I think you're trying to look for objective justification for the price and that's just never gonna exist. It doesn't exist for the Graveyard 594 either. I have one and love it, but is it twice as good as my Wood Library 594? No. And is the Wood Library twice as good as a regular Core 594? No, of course not. Even an S2 594 at $1700 MAP plays perfectly and sounds great.
The higher tiers do have more care and attention put into them, and you can see that reflected in being more and more perfect. But, that's not why they go for $10k+. It's because they're something special and really cool. If you think a particular guitar is really cool, then maybe it's worth the price to you. But if you don't think it's cool, yeah of course it's not gonna seem worth it.
Totally agree. I'll kick the can a little farther down the road:
This isn't about the time spent making it, or the care put into it. The
result of the effort is what you're buying. It's really about putting a price on an art form.
Paul's PS runs are wonderful instruments, but they're also works of art in their own right (assuming for the moment that the luthier's art is as worthy of being called 'art' as any other creative endeavor). I have a couple of these runs. You might ask if I (as someone who sprung for them) think they're worth the money.
Well.
Since when has the equation of art to money
ever made sense?
A group of critics say this piece of art or that one is worth millions of dollars, and no one argues about it. Because the magic about art is that people realize, "Only a few of us are able to create something that." So they pay what they have to pay in order to acquire it. This is why owning great art has historically been the exclusive province of very wealthy people.
In contrast, you can own a PS guitar, this combination of instrument and work of art, for about the same money as a pretty nice motorcycle. It actually takes more time to make, and uses rarer materials than the motorcycle, but that's largely irrelevant to the price of either one.
Both are within reach of the ordinary dude. You don't have to be a billionaire to own one of these guitars. Maybe you have to do some saving. Maybe you have to get a little credit. But an ordinary person can actually buy either the guitar or the bike.
As a musician, I'd rather own a PS than a motorcycle.
If I bought the motorcycle, no one would question it, because it's large and shiny and you can go places on it.
However, it actually takes longer to make a PS than it does a motorcycle. And I can 'go places' on the PS where a motorcycle can't go. Yet I'm sure there are people who doubt my sanity for getting them. So do I think the guitars were worth the money?
Sure. Obviously. If not, I wouldn't buy one.
Does it matter if someone else agrees? Nope. Why should it?