Gibson ohh Gibson....another big laugh...

[Jimi75]

Look at this. Gibson produces the Alex Lifeson sig, which starts at "just" 6K. Get a sigend one for another 3K.....

Heh? Sorry, but this is so stupid. 3k for an autograph?

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Elec...ul-Axcess.aspx

It all stops making sense.

[Beerman***]

I'm a huge fan of Alex and Rush but if I were the type to pay money for autograph's, it wouldn't be on a guitar.......it would be on one of his checks!

[deeaa*]

Damn...I never understood it about autographs in the first place. I was once given a baseball cap with some famous dude's autograph and they said it's like worth a few tenners minimum now and in 10 years up to hundreds...but luckily it washed right off from ruining the looks of the hat ;-)

[marnold***]

It only makes sense inasmuch as enough people have enough spare cash to buy it. Gibson charges what they do because people will pay it.

[FrankenFretter***]

I'm kind of surprised to see a LFR instead of an OFR at that price point. Seriously Gibson, for $6K, I expect the real thing. Not that I'm in that income bracket anyway, but just sayin'.

[Eric***]

It only makes sense inasmuch as enough people have enough spare cash to buy it. Gibson charges what they do because people will pay it.

This is basically my stance on it too. The sucky part is that I'd guess there's more than one person who 'buys' this with their credit card. That kind of screws everything up.

If/when I get a more expensive LP, I've already kind of concluded that it probably won't be Gibson, just because I feel like I couldn't afford it. So be it; there are many other nice guitars out there.

If people want to pay $3k for an autograph, that's still up to them.

[progrmr]

Every time I see one of these threads I'm afraid to open it...I know that whatever I see will only make me dislike Gibson more even though I want to like them. Seems like all they do is put out sig guitars that the common player will never be able to enjoy, or even want too - I mean, seriously, how much more guitar can you get for $6K over one that costs $3K?? And 3K for an autograph? Makes me sick to my stomach.

[Tig***]

In general, it appears that Gibson is just trying to keep up with PRS's Private Select pricing. Fender has some outragious pricing for their Custom Shop relec and signature guitars, too.

This instance is just an LP Access with "signature" marketing hype. Most signature models are about the same thing: marketing. Most aren't anything more special than the original model. Occasionally, a signature is a copy of a guitar the famous person had modded, which helped define their unique tone. I don't see spending extra if I can mod a stock guitar for just a few bucks.

3K extra for an autograph? Why???
I've met a fairly large number of famous people from Mercury 7 astronauts to sports stars and movie actors, and have yet to ask for an autograph. I just don't get why someone's signature is so special. Sure, an old baseball signed by Babe Ruth and the winning Series team is worth something, but that is history. A Hendrix guitar is worth hundreds of thousands now, but we're talking the real thing, not some over priced copy.

Does this guitar's value go up in value when Alex dies some day? Will someone later buy it for 10 times the original price? Not likely.

[deeaa*]

Yeah. My take on prices:

120 bucks buys you a good used practice axe
350 buys you a great axe that can be used professionally. I have a few of these, and they can be superb players.

450 you can put together a great axe, all pro level, all my current axes are about here.

Past that, you start adding visuals and reliability, resale value and extreme gigworthiness/superb hardware
I could see myself paying up to a thousand (dollars) for a really good instrument that would have superb finishing and all, IF I had excess money.

Maybe 1500 for a truly exceptional guitar with absolutely best possible parts and woods and impeccable finish with beautiful woods and everything.
That's about what I paid back in the day for my Les Paul Standard and it was arguably worth it too.

But, I seriously can not see how anything could be worth more than that, really...it's no longer nothing to do with anything but image and brand and ideals and such.

[Tig***]

Does Gibson ship to Dubai?
There are literally hundreds of gold and platinum plated luxury and sports cars there.

Outside of a few Manhattan condos overlooking The Park, or Beverly Hills, I don't see much of a big US or Canada market for pricy new guitars.

[marnold***]

I'm kind of surprised to see a LFR instead of an OFR at that price point. Seriously Gibson, for $6K, I expect the real thing. Not that I'm in that income bracket anyway, but just sayin'.

I didn't check the specs. That's ridiculous.

[Eric***]

I'm kind of surprised to see a LFR instead of an OFR at that price point. Seriously Gibson, for $6K, I expect the real thing. Not that I'm in that income bracket anyway, but just sayin'.

It said something about Graphtech Ghost system, which my uber-quick (and not thorough) search indicates is a piezo system. Is that a possible explanation for why it's licensed, not original?

[deeaa*]

Um, I dunno, why could a licensed Floyd be even better than the original?

[NWBasser]

I thought Gibby already had a Lifeson siggy ES 339??

..or was it a 335??

At any rate, from what I remember, it was stupid expensive too.