Opinions on cheap guitars

I own cheaper (cheaper in cost, not necessarily quality) guitars then what most squiers cost and I really enjoy them. It all depends really, if you know what to look for then you can find some bargains, but there are alot of cheaply made guitars out there too, so you have to be cautious.

squiers arent bad...just make sure you try them first, because low-budget guitars tend to be hit or miss...some are fantastic, others are just cheap. you'll find many supporters of brands such as Squier and Agile here. personally, i prefer to pay up for higher quality guitars, but i do own a squier and it's a wonderful instrument.

I own a Squier Standard Telecaster I took a chance on and ordered online. I was really surprised at the quality of it. It is very, very nice, especially for the $200 I paid for it.

I did have a little fret buzz at the 5th fret on the A string at first. I spent about 2 weeks carefully adjusting the truss rod to eliminate this problem. The necks seem to take a while to settle out. But it has been fine since then.

It has a darker tone than my Fender American Tele. It does not really have that true Tele twang. But it has a great "dirty blues" tone with a little overdrive. I really like this tone, it is great. It also has a wonderful warm jazz tone in the neck pickup.

The neck is a little narrow at the nut. Mine is a 2003 I believe. I think they have widened it. It took a little getting used to, it was hard to fret an A chord at first. Now I have no problems at all with it.

The neck is fast and the fret job was excellent, no burrs whatsoever. The hardware and tuners are not as good as my Fender, but it stays in tune.

It is a good guitar. You should hear it's "bad boy" tone. :twisted:

Whats the difference in sound between a strat and a tele?

Tele's are considered "twangier" by most, better suited for country music, although you'll see guys like Keith Richards playing them.

Cheap guitars aren't bad if you're just starting out. It makes more sense to get a cheap one then buying the Fender or Gibson, only to realize a few months later, your desire to learn la guitara was simply a phase.

My first guitar was a first act acoustic for 80 bucks in walmart. People said it looked like a guitar for kids, but when I asked them to try it they seemed to get into playing it saying its not to bad. After 4 monthes I knew I would continue so I bought a seagull cedar top

I'm 100% with Wes on this - I have a 2002 Squier Standard Tele and a 1978 USA Fender Strat - and the Tele gets 90% of the playing time! Wonderful neck, and it has the tone I was hearing in my head for years and never found.

The hardware's not up to a modern USA Fender of course - but it compares well with the old CBS-era Strat! And it stays in tune better - now - like Wes's mine didn't really settle down for about a year.

IMHO the darker tone (love it!) is down to the agathis tonewood in the body (yer usual Tele's made of alder, occasionally ash) as well as the rosewood fingerboard (yes I know there's a whole thread on fingerboard wood and does it affect tone?!) ...

Cort has this to say on their website:

"Agathis is a type of wood indigenous to Indonesia. The standard types of wood used in building guitars have become scarce throughout the world and agathis has emerged as a top representative of the new alternative types of wood used in guitar production. Agathis is not only plentiful, which makes it economical and environmentally sound, but it's also a viable tone wood that compares favorably to standard guitar woods used in the past. Sound character wise, agathis could be seen as a cross between mahogany and ash. It produces the depth and warmth of mahogany with the clarity and punch of ash, striking the ideal balance between the two popular body woods. Furthermore, agathis is a fairly light type of wood, which is something that your shoulder will very much appreciate during long practice sessions and gigs. Agathis has quickly gained acceptance as viable guitar tone wood among major guitar manufacturers around the world."

I'd go along with that ... :D:D:D

I just had to splash £160 on a new classical to teach with. It's got a little way to go before it's as good as the (now damaged) £90 guitar it's replaced in the lineup

Best,

A :-)

imo theres no such thing as "cheap" anymore, just more or less expensive.
$50 to one person can equal $500 to another, it's all relative to what you make of it. If i had all the money i wanted to spend on guitars i would buy several Agile LPs and Squire 51s in a heartbeat. of course i would probably pick up a Gretsch White Falcon w/bigsby while i was at it as well :oops:

It has been said on this site before by MANY of the "well respected" and experienced members that PLAYABILITY is the SINGLE most important aspect to consider when buying a guitar. If it plays good to YOU then who the heck care what name is on the headstock or how much you paid for it. I agree with TwistedLefty that the word "cheap" should only be used on LOW quality guitars and "Less Expensive" used instead. My Agile LP and 2 Squiers ('51 & Strat) feel JUST as good to me as some of the American Fenders I have tried in the store. Yes I have picked up some BEAUTIFUL American Fenders and wished I could afford them. But it was their FEEL that got me to that conclusion and not the price or name.

HOWEVER, I have noticed with many acoustics there is some lesser quality in the lower priced guitars. This is probably due to the raw sound and dependability of good woods and craftsmanship that is needed for good tone. I have played some great low priced acoustics but there does seem to be less of them.

Just to echo what others have said - The only thing that's important is the guitar itself, not the price tag.

My favourite guitar is my first one, and as guitars go it's pretty cheap and nasty. It hasn't always been my favourite, but as I've learned and played around with other guitars I've started to appreciate this ones character.

It's got a cheapy and nasty whammy-bridge type thing that I've spot-welded so it can't move (it required a complete retune if you even knocked it). The action is horrible above the 8th fret, and unplayable (it raises the pitch just fretting) above the 12th. It came with absolutely terrible pickups, quiet and muddy, and it's 3/4 scale.

With a new pickup and a little rewiring it's become my grunge guitar - I reversed the phase of one of the nasty pickups, with that against the new humbuck you get that nasal half-cocked-wah sound at the flick of a switch. The humbuck by itself is nice and loud.

The 3/4 scale means I can play chords with notes I can't reach on 'normal' guitars.

I play it with 10-52 gauge strings, never replace them unless one breaks (the older the better, new strings adda little too much twang to the sound) and it's a really nice deep-but-not-too-muddy tone. Abolutely perfect for any powerchord-type stuff, I can give it a lot of punishment without breaking it which lets me really get into the music, and I can guarantee I'll never be able to get such a perfect tone out of a 'better' guitar.

It cost me £35 (60ish USD) - so to me, price is not a factor when buying 'cheap' guitars, just set your budget, run around every music shop you can find and play every single guitar within that budget. Pick the one you like best and you're laughing :)

Of course I have 'better' guitars, and I do appreciate their qualities too, but this is my favourite - it just gets me going musically, which is what it's all about at the end of the day.