Ultimate Rhoads

This is the real deal if you have the ££££££££$$$$$$$$$ its a pity i dont have a spare £4.6 grand
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-Karl-Sandova ... dZViewItem

waaay overpriced

Stiltzkin wrote:waaay overpriced

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced.

I'll never understand the thrill with this stuff.

I think Karl is doing really good business!

And even for that price the shoulders are too wide.....

$9500 is way to much for that guitar. In 5 years, I might see it as a realistic price, unless Karl has started building them again...

I beleive he is building them again. He runs and advertisement in Vintage Guitar magazine every month showing him standing there with a PDV. Thw text says something like: Sandoval Engineering, builder if the original Polka Dot V.

Paul Wolfe wrote:

Stiltzkin wrote:waaay overpriced

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced.

YA THINK????

Sarab wrote:

Paul Wolfe wrote:

Stiltzkin wrote:waaay overpriced

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced.

YA THINK????

But what if Karl used some very rare Roswell debri to give that guitar infinite sustain?
You guys already considered that?

If it is a good quality instrument then I don't think that is an unreasoanble price.

You pay for the 'idea' as much as the luthiers time, materials and reputation. In short a guitar is worth how much someone is willing to pay.

If people refused to pay £2000 plus for Gibson Les Paul Customs they would have to re think. In 1995 they were £699 in London and inflation hasn't rsien that much in 12 years!

Matthew wrote:If people refused to pay £2000 plus for Gibson Les Paul Customs they would have to re think. In 1995 they were £699 in London and inflation hasn't rsien that much in 12 years!

See, now that is exactly why I do refuse to buy a Les Paul Custom. The prices were jacked up just because they could. The companies know that the baby boomer set is at retirement age and they've got money to spend. So the guitar companies (Gibson and Fender mostly) are producing the same instruments they always have but charging more and insinuating that they are "investments".

Guitars should be played and any instrument that is intentionally priced out of the common man's price range should be boycotted in my opinion. I have a Les Paul - and it's a Gibson - but it's a Studio and cost under $900. Exactly the same as a more expensive axe without the binding (which is only for appearances anyway).


BY the way, I went here to calculate the inflation difference and if Randy's V cost $700 in 1979 (somehow that stuck in my head) It would cost $2089.89 today based solely on inflation.

If someone know the actual amount Randy paid, plug it into that calculator and see what you get.

Paul Wolfe wrote:

Matthew wrote:If people refused to pay £2000 plus for Gibson Les Paul Customs they would have to re think. In 1995 they were £699 in London and inflation hasn't rsien that much in 12 years!

See, now that is exactly why I do refuse to buy a Les Paul Custom. The prices were jacked up just because they could. The companies know that the baby boomer set is at retirement age and they've got money to spend. So the guitar companies (Gibson and Fender mostly) are producing the same instruments they always have but charging more and insinuating that they are "investments".

Guitars should be played and any instrument that is intentionally priced out of the common man's price range should be boycotted in my opinion. I have a Les Paul - and it's a Gibson - but it's a Studio and cost under $900. Exactly the same as a more expensive axe without the binding (which is only for appearances anyway).


BY the way, I went here to calculate the inflation difference and if Randy's V cost $700 in 1979 (somehow that stuck in my head) It would cost $2089.89 today based solely on inflation.

If someone know the actual amount Randy paid, plug it into that calculator and see what you get.

Thanks for the link Paul, I am going crazy computing a bunch of stuff. This is cool!!

thanks Paul i've always wondered how much randys v cost in todays money

on a side note i think most luthiers are overpriced these days i tested the water recently as i may get a custom made instrument in the future, i think for what i want it would cost £1500+ and i dont want anything especialy unique.

heres a case and point, Bailey Guitars. They, or should i say He, advertise in the back of several guitar magazines which is how i stumbled upon them couple of years ago. Back then you could get Baileys version of an LP with an ash body for bout £700, at the cheap end a strat similar to an early 80s charvel for £400 and a prs style beauty, with all the works, for i think £1600. Not bad for handmade instruments, in fact so cheap i was very cautious of the quality of the instruments.

i recently checked the website as i was nonetheless impressed with the mans instruments and wondered what he'd been building. It seems he has found a certain level of fame recently after exhibiting work at some guitar shows. a new model similar to the strat i talked about will now cost you £1500 and that was the cheapest thing on the website.

Yeah, these guys (and I mean all guitar companies) are jacking prices like crazy. The biggest joke, to me, is the "tribute" guitars made to be exact replicas of "famous" guitars. I mean, jeez, when the Police started out, Andy Summers bought a Telecaster and played it. A kid coming up today should just buy a guitar and make music with it, not bay multiple thousands to have one exactly like Andy Summers... or Clapton... or Van Halen... Or Randy!

I've said it many times, Ed Van Halen revolutionized the guitar world with a guitar he put together for a couple hundred bucks. People laughed when they saw it, but bowed down when he played it.

Anyone can become a guitar legend on an inexpensive guitar - it takes practice and skill. I'm sure Randy would soud incredible on my $250 Charvel strat...

i wish gibson would bring their price down a bit i've heard they were much cheaper 10 years ago...
the market is a pain at times and you have to wonder what high prices really get you. I have an epi LP and i cant honestly imagine a guitar playing better, its suits me perfectly. so for the price of a gibson i can only imagine the tone and finnish would see an improvement.

as for luthiers, i understand that they need to price their guitars well enough to earn a living and being that a guitar is a one off a high price is more acceptable. but many luthiers make their own standard models now (for instance they have their own take on an SG which is produced in small to medium batches) these guitars dont warrant a £2000 price tag, which is often what they get.

The price went up because there are a bunch of people who made money with Microsoft and the like who can afford to buy toys. A LOT of guys with money are buying all these replica guitars as "investments" and the guitar companies are fueling the frenzy by insinuating that these guitars will increase in value.

On top of that are the "new rich" who want to play rock star in their bedrooms, so they buy the top of the line guitars. The guitar companies know this and raise prices because a lot of people think price and quality are equal.

No matter how much you pay for your axe, you still need to put in the hours to learn to play it.