string action not as low as my preference.

Anyway thanks to all that have looked and offered assistance with my purchase, and heres a pic of her.


kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
Yeah i did try to sort out the picture but it didnt work so heres another on the wonk!



Just look at the contrast between the blue, the white and the wood cloud9

Just been playing it this morning i sound crap, it sonds great.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
Thanks i really like it, to be honest i think we can all agree its a bit too good for me at the moment but it really is a wonderful thing.

If you are thinking of looking at a 2015 model i wouldnt hang around too long as with the deals on at the moment, mine was over £500 off and pay nothing for a year, they do seem to be selling reasonably quickly which i what forced me to look this weekend as would of been more convienient to of looked in a couple of weeks time.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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rlw said:
Have to say that I have been trying not to buy a Deluxe in gold since all the prices went down from silly to a lot less silly. Lovely guitars.

I've not been playing long either and I find that wider neck a real pleasure - no slipping off the sides and a bit of room to wriggle about on too.
Get it bought, just think buy it on one year delayed finance pay it off with a interest free credit card on the 11th month for 18 months and all of a sudden its £42/month. With no interest charge.

Now book a table at a fancy restuarant where a meal would be at least £50, then cancel it to spend the evening playing your guitar. Do this every month saving you £50/ month.

Count the guitar cost versus the saving on the meal you would of gone to and all of a sudden your making £8/month feom this guitar.

£8 x 30 months = £240 for a banjo.

Got to love man maths smile

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Thursday 6th August 2015
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Glad to hear you agreed with the details! I only have a squier telecaster but i really do like it and still picked it up to have a play on yesterday despite the new shiny blue guitar.

Heres my telecaster.



Edited by kazste on Thursday 6th August 16:44

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Wednesday 26th August 2015
quotequote all
http://www.gak.co.uk/en/gibson-2015-les-paul-delux...

Just thought id put this up, only the one colour but a deluxe for less than £1k !!!!!!!!!!

If you buy it now lease post a picture.

kazste

Original Poster:

5,679 posts

198 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
My thoughts exactly if you wither dont care about the colour or would pick that anyway its a huge saving of nearly 50%.

Still really enjoying my pelham blue deluxe but wondering if worth an amp upgrade as playing it through a fender mustang 1 amp probably isnt getting the best from it.