bluesbird vrs les paul quality/quantity

[gmcdeadhead]

compaired to how many les pauls gibson makes per year , to how many bluesbirds guild made per year, it's probably 10 fold for gibson over guild. if thats the case wouldn't you say quality suffers over quantity? i would take something that they only made 1000 per year, compared to 10,000 per year. what do you guys say about this , .thanks gmcdeadhead .

 

[matsickma]

I think the rationale is that to be able to sell 10,000 guitars the quality has to be maintained. The key issue here is that Gibsons typically gets top dollar for their guitars while Guilds had fine quality but were not able to maintain the asking price point.

M

 

[GAD]

There are about 100 different versions of the Les Paul out there. I'd take a Bluesbird over any of the "normal" ones out there. I think they hold their own against the "custom shop" models like the R9, etc.

I've owned two R9s and an R8, and while I love Guilds and would never turn down a Bluesbird, it would not replace my current R9. But then my R9 was $4500 new with a list price of about $8,000.

 

[gmcdeadhead]

that sounds like a good answer , the bluesbird probably blows the standard les paul away. but the custom ones probably get more attention.

 

[mad dog]

GAD is right. So many different flavors of Les Pauls. And there are alternatives to Gibson.

I've long wanted a Bluesbird, couldn't seem to connect. Then scored an Epiphone LTD "Lacquer Taste" Les Paul last month. Made in Japan, not for export to here. Same factory that made Epiphone Elites, Elitists, and Orville/Orville by Gibson before that. All of which promised spectacular quality at modest prices, based on my experience. And so it is.

Custom shop Gibson stuff can be great. Short of that, I'm not convinced. Way too inconsistent, way too pricey. The Bluesbird stacks up well against the high end CS models, and against the often remarkable quality of MIJ instruments. Considered against non CS Gibson Les Pauls, I'd pick the bluesbird every time.
MD