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How much is a gibson worth


LesPaul7545

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Hard to say as we would have no idea what they are paying for pickups and wood etc and what sort of discount they get on bulk orders...

 

But id say about £300-£400 ish probably less (may be as low as £200)... and depending on the model

 

BUT its not the materials we pay for its the labour... and in Gibsons case its history as being one of the oldest guitar companies there is.

 

This is well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.. I myself have been building guitars and even though im still learning I think it will take me at least a week to make a guitar even if I had all of the proper tools and knowledge. And that's just to make it.. then you have to spray it which has a curing time of three weeks.

 

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Hi,

 

I was wondering, do any of you know how much a gibson is worth without the brand, shop and distributor taking profet out of it?

So my question is, how much is a gibson worth in "parts" ???

 

I would guess gibsons have a total mark-up of 30-50% after gibson, dealers, distributers, wholesalers etc get their piece. So do the math. [thumbup]

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Guest Farnsbarns

I would guess gibsons have a total mark-up of 30-50% after gibson, dealers, distributers, wholesalers etc get their piece. So do the math. [thumbup]

 

On USA models I would think that Gibson would be looking for 50% on top of what they put in, I think the dealer probably adds another 50%. Gibson isn't using any distributers, wholesalers or importers in the USA or Europe, they deal directly with dealers.

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Hi,

 

I was wondering, do any of you know how much a gibson is worth without the brand, shop and distributor taking profet out of it?

So my question is, how much is a gibson worth in "parts" ???

 

 

Without the brand it's not a Gibson.

 

 

I think yer all bein baited.

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Hi,

 

I was wondering, do any of you know how much a gibson is worth without the brand, shop and distributor taking profet out of it?

So my question is, how much is a gibson worth in "parts" ???

I think the profit will be similar to cars, smartphones or refrigerators on principal. The economical differences between these products and mass produced musical instruments are not that big I believe.

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Hi,

 

I was wondering, do any of you know how much a gibson is worth without the brand, shop and distributor taking profet out of it?

So my question is, how much is a gibson worth in "parts" ???

 

Look up each individual part (pups,pick guard, tuners,pots etc) prices and then add them up.

 

Make like your building a guitar say from Warmoth guitar parts and get your answer pretty close.

But Why?

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Since Gibson is a private company, we may never really know. However, you can work backwards some. Take Guitar Center and look up their financials. I looked them up a while back, but if my memory serves me well, they make about 30-35% on new instrument sales. Of course they make more on some and less on others, but using a 35% average, your $1000 LP Studio was purchased by GC for around $650. The earlier suggestion of Gibson's margin of 50% is probably not far off, so figure $325-$350 for parts and labor costs. Of course then Gibson has sales, marketing and Administrative costs, which reduce their overall profits to somewhere in the 20-25% range or around $150 in good years for that Studio.

 

As I said before though, we probably will never know and this is just one nerdy accountant's guess.

 

BTW, if you couldn't tell, I am going stir crazy from being iced-in here in Dallas (4 days now) and have nothing better to do than try to guess the cost of Gibson's parts and their profit. ;)

 

Dwayne

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I was told by a guy who imported Gibsons in 2005......total cost for Gibson (depending on model) £250-£300 for parts/labour,...and he included my R7 in that bracket.

 

Would be interesting if someone who had made their own guitar with quality wood/hardware could estimate.

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Would be interesting if someone who had made their own guitar with quality wood/hardware could estimate...

Interesting, pauloon, yes, it would be; without a doubt.

 

But we would be comparing a craftsman/luthier making a one-off model in his workshop with a large corporation, owning several large premises spread across a continent, employing hundreds of staff and making tens of thousands of instruments per year. The end-result excepted they have almost nothing in common.

 

P.

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I take this as another "Gibson is TOO expensive" threads

 

I guess the argument could be that the total sum of the parts is relatively cheap (when buying in Gibson/Fender bulk form) and I guess if someone didn't charge very much per hour to make it (or nothing to make it) Yes Gibson would be a cheap guitar.

 

but then that's why many manufacturers have plants in China, Malaysia, Singapore; cheaper cost of operation.

 

but then again.. what is the mark up on your car?

Companies need to make a certain amount of money to stay in business don't they?

