cheap guitars

[spookytooth]

why go and buy expensive instruments I own some cheap guitars IE Squire and also genuine fender but all guitars can be upgraded like my squire telecaster it sounds and feels just like an American telecaster .
Also If anyone is thinking of buying replacement pickups I recommend Bare-knuckle pickups they are awesome I have been playing for over 40 years now and the sound is unbelievable .

;D

[Emerald Midi]

Way to go spookytooth

I hope the guitar purists among us don't take offence but I have played guitars that were supposedly worth nearly a couple of grand - and this was about ten years ago - and to me they didn't really sound or feel much better than some of the "cheaper" ones.

But as someone said, "I do like a Strat'."

[mastercaster]

Yeah I have to agree. Being that you can change the sound of any guitar with an inexpensive pickup swap I tend to be attracted to a guitar by how it feels rather than how it sounds. I think my next guitar will be assembled from parts.

[themd21]

My first guitar ( that's how I started), bought 1969 cost me ( and no hysterics please ) the grand total of £6.00 6 pounds.
Bought in Smithfield , a wonderland place of antiques , before fire and redevelopment destroyed it.
Where was I? oh yes, the guitar was a Rapier 33 , an imitation Baldwin. I can't remember how it really sounded, cause I guess at that time I wouldn't have known a good sound if it had bitten me. This was before the advent of digital effects etc.
Wish I had a time machine.

[stivy]

I agree with all of you.
I used to manage a Music Shop a couple of years ago and I can honestly say that the cheap guitars give just as good a sound as their genuine counterparts. The only difference is they aren't as robust as the 'biggies' and the truss rods aren't as strong so your kneck is prone to bending if you don't watch what your doing with them.
The Japs have had it good now for a number of years producing some very good cut price axes and the Japanese hardwood is great wood. (can never remember the name of the d**n tree).

BUT - there is a new player on the boards right now. The Chinese are producing some fantastic sounding and looking guitars at the mo. Far better than the Japs. I have played a lot of these instruments and have found it difficult to put some of them down. Having playing and owning the real thing I find there's hardly any difference between them. The build quality on some of them seems to be superior to a lot of the mid-market models. I have even bought two. A Volcano and a Richwood Strat. What I have noticed mostly is the machine heads seem to be better quality than the mid-range axes as well.
I could ramble on for hours but hey, time to pick the axe up again and start strumming.

Later
Stivy
www.craigadams.co.uk

[levi2]

Ive just bought a les paul copy from ebuyer cost £70 i lowered the action changed the strings and i am more than happy with it Its been standing in the living room for a week now and still in tune gonna give a good go thru PA sys at a practice session and prolly use it on me gigs

[ovation99]

Hi,
I agree with Stivvy about the Chinese. I managed to get hold of a few models a couple of years ago, from J & D Guitars (Jack and Danny).
The wholesaler was doing a special promotion and I bought 3 Strat copies, Les Paul custom copy and a PRS copy and I have to say that after a few hours setting up, they were superb for the price. The Strats were as good as a Squire, if not better, and the others were on a par with models costing 3 or 4 times as much.
Having said all that, I still go back to my Fender Strat Plus Delux. just feels more comfortable, or is it my imagination ?
I just invested in a Line 6 Variax 600 (made in Korea) which model 24 guitars, a sitar and a banjo !!
Great guitar and very Strat-like, especially the neck and great fun.

[Steptoe]

Glad you like the Variax Al, I've been using Variax for about 4 years now, wait till you start using Workbench, where you can customise your Variax change the virtual pickup's bodies, electronics etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if your Chinese Strat was made in the same factory as the Squier!

[ovation99]

Hi Steptoe,
Yes I do like the Variax 600. I had a 300 for about 2 months and missed the tremolo and the maple neck (ala Strat) and the 600 is worlds apart from the 300 in terms of playability.
I actually bought Workbench at the same time as the guitar and you're right, the combinations are endless in terms of the hybrid guitars you can create, just wish you could use more pickups like DiMarzio, EMG etc.
I also bought a Spider ll 212 combo but was really disappointed with it and after a month, the DSP effects were absolute c**p, so I changed it for a Marshall AVT50X and the 600 has had new life breathed into it as a result.
Anyway, glad to see other Vax users out there.

All the best
Al

[Steptoe]

There is a page at the Institute of Noise Website that has many Variax patches that can be uploaded into the workbench.

Variax Patches

Cheers
John

[belle]

i bought a Lowden in '94 for £1200, and a Turner last year for £200.

I like the Lowden but LOVE the turner. says it all really.

[crguitarman]

My first guitar was a Harmony Silvertone six-string electric my father bought for me from the local Sears in 1963. I played it for a couple years in my first rock & roll bands, then started upgrading from there. I sold that guitar and my first guitar amp to another younger up and coming musician in 1966.

