The Dilemma: PlayStation 3 or Fender Jazzmaster?

[spacecadet]

So my birthday's coming up, and as has become customary for my wife and I, I basically get to pick out my own gift and buy it myself. It all comes out of the same pool of money anyway.

 

This year I'm agonizing over either buying a PlayStation 3 or a Fender Jazzmaster guitar. Each has their pros and cons.

 

PS3 pros: Would be my only current-gen game system; can play BD movies (making it easier to justify to the wife, ie. "it's for us!")

PS3 cons: Will be worth approximately $24 in 5-10 years; way too expensive for a game machine right now; I'll still be without a guitar

 

Jazzmaster pros: I've wanted this guitar for like 13 years; will hold its value; will help fend off my coming mid-life crisis

Jazzmaster cons: Will result in a cascade of extra stuff to go along with it, making it much more expensive than the PS3; a totally selfish purchase, meaning I'll need to give in the next time my wife wants to buy a $400 purse and/or pair of shoes; I'll still be without a modern game system

 

What would you guys do??

 

btw, if anybody here really knows guitars (and I'm sure some of you do) and are wondering why I'm comparing a $500-$600 game machine to a $1400 guitar, I'm not - it's the Japanese Jazzmaster I'd buy. Basically the same as the current US models, but about half the price, so more in line with what the PS3 costs.

 

I'm seriously about 50/50 on this. Somebody convince me one way or another!

[CPUWIZ]

What would you guys do??

 

I'd buy both and only justify one to the wife, take the flack for the other.

[+FujiSkunk]

The guitar, of course.

[ninjarabbit]

Get the guitar, the PS3 eventually come down to a more reasonable price level and will hold it's value much better

[misspent_youth]

I also say go for the guitar. You'll likely get more enjoyment out of it sooner, as I imagine the PS3 won't really hit it's stride until next year. By that time, the price will have dropped, more and cooler games will be available, and you'll have been rocking for a year already with the new guitar.

 

No rush to have the latest and greatest anyway. Wikipedia tells me your guitar first debuted in 1958, so as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

[Gregory DG]

I'd have no use for a guitar. Heh, I wouldn't have much more use for a PS3 all things considered. With the $600+ it'd cost, I'd probably get some computer stuff instead.

[jedijeff]

So my birthday's coming up, and as has become customary for my wife and I, I basically get to pick out my own gift and buy it myself. It all comes out of the same pool of money anyway.

 

This year I'm agonizing over either buying a PlayStation 3 or a Fender Jazzmaster guitar. Each has their pros and cons.

 

PS3 pros: Would be my only current-gen game system; can play BD movies (making it easier to justify to the wife, ie. "it's for us!")

PS3 cons: Will be worth approximately $24 in 5-10 years; way too expensive for a game machine right now; I'll still be without a guitar

 

Jazzmaster pros: I've wanted this guitar for like 13 years; will hold its value; will help fend off my coming mid-life crisis

Jazzmaster cons: Will result in a cascade of extra stuff to go along with it, making it much more expensive than the PS3; a totally selfish purchase, meaning I'll need to give in the next time my wife wants to buy a $400 purse and/or pair of shoes; I'll still be without a modern game system

 

What would you guys do??

 

btw, if anybody here really knows guitars (and I'm sure some of you do) and are wondering why I'm comparing a $500-$600 game machine to a $1400 guitar, I'm not - it's the Japanese Jazzmaster I'd buy. Basically the same as the current US models, but about half the price, so more in line with what the PS3 costs.

 

I'm seriously about 50/50 on this. Somebody convince me one way or another!

 

There's a lot of resentment towards sony on the boards, so take that into consideration when ready some replies.

 

In order to give a good recomendation, I believe we need more information. Do you have any current gaming systems? What are your favorite types of games? How often do you play guitar? How many do you have? Anything else you might think of to give us a good idea of what you enjoy would help also.

[Bilnick]

I would get the one you could play at 1 am and not get any complaints from the wife or neighbors.

 

Oh and someone said that guitar is basically 2 banjos duct taped together.