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Would be interesting if someone who had made their own guitar with quality wood/hardware could estimate.

I did already :) post 2

 

As stated the two things are not the same.. I cant get pickups and wood anywhere near as cheap as they can just because of the bulk they buy alone so its difficult to say exactly what Gibson pay. As for the time I put into it, its way way more as I don't have computer cutters and giant pneumatic presses etc

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Hello!

 

This question makes no sense.

 

1.) As said, Gibson is a private company: Prices it's products according to the demand for the instrument of a particular level. Working man's instruments cheaper, display-case collectibles higher.

 

2.) If You think, they are overpriced, there are hundreds of other manufacturers to offer instruments for You.

 

3.) Even if we knew what a Gibson costs per unit, no amateur, - or even an experienced luthier - would be able to build a guitar of the same quality for that money. The expertise, the experience (120 years!) is a huge advantange! Also consider, that a huge manufacturer purchases raw materials in big quantities, thus at much lower prices than a home fabricator would. And, - finally - calculate with the tools You would have to invest in, and their amortization, etc...

 

Cheers... Bence

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I don't think anybody on this thread is saying Gibsons are too expensive.....the amount of pleasure Gibson guitars have given me..=priceless!

 

I've said elsewhere I think they are works of art anyway.

 

During the late 70's early 80's I worked for R.C.A.....''bossman'' reckoned it cost between 2p-5p to make and package an album,..at that time albums were selling for £2- £3...yet I still bought them...four or five a week!

I wanted the album...I bought it.

 

I play a Gibson, I like it..i buy it.(if I have the funds).

 

Nobody holds a gun to my head,i'll play a Gibson and not like it (for many reasons)...I won't buy....i'm not paying ?£? for that!..don't feel right!

 

When I ''find'' the R9 that calls my name i'll buy it....but so far none that I have played have.

 

It's fairly simple really,free choice....am I willing to pay that for a guitar?

 

Shop around,play all brands,...pick the one that feels/sounds right...if that's a Gibson,then you know the price you have to pay,..take it or leave it.

 

P.S....and NO Gibson this is not an endorsement that your prices are too low!I've went out before intending to buy Gibson and came back with Fender/PRS whatever.[biggrin] .

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Im not asking this because i think gibson is too expensive, of course good guitars are expensive, i have no problem with that.

 

Im asking this because i have recently found a brand (called: chapman guitars) on the internet and their guitars are pretty cheap but they are made in the prs se factory in korea and they have seymor duncan pickups, grover tuners, set thru construction etc. . So i asked them why their guitars are so cheap and the guy said that he didn't use a distributor and he didn't take as much profit out of his guitars like most brands do because he owns a small brand. so i was just curious how much profit gibson took out of their guitars...

 

BTW, thanks for answering

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I asked them why their guitars are so cheap and the guy said that he didn't use a distributor and he didn't take as much profit out of his guitars like most brands do..

I suppose things like "Staff Wages" and other, yet similar, related costs must just have slipped his mind for a minute.

 

P.

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Well, I guess it depends..Does Gibson make its own pickups, buy them from a specific supplier or off the shelf? I know they use off the shelf tuners, etc, and standard off the shelf electronic components, and I have no doubt they buy wood by the truck load at least...So their prices would be far less than if you bought all the parts pre fab at retail.

 

 

Given they make various kinds of guitars with various kinds of skills required, it's pretty hard to give a dollar figure, but the standard business/profit is 100% over cost...Remember that MOST retailers do not sell for Gibson's list price, either, and still have to make money, so the markup from Gibson's cost to list price could be 250-300%. (The STANDARD jeweler's markup is 400%...) But again t's all speculation... in the end, something is "worth" what someone is willing to pay for it.

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To be serious for once...

 

Just re-discovered this from Tony Bacon's book on the Gibson Les Paul;

 

...(In 1967)..."Gibson negotiated a new contract with Les (Paul). The royalty agreed was 5% of the 'standard cost' of each Les Paul model - that is, the internal price at which Gibson sold the guitar to CMI, around 1/3 of retail.

Such a calculation meant that he would receive about $6.50 for each Les Paul model typically selling then for $395 retail."

 

P.

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