Price watch (90)

Swee Lee is listing this for $1,099...

Same seller. When the VM Baritone debuted around 2021, it was listed for USD600 +/- but along the way, this one somehow gained cult status & listed for about USD1K (SGD1,341) in the after aftermarket. I don't recall seeing this black version being brought into the stores here but still, paying that much for a Squier?

Price is too good to be true but understandably so as it suffered a broken headstock along the way. If you trust the standard of this repair, by all means, go ahead.

On a personal note, I prefer broken headstocks to be repaired with splines (above) as an approach to strengthening the broken areas. This is a more assured way but not the compulsory standard to observe, it depends on the type of breakage. Stay away from broken headstock instruments if you can.

Pic: sguitarworks

Price watch (89): Gibson @ SG

First & foremost, I have nothing against 35 Guitar Avenue. In fact, they are one of the most welcoming guitar stores here & I can attest to this personally, especially the Peninsula outlet (now permanently closed). Since they are currently the recognised Gibson distributor here, I would like to highlight the prices of some of the models in store against a popular guitar store in the USA. Prices at both ends are regular listings & not subjected to seasonal / blowout discounts. Starting off, the Gibson LP Studio Smokehouse Satin model depicted above is more than SGD3K here, State side, it's USD1,999 (SGD2,695). Here are others:

• SG Standard '61 (vintage cherry): SGD3,090 / USD1,999 (SGD2,695)
• LP Standard '50s (gold top): SGD4,590 / USD2,799 (SGD3,774)
• LP Standard '69s (bourbon burst): SGD4,590 / USD2,799 (SGD3,774)
• Slash LP Standard (november burst): SGD4,890 / USD2,999 (SGD4,044)

Note: SGD prices are in red, USA prices are in blue

We note prices are not on par with the listings in the USA. You can visit the official Gibson webpage & note that the US store is listing Gibsons according to the manufacturer's recommended figures. Are all Gibson distributors obliged to comply? It depends if the distributor has a good business plan to cut  profits & offer them on parity. While we applaud the return of Gibson to our shores, does this equal to letting stores here screw us up with prices? You & I know the answer. We are not privy to the business formula of product pricing. Whatever prices stores wish to list their guitars for, they know better. We can always choose to not buy from them.

Pic: Sweetwater

Price watch (81): Ibanez AZ / AZES edition

Guitar prices continue to be at the repulsive end of our purchase considerations. Take this Ibanez AZ2402 for instance, it's now listing for $2,999 (+$300). Darn. It's a tad off the $3K mark & most probably more than the average monthly salary of the worker here.

The AZES31 is now $479 (+$50)...

... while its AZES40 sibling is $499 (+$30). Reality check - when will prices actually go down? Never. Inflation will persist. This is why sale events are important to gear geeks. Also, do not look away from the after-market. Either that or stop playing guitar altogether. 

Pics: Ibanez

Price watch (78)

Folks, this is another blatant fake still available in the after-market despite an authenticity red flag submission to the platform owner.

Just look at this rubbish headstock - Prestige?? But labelled as a GRG, selling for less than $250? Gosh...

This is the authentic GRG170DX as documented at the official Ibanez website. We should not be tolerating this nonsense. If you visit this buy-sell platform, do us all a favour & submit a fake product report.

Pic: Ibanez

Price watch (72)

Some good stuff this time, starting with this RGX A2. Vouching for the good performance of this instrument from an owner's perspective. At $250, this is like less than 1/3 of the original listing.

Ibanez calls this a piccolo guitar which is basically a guitar trapped in a ukulele's form. If you are hooked on the ukulele but do not wish to re-learn the chord fingerings as you are used to the guitar, this one is a steal for less than $100. EDIT: The revised price of this instrument is $88.

Set neck model for less than the price of a bolt-on version. This guitar is well-maintained. Note: Older Epiphone headstock design.

A premium model for a whisker off $500. I find the neck of this instrument very addictive; in fact it's one of the non-maple necks that I fancy.

