Over $21K for a NEW Gibson F5 MM

[Chris Calley]

That seems off the chart expensive for a non-vintage mando. Even with "The Gibson" on the head stock. Maybe I just don't get it.

[Bill McCall]

You can’t by a new Monteleone at any price. I think a new Nugget, Dudenbostel or Gilchrist is at least that price. People have different tastes.

No comment on ‘worth’, ‘value’, ‘tone’ or anything else.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

I can not verify the validity of this statement but have heard it said many times that " A Rolls Royce is purchased for the privilege of having the hood ornament, not for the car".
Not a mandolin I will lay awake thinking about owning. A $ 21.5 K mandolin is just as far out of my price range as a Rolls Royce.

[ivancook]

If you go to a site like Carter's and sort by price, there are options from just below $1,000 all the way up to $150,000. We certainly live in a golden age of choice!

[John Soper]

On Carter's website, I sort by descending price to get past the pornography early, and then work my way down to the realistic! Some great mandolins there the ai would like to audition.

[goose 2]

The Mater Models are every bit the exquisitely made and sounding instruments as the Gilchrists, Red Diamonds, Nuggets, Heiden, etc. I have no issue with the price if that’s the going rate for that quality of an instrument. I also believe that you can find an amazing sounding, playing, feeling instrument for much less money. Not the same as the top of the line from the top tier makers, but a really good instrument that many may even prefer to the most expensive instruments.

[yankees1]

Can I afford a new $21,000. Gibson ? Yes! Will it improve my playing ? No ! If I bought an instrument that matched my playing I would probably buy an Eastman , which I started out with or a Northfield which I also owned at one time. But, I now own Ellis and Girouard mandolins which may be better than my playing deserves but I am very happy and MAS satisfied ! Well, it sure would be nice to add a Girouard F5 to the group !

[allenhopkins]

Same price as my current automobile (2010 Honda Element). A lot smaller, and less useful for picking up groceries or hauling PA to remote gigs.

Beyond a certain point, what you're paying for IMHO, is name, history, and the ultimate subtle nuances of quality. Plus -- and we gotta admit it -- you take depreciation, as when you buy a new vs. pre-owned vehicle. A used 2020 Gibson F-5 Master Model is gonna sell for less than a new one. Were I going to spend $20K or more for any instrument (and I'm not!), I'd go into the vintage market and buy one that was likely to appreciate, rather than the opposite.

Have to consider, "Will it make me a better mandolinist? Will it get me more work as a musician? Am I just buying it to make myself feel that now i own the 'best,' or to impress other musicians -- until I start playing it? Am I buying it just to show that I can buy it, that I'm a serious pro mandolinist who deserves respect?"

Talking serious buxx here, not a $300 eBay impulse buy. More power to those who buy one, whatever their motivations, but to me expenditures at this level merit really serious introspection and cost/benefit analysis. And, though I don't wanna hear all that "I wanted to buy it, but my wife/girlfriend/mother/parole officer won't let me!" nonsense, spending that much could merit asking for family consensus.

[Eric Platt]

I think there is a certain level of professional (or amateur) player that can tell the difference and is willing to pay it to get the "best" instrument. Now for me, my ears and my uses, this is not the right instrument. Even if I had the money to spend on something like it, would most likely head in a different direction. But I'm not the target audience that Gibson needs to sell these mandolins.

And, in another sense, I really don't consider the price out of line. A new Martin D-45S Authentic 1936 is $59,999. A regular D-45 is $11,599. If one uses the argument that a mandolin is twice as expensive as a comparable guitar, the Gibson MM is right there with a regular D-45.