Hey all:  this is just a follow-up to my post from earlier today where I accused the PRS Starla of being the "Edsel of Guitars"!  For those who were not alive in 1950's (which I think is pretty much ALL of us...even old guys like me aren't THAT old!), the Edsel was a fancy new car introduced by Ford that, for whatever reason, did NOT get accepted by the public, and even though it was a nice enough car, it utterly failed to sell, and was soon discontinued.  There is more to the story, but you can read that here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsel

My friend Kyle (http://hauntedtraphouse.tumblr.com/) wanted to know what was wrong with Starlas...why had I cast aspersions of the Edsel on them?  And of course, my answer is "NOTHING" is wrong with Starlas!  I, in fact, LOVE the Starla.  I don't only own "a" Starla myself...I own TWO Starlas!  

BUT, the guitar-buying world does not seem to agree with me about this guitar... Starlas just do NOT seem to sell for some reason. At least not where I live.

Recently I tried to sell one of my Starlas for $1500 on Kijiji.  Keep in mind the "new" retail price of a Starla is around $1800.  The one I was selling is MINT...like brand new, just out of the box, mint.    $1500 was a reasonable...hell a VERY reasonable asking price.  But after 2 weeks I got no bites.  Not even an offer.   So, I lowered the asking price to $1250.  And I got...Nothing. Not one response or offer!  So after a couple of months of getting zero response, I lowered it to $1100.  AND STILL GOT NOTHING!  

After three or four months listed on Kijij and Craigslist, with only one or two lowball offers received (one guy offered $600 for it!  After I stopped laughing I hunted him down and punched him in the nose!)  I took it off the market.  There is no way I am letting a mint condition 1800 dollar guitar go for less than 1100!

Also: I am the only person I know that has a Starla (let alone TWO Starlas!).  I have never seen a single one being played anywhere by anyone except in photos on Internets and even then I have only seen one or two players with them.

Also Also: ALL of the Starlas in the local shops near my home have been there for 18 to 24 months without selling!  The retail prices started out in the $1800 range, and over the course of the last 18 months or so kept going down until they bottomed out at around $1500.  But even then these guitars did not sell, and now the prices have been put back up to 1800!  I guess, like me, the stores are thinking "if no one's going to buy it, they might as well not buy it for $1800!"  My point is that the stores have all tried reducing prices and yet, like me, they STILL cannot sell a Starla!

So: what is wrong with the Starla?  IMO, nothing.  I love them.  In the market's opinion...well I can't answer that one.  But they just do NOT sell.  It is definitely the "Edsel" of the guitar world!

PS: Here is the one I was trying (and failing!) to sell!  If you live in the Toronto area, and want this guitar at the bargain-basement price of $1100...please message me!  ;D