My dream guitar is for sale. Do I buy it?

Do I buy it?

  • yes

    Votes: 40 62.5%
  • no

    Votes: 24 37.5%

  • Total voters
    64

Toolmaster Of Brainerd

You know what a loon is, noodle head?
Joined
Sep 14, 2020
Messages
353
Location
MN or NJ, depending on the season
My dream guitar is for sale right now for a very good price.

n2lirbwncjipgpdthn5z.jpg


I love that top. I like quilted maple way more than flame, and this is definitely on the quilted side of things. Regardless of how you classify it, it's one of the sickest looking tops I've ever seen. The color is perfect for me too! Blue bursting to black, with a hint of purple.

z9mg3ylipgmj3xmnimwd.jpg


But what makes this guitar special is the ziricote neck. Ziricote is my favorite wood and I want a guitar with a ziricote neck so badly.

The pairing of ziricote neck and a (blue) quilted maple top is how I would describe my dream guitar. P-90s are not what I had in mind, but if I don't like them I can put mini humbuckers in. If I don't like those, then worst case I just route the neck and bridge cavities to humbucker size and make it HSH with a single coil hiding under a P-90 cover ;).

Oh yeah and it's a wood library for sale for $3700. Imo that's a great price. I doubt I'll see a ziricote neck on a PRS for that price anytime soon. And did I mention how sick that top looks?

The problem is I don't think buying this right now would be financially responsible for me. I'm a grad student (pretty low income) and I want to save to take a gap year between grad school and the rest of life. When used car prices calm down I am going to buy my first car too. $3700 is a pretty significant portion of my yearly income. That's, like, 6 months of rent for me right now. That could be a helicopter ski trip during my gap year. I need to go heli skiing while I'm still young.

Can I afford this guitar and a car and maintain my lifestyle with a decent buffer of money sitting in the bank in case of emergency? Yes. I will never be in a position that I have to sell of gear to pay a bill. But that buffer money is also my savings for the gap year. I have no idea how much money I'll need for the gap year. I intend on dirt bagging for a few months (sleeping in my car and rock climbing), which will be a pretty cheap few months. But I would also love to go abroad for part of it, which can get expensive. $3700 buys a lot of vacation.

After buying this guitar, how much will I spend on guitar equipment over the next few years? Uhhhh GAS is cruel. Maybe if I buy this guitar it'll satisfy my GAS for several years. Besides, after this guitar my rig will be complete.

I have a very nice amp (PRS Archon) and a very nice pedal board. Between them I have all the tones I can dream of available to me. I'm playing a $250 Yamaha Pacifica (with hardware upgrades) through a $2500 rig right now. The Pacifica sounds and plays great, but I play it so much and so hard that the frets are getting really worn down. I am ready for a guitar upgrade. But this guitar might be too much of an upgrade :(

I need some forum therapy. Help out a gear addict at his lowest. What should I do?
 
Last edited:
Im gonna be the "eat yer greens" guy....yeah, go ahead, gimme a roasting.

Bide your time. Save your dough. You never know whats around the corner that you may need that cash for. You can also find some dope CE axes for less than half of that wood library. Its taken me fourteen years to get to a place where I could buy something like that without much issue, but I still havent bought a core PRS. Saving dough is more important right now.

Btw, you might think with one guitar your rig will be complete, but we all know guitars and gear are like potato chips: you never have just one....
 
Im gonna be the "eat yer greens" guy....yeah, go ahead, gimme a roasting.

Bide your time. Save your dough. You never know whats around the corner that you may need that cash for. You can also find some dope CE axes for less than half of that wood library. Its taken me fourteen years to get to a place where I could buy something like that without much issue, but I still havent bought a core PRS. Saving dough is more important right now.

Btw, you might think with one guitar your rig will be complete, but we all know guitars and gear are like potato chips: you never have just one....

