What do you expect for the price?

Frankiestylee

I recently bought a guitar for €25.I just wanted something to keep me occupied while I was out of the country, but it actually has a nice sound to it.
The main things I noticed were the frets were poorly finished (had to sand down the wood as it was sticking out at bits) and it wasn't the nicest neck in the world, but otherwise it was a nice guitar.

So my question... What do you expect from certain price brackets? Try to keep branding out of it, we all know a name comes with a price tag.
Acoustic or electric guitars.

I'm just curious because I've often seen cheap no-name guitars and wondered "what's the catch" , but since my lil €25 yoke is doing the job, I think I'll give cheaper guitars a bit more attention in future.

-=al=-

i couldnt care less for a name once it feels nice and i can get a nice sound off of it

thats fine with me

A7X

-=al=- wrote: »

i couldnt care less for a name once it feels nice and i can get a nice sound off of it

thats fine with me

Ah yeah but the name and popularity pulls u in first.

Demeyes

With electric guitar I generally expect better electronics, better hardware and better quality woods to be used as the money goes up, maybe with more appealing visuals like figured woods too.
That said, you can turn almost any electric into a very playable monster if you give it a good setup and run over. I bought a cheap tele copy from thomann last year for less than 100 and it turned out to be a decent player with decent sounding pups for the money.
Acoustics are different though, you're kind of stuck with what you get and generally the cheap ones sound bad and play horribly and most of the time you can't do much about it.

-=al=-

A7X wrote: »

Ah yeah but the name and popularity pulls u in first.

not when your left handed!

A7X

-=al=- wrote: »

not when your left handed!

Too-shay

Frankiestylee

So you wouldn't have a general idea in your head that maybe Solid Top = +€100, certain pick-ups = + €80 etc?

Just something I've always wondered... I kinda have a good general idea of how much certain guitars by certain brands should cost, but I've never really given much thought to what I should be expecting, or rather if I never really figured out how much of the price tag goes on the brand name and reliability etc.

seachto7

with dirt cheap guitars, sometimes you have to upgrade parts etc, which costs money...but I've come across some cheapo ones that are grand.

punchdrunk

I've yet to buy an electric guitar without some piece hardware that i wanted to change....

fourmations

hi

i love the idea of dirt cheap guitars

im with al on the brand thing, its bs....
i used to be a brand snob and assumed the quality
of the instument was directly realted to the logo!

i would be far more smug and satisfied
to snag a superb cheapo

the guitars at rondo are getting really good rep
and i have no issue with popping top end pups
in a cheap guitar that is nicely playable

likewise agree with p'drunk...
on my 800euro jazzmaster, i ended up replacing the pups and bridge
at a cost of about 200e (the pups are seriously sweet handwounds though)

the emerging playable cheaper guitars also gives us the chance to try some new things like a 7 or an 8 for example

seriously, without banging on about the recession,
if it was a few years ago i would be buying an 8, a tele copy
a couple of basses and a gypsy jazz acoustic from rondo

viva la cheapo!

rgds

4

Dord

For €25 I'd expect something that vaguely resembles a guitar. I don't think I'd expect it to work or be of any use though.

Seziertisch

Dord wrote: »

For €25 I'd expect something that vaguely resembles a guitar. I don't think I'd expect it to work or be of any use though.

I believe the term is G.L.O - Guitar Like Object.

Dord

Seziertisch wrote: »

I believe the term is G.L.O - Guitar Like Object.

Yes, you're right. That would be the technical name.

rcaz

As far as replacing parts goes - I think the fun of playing such simple, uncomplicated instruments is making them your own. Generic Squier strat + soldering iron + €2 switch + spray paint = MY Squier strat.

I love taking stuff apart to see how it works, and electric guitars are so resilient, and the circuitry is so simple, that it's easy to play around and learn about how it all works. No brand-snobbery here.

