Which would you rather?

[Tom Dickinson]

To me this is a no-brainer!! 'Custom Shop' stuff in general is WAY too expensive for me! Plus, I like having 'choices'. So, give me $4500 to spend on guitars, and I'm coming away with 5 or 6 'good' guitars, most likely all 'used', but carefully chosen to meet my expectations and desires! Seriously...... just think about it: 5 or 6 'GOOD' guitars, or 1 expensive, over-priced, perhaps not even all that great sounding or playing, but clearly 'fancy' product being sold to maximize profit for the manufacturer!!???? Really? NFW!!!

 

[Les’s Nemesis]

For less than half of a CS SG, I have all this. More fun, less stress.

View attachment 45271​

An aside: Original question notwithstanding, that room is a work of art by itself.

 

[Les’s Nemesis]

I'd buy the lower priced guitars.

I do have one upscale guitar, purchased long ago before pricing was as ridiculous as it is today. It's a wonderful thing to play. Almost plays itself. Beats my lower priced but "highly setup" guitars by more than a few feet in feel and sound.

But, that's not to say the other "low brow" guitars aren't fun. Or that they aren't great players. Or that anyone would know when listening to them sing.

None of the budget guitars were "out of the box" great (actually, purchased used for even less $'s). But with some time and short money fixing the "cheap guitar" shortcomings as needed, they are great. I enjoy playing them immensely. The cheapest might be my favorite. At least it is on some days.

I'd buy three or four standard guitars of varying type with the money. Maybe three with the remaining money spent on serious setup on the others to make them play like the CS and a lifetime supply of strings. Or maybe three or four reasonably priced Epi's, some pleking and tweaking, a nice vintage tube amp, and a few thousand still left over for investment in something else.

 

[MR D]

IF you are a Rich Guy, why not buy all of them ?
I'm not a rich Guy so I'd probably grab the 3 SG Standards, I would be set for 9-10 years!
I actually have a Gibson CUSTOM shop Les Paul, and 1 Gibson Les Paul Standard AND both of them are just MONSTEROUS Guitars...BUT I think the STANDARD is a slightly better sounding Guitar....and it cost me $1400 less than the Lester CUSTOM Shop axe.
but the saying goes: One must pay for the finer things, yes? Ebony Fret-Boards, Mother-of-Pearl Headstock-Fret-Board In-Lays and Custom-Bucker Pickup's don't come cheap, no !

 

[Von Trapp]

As has been said you only live once so make it count!

Well said, but I personally feel the way to do this is to make sure to Rock'n roll all night and part of every day, which can be done with any old ̶g̶u̶i̶t̶a̶r̶ SG. But yeah, if you want something because you want it - get it.

 

[DrBGood]

An aside: Original question notwithstanding, that room is a work of art by itself.

Thanks.
In fact, a lot of art has been produced in that room in the 25 years I lived here.
jeangaudet.ca

​

 

[AngelDeVille]

My favorite and now only SG is the cheapest one.

Unless the CS can offer something I can’t get anywhere else, I’m all set with one.

 

[Jackson753]

One would be ideal!

 

[Von Trapp]

Thanks.
In fact, a lot of art has been produced in that room in the 25 years I lived here.

How come you never did anything on the guitars?

 

[DrBGood]

How come you never did anything on the guitars?

I did think about it, but didn't feel it. Different medium I guess.

 

[agejaded]

I used to be skeptical about expensive Custom shop guitars, thinking that the cost couldn’t justify the asking price.
I had an Ibanez Iceman IC50, bottom of the range for 26 years and was really happy with it.
In 2008 I bought a used R9, thinking that if it wasn’t as good as the hype I could sell it on. 13 years on I still have it. I didn’t buy it new but it’s certainly worth the price I paid.
If the choice I had was one really good guitar or a collection costing the same, I’d opt for one.

 

[Mindthepipes]

I've owned 8 Gibson SG's and all were fantastic guitars - but Custom shop, especially the aniline cherry '64 with the Maestro, is in a league of its own. It's my only SG at the moment, it made all the others obsolete. Get one and find out. You can always return it if you don't like it.

 

[Jumpin Joe]

Get the guitar(s) you want, and play the **** out of it.Life is too short to fart around.
Every Gibson SG Custom I have ever played was a monster, a cut above.The Doube-Cut Diamonds just make me Rocky every time. But Gibson SG Standards, as I am sure you know, are no slouches either ! Either way I do not think you can lose. I think Gibson says the Custom shop is where the Pro's go?

 

[Tia]

I'd like to say 'just one guitar' or 'one guitar to rule them all', but it seems impossible. A baseline SG and an acoustic.

 

[pancake81]

I'd like to say 'just one guitar' or 'one guitar to rule them all', but it seems impossible. A baseline SG and an acoustic.

Whoa Whoa, surely the acoustic would come out of a different budget no? Lol.

