Decided to play my "REAL" guitar at practice

I've often wondered what a £2k guitar will give you over a cheaper one..

My guitars are £500 each ($800-900) so definitely not professional grade, but when I had go of my sisters Fender Starcaster (think she paid £180 for it as a starter pack with amp etc), it sounded terrible after playing mine!

I also asked my guitar teacher about the rise in price versus sound quality, and his opinion was that once you get over £1000, the sound quality doesn't increase greatly, and it is more aesthetic improvements versus sound..

I think it's the same as with clothes.

I buy pretty expensive clothes. I could probably go to something comparable to Wal-mart and get a very nice outfit too. Finding the nice ones between the Wal-mart collection will take me longer than between the Boss ones. Is it worth the price tag? I suppose that everyone has his opinion on this.

There are probably a load of great knockoff guitars. Finding them will be an issue, between all the very bad ones. Especially with all the subtle characteristics that some people love and others see as a flaw. Going into a higher price range will give you a larger chance of getting a good one, but unfortunately not a guarantee. I've played a $1500 Ibanez I absolutely hated and would have estimated at 1/10 the price. I've also played some great cheap guitars. My Fender American Standard Strat: I don't regret its purchase. It's double the price of a Mexican one, and probably triple of a knockoff. On the other hand, it's a beast. Everyone playing it asks me if I'm positive that it's "just" an american standard. You get varying results in guitars, and some people don't have the time or patience to go through a 100 (exaggerated number) before finding their diamond.

I always try the very high end guitars when I'm at a store, even when purchasing a cheaper one. I do it to make a comparison. Trying a few, the cheaper Vigier (handmade french guitars) felt a lot better than the more expensive one. I believe the expensive guitars leave more space for adding small things, small accents to it. The kind of accents you wouldn't have room for in a normal budget to add. They're not necessarily "better "in a strict sense, but these preferences might be worth it for people who were looking for just that. It gives room for improvement, how the crafters use this room is what determines its quality.

all my acoustics cost way more than my electrics. I love higher end acoustics; I'm not talking stratospheric prices, just over one thousand is all. I learned with cheapo hand me downs, never could complain. I just thought it was hard to play steel string guitar.
then I finally stepped up and got a great acoustic. I cannot look back. all those painful years. the Martin plays sooooo well.
with my electrics I have used. they all sold for $595. they are real Fenders. the detailed craftsmanship is perfect. the guitar feels good and sounds better. it never fails me.
I don't know what it is but for years my co workers would show up at work and give me an old beater electric they no longer want.
they usually are terrible cheap knock offs. the strings are miles above the fretboard and the intonation can not be fixed.
I take them camping with a tiny battery powered amp. great fun with no worries; in a pinch I have a canoe paddle or firewood.

I have expensive tastes. the rare times I go clothes shopping, like for a new suit, I would always walk right up to the expensive one, usually Armani. I wouldn't see a label or anything, just quality. of course I could not afford it.
if I did, I would find a great fit, all the seams would be sewn perfectly and the suit would last me for ever.

back to guitars. I can't play crappy ones any longer. I put my time in and find they are not worth it.

I buy every guitar with the purpose of gigging it, and one of the main factors I consider is how much am I willing to spend on something that's going to be subjected to hard usage and the regular prospect of being stolen or damaged. As result, my current crop of guitars all cost me between 300 to 600 dollars. I find that if I pay very much more than that, I become reluctant to use it at gigs, which means it's effectively useless to me as a tool of my craft.

Yes, the $2000 Les Paul is a *nice* guitar, but it wouldn't pay for itself like the ones I have now do.

Besides, if you're defining "real guitar" by the names on the headstock, or how much they cost, you're most likely listening with your eyes. Not to mention missing out of a whole world of "player's guitars."

Besides, if you're defining "real guitar" by the names on the headstock, or how much they cost, you're most likely listening with your eyes. Not to mention missing out of a whole world of "player's guitars."
Exactly why I have the word "real" in quotes Moonie! You are so right. And by the way, the guitar in the pic is a working mans guitar. It just happens to say Gibson Les Paul on the head stock. It is a special. no frills, flat top and even has a belly friendly curve in the back of it. It would probably be an $800 - $1000 guitar if they were still making them. I like it better than my Studio and that itself is a low ender if you consider a $1400 guitar a low ender. :lol: I also agree about the gigging instrument aspect. Before Tommy died and certainly when we start up again serously (AKA get a drummer) I plan to gig with my harem of Agile Les Pauls and my SX strat. We would be gigging in bars, the land of drunken strangers. Theft or accidental damage is always a possibility.

DogBite, you are right on on acoustics. Much harder to do one of those on the cheap. The one I own is a $600 instrument and it is in no way a Martin ... not close.

Liontable is right too about cheapies. There are good ones but you have to know what you are looking for and seek them out.

Apache, I think your guitars are certainly what I consider mid grade. I have several of those as well and to me that is where the quality and playability hit the 90th percentile as compared to the very expensive instruments. In other words, where the price to quality ratio is optimised. You know what? Yours are probably upper mid. I was just thinking, you have a couple very nice instruments. You guys have to pay a little more over there across the pond too if I recall. For what you paid, you can get an entry level Gibson Les Paul over here. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-Electric-Guitar?sku=517030 The one I own is the one that is $1319 :mrgreen: Since it is almost 20 years old, I did not pay that much though back when I bought it in 1992.

For me the lure of the name brand on the head stock has long passed. I am too old for peer pressure to affect me. I will ocasionally play my Gibsons, especially the one in the picture as they are old friends, but I will bang away on my Agile and Epiphone Les Pauls happily and shamelessly. Thyey are exellent instruments.

