Knowing what you're paying for

I'm a guitar player. And I've noticed over the years that guitar players have a tendency to really fuss over elusive, high-priced gear. Hand-wound pickups, hand-wired "boutique" tube amplifiers, and USA-made guitars. So recently, on a forum, I spied this sexy custom Jackson seven-string: Like, damn. Clearly this is a very unique and beautiful axe. And if you think the price tag on this guitar would probably be a smidge high, well, you'd be right. Custom Jacksons, even with relatively simple appointments that aren't much different than their production guitars, can easily run $3500-$4000. I have no idea what this fellow paid (it belongs to Chris Letchford of the band Scale The Summit ), but I think $5k would be a reasonable, possibly even conservative estimate.