Gibsons/fenders over priced?

I love Gibsons, own the faded SG that I thought was a great bargain at ~$700 bucks. I dig the guitar, it's been an inspiration to keep me interested in practicing and playing but when I look around at guitars, it seems like you could get more for your money buying a different brand. I'd really love to own a SG standard, I'd also like to own an American made strat but they are both very expensive when compared to say a very nice ESP. I know alot of the decision depends on what you like to play, I'm open to just about any type of guitar music, from country to thrash but tend to stick with rock and blues. At my stage of ability it really doesn't matter what type of guitar I'm playing as long as it's decent quality, comfortable and fun to play. I have a $200 washburn accoustic that I absolutely LOVE! And really the quality seems pretty good, especially for the price I paid. I also had a $200 squire strat that was a hunk of crap. So I wonder just how much of the price is for quality and how much is for name.

Opinions?

Well, since no one else has replied.....

• [u]Nobody[/u] can hear what name is written on the headstock. They can guess at what it sounds like, but the only way to be sure is to see it and read it. Which means that if a guitar sounds good to you, it sounds [u]good[/u].
• No one else can decide for you about how a guitar should feel in your hands. It's as personal as buying a pair of shoes. Following that analogy, something that looks really stylish on the rack may be really uncomfortable after you've worn them for a few miles.
• The best buying decisions are made with your mind and your ears open, and your eyes shut. If a guitar speaks to you on a deep personal level, then every other consideration is secondary.
• The amp, and any effects you use, have such a big impact on your sound, that the guitar becomes less of an influence as the signal chain gets longer. Even if you play totally 'clean' the axe is only half of the system.

My personal tastes lead me to old Yamaha and Washburn guitars from the 60s through the 80s. People hearing stuff on tape guess the whole range from Airline through Fender and Gibson to Teisco. After a while, they just shrug, and settle back to enjoy the music. And that's the whole point, right? :D

I'll second Lordathestrings on this one, to an extent. While the higher priced guitars often have better materials and components than the cheaper ones, the name on the headstock does, IMO, add some $$ to the final cost. The same can also be true of the country its manufactured in. Most folks would rather have an American-made guitar than a Korean- or Chinese-made guitar, and generally, they are more well made. Then there are cases like the Fenders of the 1980s, where the Japanese models were quite comparable to the American models with a much lower price tag. It pays to shop around and try a lot of guitars.

Ultimately, the best guitar is the one that's right for you, whether it's ridiculously expensive or ridiculously cheap. On one end of the spectrum, I've got a cheap HM Squier from the early 1990s that I'd never part ways with. ON the other end, I've got an expensive (for me) Music Man Axis that's absolutely the best guitar I've ever played. That said, I've played a couple of $2500+ guitars that I would never even consider owning because they were all wrong for me. Ultimately, it's not the name on the headstock or the price of the guitar that matters as much as making sure the guitar is the right one for you.

I have 6 guitars, and none of them cost more than 500 bucks... My options are already severely limited because I play lefthanded, so I at least try to try out a guitar when I see one. My first guitar, which I bought 5 years ago, is a 1989 Peavy Tracer, and I wouldn't part with that thing for all the tea in China-it's been with me on several deployments (originally because it was my cheapest one, around 300 bucks!) I have gotten so accustomed to that thing, playing something else seems wrong at this point. I have a couple of Epiphone Les Paul knock-offs, which play awesome as well- don't let the price fool you- those things are really well made. I hate look of the stratocaster type guitars, so I couldn't comment on Squiers, I guess, but the Epiphone quality has really gone up in recent years. I'm actually stationed in Korea right now, and the guitars for sale on the economy are maybe a tad cheaper than in the States. Even if you're not initially happy with the sound of a cheaper guitar, get a pocket pod or some kind of amp emulator- those things will do wonders as well, especially if you look to play blues one day, and the some sabbath the next, as I often do. Great Site- just found it and have already started the member's lessons.

Hey thanks for the replys.

Well after doing some research I guess the price on atleast Gibson is somewhat justified because they are hand built and can take 6 weeks to finish one guitar. The finish and binding seem to be fairly time consuming hence the reduced price of my faded. Ofcourse it also has the less expensive bridge pick up and less finish time with the light "faded" finish, regular unbound neck with dots and the head stock having only a screen printed Gibson logo, instead of inlay.

My faded is a fantastic guitar and after plinking around on other guitars I have decided that it has all the characteristics I dig. Light weight, great playability and versitility, super comfy and just feels right. So after alot of thought I decided to pull the trigger on a new standard in heritage cherry. To be honest it's mostly for asthetics but it will be nice to have a "beater" for lessons and dragging around and a nice one for home enjoyment.