You should call first. I don’t know if they sell off the factory floor unless you are a friend. It undercuts the dealers. If it’s an outlet, maybe that’s different. Love to see that.
Here is a Wildkat listed in the Acoustic Guitar Forum classifieds (yes, folks list electrics occasionally, too) for $400:
…and Chefguy here’s a J-45 listed for $1,500: For Sale: Gibson J-45 Standard - The Acoustic Guitar Forum
The point being you can find decent prices out there.
Or you buy it and pledge to play your butt off to be “worthy”…
I don’t want to come across as someone’s grandma and yes, I get the humor, but the whole “being worthy” thing can be a real issue for some people. If you can afford it and it is something you think you’d actually use and enjoy, then that’s worthy enough for me.
I totally get that, but for me, it’s different.
I posted in this thread a while back about getting rid of my expensive guitars, and cutting down to two Epiphones, one acoustic, one semi-hollow electric.
It’s helped me a lot. I used to get wrapped up in the guitar itself, always thinking I could sound a bit better with a different guitar, or with different pickups or something.
Now I just play. And the guitars, even my second-line Epiphones, are better than I am. I don’t think I’ll ever get so good that they’re holding me back. I’m not a good enough player to bring out the best in great guitars. I’d just as soon a better player than me owned them.
Now you’re talking. You realized what would keep you focused on playing. Yes, leaning on pickup swaps, the next effects pedal, a different nut, etc. can end up being distracting. So can feeling like a pricey guitar is Precious and therefore you can’t be yourself playing it.
And I agree with keeping things simple, but if someone likes flashy gear, that’s cool for them. But something like a Gibson J-35 can be found for maybe $1,400 in the U.S. I think? No one should stretch themselves to buy gear, but it is a reasonable price point for a really great guitar that is fun to play. It’s a lot cheaper than a Porsche. No reason it can’t be below the Worthy line 
You’re not in my head so my post was more self-deprecating than you would realise. When I bought my Garrison many moons ago it was dear in price to me ($1400 IIRC) as a young newlywed and Corporal in the RCAF. My rationale at the time was that the increase in quality compared to the $150 Silvertone Western I also had would encourage me to play more (along with the accompanying guilt of having spent so much, I better damn play it! 
). I’ve come out of the whole unobtanium guitar parts (also applies to MTB parts as well) phase and come to realise that no matter how expensive the guitar is, I’m not going to be Clapton, or Rienhardt for that matter.
Now, the fact is I do play my Seagull 12 string more than my Goya 12 (the first guitar I bought with my own money), and the Garrison more than the Fender,and the Taylor more than the rest of them, acoustically. It has to do with the fact the more expensive guitars tend to be easier to play because they stay in tune and the set-up is just plain better. There are limits as to how much you can do a cheap guitar even though they still are vastly better than when I first got them. My favorite electric right now is the WildKat because I get a big stupid grin on my face when I play one (Especially through a Princeton like I did this weekend past at L&M! 
)
tldr: Would I break the bank on a $4000 LP goldtop now? Not in a million years. Would I spend $1000 to build a kick ass copy that sounds, plays, looks just as good, and benefits from 50 years of innovation? In a heartbeat.
There have been guitars that just make me itch to play, and if that Gibson speaks in your hands and you have the means, Chefguy, why not buy it? There’s no one to judge you in your living room.
All good, swampspruce. I kinda figured you had the right priorities
Random question: has anyone lived with a modern Danelectro? I seem to recall that the '60s models were garbage (I think that they were partly made out of Masonite.) Are the necks reasonably stable over time; does the guitar hold together and stay in tune, and how microphonic are those weird lipstick pickups? (I take reasonable care of my guitars and I usually close up the sound holes on semiacoustics if body feedback gets to be an issue.)
I’m still in the tire kicking phase, but I tried out a 12 string Dano yesterday and remembered that nothing had that dark psych sound like an electric 12 string.
Haven’t lived with one, but played a few. They are inexpensive guitars that are pretty sturdy. The old ones were, too, to my knowledge. They were built on the cheap but I don’t recall hearing stories about shoddy workmanship.
I enjoy watching Dan Erlewine’s repair videos. He restores a 1952 Tele body that has seen a lot of modifications. Somebody had installed a Bigsby vibrato in it.
I’d call what Dan does a Dutchman. A common woodworker fix.
Dan’s woodworking talent is amazing. He fits in a patch seamlessly. Even matching the grain. Paints it blonde then ages the finish.
I know other luthiers do this type of work. How do you find a guy this skilled that won’t ruin a vintage guitar?
This guitar must have been owned by a lot of people. Dan said it’s covered in old screw holes. People mounting different equipment to it.
That was amazing.
Yes, there are WAY too many stories of botched repairs and restorations. Amongst guitar dealers and repair techs who focus on old guitars, they refer to the 60’s as The Great Folk Scare, because guitars became “fashionable” and got modified all to heck.
Anyway, I travel in those circles. It’s a reputation and word of mouth thing. Techs get to learn about old guitars, typical restorations like resetting a neck, crack repair and the more drastic stuff serving as repairmen/women in top vintage shops like Gruhns, Matt Umanov’s, Eric Shoenberg’s and Rudy’s. It is an apprenticeship craft. Top, respected techs for Umanov’s and Retrofret have each left within the past couple of years and set up their own shops.
