I have owned tons of guitars by tons of manufacturers. I just went thru 4 PRS' - umtil I got a Petrucci model by Musicman ! The PRS are all gone and an Axis is on the way. My biggest regret is trading away my Silhouette Special. I believe that they are the best guitars going - but why is the resale so low on them compared to Fender/Gibson/PRS ? And why don't you see many people using them ?
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- Thread starter jim friar
- Start date
Shaun Lopez
Ernie Ball Customer Service
The Silhouette
Jim,
There could be all sorts of reasons why the price of the Silhouette is lower than the gibson, fender, or PRS. First, I would think about how the guitar is manufactured. To be very general, some parts are more expensive than others.I know here at Music Man we do our best to give you the best value for the money your paying. I would say pricing for the Sillouette is very accurate concerning the manufacturing costs endured. Another reason for the price fluctuation could be public appeal. Gibson/Fender are well known and are also advertised more than the Sillouette. With a bigger advertising campaign, the company has to raise the price on the product to cover costs. We are able to keep our costs lower because our advertising is effective by word of mouth through the consumer. Maybe this is why you don't really see a whole lot of people using the Silloutte, it is not advertised as much as the other Gibson/Fender/PRS guitars. Another possible reason is that the other companies feel that they could get away with a higher price far above manufacturing costs because of thier name alone.
Jim, hope this helps. Feel free to comment on any other concerns or questions you may or may not have.
Shaun
Jim,
There could be all sorts of reasons why the price of the Silhouette is lower than the gibson, fender, or PRS. First, I would think about how the guitar is manufactured. To be very general, some parts are more expensive than others.I know here at Music Man we do our best to give you the best value for the money your paying. I would say pricing for the Sillouette is very accurate concerning the manufacturing costs endured. Another reason for the price fluctuation could be public appeal. Gibson/Fender are well known and are also advertised more than the Sillouette. With a bigger advertising campaign, the company has to raise the price on the product to cover costs. We are able to keep our costs lower because our advertising is effective by word of mouth through the consumer. Maybe this is why you don't really see a whole lot of people using the Silloutte, it is not advertised as much as the other Gibson/Fender/PRS guitars. Another possible reason is that the other companies feel that they could get away with a higher price far above manufacturing costs because of thier name alone.
Jim, hope this helps. Feel free to comment on any other concerns or questions you may or may not have.
Shaun
Last edited:
davidp158
Well-known member
What makes a guitar popular? 10 times out of 10, its visibility. Most of us, probably ALL of us, buy guitars that our favorite players use. Sure, over time we discover other guitars that might fit our needs better, but most of the time our first guitar choces are based on what "guitar God" we subscribe to plays.
That said, I think there are a lot of great guitars that don't have the resale value of a Fender or Gibson simply because they are not associated with some "guitar God" or whatever. In addition to Ernie Ball guitars, Hamer, Guild, Heritage and many others come to mind as instruments that don't get the recognition as being first choice instruments. Yep, there are some "guitar Gods" playing these guitars, but they are still not advertised as heavily, and that reduces their popularity. Its not really an issue of quality at all, its just who plays what.
The down side is that you may take a loss when reselling or trading an Ernie Ball guitar. The up side is that you can find a great deal on a used one. It sort of evens out. I've owned way too many guitars, and the only ones I regret buying were the ones that really didn't make sense for me. More than a few of those were chosen because I was swayed by ads showing my "guitar God of the month" playing a guitar that I thought I needed. Hey, advertising works! Maybe Ernie Ball should advertise more, BUT if they had to mass produce guitars like Fender, I don't think the quality would be as great as it is now.
I went looking for a Strat this past weekend. I played at least a dozen at two different stores, but walked out with a Music Man Axis Super Sport. No posters of "guitar Gods" convinced me to buy this guitar. The guitar did all the talking.
dave patterson / mudbug
That said, I think there are a lot of great guitars that don't have the resale value of a Fender or Gibson simply because they are not associated with some "guitar God" or whatever. In addition to Ernie Ball guitars, Hamer, Guild, Heritage and many others come to mind as instruments that don't get the recognition as being first choice instruments. Yep, there are some "guitar Gods" playing these guitars, but they are still not advertised as heavily, and that reduces their popularity. Its not really an issue of quality at all, its just who plays what.
The down side is that you may take a loss when reselling or trading an Ernie Ball guitar. The up side is that you can find a great deal on a used one. It sort of evens out. I've owned way too many guitars, and the only ones I regret buying were the ones that really didn't make sense for me. More than a few of those were chosen because I was swayed by ads showing my "guitar God of the month" playing a guitar that I thought I needed. Hey, advertising works! Maybe Ernie Ball should advertise more, BUT if they had to mass produce guitars like Fender, I don't think the quality would be as great as it is now.
I went looking for a Strat this past weekend. I played at least a dozen at two different stores, but walked out with a Music Man Axis Super Sport. No posters of "guitar Gods" convinced me to buy this guitar. The guitar did all the talking.
dave patterson / mudbug
Hmmm... I think the advertising angle is a good one. I also wonder how many EB guitars are out there ? What sort of annual production numbers they have. They may actually be in more limited numbers than say, PRS and certainly Fender. But I have noticed that used Musicman guitars (not basses) seem to stick around the stores for awhile.
davidp158
Well-known member
The whole poplularity thing is something I try not to get caught up in. I think we all want to feel that we made the right choices, and seeing someone playing OUR guitar on stage is reaffirming, but I've tried to find guitars that work for me and take satisfaction in that.
Regarding resale, if you don't find a lot of a particular guitar around that's usually a good sign that people are holding onto that model. The early Van Halen model Ernie Ball guitars seem to command a high resale price, but again, that goes back to the idea that EVH (a guitarist you may have heard of) added to the popularity quotient. For quite a while, Music Man basses were highly popular. The bassist in my blues band just bought a Music Man bass, and that reminded me to take another look at Music Man guitars when shopping this past weekend.
All in all, I dig this MusicMan Axis guitar and think it'll be a keeper. Now if I can get a good case for it.
dave patterson / knobville
Regarding resale, if you don't find a lot of a particular guitar around that's usually a good sign that people are holding onto that model. The early Van Halen model Ernie Ball guitars seem to command a high resale price, but again, that goes back to the idea that EVH (a guitarist you may have heard of) added to the popularity quotient. For quite a while, Music Man basses were highly popular. The bassist in my blues band just bought a Music Man bass, and that reminded me to take another look at Music Man guitars when shopping this past weekend.
All in all, I dig this MusicMan Axis guitar and think it'll be a keeper. Now if I can get a good case for it.
dave patterson / knobville
davidp158
Well-known member
Those are horrid looking, aren't they? I haven't looked closely at them (don't want to get too close to 'em), but I think the storage compartment is at one end of the case, making the cases longer than a conventional case. If so, people will have a hard time fitting a guitar in the back seat of a car.
dave patterson / mudbug
dave patterson / mudbug
jim friar said:What about one of those "coffin cases " - would probably fit - and you could use it on the front lawn at Halloween.