I always have a budget for any purchase. There an SG budget, a semi hollow budget, an acoustic budget… lol

In all seriousness I am surprised how many folks voted for 1 Custom Shop. That’s also what I voted for. If I truly had 5k and had the choice, I would choose they best, absolute frigggin’ best, SG I could find. Yes custom shops are a ton of money. Are they worth it..? That’s an individual question.

If we were all looking for good playing guitars without spending more than we have to we would have stables full of Epiphones. I own a Sheraton. Lovely guitar. As nice as a Gibby? Probably not. But plays and looks fantastically. It surely outplays me! I am an average player with beautiful instruments. No different than a successful 60 year old business man that buys a Ferrari. Could he have bought a Lamborghini…? Maybe. But at the end of the day both vehicles with our perform his abilities.

Is a USA line Gibson as nice as a Custom Shop model? Chances are the CS has more man hours of build time and attention put into it, and likely has some more refined finishing, better materials (hand picked woods), PLEKD, and should you care, may be “historically correct”.

Is the 300% price increase worth the build detail and possible increase to playability. Personal decision my friend.

My last comment would be the topic of art. To me this is an important consideration on instruments. I love music and I love instruments. Especially guitars. Heaven forbid I hit arthritis so bad I couldn’t play. Would I still buy guitars? You bet your a$$ I would. I get so much joy from walking into my music room, listening and watching music, attempting to play, but most importantly just being immersed by it all. Guitars are worth their price to me just to hang on the wall.

YMMV

 

[jtees4]

I don't know that I ever had, or ever will have ~$4600+ to spend on a single guitar. Right now all my guitar gear total is around $2800 and that includes two guitars, one amp, and a couple pedals. If I saved up for a couple years and sold my 2020 SG jr I'm sure I could by a custom shop SG or similar custom shop guitar but I would feel anxious about dinging the thing up at that price even though I only play at home.

That said, I have been seriously mulling over whether I want to go the "one ultimate guitar" route or not as I get older. As has been said you only live once so make it count!

I HAVE the money, but I would never spend that much on a guitar. And I've owned hundreds over the years (old guy alert). Now, stay off my lawn!

 

[Col Mustard]

I didn't vote, because my opinion wasn't offered as an option.
I would never pay CS prices for any guitar. AND I would never pay "vintage" prices
for any guitar.

I've never needed to. I seem to be able to make excellent music with much less
expensive guitars and basses. I played my whole career with guitars I bought used, for reasonable prices.
I got them set up by the best luthiers I could find, and they served me well.

Personally, I dislike bling, and I dislike hype. I like excellent quality, and have been
able to get what I needed without spending too much... and then put those instruments
to work to the best of my ability.. For the overworked and underpaid guitarist and/or bassist, this is a good business plan.

I actually DO have the money to buy an instrument that would make me happy.
But recently, due to medical issues in my family, I sold off all my "vintage" instruments
(which I bought before the prices went so high) and I sold off others in my collection, so
that I ended up with five... These do everything I need...

Two SG specials, two acoustics (a Martin and a Gibson) and one bass (my Warmoth fretless).

The humble SG special will do anything its more expensive cousins will do IMHO.
Mine didn't cost much, so I spent some money on the faded brown one... installing all the best of everything I could make or buy. That guitar rewards me with excellent action and
tone. The Silverburst with mini-hums needed no "improvements" and has a fine unique tone
all its own. *shrugs...

So I don't need anything fancy. These humble SG's give up nothing when measured next
to guitars costing five to eight times as much. As long as I do my part. The value of an instrument is in the music you can make with it. That's my opinion anyway.

My bass I built myself out of Warmoth parts, so it's a CS bass without the fancy price tag.
I built it using all the best parts I could afford, and it sounds great and can take its place
onstage next to others costing much much more.

What I enjoy doing with music budget money is to bring an inexpensive instrument up
to the most exacting standards. A fine used instrument or an Epiphone make good platforms
for this. Another day, ask me about my Epi ES 339 which I have modded extensively till
it rings like a bell and comes alive in my hands...

 

[KelvinS1965]

If the choice I had was one really good guitar or a collection costing the same, I’d opt for one.

That's how I approach it, though on a lower scale to CS vs Standard USA models. I have one SG Standard that covers my 'Gibson with humbuckers' guitar option and it's a great guitar that plays superbly: I don't see the point having multiple slight variations of an Epiphone SG instead (as a downgraded version to the OP's question).

 

[donepearce]

If you are going to offer two choices, please make sure they are a true dichotomy. A and B are not a dichotomy given the existence of C, D, E etc. A and NOT A are a dichotomy.

 

[Rusty Chops]

I've owned 8 Gibson SG's and all were fantastic guitars - but Custom shop, especially the aniline cherry '64 with the Maestro, is in a league of its own. It's my only SG at the moment, it made all the others obsolete. Get one and find out. You can always return it if you don't like it.

Yeah, my avatar shows my CS ‘64.
Most wunnerful!

Recently I got a production 2021 ‘61 SG RI.
Also a great SG, even with the “‘60’s slim taper” neck.
The pickups (‘61r & ‘61t) sound GREAT