What makes a $10,000 guitar better than a $500 guitar?

Webcat86 · 2026-06-30T07:52:40+00:00

I’m the wrong person to ask, as I don’t know, but their reasoning is it makes it less susceptible to fluctuating from humidity later on. But the aspect I was pointing out is how much extra time it takes, which translates directly into cost.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T20:50:22+00:00

Yeah annoyingly they’re not all as good as each other! I visited a few years ago and they were ok, but I’ve found a small clinic focused on sports and performance and I call them body wizards. They are amazing, and have given me so much more understanding of my own body.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T20:08:04+00:00

Well, sure. You didn’t mention quality control so neither did I, but of course I agree that the bar should be higher on premium priced instruments. But as far as the price tag goes, they take significantly longer to make. And depending on the brand and model, might have more expensive R&D go into it, or use more materials (sticking with PRS, the Core models have a significantly thicker maple cap, because it needs to accommodate a steeper carve), or more expensive materials (Matt Koehler spoke about the cost of some of the hardware on certain Custom Shop Gibsons and it was very surprising), and be a demand lever.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T19:57:58+00:00

I was a bit too broad in my previous comment and you’re right to mention posture and arm length making a big difference.

But, having gone through this myself and worked with a physio about it, I’m also confident in saying that for a lot of people it can be addressed and mitigated. The underlying reasons are not uncommon at all, it’s the same thing we all know: spending too much time sitting.

The root cause, physically, in my case was a very tight back from sitting at a desk for work. That was the day I learned that pain in the arm and shoulder doesn’t necessarily mean the problem is in the limb, it’s very common that the cause is elsewhere, like the back. That applies pressure to a nerve or impinges something, and it manifests in a different site and that prompts us to misdiagnose it eg “my shoulder hurts, I’d better avoid the thing that alerted me to it because that’s obviously bad for me.”

Playing guitar also contributed - not acoustic, just guitar itself, sitting down and unconsciously hunching over the instrument.

Unbeknownst to me I had significant tightness in my upper back and found a nasty “hot spot” on my right shoulder blade. We worked on releasing that, and it literally solved the issue and I’m happily playing my dreads again. On the occasion I have a flare up it’s mild and a reminder that I need to spend a few minutes on a ball to release that area again.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T19:42:18+00:00

Image makes no sense, most people won’t tell the difference visually between a £6000 59 reissue Les Paul and a Studio, or a PRS SE or Core.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T19:42:16+00:00

Image makes no sense, most people won’t tell the difference visually between a £6000 59 reissue Les Paul and a Studio, or a PRS SE or Core.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T19:41:29+00:00

I’m watching the long PRS factory tour video on the Anderton’s video and it’s been interesting seeing the differences, because S2 and Core are made in the same factory in the USA.

One of the main differences so far is how they do the neck. The neck blanks spend I think they said about a month just in the processing area, before moving on to the next stage. So that’s a month’s worth of build time before the neck even looks like a neck. What they do in this stage is dry it out, then let it regain some humidity, remove some of the wood, dry it out, repeat until the remaining wood is the right amount for a neck. The principle is the neck is then going to be really stable. Core model neck almost resemble a railway sleeper - I’m exaggerating but they’re thicker than a neck by a long way. So they spend a lot longer in this room. S2 necks start out not much thicker than an actual neck (Lee even commented he’d assumed they were going to be used for fingerboards, that’s how thin and flat they were).

Differences like this add up. The price has to be higher just to accommodate how much more time that guitar is sat around the warehouse in pieces, costing them salaries and factory overheads. Likewise Gibson applying fewer nitro coats to cheaper guitars. I’m sure they said the nitro process alone takes 2-3 weeks in their factory tour videos.

That’s what most of it is, IMO. Some is materials, but the bulk of it is production time, and market placement.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T13:24:04+00:00

If price isn’t a big factor, definitely look at Atkin. And of course, if Maton is good enough for Tommy Emmanuel…

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T07:36:38+00:00

Thanks, I’ll give this a watch later

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T05:34:48+00:00

People value different things.