Wayne Henderson, subject of the acoustic guitar world’s favorite book, Clapton’s Guitar (has very little to do with Slowhand; it’s about Henderson building a guitar and the world of high-end acoustics) got his reputation repairing old Martins at Gruhn’s. Erlewine’s one of the first Famous-in-Guitar-Circles Techs. He owned the Burst Les Paul that Mike Bloomfield asked him to trade for his '57 Goldtop; MB toured the UK with it and is thought of inspiring the Brits to value LP’s (along with a Freddie King album cover). Erlewine built one of Albert King’s favorite Flying V’s, Lucy. I believe Steven Seagal still owns it.
Wordman have you heard anything about Elderly Instruments? I’ve bought a few accessories from them. They do sell vintage instruments. I wasn’t sure if they had a reputation like the shops you mentioned.
Here’s their used Martin’s. Pretty good selection. Oldest I saw was a 1929 000-28.
They do have a large repair shop. I don’t know it’s reputation.
http://www.elderly.com/instruments/acoustic-guitars/flat-top-acoustic-guitars.html?manufacturer=203&dir=desc&new_used=413&order=news_from_date
Sure. Elderly is a big online presence, operating out of their Michigan store. Kinda like Sweetwater and Wildwood Guitars, amongst others, that have reputable stores for decades but also built out an online presence.
Elderly, yes, is part of the network of credible vintage dealers and shops. I think the guy named Frog (yes, you read that correctly) is the vintage dept manager but not a tech - I have spoken with him a couple of times while researching old guitars and he was informative and helpful.
Techs who end up getting the reputation as “guitar whisperers” are guitar gods among guitar guys. TJ Thompson, John Arnold, Mark Stutman and many others have followings and legends. Some hang out online - Arnold hangs out on the UMGF forum. As folks ask about vintage guitars that they see listed online, John will chime in if he worked on the guitar, or about the nature of the condition or the repairs that were indicated. If he tells you not to worry about a crack because it is not in a load-bearing spot on the top or something, you listen. If he seizes up a bit checking out a headstock repair, crack where the fingerboard attaches to the top, or the finish, all bets are off.
Somebody else might correct me here but a few years ago after a factory tour I could have sworn that the gift shop had all kinds of guitars in there. If not at the factory at least close by.
I know they had at least one Hummingbird because I asked politely for a chance to play it. The room acoustics in the shop were terrible and it might have placed a bias on me but I didn’t much care for the tone on the one I was playing.
Of course, my expectations were that playing it would reveal that I sounded great and that I just needed a better guitar than the ones I have at home. My skill level is pretty low so a more experienced player with an ear that could hear the guitar’s raw tone, not the room acoustics, might just find it wonderful.
Anybody have a feel for how chunky or not PRS ‘pattern’ necks are? The high end type, not SE/S2, but a regular Custom 2x or Mccarty? Nobody around here seems to carry them, but the PRS site implies their regular pattern neck (once called Wide Fat) ‘harkens’ to the shape of a 50’s Les Paul. Which could mean anything, since those necks could be all over the map.
FWIW, I get along really well with modern Fender (Tele, Strat) necks, and I owned a Les Paul with apparently a 60’s neck that felt fine. I’ve also owned an EPI with a C-shape neck that I didn’t find very comfortable. Obviously I can try a few PRS’s - and have - but there’s a real dearth of stock in the high end ($3000+) guitars stocked around here, and the idiots at GC couldn’t even tell you what version of the PRS neck (there’s 3 flavors) I was holding.
PRS’ have tended thin and fast, and the move to wide-fat as their standard puts them firmly in the Medium category. The nut width is 1 11/16", still 1/16" less than a standard electric nut width of 1 3/4". And the neck depth at the nut is 27/32" or a tad less than 3/4". My truly chunky Tele neck is 1" deep at the nut, so much chunkier.
They probably feel like a Gibson standard C depending on whether the carve is C, a slight V profile, etc…
WordMan, thanks for the info. I see what you mean about the 0.84375" thickness of the PRS neck: there’s certainly thicker, e.g. an R8 Les Paul @ .925". Still, compared to my Tele’s likely profile of .780", or a “60’s slim taper” Les Paul neck @ .765" like the one I had, that sounds pretty thick. But it would certainly depend on the neck shape generally - V vs C vs D. I wish I had calipers so I could measure that chunky Epi I have that I don’t care for.
Since I’d buy from GC - 30 day money back, no questions! - I may just pull the pin and order a new McCarty ($3300 (!) ) and see how it goes. If nothing else, I get an amazing guitar for a month and perhaps I’ll love it. PRS is the last “flavor” of the guitar “triad” (Tele, Strat, LP, PRS) that I’ve never owned and I want to live with one for a while. My AD Tele is the guitar that keeps calling me back like no other - it is truly a great guitar - and I really want to find one I love as much but in a humbucker configuration. My Michael Kelly is okay, but the dead-on intonation on my Tele neck spoils the heck out of me and PRS has an amazing quality rep.