[CPUWIZ]

Oh and someone said that guitar is basically 2 banjos duct taped together.

 

I almost just spit out my soda.

[+FujiSkunk]

There's a lot of resentment towards sony on the boards, so take that into consideration when ready some replies.

 

Just for the record, if he had asked whether he should get a new guitar or a Wii, I'd still say get the guitar.

[deathtrappomegranate]

I'd go for the Jazzmaster, although you need to be careful with the non-USA manufactured versions.

[spacecadet]

I'd go for the Jazzmaster, although you need to be careful with the non-USA manufactured versions.

 

I know all about the Japanese-made ones - there's no meaningful difference in the construction, they're really nicely made. The only real difference is the pickups, and they're easily replaced. Even after doing that, it's still about $400 cheaper than the US version, and I don't need to do it right away. You're paying for the name and rep in the US... Fender's not nearly as big in Japan. (That's also probably how they can get away with the strat pickups; people there don't know any better. Nobody's trying to sound like My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth in Japan.) It's also possible Fender Japan's now using the US pickups... the ones I've seen and read about were the 1990's reissues, before Fender started producing them again here. So the new ones might be totally the same; I'm actually curious to find out.

 

I think I'm gonna go for the Jazzmaster over the PS3... though I'll get a PS3 eventually. But I agree with those that say it'll probably just be cheaper in a year anyway, whereas the guitar's only ever gonna go up in price the longer I wait... (that's what's happened over the last 13 years.)

 

I do feel kinda left out of the whole modern gaming thing right now; this is the first time I've gone this long without buying in to the current generation in like 20 years. But it's also the longest I've been without a guitar since I got my first one in high school. (I sold my Gibson acoustic to help pay moving expenses like 4 years ago, thinking I'd buy a new one soon after... but I never did.)

 

I think it comes down to which I'll regret less. I'm definitely gonna have some buyer's remorse if I spend $600 on a PS3 only to see Sony drop $100 off the price at the end of the year. But the reverse would never be true. So, that clinches it I think.

 

You guys actually were a big help.

[Hyper_Eye]

Definitely the Jazzmaster. I actually have an easier time justifying a guitar purchase then a video game purchase to my wife. I am serious about my music and she knew that when she married me. She dosn't want me to stop playing anymore then I do. But, I don't have to buy guitars because my wife loves buying them for me. I did buy my full stack though and she completely supported me in making that purchase.

 

BTW... here is what I ultimately want:

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PRS...itar?sku=519908

 

I can't even stand to look at it! I must have it.

Edited April 22, 2007 by Hyper_Eye

[CGQuarterly]

I also vote for the guitar, for the various reasons outlined above. I love video games, but given the choice between a new gaming system and a new guitar, I'll take the guitar, though I don't much care for Jazzmasters (sorry).

 

Chris

[+swlovinist]

Buy the guitar, and in your spare time you can play it in public for street change. Save up the money and you have both. Win, Win!

[spacecadet]

I also vote for the guitar, for the various reasons outlined above. I love video games, but given the choice between a new gaming system and a new guitar, I'll take the guitar, though I don't much care for Jazzmasters (sorry).

 

Well, to each his own. It's definitely a particular type of tone, but that's the sound I want. It's suited to the kind of music I play, or rather "played." (It's also bigger than most guitars, which is better for me - I'm 6'4, with long arms and fingers.)

 

Maybe it's time to start a guitar thread in the general discussion forum

[Chickybaby]

Glad you decided on the guitar. Now just to try them out and find the perfect one. While the clouds and seas may not part when you find it, the minute you stroke your long fingers across her strings you'll know.

No, guitars have absolutely no sexual connotations whatsoever for the record.

 

If you still want the system later you could always keep your eyes open for a good auction lot and justify getting it to your wife by saying that it not only came with the games you wanted but also at a much lower price overall. So, how could you pass that up? You were saving money.

[liveinabin]

In a few years time the PS3 will be another irrelevant old piece of tech (like any hi-tech stuff), but the Jazzmaster will go on getting cooler.