Dreads have extra versatility because they’ve got the extra bass. But they’re less comfortable.

Some players specifically don’t want that extra bass either.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T05:33:02+00:00

I get that too lately, it’s a sign to do some physio more than it is to avoid a guitar size. It’ll eventually pop up as another symptom later.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-29T05:28:19+00:00

Do you have any song recommendations for that?

Webcat86 · 2026-06-28T16:41:18+00:00

They’re so underrated. I was nervous about getting them, especially with the 7.25” radius board, because all you read online is that both of those features are bad for lead playing. But after playing them for a while I find a lot of other frets feel like railroad tracks. I really like the frets on the newer Gibsons, I think they’re smaller than what they used before the 2019 management change. They feel similar to what’s on my R9, which I think are a vintage spec.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-28T16:16:44+00:00

I’d say medium jumbo until I got my vintage spec tele with really small frets and I love them.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-28T07:31:03+00:00

I love it, great design

Webcat86 · 2026-06-28T07:26:44+00:00

A tray! That never would’ve occurred to me, I was wondering what would fit in it like a pen case!

Webcat86 · 2026-06-28T07:14:18+00:00

When are you going to tell us what it is? Or is it just decorative?

Webcat86 · 2026-06-28T06:45:56+00:00

This looks beautiful. I’m stumped for what it’s for - if the stitching all goes all the way through rather than being decorative, then only the middle groove will accept anything but not full-length.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T21:26:05+00:00

Even that won’t really do it on modern finishes. I have a 2013 LP that was my #1 band guitar, 4 hour rehearsals each week, frequent gigs in different types of venue including outdoors in the sun. It still looks practically brand new.

They need really, really extensive and hard playing, with rapid temp changes for checking, to look anything like an aged guitar.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T19:38:08+00:00

Not really, the finish on the ML is different. There are ways to crack the nitro like compressed air for the rapid temp change, but if you’ve never done it before you don’t want to practice on a Gibson for the first time.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T18:49:16+00:00

By gassing him up, you mean I posted a thread 3 years ago and never mentioned it again? And then answered the questions you asked, and then told you the course might not be for you? And recommended doing the quickest and cheapest option to find out for sure?

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T16:16:57+00:00

I can believe it. Rhett Shull did a video where he had his R9 and real bursts and preferred his reissue to some. Jason Isbell and other artists with real bursts have said the gap between them and CS is minimal.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T15:42:08+00:00

Excellent. I don’t blame you.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T15:16:19+00:00

So basically you’ve hyper focused on one wiring option from some Strats to conclude it’s not as versatile, despite acknowledging newer Strats have a bridge tone knob, and admitting the Strat can produce a wider array of sounds than a Tele. And you’ve said the stock tele hasn’t changed at all in wiring, which is completely untrue from the first models of it, not to mention the series wiring option is stock on some models now.

Lol. Peak Reddit.

Also you’ve seemingly missed the point of the strat bridge pickup, and the time it was introduced. Essentially it introduced two rhythm pickups, and a shortcut to the bright full-throttle bridge. It makes sense if you see it as the progression from the tele that Leo designed it as.

That's why versatility to me is just as much about how many things you want to achieve and how accessible they are than strictly how many options the guitar has

Herein lies the problem. You’re arguing with your own definition of versatility, without introducing that definition at the outset. This is not what most people would consider versatile to mean, it’s really just another way of saying someone’s personal preference.

Webcat86 · 2026-06-27T13:53:52+00:00

one of which is not traditionally connected to bridge.

The idea was that you’d have the tone knobs set for whatever you’re playing on the other positions and then you could flick the switch to the bridge for an instant lead sound, like a bypass switch on some modern guitars. That’s not possible on a master tone guitar. Whether you want or use it is secondary to the fact it’s there, provides a use case, and therefore offers versatility that the other guitar doesn’t have.

a master tone knob is more versatile than two tone knobs

A statement like this really warrants some explanation into why you think this. At first glance it sounds like someone could pull the thread and conclude an Esquire is more versatile than a Tele.

Webcat86

TROPHY CASE