No, Price Watch isn't about calling out ridiculous / dodgy listings exclusively. Good deals deserve the highlight as well.

Price watch (70)

This may / may not be what it claimed to be. The serial number of this guitar is legit which suggests a legit neck.

But the body is problematic. All RG550s, in its various iterations, do not come with that bridge. Granted, it might be swapped in from another Ibanez model but this greatly reduces the credibility of this instrument. Control knobs are definitely replacement ones. If you are interested in this guitar, do tread with caution. $700 is too much for something of this nature, IMO.

I'm always a little put off by listings that do not state the exact model of the instrument. This is a good example - which Ibanez model is this, exactly?

One of the listed pictures actually features another guitar altogether - this GRX is definitely an obvious error. That's a different bridge altogether. In any case, the headstock picture in this listing features a truss rod cover that's inconsistent with the Ibanez models in this price bracket compounded by the fact that there's no string retainer there.

Excuse me, what the heck are you selling?

Initially, this was listed as a Japanese model.

But the headstock says it's a Mexican model so the seller edited the listing. It now reads as a Vintera II. Folks, Fender benders especially, you'd agree that the serial number here shows that the instrument was either manufactured in 2021 / 2018. The Vintera II Series are new this year (2023) so how could this be a Vintera II? Not disputing the quality / functionality of this guitar, just showing you how careless / indifferent people are. All the best to the chap buying this guitar as it's currently marked as reserved.

Price watch (67)

It's $899 at Swee Lee but out of stock in the mean time. We know stock for this one is gonna be replenished, yes? It's a matter of when.

Ditto this one; it's$1,899 at Swee Lee. Only the black version is in stock in the mean time.

$30 for this?

Yes... this! It's clearly a damaged instrument. What's that bit of absent charity in you preventing a bona fide giveaway to budding repair techs out there? It's all about the money?

Price watch (65)

Please do not do this- you listed your guitar as such...

 ... but upon clicking, it's something else. I'm sure many of us out there would feel insulted - why should we buy from such an individual?

When the Highway 1 instruments debuted, they were less than $1.3K. I'm not aware of any cult followings for these models to justify this listed amount. What's that? You said Fender prices would appreciate over time? Well, it's still a demand - supply situation. 

On that note, this well-maintained American Standard goes for much lesser. For a guitar sitting higher in the Fender tier (vs the H1), I'd recommend this one instead.

All Squier Bullet nodels were less than $300 before they were discontinued & superseded by the Sonic Series. 

Price watch (64)

I believe, this entity / individual is a parallel importer. There's no shop front & all items are on pre-order basis (down payment required). Jackson Dinky Minion is $259 @ Swee Lee + free delivery. 

New item - $219 @ Swee Lee 🙄

These strings are discontinued for a while already, was $7 @ City Music.

Elixir Optiweb 9 - 46 set... that's more than $20 after delivery considerations. $17 @ Swee Lee...

Price watch (62)

Would you pay $2,179 for this Sterling Sabre? Yes, it has some eye candy here; flame maple neck, Fluence pickups, locking tuners... but would you?

EDIT: The listing for this instrument had been removed as at 12th Aug.

Also, would you pay $1K for the Squier version of Tom Delonge's signature Strat? 

Price watch (61)

These are $6.50 each at Swee Lee. Self-collect at these prices - NO. 

Yes, the Squier CV has a cult following. That price tag has the MONO bag factored in. Chances are, there will be interest in the guitar but not the bag. Please offer a guitar-only consideration. 

This is a second gen H1. The initial H1 models do not sport the large, 70s headstock. Can't really tell if this is a H1 model, need to see it personally. Does it matter?? Yes - H1 don't come with a glossed body. From these pics - no way of telling for sure. There is currently an American Performer listing for $1.2K + which, to me, is better value for money. Are the H1 highly collectible hence commanding a higher asking price? Not that I'm aware of. Non-glossed body is nothing really special, you can sand the gloss off from any guitar rather easily / get the shops to do it.

Price watch (54)

Folks, this is a Gibson SG Special. It's been equipped with '61 re-issue pickups according to the seller. This accounts for the price you see there.

