I don't want a hand crafted guitar because humans are terrible at reproducing things perfectly compared to machines. Give me the least human involvement possible when it comes to the shape and general layout, then let humans do important things like fret dressing and really nice wiring.
Solar Guitars by Ola Englund
- Thread starter zarg
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Lord Voldemort
Well-Known Member
This whole idea of whether or not something is worth the price being asked is really just a rebranding of bigger corporations vs Ma and Pop shops. It's the same kind of thing that you'd ask when you pay $7 for a local coffee vs $3 for some Dunkin Donuts coffee. I'm sure the local quality may be better, but the higher price doesn't really have much to do with how good it is or isn't, that's just the expectation you put on it to justify your buying it.
An expert luthier (or small team, not sure) is taking their time to make sure that everything is absolutely perfect, so it's going to take longer to make than a standard factory guitar. If you need, the quality might justify your higher price, but realistically he just needs to charge more to pay his bills. Likely, he's paying himself and/or his team fair wages, paying rent/heat/electricity for his small spot, buying woods/materials in smaller batches and on top of that producing far less guitars annually than anything comparable. This is the life of a small, local builder of any product. $3k is hardly a price gauge, just look at any comparable small European builder.
While I'm sure the quality is outrageously good on these Euro Solars, you can take your $300 Harley Benton to a tech for a hundred bucks or so for a setup and maybe some fretwork and I doubt the solar would be better by any objective metric. You shouldn't buy a fancy ass, mastercrafted guitar, spending 100% more money than it's factory counterpart just because you want it to be some kind of Unicorn instrument.
If you can afford it, you buy it to support the art of guitar making, the purity of a master craftsman diligently taking his time and pouring his soul into his work so you can play your shitty periphery covers. The same reason you'd buy that $7 coffee. If you can't afford it, go to Dunkin, it's all good. But you can't compare the two things, they're just not the same.
Edika
Well-Known Member
Not having the cash to buy something at that price range, I can't really comment. If I was spending that kind of money on a Solar, I'd go with the X as it seemed more unique and differentiated from the other X type aesthetics.
The more natural stain A typr looked better, mainly because it's a different colour scheme than the import Solars, but still is close to one of the Schecter Apocalypse paint schemes. The red one was not a great idea, as visually, it's really similar with the Indo one. It would have been better if they did something more unique. Not saying the instruments will not be good or worth the price, it just didn't make sense to me from a marketing aspect, and other people it seems.
Having said all that, I'd be down to try one, if I could get my hands on one. At the end of the day, feel and sound is what matters most to me than aesthetics.
The more natural stain A typr looked better, mainly because it's a different colour scheme than the import Solars, but still is close to one of the Schecter Apocalypse paint schemes. The red one was not a great idea, as visually, it's really similar with the Indo one. It would have been better if they did something more unique. Not saying the instruments will not be good or worth the price, it just didn't make sense to me from a marketing aspect, and other people it seems.
Having said all that, I'd be down to try one, if I could get my hands on one. At the end of the day, feel and sound is what matters most to me than aesthetics.
Neon_Knight_
Well-Known Member
IME independent cafes don't actually charge more for a coffee than the big chain cafes do. However, they do tend to sell tasty freshly baked cakes for similar price to the less fresh and less tasty cakes that Starbucks / Costa sell. 🤷♂️
I'm not familiar with "Dunkin Donuts", but if you're comparing an independent cafe to a fast food restaurant (whether that be McDonalds or a tiny independent establishment), the fast food restaurant is almost guaranteed to sell cheaper but inferior coffee. One is brewing coffee as their core business and the other is doing it as an extra on the side.
While the specific French luthier who made this run of Solar guitars may be a small independent business, Solar is not.
Perge
Well-Known Member
Well then. This one checks all the boxes. Would have preferred a flat top instead of flamed maple, but that's so nitpicky I feel bad even typing it out lol.
eddyrox
Well-Known Member
DAAAYIM. that's what Solar's producing nowadays? love that.
heading over to check that out - checks my list as well
heading over to check that out - checks my list as well
T00DEEPBLUE
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I am confused.
Why is the Vinter model $300 more expensive than this?
XF1.6FRFBR+ - Flame Blood Red Matte - Solar Guitars- Website
Created with the most demanding guitarists in mind, this premium feature-loaded guitar belongs to the Solar Type X1 top of the line range, offering outstanding elegance and performance.
www.solar-guitars.com
X1.6FRVinter - Pearl White Matte - Solar Guitars- Website
Created with the most demanding guitarists in mind, this premium feature-loaded guitar belongs to the Solar Type X1 top of the line range, offering outstanding elegance and performance.
www.solar-guitars.com
The only meaningful difference between this and the Vinter model are the Fluence Moderns. Fluences don't cost $300 more. And the price difference between mahogany with a veneer top and alder is negligible.
Both models also have HSC's.
So what justifies such a big price difference?
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As with almost anything if you want one of the top 10% prepare to pay a lot more than 10% more for it.