After I got out of the Army in 1971, I bought my first real guitar, a 1971 Fender Custom Tele. That guitar I sold in 1977 to cover a house payment. One of those great guitars that got away, but I try not to dwell on it too much today. Sob...

I own quite a few guitars today, the most spendy being AS Fender Teles and Strats and an original first run Ovation Custom Balladeer acoustic-electric that is worth too much now to play out with. It stays in the music room with most of the spendier Fenders.

BUT... when it comes to cheap guitars, I prefer to think of them as "less expensvie" guitars. One of my favorite gigging guitars is a 70s vintage Yamaha SG-200 setneck with "lawsuit" headstock. I bought that guitar in very, very dirty used condition in 1995 for just $75, well below what it was actually worth, even then. How dirty was it? The owner of the shop refused to even start trying to clean it up, great ridges of ? sloping off both sides of every fret. Yikes.

In the late 90s I bought the first of two Electras, Japanese versions of the Les Paul - one from the early 70s has the "lawsuit" headstock and is solid black. I bought it at a used guitar shop in Iowa in 1998 for $75 with original HSC. The other Electra is a few years newer, with the Custom headstock and a quilted maple top. I bought that guitar on eBay two years ago for $295. I love them both.

I also own a fleet of Peavey T model guitars: T-60, T-30, T-15 and a customized Raptor and a Predator. I just bought a new Peavey Signature Model Tele-style sunburst guitar with triple SCs for a knocked-down $200 and it's a great guitar with an awesome neck.

My most recent purchase was a Washburn Idol WI-64 with the new VCC system that converts HBs to SCs with a twist of the tone knobs. Made in Korea, but beautiful quilted maple top, Grover tuners, etc. I love being able to use it live and wireless without noise from the SC side of the pickups. That one was only $400, free shipping and Washburn HSC. Great "cheap" guitar.

When it comes to gigging, I have a rule - no guitar on stage that's worth more than $500, you just never know what might happen when you're not looking.

I could go on and on, but I really need to get to work.

Dennis

[electroplay]

Some of the neatest axe's I've played(mex Strats,Teles, Epi's) have been around or under $500 US. I will say that I did have a Schecter strat built for me in the 80's with EMG pickups and that was the best axe ever this side of a Parker Fly Deluxe both of those NOT cheap. And I wasn't impressed by the first- generation Paul Reed Smith's. It spent ALOT of time under my bed collecting dust(but increasing in value). I'm looking into a Hamer with P-90's just now $350 US.

[spookytooth]

HI Al
I had the same problem with the spider 11 Just like you I have a Marshall avt 50x which I love just a great amp and customer support is excellent.

[ovation99]

Hi Spookytooth
Glad it hear I'm not the only one!
The store where I bought the Spider ll tried to imply that I didn't know what I was talking about when complaining about the DSP.
But then I've only been playing for 40 odd years and had more amps than he's had hot dinners!
But, the AVT50X is a superb straight forward amp.
Cheers
Al

[Emerald Midi]

spookytooth said:

HI Al
I had the same problem with the spider 11 Just like you I have a Marshall avt 50x which I love just a great amp and customer support is excellent.

Good customer support is key with me. I never buy again from any company that provides less than decent backup.

[a.j.]

When it comes to instruments, while there are a few gems on the bargain shelf, and everyone has got a favourite that they paid next to nothing for, I do believe that ultimately, you get what you pay for (shoot me down in flames if you like).

However, having said that, check out the "Hot Little Numbers" article in the latest (May 2007) issue of Guitar Player, for a summary of what's available for less than US$500. If you don't have the mag, there is a downloadable PDF attached to the article on the GP website (www.guitarplayer.com).

Article URL: www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=6&storycode=18047

[geraldo]

i agree i used to play an original strat now i play a squire
sounds the same to me and i get paid the same

[paulhcctt]

i played my PRS for donkey's on stage until one night it came off the straplock and got a nice ding to it's lower body (Nothing major, but this was my baby!!!!) so i went down and bought a second hand Encore Strat copy, ripped the Pickups out, installed some fender stock's and have been playing it for 3 years on stage, recorded over 20 albums with it, it's old, manky looking, falling apart, but i love it and wouldn't swap it for a custom strat (I own 2 fender custom shops, a Parker Fly, a Bill Crook Custom strat & Tele, and my PRS).

was contemplating a variax, but heard the neck goes concave after a few months

would've went nice with my Vetta II

[Steptoe]

Hi Paul I,ve been using a Variax (600) a minumum of twice a week for over 3 years now and the neck is still as straight as the day I first started using it.

I've heard the quality of the 300 model can be a bit hit and miss.

The Variax and Vetta are a fantastic combination!