Current Price of a Somogyi guitar

[Setz]

I was looking into getting a Somogyi guitar. It seems that until recently, the price of a Somogyi guitar was somewhere around $25000 to $35000 (from my search through reverb, music emporium, TNAG and Cedar rock). The last 3 Somogyi at Dream guitar were sold at 68 grand, and they are pretty much gone by the time the listing comes up. Is there a reason why the price sky-rocketted that much? Did Ervin officially retire from building, or was there some other reason?

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by Setz

The last 3 Somogyi at Dream guitar were sold at 68 grand, and they are pretty much gone by the time the listing comes up.

Seems you buried the answer within the question there.

[Slothead56]

See, this is a positive for me. I can’t buy any guitar from a a guy whose name I can’t pronounce. Win-win for Slothead!!

[sinistral]

Afaik, Ervin Somogyi is still building guitars, and his base price as of a few years ago was $40k “plus whatever customizing features or design elements you want,” according to his website. So, depending on the custom details, a new guitar could easily cost $50 - 60k+. Given that he can only make so many guitars a year and the demand for those guitars is greater than the supply, it’s no surprise that used Somogyi guitars sell at a premium. The creep up in prices may also be anticipating that he will retire in the near future, but that’s speculation.

[s2y]

There's the old saying "if you have to ask...."

Yeah, the price tag is wild. Would love to get an Olson and a Somogyi. I'll be getting "clones"/apprentice builds.

[doodahdoug]

I'm seeing a similar increase in prices for pre-owned Olsen SJ's as well. Like Sam mentioned, looking into guitars by Somogyi or Olsen apprentices may get you pretty close to the sound you're looking for at a more affordable price point.

[Racerbob]

Also the three recent guitars at dream were a special case. The were a special build for one customer of three different models with a shared theme and extensive custom inlays.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by doodahdoug

I'm seeing a similar increase in prices for pre-owned Olsen SJ's as well. Like Sam mentioned, looking into guitars by Somogyi or Olsen apprentices may get you pretty close to the sound you're looking for at a more affordable price point.

Hi dood-etc
Can you name any Olson apprentices who actually ever worked with him?

(I think there is one)

[ljguitar]

Hi all…
My background was classical training (for nearly 20 years), interestingly only in orchestral brass instruments, vocal training, and theory.

It was afterwards I learned guitar.

In the orchestral world there are:
- Cheap knockoffs - which cost hundreds of dollars
- Serious Student instruments - from $500-2000 USD
- Serious orchestral hand-built instruments - several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars
- World Class instruments (for soloists) - $100,000 and up
- Collector instruments (usually ancient, scarce, and worth more for collecting than playing)

I've always thought Somogyi, and a handful of other solo/apprentice guitar builders produce world class orchestral instruments tailored to the player's needs-and-wants which actually sound and play better than the average guitar built by custom or solo builders/shops.

I'm not going to start naming builders, but the high price of their instruments coupled with near instant sales of them speaks to their quality (tone and playing value versus monetary value to collectors because of rarity).

Most serious orchestral players do not question the value or worth of investing in world class instruments for very serious players.

But many in the guitar player world are skeptics as to the value of such instruments (or even if this quality of guitar exists).

[Talk2Me]

And here I was thinking I could pick one up for the "bargain" price of $30k.

[M19]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi dood-etc
Can you name any Olson apprentices who actually ever worked with him?

(I think there is one)

Applegate and Heinonen are two. From Drew's website: "I was very pleased to have him work at my side... I expect great things from him as he embarks on his own career"
-Jim Olson

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by M19

Applegate and Heinonen are two. From Drew's website: "I was very pleased to have him work at my side... I expect great things from him as he embarks on his own career"
-Jim Olson

Thanks for chiming in M19. Yes, Brian Applegate and Drew Heinonen were the two Olsen apprentices who I was thinking of in my earlier post Larry.

I've owned a couple of Applegate and Heinonen guitars and they are excellent in sound and build quality. The sound and look of both of these builders SJ models is a big tip of the hat to their mentor's model.

Yes, my '94 Olsen sounds better to my ears than either of the apprentice SJ's and that is why it is the one that I still have and play. However, if I were buying at today's pricing, I would have to give an Applegate or Heinonen SJ serious consideration.

Similarly, I have played a couple of Somoygi Mod D guitars and that would be a dream guitar for me. Realistically, from a financial standpoint I would be delighted to own a Mod D from a Somoygi apprentice.

[colins]

Originally Posted by Setz

I was looking into getting a Somogyi guitar. It seems that until recently, the price of a Somogyi guitar was somewhere around $25000 to $35000 (from my search through reverb, music emporium, TNAG and Cedar rock). The last 3 Somogyi at Dream guitar were sold at 68 grand, and they are pretty much gone by the time the listing comes up. Is there a reason why the price sky-rocketted that much? Did Ervin officially retire from building, or was there some other reason?

The recent guitars at Dream had very intricate inlays, which adds $???? to the price. Somogyi base pricing and typical extras can be found at his website (https://esomogyi.com/pricing/). Still building at 79?!

[Johnny_Boy]

It is not just Somogyi and Olson. There has been overall a huge price increase in the "high-end" luthier guitars in the past 2-3 years. Similarly, many of the pre-war Martins are now fetching crazy amounts of money. Probably related to COVID-19 where everyone was home and suddenly playing and purchasing more guitars. Plus inflation has not been kind to us in the past 2-3 years either.

I do think in the next 2-3 years a lot of these COVID era bought guitars will come back out on the market for sale. Hopefully that will calm down things a bit.

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by M19

Applegate and Heinonen are two. From Drew's website: "I was very pleased to have him work at my side... I expect great things from him as he embarks on his own career"
-Jim Olson

I think Bill Wise (Charis Guitars) was also an Olson apprentice.