17 years old DS wants a new guitar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d make him pay for a portion of it. At least $1,000 or give him a much lower budget.

At 17 he needs to have some skin in the game for big purchase.

Life doesn’t hand you everything you want. You earn it or compromise based on how much effort you put into it. Time for him to realize that.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d make him pay for a portion of it. At least $1,000 or give him a much lower budget.

At 17 he needs to have some skin in the game for big purchase.

Life doesn’t hand you everything you want. You earn it or compromise based on how much effort you put into it. Time for him to realize that.

+1

Funny how people say this about a $4K guitar but then think nothing of plunking down much more for a Jeep, or even worse, paying for a private college just because Snowflake doesn't want the in-state public.

At least this kid has shown dedication to his craft.

[Anonymous]

I would buy it at Chuck Levin's in Wheaton rather than Guitar Center. Bought my son an acoustic guitar there last year and took it over yesterday as the connection to the amp wasn't working. Very impressed. They have their own guitar repair center and sorted out the problem plus changed the batteries for the tuner and all the strings for no cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d make him pay for a portion of it. At least $1,000 or give him a much lower budget.

At 17 he needs to have some skin in the game for big purchase.

Life doesn’t hand you everything you want. You earn it or compromise based on how much effort you put into it. Time for him to realize that.

+1

Funny how people say this about a $4K guitar but then think nothing of plunking down much more for a Jeep, or even worse, paying for a private college just because Snowflake doesn't want the in-state public.

At least this kid has shown dedication to his craft.

Bad comparison. Most of the time it’s also the parents wanting private or kids having cars so they don’t have to drive them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would buy it at Chuck Levin's in Wheaton rather than Guitar Center. Bought my son an acoustic guitar there last year and took it over yesterday as the connection to the amp wasn't working. Very impressed. They have their own guitar repair center and sorted out the problem plus changed the batteries for the tuner and all the strings for no cost.

We’ve had better luck at guitar center. Chuck levin staff are hot and cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d make him pay for a portion of it. At least $1,000 or give him a much lower budget.

At 17 he needs to have some skin in the game for big purchase.

Life doesn’t hand you everything you want. You earn it or compromise based on how much effort you put into it. Time for him to realize that.

+1

Funny how people say this about a $4K guitar but then think nothing of plunking down much more for a Jeep, or even worse, paying for a private college just because Snowflake doesn't want the in-state public.

At least this kid has shown dedication to his craft.

Bad comparison. Most of the time it’s also the parents wanting private or kids having cars so they don’t have to drive them.

Exactly my point. When it's solely something for their child, even though it's cheaper, all of a sudden they don't want to acknowledge and reward the effort their kid has put into whatever it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Martin is an accoustic, the Seagull is an electric, so technically he is correct that those guitars are used for different styles of music. But too bad. It's not relevant for a 17 year old -- whose not paying for it.

And you’re not paying for it either, so why the attitude?

His guitar isn’t that great. If he’s a devoted musician and his parents can afford a great instrument, why shouldn’t he have it?

You have an attitude. Different guitars meet different needs but he could go with a new $500-2K and not 4K or get a job and contribute. He could teach guitar online.

I assume you don’t play an instrument. No $500 guitar will sound good. A cheap guitar is a cheap guitar. Instruments get better as they get more expensive. It’s the reality.

I’ve played instruments since I was 5 and my dad has played them his entire life. My sister went to Juilliard. I know what I’m talking about. He can’t just “go with” a cheaper guitar if he wants good quality.

[Anonymous]

Can you sell the current guitar and recoup some of the cost? And get him to put some money into the new one as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you sell the current guitar and recoup some of the cost? And get him to put some money into the new one as well?

OP said he/she can easily afford it. Why are people bristling at this so much? Do you ask your kids to help pay for travel sports? That’s thousands per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d make him pay for a portion of it. At least $1,000 or give him a much lower budget.

At 17 he needs to have some skin in the game for big purchase.

Life doesn’t hand you everything you want. You earn it or compromise based on how much effort you put into it. Time for him to realize that.

+1

Funny how people say this about a $4K guitar but then think nothing of plunking down much more for a Jeep, or even worse, paying for a private college just because Snowflake doesn't want the in-state public.

At least this kid has shown dedication to his craft.

Bad comparison. Most of the time it’s also the parents wanting private or kids having cars so they don’t have to drive them.

Exactly my point. When it's solely something for their child, even though it's cheaper, all of a sudden they don't want to acknowledge and reward the effort their kid has put into whatever it is.

Bad point.

[Anonymous]

This is his hobby. Just like your kids do sports, dance, whatever — this is what he does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Martin is an accoustic, the Seagull is an electric, so technically he is correct that those guitars are used for different styles of music. But too bad. It's not relevant for a 17 year old -- whose not paying for it.

And you’re not paying for it either, so why the attitude?

His guitar isn’t that great. If he’s a devoted musician and his parents can afford a great instrument, why shouldn’t he have it?

You have an attitude. Different guitars meet different needs but he could go with a new $500-2K and not 4K or get a job and contribute. He could teach guitar online.

I assume you don’t play an instrument. No $500 guitar will sound good. A cheap guitar is a cheap guitar. Instruments get better as they get more expensive. It’s the reality.

I’ve played instruments since I was 5 and my dad has played them his entire life. My sister went to Juilliard. I know what I’m talking about. He can’t just “go with” a cheaper guitar if he wants good quality.

I have a music kid who has a very nice instrument but if he wants a $4k instrument after a $2k he can pay for it. Someone who plays well can make a cheaper instrument sound good. My kid has about $2k in music gear that is midline. That is good enough.

[Anonymous]

My older DC got a nice wooden bass clarinet from my parents as a high school graduation gift because she planned to keep playing in college orchestra. My younger DC is getting a nicer viola for a 16th birthday gift as soon as we feel comfortable test driving some. She also plans to keep playing into college. Both instruments cost well over $4k.

I always laugh when parents drop thousands of dollars on an instrument for a kid the first or second year of ES strings. A newbie player can’t tell the difference and most kids don’t stick with band or strings.

My kids share a used Honda and get our old iPhones. I’m not big on buying them new and flashy stuff. But a good instrument will last the rest of their lives. If the kid has put in the time and effort to become a decent player and plans to keep playing after high school— even recreationally, I have no problem them a nice instrument they will love playing.

[Anonymous]

The kid can teach online guitar lessons to pay part of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Martin is an accoustic, the Seagull is an electric, so technically he is correct that those guitars are used for different styles of music. But too bad. It's not relevant for a 17 year old -- whose not paying for it.

And you’re not paying for it either, so why the attitude?

His guitar isn’t that great. If he’s a devoted musician and his parents can afford a great instrument, why shouldn’t he have it?

You have an attitude. Different guitars meet different needs but he could go with a new $500-2K and not 4K or get a job and contribute. He could teach guitar online.

I assume you don’t play an instrument. No $500 guitar will sound good. A cheap guitar is a cheap guitar. Instruments get better as they get more expensive. It’s the reality.

I’ve played instruments since I was 5 and my dad has played them his entire life. My sister went to Juilliard. I know what I’m talking about. He can’t just “go with” a cheaper guitar if he wants good quality.

I have a music kid who has a very nice instrument but if he wants a $4k instrument after a $2k he can pay for it. Someone who plays well can make a cheaper instrument sound good. My kid has about $2k in music gear that is midline. That is good enough.

Yeah, but it can only sound so good.

And to the people saying he has to pay for part of it: i assume you make your kids pay for some of their travel sports, since those are quite expensive, right?