I think learning how to work on your guitars is a pretty valuable skill, too, and one that could see you getting great guitars relatively cheap. I have a €530 (roughly) CIJ Jazzmaster, whose electronics I fully intend to upgrade to AVRI standards this summer (though maybe I might try some vintage-correct parts, or go in more of a 'Jazzblaster' direction). But the AVRI JMs go for almost €2000. Why bother paying all that money, when you can do up a nice guitar yourself for a fraction of the price?

I'd gladly buy a guitar for €25!! I got a Squier 51 for €50, which I absolutely love. No-nonsense noise machine: six strings, humbucker, volume knob.

Hell, look at Sonic Youth! Whatever it takes to get some noise :cool:

Adyx

Even my strings cost more than €25! :pac: But I have to agree with some of the lads above. Maybe you can't get a really great guitar for that kind of money but it could serve as a good base for a project especially if you haven't much experience changing hardware parts.

deaddonkey

I don't buy new guitars, and am mostly an acoustic player

for 150 or more, I expect a solid top and decent fretwork, 600 or more gets you into serious guitar territory.
my current main guitar (and has been my main for 7 months now, and will continue to be my main for the foreseeable future) is a cheap in price but great quality solid top dreadnought. delighted with it.

seachto7

punchdrunk wrote: »

I've yet to buy an electric guitar without some piece hardware that i wanted to change....

True..lol...:)

seachto7

I think cheapo tele copies are ripe for exploitation! (get a Fame one, updrade the Pups!) I'm all for cheap guitars in general if they sound good. my acoustics are all low to mid level and play great.

I got a jazzmaster as I haven't come across any other guitar yet, that feels and sounds like it (to me). I've played a few Jazzies, and I like how they sound, how the neck feels, how they look, so after much buying and selling off guitars over the years, I've found "the one". If i has found a cheap knockoff that sounded like a jazzmaster, I would have bought that for sure..

A mate of mine bought an axe from Rondo, and had to get one or 2 things done on it (with the bridge, saddles, intonation etc), but it sounds pretty good other than that.

For some reason, I'm always a but warier buying cheap acoustic instruments, as there are no PUPs to replace, what you hear is what you're stuck with. I have a relatviely cheap 12 string crafter that sounds great. I'd love to get a Weissenborn copy, but hear mixed reports about the cheap knockoffs...

There's an ad on adverts for a guitar, for €15K. I can never understand that, the whole vintage guitar collector thing, but that's just me..

Sergio

cheap is fine if your just playing around at home for a hobby etc

I think though that paying money for a decent guitar can sometimes be rewarding as it make you sound better and inspires you to become a better player.

rcaz

Colinboy wrote: »

cheap is fine if your just playing around at home for a hobby etc

I think though that paying money for a decent guitar can sometimes be rewarding as it make you sound better and inspires you to become a better player.

I don't agree with that at all. You're assuming that a 'decent guitar' is always an 'expensive guitar', and that something that isn't expensive can never be decent.

Surely a guitar that sounds better will make you sound better?

And I think the only thing that will inspire you to be a better player is wanting to be a better player.

Frankiestylee

deaddonkey wrote: »

I don't buy new guitars, and am mostly an acoustic player

for 150 or more, I expect a solid top and decent fretwork, 600 or more gets you into serious guitar territory.
my current main guitar (and has been my main for 7 months now, and will continue to be my main for the foreseeable future) is a cheap in price but great quality solid top dreadnought. delighted with it.

That's kinda what I was getting at. Like, if I went to buy a car for a certain price I'd expect alloys and some nice paintwork etc.

The €25 yoke I got is actually quite nice and is doing the job (and I've actually toyed with the idea of recording with it if I had the chance) but it's not worth the €60 odd in Ryanair's pocket to bring it home.

rcaz

Frankiestylee wrote: »

The €25 yoke I got is actually quite nice and is doing the job (and I've actually toyed with the idea of recording with it if I had the chance) but it's not worth the €60 odd in Ryanair's pocket to bring it home.

Take the neck off, wrap the two bits up in clothes and put the guitar in your suitcase?