I'm trying to understand what Gibson's '61 Reissue pickups are. There are currently two Gibson SG models in the catalog that use the '61 citation in its model reference: 1) Custom Shop 1961 Les Paul SG Standard Reissue Stop Bar 2) SG Standard '61. Both guitars are not equipped with Gibson '61 Reissue pickups. The former has Custom Alnico III humbuckers (unpotted) & the latter, a pair of 60s Burstbuckers. So what are the '61 Reissue pickups? There might be some obscure, old, historic Gibson humbuckers going by this reference but judging by the pictures provided, those are shiny, new pickups. You'd agree that there's a high chance of misrepresentation happening, yes?

Please refrain from making such claims. I used to own an SG Special (2008). Bought it for about $800 new. I can't find any SG '61 Reissue in Gibson's current catalog but I would reference this discussion against the SG Standard '61 which I currently own. That was about $2.2K new. These two guitars look very similar less the binding, fretboard inlay & pickguard type; this I agree. The Standard came from the factory with significant cost difference which implies a different set of wood quality & workmanship. For starters, the Special is satin-finished, the Standard is lacquered over, there's already a cost difference there, not to mention other features which would not be discussed here. I'm not trying to disrepute your pricing or anything to that effect. Like I've said before, I'm not the price police but I will call out uninitiated listings which manifest a high potential for misrepresentation & downright careless cases. 

It's only yesterday that I mentioned to a friend, people need a sense of security by associating their items with models in the upper tiers (price & workmanship). It injects some superiority in the listing. It's like telling others the watch you are selling uses the same battery used in a Rolex. Or your car tyres are the brand used by Porshe. 

Price watch (51)

Good Stuff (1): This is a good deal, IMO. Of course, these pics might not be that of the actual item but we can politely request for them. 

Good stuff (2): Rally's GL-300 is recommended for those of us with a tight budget but still mindful of quality. This one is less than $150. Wow.

Not quite (1): Price is too close to a brand new piece off the store shelf ($690). Plus, if you buy from the store, it comes with a warranty. 

Not quite (2): A brand new MT-2 is $128. This one is a modified item (which may / may not appease you) & in that condition, $150 is a very difficult asking price. 

Price watch (50)

More listings in the after-market, year-end clearance most probably. Take a look at the above listings, both are American Strats. Judging by the specs, the red one is an American Special & it's listing for nearly $1.6K. The brown one had the seller correctly identify the guitar & the listing price is more reasonable. 

After reading the listing description, we now understand why the price is a little excessive; it has DiMarzios in there plus an upgraded bridge. I find the sale condition here a little disrespectful, the Texas Specials were default pickups to begin with, the fact that it will only be included if the deal goes through implies that you don't deserve them to begin with. Also, please be mindful of 'upgrade' in your listing descriptions. Names like Gibson & Fender, among others, sell better with original parts in the instruments. Upgrade is subjective; it might be a value-add for you, others see it as devaluing the instrument by removing original parts. It's fair to disclose the brand of the replacement parts, if buyers are in the know, they will readily acknowledge the 'upgrade'. In any case, we should NOT compel others that some stuff are upgrades. In any case, between these two, the brown American Special is a more worthy consideration.

Moving on, can you get a value-for-money American Fender with $1.5K in hand? Definitely. This American Pro with Shawbuckers is really a good deal.

Ditto this American Standard.

This is the way not to get your stuff sold. 1) List it with fuzzy photos & not letting others see the brand name on the headstock.

2) Associate it with a more iconic guitar despite the fact that the instrument has zero resemblance with the actual thing that it's supposed to emulate.  3) Lastly, over-price it to give a semblance of value when in reality, it's a novelty item with a you-should-know-better value. 

This episode's recommended item - Epiphone SG Modern (FYI, it's the new headstock design). Do keep a lookout for the newer Epiphone models as these are relatively new in the market so the chances of you buying a used, worn, neglected instrument is rather slim. Unless it's trashed for some reason.