I started thinking about buying a guitar in the mid-sixties and finally did in '98. A new Fender US Tele for $500 (list about $900). Remembered I could have bought one in the '60's for less than half that. Then I remembered that my take home pay in '69 was less than $100 per week. So it's all relative. In that case, mid to high end Gibson's and Fenders (discounted) don't seem too bad. Same thing with gasoline--today's $1.29 per gallon is probably a lot cheaper than the $.25 per gallon stuff 40 years ago.