You make good points. But what if this guitar IS what was around the corner that I've been saving my cash for? In this case, I'm pretty confident this guitar would end all guitar purchases for a long time. I make my own guitars. I made a 7 string guitar last summer to learn how to do it and I'm going to make a strat next summer. Between the strat I'm going to make and the PRS I'll be very happy. And I'll have 4 guitars, which is a lot. I'll still look at photos of EBMM and PRS guitars online, but I definitely won't be tempted enough to buy anything.

GAS might make me get a tube combo amp. The Archon (head + cab) is not portable at all. And the Boss Katana sometimes doesn't deliver the tones I want.

I've also been thinking about louder PA gear. If I can find a bass player and buy a louder PA I can get a band together. My roommate is a drummer and we just bought a drum kit for our basement. I sing and have a basic vocal setup, but the 400W PA I have right now isn't loud enough to keep up with the drum kit.
 
Im gonna be the "eat yer greens" guy....yeah, go ahead, gimme a roasting.

Bide your time. Save your dough. You never know whats around the corner that you may need that cash for. You can also find some dope CE axes for less than half of that wood library. Its taken me fourteen years to get to a place where I could buy something like that without much issue, but I still havent bought a core PRS. Saving dough is more important right now.
You make good points. But what if this guitar IS what was around the corner that I've been saving my cash for? In this case, I'm pretty confident this guitar would end all guitar purchases for a long time. I make my own guitars. I made a 7 string guitar last summer to learn how to do it and I'm going to make a strat next summer. Between the strat I'm going to make and the PRS I'll be very happy. And I'll have 4 guitars, which is a lot. I'll still look at photos of EBMM and PRS guitars online, but I definitely won't be tempted enough to buy anything.

GAS might make me get a tube combo amp. The Archon (head + cab) is not portable at all. And the Boss Katana sometimes doesn't deliver the tones I want.

I've also been thinking about louder PA gear. If I can find a bass player and buy a louder PA I can get a band together. My roommate is a drummer and we just bought a drum kit for our basement. I sing and have a basic vocal setup, but the 400W PA I have right now isn't loud enough to keep up with the drum kit.
Concerning the guitar, Ill admit that is a stellar specimen with some private stocky qualities. That is a decent price too. One of my adages is to blow your coin on the good stuff because youll only need to do it once. As long as you are financially solid and you can mitigate the cost to your savings, then perhaps do it. Being a wood library, it is a unique axe. Its also a good investment. Its only going to increase in value over time. That said, as an addendum though, I still would advise to save for something around the corner, and Im not talking about guitars. Im talking about LIFE.

I second the amp. Little tube amps are the way to go honestly. Ive gigged with the 4x12 monsters and Ill never do it again. Lots of options in that market. I run a little H&K thing into some 1x12s. Easy to setup, a cinch to transport.

Btw, on the PA...a lesson I learned...never let the drummer tell you where to put it. Theyll stick it on the floor behind them everytime.
 
Last edited:
I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said something like "The human mind can justify nearly anything, therefore, why not do it?". There are pluses and minuses on both sides of this decision, but I would say, be patient! This is not a once in a lifetime guitar that you will never find again. It does sound like a good price, and it sure is perty, but there are others ;~)) What is more important, today's satisfaction or making steps towards a financially sound tomorrow (read as gap year)? I went in way deep over my head this year with 3 PRSi, and glad I did it, but if I was trying to save money to take next year off, I certainly would not have done so. Good luck with your conundrum! What are you studying in grad school? Hope it is not philosophy, those degrees don't buy many PRS ;~))
 
I voted no, mostly cause you seem to have a few conflicting ambitions, which you need to sort out first.

If you do buy it, what happens with your gap year? Surely you woudn't be lugging it around in your car with your rock climbing gear? Where would you store it? And if it's not with you, could you stand to be without it?
 
I voted no, mostly cause you seem to have a few conflicting ambitions, which you need to sort out first.

If you do buy it, what happens with your gap year? Surely you woudn't be lugging it around in your car with your rock climbing gear? Where would you store it? And if it's not with you, could you stand to be without it?