[Flojomojo]

There really is no contest. Guitar all the way.

 

The PS3 won't do much for you in its current state, and new games are $60 a pop -- similar to the cascade of "extra stuff" you would need with the guitar.

 

If you don't already have a PS2, you should just add one of those on as well and get the same kind of feeling without some of the shiny graphics. A current gen game system is nice for socializing and showing off, but unless your wife wants to play games with you, the BluRay player isn't going to impress her much.

 

The guitar will keep on giving.

[spacecadet]

If you don't already have a PS2, you should just add one of those on as well and get the same kind of feeling without some of the shiny graphics. A current gen game system is nice for socializing and showing off, but unless your wife wants to play games with you, the BluRay player isn't going to impress her much.

 

Well, she watches a lot of movies, and we've got Netflix, which rents Blu-Ray discs as part of the basic plan that we're on, no extra cost. We both have noticed how crappy DVD's look now that we've moved up to a 42" 1080p TV, so Blu-Ray is definitely in our future one way or another. In fact, this is probably really the main reason I want a PS3 right now. I know the games aren't there yet, but there are already enough movies (and enough new ones coming out) that we could switch over our Netflix to Blu-Ray exclusively at this point and never run out of stuff we want to watch.

 

The guitar will keep on giving.

 

Yeah... I'm definitely going for the guitar at this point. Ordering it next week

 

I can't wait, actually.

 

But the PS3 is coming too, at some point. Hopefully I won't have to wait another year. I do have to stagger these major purchases a little bit so as not to incur the womanly wrath, though

[joeybastard]

I would always choose a Fender over any game console any day of the week but maybe that's just me.

[AtariJr]

i know its slightly differnt, but ive been playing bass guitar for a few years now... and i have to say i dont know what id do without it. if for some reason i didnt have it, i woudl have to get it again before any gaming system as i really just enjoy it beyond description. my amp is nice, was about 250... the bass was about 100 or so, maybe a bit more, so honestly, you shouldnt pay more than about half the price of a ps3... besides, the ps3 isnt without its extras as well, as your looking at 60 or more per game, plus costs for controllers and such.

 

if you get a guitar you can get evrything you could possibly need for under 600 (unless your getting one hell of a kick ass guitar). music overcomes games most anyday... guitar has my vote. and like you said, your guitar's value will stay with the ps3 going down. catch the ps3 when its price is shaved by at least 100 or 2, with more games in its library, and have fun wiht your ps2 and yoru guitar in the meantime.

[Bucket]

My Tom Petty tour shirt says "sell your computer, buy a guitar". So there's providence for you.

 

 

(Yes I did sell my computer and buy a guitar, I just happened to have a few computers left over.)

[BydoEmpire]

My Tom Petty tour shirt says "sell your computer, buy a guitar". So there's providence for you.

Hah, that's hilarious.

 

I'd go with the guitar, too. The ps3 is much cheaper, so you'll probably be able to get one soon enough. And who knows, there may be a price drop or upgraded model in another year or so. The Jazzmaster will sound just as good (probably better) 30 years from now.

[hex65000]

If it was me, I'd buy a console or some new games, and just play Guitar Hero. This is because I have basic rythym only and I tend to stick with simple percussion instruments. Simply put, I have no interest in playing a real guitar.

 

That's if it was me.

 

Since you have an interest in a guitar and have presented a lot of the pros and cons I think the guitar will be the better choice. I also think that the PS3 price and library will mature over time and will become more accessible.

 

Not to mention an instrument is a creative tool while a game -- imo -- is more of an experience of someone else's creative energy. In this respect it is like comparing apples to kiwi fruit.

 

Not to mention it is your birthday -- one of the few days you can be a bit selfish and get away with it. Or heck, teach your wife how to play. Just remember, no bowling balls with your name etched on it. (A cookie for the person who can name the reference.)

 

And for the record, my stance on the new generation consoles is as follows: PS3 & 360: don't care. Wii: still want to try it, vaguely interested.

 

Hex.

[ Hopes you enjoy your hunk of wood and coiled wire arranged in pleasant shapes... ]