Do you save any money buying a guitar when the market is bad?
It might be worth it. Or not.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks as I write this in late March 2020, you know that stock markets across the world have been tanking. Many retailers have been selling off their inventories quick, but does this mean you'll get a good deal on a guitar right now?
No, with the exception of a scant few. I'll talk about that in a moment.
Since around late 2017, the guitar and guitar accessories market has been in a slump. Why? Several reasons. The passing of trends, the fact you can buy a $300 guitar that's just as good as a $3,000 guitar these days because of modern machining (with more guitar players becoming aware of this every day), the fact there are many really good videos on YouTube showing how to build guitars for next to nothing, and so on.
The prices set for guitars right now won't change, because guitar manufacturers aren't beholden to what happens in the stock market. And the reason for that is because there is almost no guitar company out there that's publicly traded on the market.
For example, Fender - the biggest of the big - is a private company. They tried going public years ago, it didn't work and they've remained a private company ever since. The vast majority of other guitar makers also operate privately. The only ones that don't are companies like Yamaha where guitar manufacturing isn't their primary business.
Now as far as those scant few guitar sellers that do offer deals during bad market times, this only applies to boutique electrics. As in guitars that sell for $5,000 or more.
When the market takes a dive, some upper end guitar stores will discount the boutique stuff as much as 40%. This sounds awesome, but I can assure you it's not. The 40% is only taken off the guitars nobody wants. If a guitar store has a boutique guitar but it's just plain fugly (and there are more than just a few of those) and has a price tag of $7,500, then sure, they'll discount that as low as $4,500. But they were going to do that anyway at some point just to get rid of the stupid thing, bad market or not.
That super "cool" Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt guitar you want real bad that's selling for $7,000? The price won't go down. Not happening. Regardless of how bad the market gets, the price of that will stay right where it is. Deep discounts only happen to the other boutique guitars you don't want.
If you want something cool, get a Surf Green Strat. It's still selling at the old price before Fender raised theirs (yet again). That's actually a good deal for what it is.
Guitar variety packs that are smart buys
You save cash buying these and at the same time discover new tones, so it's a win-win situation all around.
Picks and strings. Every guitar player buys these things. The problem is that when you want to try something different, money is wasted buying too much of something you may not like - unless you get a variety pack.
Variety packs are good buys for three reasons. First, they cost much less than buying each product individually. Second, even if you don't like everything in the pack, you'll at least find something you do like. Third, you may find something good enough to switch over to and then you can spend a little more on just that one thing.
Where strings are concerned, Ernie Ball is one of the few that does offer variety packs. They call theirs a Tone Pack, and offer this in both electric and acoustic versions.
Now to be clear, the Ernie Ball Tone Pack is not the same set of strings 3 times like what D'Addario offers. What you get is three different sets from the same brand. For example, in the 9-42 size Tone Pack set, you get a Super Slinky, Cobalt and M-Steel set. Three sets, same gauge. Each set has a different tone character and feel.
I do wish more guitar string companies would do this, because it's an excellent way to try out what the brand offers.
Where picks are concerned, there are several that offer variety packs, but one of the better ones is the Dunlop Variety pack.
What I like best about it is that it's not just one pick shape in one material using different thicknesses. With this pack you get picks in different shapes, sizes and materials. Included in the pack is delrin material (Tortex), delrex material (GatorGrip), round tip, pointed tip, plain grip, textured grip and more.
For as cheap (and it truly is cheap) as this pack sells for, you get a lot of different choices here, and that's the whole point of getting a variety pack. You want variety, and this pick pack delivers.
Lastly I'll say again that concerning string companies, more of them really need to start offering variety packs. Every string brand I know of offers different models of strings that are distinctively different from each other both in tonal character and feel. Offering 3-pack variety sets is just a really good idea. I'm glad at least Ernie Ball does it.
Ibanez has the best green of 2020 (so far...)
Green, as I've said before, is usually a terrible color for an electric guitar. But Ibanez actually made it work with this RG solid body.
Okay, technically the RG470MSP model is actually the color Turquoise Sparkle, as there is some heavy metallic flake going on with this finish. But I see green when I look at this guitar, and most likely so would you.
Is this guitar expensive? No. It's very nicely priced.
Does that mean the guitar is skimping on features? No. It does feature the Ibanez Wizard III neck, double-locking tremolo system, and Quantum pickups. And yes, that is body binding you see there too.
Ibanez is also one of those guitar makers that's able to make a maple fretboard look pretty darned good aside from Fender where the guitar looks correct.
Also notice that all the hardware matches. The tuners matches the bridge that matches the vibrato that matches the knobs that matches the pickup rings. In addition, the binding, pickup covers and pickup switch tip are all white and match - a detail other guitar makers would skip. Little details like that are just nice to see at this price point.
Yes, you could get a regular RG470. But this one is cooler.
Modern natural done right: Jackson Pro Series Dinky DK
Yes, there is such as thing as going with a natural-ish finish that's modernized, and Jackson has done it.
Why do I call a finish like this natural-ish? It's not 100% natural. Color is added, but the point is you can very prominently see the grain lines on both the body and headstock.
Take the Jackson Pro Series Dinky DK Modern Ash FR6 in "Baked White". Other colors are available with this Modern Ash treatment such as a hardtail in Baked Red, or 7-string versions in Baked Blue or Baked Green, but the Baked White is the best of the lot because it has that "ghostly" appearance to it that just looks cool.
This is an interesting take on the baking/burning process of a guitar body to bring out a different look. Baked wood is a relatively recent thing guitar makers have been doing, but ordinarily it's for 100% natural finishes only. The difference here with what Jackson did is the application of color with it.
The baked look fortunately carries over the entire body, meaning front and back, meaning it's not just some cheesy baked veneer.
I also like the fact this gives the guitar a different appearance without being stupid about it. Jackson didn't go "loud" with this and didn't have to, because the very prominent grain lines are more than enough to keep it interesting.
Said another way, I firmly believe this guitar look will stand the test of time. When you see this guitar 5 years from now or 10 or more, it will still look good. Jackson should make this a regular finish option on all their guitars.
D'Angelico Deluxe Atlantic is a crazy good value
If this guitar said "Gibson" on the headstock, it would be $8,000.
...but you won't believe how much less it sells for considering what you get.
Satin finish. Ebony fretboard. Seymour Duncan pickups. Full electronic complement with push/pull for coil tapping. Contour cut in the rear for greater comfort. C neck profile. Set-neck construction. Thin-but-not-too-thin body. Gold hardware everywhere. Binding everywhere. Crazy ornamentation for the fretboard inlays.
Wow, is this guitar packed with stuff, stuff and more stuff. You pretty much get everything and the kitchen sink with this axe.
To note, this guitar is also available in Vintage White, Natural Swamp Ash, Black, Hunter Green and Matte Wine, but the one in Matte Rose Gold seen above is the show stopper. That's the one that has, as far as I can tell, every premium option you can get.
I'm not saying this guitar is cheap, because it's not. But again, considering how unbelievably packed with features this axe has, the price is a total bargain.
Remember the Gibson Les Paul Supreme, as in the one that sold for over $5,000 back in the day? This D'Angelico Deluxe Atlantic is just as good as that was (if not better) and has basically all the same ornamentation the Supreme did along with more advanced electronics.
This is one to get for sure if you have the cash for it.