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cost of a signature

October 31st, 2006 | music, general

Musician’s Friend is by far my favorite mail-order music equipment website/catalog. Gibson is one of my favorite guitar companies. But today I saw a Gibson on the front cover of my new MF catalog and thought things are flying out of control.

We all know “pro models” or “signature series” items fetch more money than the standard-line products. This is true for snowboards, shoes, and well, pretty much everything…including guitars.

Gibson has made the Les Paul Junior for years and years. It’s a simple, quality instrument, and is also one of the least expensive Gibson electrics available.

Recently Gibson started building a Billy Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior. It’s a nice signature which offers a few different finish options from the regular Junior. But besides the finish the guitars are pretty much the exact same. Same pickup, bridge, and even body/neck woods. So, the big question: is a different finish (with two, white and ebony, actually being cheaper to make than the regular Junior’s sunburst) and the signature of Billie Joe (actually I’m not even sure if there’s a replica of his signature on it) worth $720 more than regular Junior? For the price of the Billie Joe sig. Junior a consumer could almost buy two regular Juniors! And material-wise they are the same guitar!

I’ve seen prices raised due to items being “signature”, but never nearly double the price. So what’s the secret behind the Billie Joe guitar, or has Gibson just lost it when it comes to pricing?

1 Comment

  1. matches
    October 31st, 2006 at 11:48 pm

    That’s pretty crazy. I can understand picking up certain signature items; it seems like usually you’re getting something (aside from aesthetics) that’s making it worth the extra $$$.

    But this, like you said, is a ridiculous premium for a signature edition of anything, especially considering the components are the same.

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