Cheap guitars - the future?

[_tom_]

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?

Mine ends on ebay very soon ;) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280106249650&rd=1&rd=1

[noodleplugerine]

never seen a nut or headstock like that.... looks interesting

All floyd rose guitars have that headstock.

Atleast I think all.

[noodleplugerine]

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?

Mine ends on ebay very soon ;) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280106249650&rd=1&rd=1

I'll be honest - I have been considering it, but I'm not a singlecoil kinda guy, and I won't have the money till atleast Friday.

[dave_mc]

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?'.

i agree.

however, i sometimes find that a £400 guitar would be nice "if I changed the pickups, oh and the tuners, pots wouldn't hurt to be changed either", etc... and if you aren't careful what started out as a "cheap guitar" is up to £700, maybe £800... and something like a legra or similar isn't too far off.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Very interesting topic!


As more companies use off-shore building, I can definitely see the trend already happening. How many LTDs do you think ESP sells versus an ESP custom these days?

That being said, I own one 'cheap' guitar, my Agile AL-2800. The tone is great, in my opinion, but it most definitely doe NOT play as well as my kit guitars with Warmoth necks.

Every overseas LTD and Epiphone I've played so far has made me gag.

So, I don't know. I think that for beginners, cheap will rule the ruins. For the rest of us, we are striving for machines what don't get in the way of our artistic endeavours. In essence, we're looking for the "non guitar" guitar: the perfect conduit from imagination to raging half stack or whatever.

If you're able to do that with a cheap guitar, I say more power to you! I've yet to feel that way myself, though.

[MDV]

For the rest of us, we are striving for machines what don't get in the way of our artistic endeavours. In essence, we're looking for the "non guitar" guitar: the perfect conduit from imagination to raging half stack or whatever.

If you're able to do that with a cheap guitar, I say more power to you! I've yet to feel that way myself, though.

Then you can count me out of 'the rest of us' ;)

I often like to feel some character in the instrument I play. I like it to have a feel and a vibe, and even make me work against it to help me play a certain way. Theres a reason my 'blues guitar', a crawlered Epi LP, has 11-56 in E with high action, and its not just the tone!

I can appreciate an 'invisible guitar' (I have a couple...I keep tripping on them though), but theres a lot to be said for the character of an instrument, and that includes imperfections, I think. In that sense I for one rely more on my ability to play than on the degree of refinment of a guitar. Though, again, I love a refined guitar as much as the next guy (owning 2 customs isnt a big deal round here, but it says something, I suppose, especially alongside 2 epis, one top end MIJ jackson and a £100 pos that I still love to play)

my 2p

[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?

Mine ends on ebay very soon ;) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280106249650&rd=1&rd=1

I'll be honest - I have been considering it, but I'm not a singlecoil kinda guy, and I won't have the money till atleast Friday.

i would love it, but i have just almost bought Twinfan's cab, so i have no money! i wanted it though when i first saw it......... money, innit?  :lol:

the reason that list was full of deans is because i trust them to give me quality guitars, if you pay a reasonable price (150 or over)

[_tom_]

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?

Mine ends on ebay very soon ;) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280106249650&rd=1&rd=1

I'll be honest - I have been considering it, but I'm not a singlecoil kinda guy, and I won't have the money till atleast Friday.

It didnt sell tonight so I'll try re-listing it one last time.. if it doenst sell this time I guess I'll keep it and get a singlecoil size 'bucker for the neck (I dont think I really like HSS - SSS is great but switching from a humbucker to single sounds weird to me)

[blue]

i'd buy that floyd rose redmond in a heartbeat if i could afford it at the minute!  i realise they're not to everyone's taste, but i like 'em.

as to cheap guitars, yeah i've played, and have, some very good ones.  i've also played some expensive guitars that were real dogs!  a particular fender custom shop strat at close to three grand (that's pounds, so six thousand dollars!) was one of the worst guitars i've ever played.  a yamaha pacifica in the same shop played and sounded much better.  and it was definately more than just a setup issue.

but, my more expensive guitars do somehow feel different.  i don't think it's my imagination.  i reckon there'll always be a place for the premium product.  

personally i've always thought the likes of epiphone should make simple junior type guitars with decent woods rather than covering everything in flashy veneers, then you'd have good, affordable student type instruments with the glitz and glamour left to the big names.

