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Author Topic: Cheap guitars - the future?  (Read 15826 times)

Twinfan

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« on: April 23, 2007, 04:04:33 PM »
Given the state of the guitar market today, I think we're in a really "golden era".  Guitars are more affordable than ever, quality has risen massively at the bottom end of the instrument chain and tonewoods are still (relatively) plentiful.

I have quite a few guitars, some older and some newer, with most of them costing me £450 or less.  All of them are built really well with no issues, have good tone and are very playable instruments.  Several of them have been improved for a small outlay with the addition of new pots, caps and sometimes pickups.  I am getting a lot of satisfaction from the variety of makes/models I've bought for such a (IMO) modest price.

Are the days of the expensive guitar numbered?  Why buy a new Gibson VOS Les Paul for £4000 when you can buy an Edwards and a set of Mules for £700?  A PRS Custom 24 for £2200 rather than a PRS Custom SE and a set of VHIIs for £600?

Is the real thing still important to people?  Or is "bang for your buck" becoming a much better option?

dave_mc

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2007, 04:11:06 PM »
this is going to sound like a "hedging your bets" type of answer, but anyway...

I guess it depends, basically. if the quality is there, then no-one will want the dearer guitars (apart from the guys with more money than sense that i mentioned in your other thread, and people who are willing to pay for the name (show-offs as I call them), or collectors/investors).

From my experience, i can definitely feel the difference in quality, bar an odd exception, between the more expensive guitars and the cheaper ones. but that's not to say if I found a "good one" among a cheaper brand, that I wouldn't buy it.

Also, I've noticed there's been an upturn in cheaper guitars with better hardware and pickups stock, to give the impression that you're getting a pro guitar, while the woods and construction are the same quality as ever. I think i remember seeing mark (MDV) mentioning this as well, and IMO, this is the wrong way round to do things... i'd rather have cheaper pickups, as I'd probably end up switching them anyway, etc.

EDIT: also, to clarify, i'm willing to pay more for more quality, and/or something which suits my fingers better. not for things like celebrity endorsements.

bucketshred

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2007, 04:15:03 PM »
Tbh, none of my guitars have been particularly expensive and some expensive ones have never floated my boat (apart from completely hand made ones) - I'll stick with my cheapies thanks!

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MDV

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2007, 05:42:58 PM »
Yeah, you can get well made, playable guitars with OK woods but cr@ppy hardware, or OK hardware and cr@ppy woods, for pretty good prices these days. They hold up very well to much more expensive instruments after a couple of hardware changes (in the case of the former).

I've done this with a couple of Epis (selected for superior build and acoustic tone edit: no, I didnt select epis for that, it just happened to be that 2 cheap guitars that were good in that respect were epis...oh, and a yamaha, but I sold that) and with a little work they've come out brilliantly. I'm very happy with them, and sound wise, they stand toe to toe or better with off comparable off the shelf guitars of much higher prices.

Golden rule trying to get a good cheap guitar: woods and construction are the most important things! Acoustic tone and build quality!!!!! All else can be changed.

Simon D

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2007, 06:03:53 PM »
Out of the 6 guitars I own, 5 were under £500. My Epi Les Paul was only £290, and has now been fitted with new pots, tuners, frets and Mules for less than a good friend of mine paid for a battered second hand (but still very nice playing) Gibson Les Paul Studio.

Personally, I wouldn't consider spending £1700 or more on a guitar unless it was being tailor made for me by a custom builder like Feline, Legra, Manson or my local luthier, SGL. Certainly I'd struggle to hand over four grand for a PRS I knew to have been built on a production line, no matter how well finished it was.

I think, for me personally, 'bang for the buck' is more important, at least up to a point. I've never been a brand-name person anyway. My first guitar was a Yamaha Pacifica 112, and I replaced it with a Pacifica 812, instead of a humbuckered Fender Strat because it was better vaule for money. I'm currently waiting for the bits for my Warmoth Soloist to arrive, and it doesn't get much better in the value for money stakes than that, especially when it's two $ to the £.

I'm not down on people who play expensive guitars by any means. There is, as Dave says, sometimes a discernable gap in quality between expensive instruments and their cheaper equivalents. But when one is £450, plays and sounds pretty good, and the other is £2500 and plays and sounds very good, the question I ask myself is 'Is this really two grand better?'.
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BloodMountain

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2007, 06:16:47 PM »
cheap guitars FTW!

but not unknown ebay 100 quid cheapos..... i have always doubted them

but Dean, Vintage, Peavey, Ibanez, yamaha (pacifica 112, to be extremely precise and to take the only one from my own experience), and a load of other brands are taking it wo new levels with budget guitars, especially when you can replace the pickups with BKPs!!!
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noodleplugerine

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2007, 07:23:51 PM »
I've never spent more than £450 on a guitar - Have an Epi SG Custom, a Warwick Rockbass Corvette 5 string, an ESP Viper Camo, and a Dean Exotica FM.

All I need now is a £400 superstrat with an OFR - Anyone know any?
My last FM.
ESP Horizon NTII.
ESP Viper Camo.
ENGL Screamer.

Twinfan

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2007, 07:29:10 PM »
Mid-eighties Kramer Baretta  ;)

Tarzan

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2007, 07:29:44 PM »
I've only ever spent more than £400 on a guitar once - an Ibanez JS 100, and regretted it.

NP, what's an OFR? again i show my ignorance.

Twinfan

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2007, 07:34:25 PM »
Original Floyd Rose.

Tarzan

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2007, 07:35:55 PM »
cheers

BloodMountain

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2007, 07:39:46 PM »
my cheap guitar GAS list:
- Peavey Rotor EX (£160)
- Dean Baby Dime ML (£160)
- some kind of sharp superstrat.....
- some kind of sharp V...... Dean Razorback V?
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noodleplugerine

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #12 on: April 23, 2007, 07:56:38 PM »
Quote from: BLOODMOUNTAIN
my cheap guitar GAS list:
- Peavey Rotor EX (£160)
- Dean Baby Dime ML (£160)
- some kind of sharp superstrat.....
- some kind of sharp V...... Dean Razorback V?


I wouldn't consider any of the above except for "Sharp Superstrat" :p

I'm thinking an old Charvell or Jackson?

How do Kramer Barettas play?
My last FM.
ESP Horizon NTII.
ESP Viper Camo.
ENGL Screamer.

sgmypod

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Tarzan

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Cheap guitars - the future?
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2007, 08:46:18 PM »
never seen a nut or headstock like that.... looks interesting