Tisca
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They have dynamic pricing. The further away form shipping the higher usually. If pre-orders are not what they expected/hoped it'll drop. Also, places like Thomann has lower prices compared to directly from Solar.
T00DEEPBLUE
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Except that analogy doesn't work in this situation. They're the exact same guitar except for the pickups, the body wood and the finish. I could buy a pair of Moderns myself, install them in the red one and it would still be cheaper than the Vinter. What more are you paying for?
T00DEEPBLUE
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Don't all Solar guitars (the Indo-made ones at least) ship out from Girona in Spain though? Ergo the shipping cost will be the exact same.
People post threads about needing to bring their guitars to a tech to adjust the truss rod. What I mean is people will pay a premium for guitars that include things they won't need to install themselves (because they might not be able to), or pay someone else to install (which would cost more than the price difference between models)
It does work, because a lot more than 10% of potential buyers want it compared to the base models. It's about perception of value, which is decided by the consumers.
You're not one of those to be so haphazard about it, but others will be. The average person is a moron, and by the numbers a majority of people shopping for a Solar would opt for the higher spec model at first glance.
T00DEEPBLUE
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Surely if that was always the case all buyers would be perfectly happy paying $800 for a $300 Epiphone with $500 worth of mods on it.
People post threads about needing to bring their guitars to a tech to adjust the truss rod. What I mean is people will pay a premium for guitars that include things they won't need to install themselves (because they might not be able to), or pay someone else to install (which would cost more than the price difference between models)
T00DEEPBLUE
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I'd say its fair to generalise that customers who buy Solar guitars tend to be quite a lot nerdier (and more knowledgeable) about guitar products than the average buyer. Given its a pretty small brand run by a guitar-oriented youtube influencer who exclusively plays metal, which in itself is a magnetic attractant to nerds. (self-awareness being the powerful tool it is) Even the owner of the company himself occasionally visits this nerd cave for goodness sake. The point being, the average consumer of guitars probably isn't the same as the average consumer of Solar guitars.
I would disagree in certain ways. Firstly, I don't know any actually intelligent guitarists outside of this forum, but I know a lot of nerdy ones. That's to say I know lots of pedantic people who are bad at it, but are still pedantic. Secondly, I don't think a YT reviewer is going to have a hard time reaching any person at all compared to Joe Blow's Fast Fiddles. There are luthiers who have been cranking out flawless quality for decades and 90% of guitarists have never even heard of them. Because 90% of their business is word of mouth.
What makes a price "right" depends on a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but it's typical that more sought after and in demand items will fetch a higher price than run of the mill versions. A lot of different things can make an item more sought after as well, like marketing and brand impressions. Value is an amorphous thing. Personally I don't think Solar products are remarkable, and I find it odd that people circle around Ola for anything more than tone tests. I'm not going to pretend Ola/Solar aren't feeding folks (nerds, perhaps) GAS then selling them the cure, though- and in the world of influencers and the influenced clout or simple prestige is an immense motivator.
There are people who will pay a great deal just to claim exclusivity or a .001% subjective comparative improvement which other people cannot afford or which other people will not make a priority to afford, this in my opinion is social pageantry not a critical assessment of value. When it comes to that I don't think the specs difference will deter his target audience much at all, and I don't think they are engaging a useful part of their brains in any case. So while these folks might be nerdy I don't think that means they are going to be resistant to gimmicks at all- I think they will be especially susceptible to them. The bottom line in any scenario will always be if the price isn't right then it won't sell, but let's be clear Ola has greased the rails plenty enough to sell guitars regardless of actual quality relative to pricing.
I also think that when it comes to guitars many small details add up to make a high quality instrument, these take time to get perfect which is more money. There's not a lot of edit+undo in woodworking at all, so also factor in occasional wasted materials along with the time it took to screw them up. It's not so much a matter of what you bolt on to it as attention to detail. When it comes to materials and hardware costs most high end guitars aren't fetching their price because of those specs. I can bolt high dollar hardware and pickups to a GIO, it's not going to play like a Surh or PRS, though. So in my opinion the nerds (influenced) will still buy them and the more critical will give them the benefit of the doubt until they can see for themselves. That's just my opinion of course, but I think those high dollar Solars did sell so there's some proof in the pudding.
Funny enough the red one is an x1.6fr and is only $100 more than the x2.6fr. For a $100 dollar difference you get a floyd 1000 over the special, stainless steel frets, and locking tuners. I kind of felt like the x2.6 was a little overpriced when it released.
This red one is pretty near perfect for what I like. I do wish it had 24 frets and a longer scale length but it's hard not to be happy with an off the shelf guitar that hits all the other check marks
This red one is pretty near perfect for what I like. I do wish it had 24 frets and a longer scale length but it's hard not to be happy with an off the shelf guitar that hits all the other check marks
Hollowway
Extended Ranger
Anyone know what the new logo is supposed to be? Is it a mashup of an O and and E? I see it on the front of the new guitars, but idk what it is. Just curious.