My Fender American Standard Strat: I don't regret its purchase. It's double the price of a Mexican one, and probably triple of a knockoff. On the other hand, it's a beast. Everyone playing it asks me if I'm positive that it's "just" an american standard.

+1

I've got a number of perfectly good mid to lower end guitars - some Yamahas, a couple of Epiphones, etc. I've been very happy with them and, played through an amp or unplugged, they do a good job. But I recently bought an American Standard Strat too, and the difference is unmistakably there. The feel was better right from the start, but most guitars can be setup to feel reasonably good to play. Where it seems to especially shine is in the quality of the components. The pickups etc are just better. I'm no expert on tone or settings and couldn't give you a clear explanation of how or why, but from the moment I plugged it in and played it I knew it had the goods. The others get nearly there, especially if you fiddle around with settings for a while. But the Strat just feels like it's the benchmark that the amps, racks etc were built to be played with.

It also works better across a range. I've recently bought an Eleven Rack - a splendidly juicy combination of audio interface and effects rack - and the Strat works superbly with it. Try different settings or presets, twiddle the knobs, roll things up and down, and the response is exactly what you'd hope for. With the other guitars I have to work harder to find sweet spots.

It's like buying a car. If a mid range family sedan will do the job you want, then why waste money on a high priced sports car? But if the Porsche (or whatever) has some characteristic you fall for then if you can afford it nothing else will do the job in the same way. There's a sort of upward quality/price curve with most things. You can get, say 50% of the way there with real cheapo stuff. Maybe 80% there with great value mid range goods. When you start to get into the 90%+ range each extra percentage point cost a LOT more with each step. You want to go really fast you can blow budgets in the millions building top line dragsters or race cars.

I also recently spent some time trying to figure out whether to save up for a Gibson 335 or similar. The guy in the shop suggested that the Gibson and the Epiphone copies weren't really built all that different. So I played them all unplugged - a Gibson, a Casino, a Sheraton II, and a Dot. Even unplugged, the Gibson won. There was sale on and I had the money in my pocket to walk out with any of the 3 Epiphones (all of which I've fancied owning over the years). The Gibson was four times the price of the others, but clearly not four times as good.... But it was better. So I'll keep saving and see how I feel further down the track...

Chris

Apache, I think your guitars are certainly what I consider mid grade. I have several of those as well and to me that is where the quality and playability hit the 90th percentile as compared to the very expensive instruments. In other words, where the price to quality ratio is optimised. You know what? Yours are probably upper mid. I was just thinking, you have a couple very nice instruments. You guys have to pay a little more over there across the pond too if I recall. For what you paid, you can get an entry level Gibson Les Paul over here. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-Electric-Guitar?sku=517030 The one I own is the one that is $1319 :mrgreen: Since it is almost 20 years old, I did not pay that much though back when I bought it in 1992.

For me the lure of the name brand on the head stock has long passed. I am too old for peer pressure to affect me. I will ocasionally play my Gibsons, especially the one in the picture as they are old friends, but I will bang away on my Agile and Epiphone Les Pauls happily and shamelessly. Thyey are exellent instruments.

Thanks - I like my axe's too :D
Thanks for the link some nice looking guitars! Sadly I think most things over here are a lot more expensive, fuel is around £1.38 a litre these days...

What matters in the end is what you think of your guitars, and I know if I blew £2k on a ESP RZK2 (which I have GAS for!) A - I wouldn't be able to do it justice, and B it (sadly!) wouldn't make me play any better :)

I just sold my old $200 Godin to a guy who already owns a $1500 Godin. He was very pleased with the tone and playability (as I was; I just like the looks and feel of my others a bit more.) Point being, there are some very gig-worthy low-priced guitars out there!

I have a hard time paying alot for guitars. I just bought what "I" consider my first high priced guitar at $500. Is it high priced, not by a long shot. But compared to the others in the 500-1000 range, it had a better build and feel. I couldn't tell the difference between that and the Taylor 114 I was looking at.

However I could tell the difference between that and my Crafter.

I have only bought one new guitar -- a Rogue fake strat from Musicians Friend. I installed some shielding, set it up properly, & promptly traded it for a used POS.

My "best" guitar at present is a Charvel import. Nothing special. Twenty-four frets, Jackson humbuckers, non-locking trem, strattish body. Nice enough guitar. It cost me $200 used.

My best guitars are a Yamaha plywood acoustic and a Kalamazoo electric. One was a sweetheart deal from a friend, the other a thrift-shop score. I have tried innumerable other guitars, but those two are my Gold Standards. (There are always "the ones who got away" -- high-end guitars I would have loved to own -- but those two cheapies, to my ears, are hard to beat. I have gigged with them, recorded with them, with good success, and would do it again in a heartbeat.)

Recently I've been GASsing for a Les Paul-ish thing. I'll probably look for a properly built import -- fat maple top, long-tenon set neck. Easily available online, easily hot-rodded. I'm looking forward to that. Give the cheapies a chance, I say.

there is a level of quality below which guitars start to suck and don't play as easily. beyond that, a lot of it is more tone and options than playability. there's more quality difference in acoustics than electrics, where you can always change out the electronics without affecting the price that much, but trellis inlays and birdseye finishes and thick binding and all those things can add hundreds or thousands of dollars to the price without affecting the playability or sound.
i've played 3 guitars that just felt perfect in my hands and sounded perfect. one was an old 70s lp for $3k that sounded like a thunderstorm, one was a used mahogany martin for $800 that just sounded so perfectly woody and filled the room, and one was a prs se soapbar for about $500 that just felt absolutely right in my hands, went back next week to buy it and it was gone. i haven't been able to find another that sounded and felt the same. i didn't buy any of them at the time because i didn't think i could afford them, and really kick myself for it. i've spent a lot on gear and other junk since, but i could've had those perfect guitars. i do like my g&l legacy.