[Transcend]

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!!!

wow someone likes vintages other than myself.

theyre made about 11 milews from my house.

[Philly Q]

I've owned an awful lot of guitars, some cheapies, a few pricey ones, but most in the £400-£700 range.  At that price I get decent quality timbers, good hardware and I can have a lot of fun changing parts and pickups, shielding the cavities, fine-tuning the nut and the frets, sometimes getting out the router for some major surgery or doing a respray.  

I've never had anything as expensive as a PRS (apart from an old EG), but I've had 4 or 5 guitars which cost over £1,000.  They all ended up being sold.  They weren't as much fun because (a) they didn't need much work done and (b) even if they did I was wary of damaging them.  Mid-price is good enough for me.

But then I'm not a "guitar player".  I'm a nerdy bloke with no dependents, no significant vices and a bit of spare cash who likes tinkering with guitars.  If I'd had the talent - and the work ethic - to become a really good player I might feel that £2,000 PRS or Custom Shop Gibson was a justifiable investment.  I might not know how to set it up though...

[sgmypod]

think I paid most for my accoustic £700 or my Sg(although was bought that), am a mid range buyer like philly q, then have my low end ibanez sas36fm which I love through neck(changed pickups) and my cheap gretch which I love

[Dreichlift]

I think you have to shop around. There are many many brilliant companies making quality guitars at a cost that is more affordable than the big American companies. There is often some kind of trade off in quality but companies like Yamaha churn out mass produced pacificas that outplay Fender Strats are better finished and normally of better quality materials. A few years ago you could even get Yamaha guitars with Warmoth necks for less than £300.

Recently i went out looking for a Les Paul "substitute" and with the help of many of the people here in the forum got turned on to 70's and 80's Grecos, Burnys and the like. I bought an awesome Greco Les Paul copy for less than £290 which after straplocks, case and pickups will still be less than a good secondhand Les Paul Studio. Having owned a proper gibson Les Paul Custom I can say this Japanese copy blows the newer American guitar away in almost every way, with the exception of the pickups that I'd replace anyway, there's no way I'm parting with this for a Gibson, and I'm actually looking for another Greco guitar as soon as I can afford to.

However, I also bought a cheap Westfield Telecaster copy online based on one a friend bought a few months earlier. Where his guitar plays great, seems solidly built and well finished, mine had screws falling out of it, those that didn't fall out were all screwed in at crazy angles and the guitar wouldn't stay in tune if it's life depended on it. After a lot of tinketing and repair it's now at least solid and playable (it actually has one of the nicest necks I've had).

[dave_mc]

personally i've always thought the likes of epiphone should make simple junior type guitars with decent woods rather than covering everything in flashy veneers, then you'd have good, affordable student type instruments with the glitz and glamour left to the big names.

that is a good point, and would be nice to see. unfortunately, all the (maybe most, to avoid tarring everyone with the same brush) kids want something that looks like a bona fide les paul standard or custom, even if it doesn't play or sound like one.

[blue]

personally i've always thought the likes of epiphone should make simple junior type guitars with decent woods rather than covering everything in flashy veneers, then you'd have good, affordable student type instruments with the glitz and glamour left to the big names.

that is a good point, and would be nice to see. unfortunately, all the (maybe most, to avoid tarring everyone with the same brush) kids want something that looks like a bona fide les paul standard or custom, even if it doesn't play or sound like one.

yeah, i remember when the prs se's first appeared, the company clearly stated that we wouldn't ever see a korean prs with a maple top.  and yet, just a few years later, here they are!  and while they do look nice, and commercially had to happen to compete with epiphone and co., it is a shame that the "student guitar" vibe the original se's had has been lost.

that being said, i think they're bringing out a single pickup mahogany se, aren't they?  hopefully it'll be popular, although i think, as with the american satin series, they'll probably be overpriced.