I will almost certainly take 1 small amp and 1 guitar with me as long as I'm in the US. The rest of my equipment I can leave with my parents until I'm living somewhere stable again. The gap year is still 4 years away. I have a lot of playing between now and then. The gap year is more like vague ideas and dreams, rather than a concrete plan.

I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said something like "The human mind can justify nearly anything, therefore, why not do it?". There are pluses and minuses on both sides of this decision, but I would say, be patient! This is not a once in a lifetime guitar that you will never find again. It does sound like a good price, and it sure is perty, but there are others ;~)) What is more important, today's satisfaction or making steps towards a financially sound tomorrow (read as gap year)? I went in way deep over my head this year with 3 PRSi, and glad I did it, but if I was trying to save money to take next year off, I certainly would not have done so. Good luck with your conundrum! What are you studying in grad school? Hope it is not philosophy, those degrees don't buy many PRS ;~))

Studying math. I should be able to get the occasional PRS. I'm just afraid the only way to get another guitar with a ziricote neck and a quilted maple top is to either go full custom (private stock or some other custom builder), or to build it myself. I can build it myself, but my dream is to have a PRS like that. Until I saw this I had no idea that PRS did Ziricote necks for wood library guitars. Ziricote fretboards are common, but with strings on it might as well be rosewood or ebony. You can't tell the difference unless it catches the light well.
 
The pairing of ziricote neck and a (blue) quilted maple top is how I would describe my dream guitar. P-90s are not what I had in mind, but if I don't like them I can put mini humbuckers in. If I don't like those, then worst case I just route the neck and bridge cavities to humbucker size and make it HSH with a single coil hiding under a P-90 cover

Well, The neck is a mutha and super cool ...I'm more into "flame" as opposed to "quilt" (I wasn't even sure how "quilt" happened until I saw the Taylor CEO video on wood ...

BUT... If this beast were truly a Dream Guitar " ,would you have to change so much about it ? I mean, $3,700 is a rather high starting point, for a "project guitar " ... :rolleyes:
 
I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said something like "The human mind can justify nearly anything, therefore, why not do it?". There are pluses and minuses on both sides of this decision, but I would say, be patient! This is not a once in a lifetime guitar that you will never find again. It does sound like a good price, and it sure is perty, but there are others ;~)) What is more important, today's satisfaction or making steps towards a financially sound tomorrow (read as gap year)? I went in way deep over my head this year with 3 PRSi, and glad I did it, but if I was trying to save money to take next year off, I certainly would not have done so. Good luck with your conundrum! What are you studying in grad school? Hope it is not philosophy, those degrees don't buy many PRS ;~))

Wise words, however forum brothers/sisters are like buses, three come along at once and you know one of them will be the “enabler”!;)

Best of luck with whichever choice you go with and I’m a sucker for Ziricote too.
 
Yeah, I want that Ziricote PS Vela (I forget who has it right now) and although I could come up with the 10K+ I would need, I just can't convince myself that I need it right now and still discovering the 3 I bought this year! Love the Ziricote, but I think we will be seeing more of this down the road, soooo . . .! That is a KILLER neck though!! Good luck!!!
 
You say P-90s are not what you had in mind. Well, that guitar has three pickups that are not what you had in mind.

So you'd be buying a guitar you otherwise wouldn't be very interested in, solely based on its looks. And overspending to do it.

Sound like a good idea? You're the math whiz, do the math.
 
Basically, you are choosing between wasting your life goofing off for a “gap year” and having a phenomenal PRS that is close to your dream guitar? Seriously, you actually asked this group that question? :D
 
I’m in the no camp. For me, it might be great because I love P90s. But a dream guitar has what you want in it, not what you don’t x 3.

Gorgeous guitar for the right player, but face it, who asks when a true dream guitar comes along? Deep down, you know it’s “close, but no cigar!”
 
Back
Top