A fettish for cheap guitars

[fett]

I just don't get it.:ROTF: Why are you guys so wrapped up in price= a good playing guitar? You old guys know what I do. You new guys can ask why I don't spend $1,000 or $5,000 or for a guitar. Being ancient, I have yet to see where price necessarily means better. Beaters and no-names rule. Or am I just buiding a Viking ship. That sucks if I get sent off in a burning ship. The plywood glue will kill me.:ROTF::ROTF::ROTF::ROTF::ROTF:

[Bengal]

You don't see the difference between a $100 Squire and a 5K PRS Private Stock? I'd say you have not played enough quality instruments if you think there is no difference....

[yard dawg]

Blackie - parts mutt under $400
Frankie - Parts mutt $185
Number 1 SRV - pawn shop find

All cheap guitars which priduced legendary music and tone.

[fett]

I had a $2,000 Alembic guitar. It was very nice but played like shit. I only paid $700 for it. i sold it. Say what you want. I can tell the difference.

[Cygnus X1]

I've played all kinds.
Yes, the price of the upper end guitars is justified, but I also get fett's point.
There are simply some great cheap guitars!

I made this post earlier, it shows a lot of the strange ones I've come across, in the old store, and I kept a few for myself.

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78855

[Bengal]

Blackie - parts mutt under $400
Frankie - Parts mutt $185
Number 1 SRV - pawn shop find

All cheap guitars which priduced legendary music and tone.

But was it the guitar that made the music and the tone or the hands that strummed them?

[fett]

That is the "Answer to Life" Why does a $70 beater beater play like butta?

[Bengal]

That is the "Answer to Life" Why does a $70 beater beater play like butta?

It only plays like "butta" if the person playing it knows what to do with it. Not only in playing but in the set up...

I like my guitars to have decent pickups and guts when I buy them. Cheap guitars mean cheap components. You can't avoid that...

[Cygnus X1]

It only plays like "butta" if the person playing it knows what to do with it. Not only in playing but in the set up...

I like my guitars to have decent pickups and guts when I buy them. Cheap guitars mean cheap components. You can't avoid that...

So explain all these expensive guitars with cheap components. Especially switches and pots.

[Bengal]

So explain all these expensive guitars with cheap components. Especially switches and pots.

I'm not saying all expensive guitars use good components. But if you know what to look for, it's not a problem...

I blame it on President Bush tanking the economy with a failed war in Iraq and every big business out there is trying to cut corners to try to make a profit and stay afloat...

How's that one? I thought you'd LOVE where I took that one. I beat you to it, injected politics where it has no business...

EDIT: And before I get attacked for what I wrote, I was just making a joke. Lets not let my bad attempt at humor take this tread where it doesn't need to go...

[fett]

God bless 15 to 20+ year old guitars. Anything new guitar-wise is made of crap. The components; wood; craftmanship and just about anything else on new guitars are worthless and built that way.:ROTF: And they cost too much.

[thetroy]

bwahaha.

re: the topic

I own 2 guitars, a $100 Chinese SX and a $1000 Warmoth/Fender strat. The SX plays great but only after I did some major setup work. The Warmoth I just put together and it played great without any more work. There is very little difference between the 2 when played unplugged (except for the scalloped fretboard on the strat), but when they're plugged in it's a whole other story. The strat sounds WAY better, clearer, etc. The SX sounds so much worse in comparison I wonder how I played the thing for over a year.

But at it's heart the strat is just a used MIM Fender with DiMarzio pickups and a custom neck so it's still on the 'cheap' end of things.

[hippietim]

While it's true that you don't have to spend $5k on a PRS Private Stock to have a great guitar, those $79 Squiers that you pay $69 used for are pieces of shit Fett.

You don't know some old mysterious secret. Most of the guitars you buy are fair at best. It ain't like I don't try to save some money now and again. I've owned or at least played one or more of just about every guitar you've got (based on your auction links and misc. pics you've posted). Are they "good for the money"? Some probably are but I doubt many of them would hold their own against guitars that don't need the "for the money" tag.

The fact that they bring you joy is great - I really think it's great that they make you happy.

[Bengal]

God bless 15 to 20+ year old guitars. Anything new guitar-wise is made of crap. The components; wood; craftmanship and just about anything else on new guitars are worthless and built that way.:ROTF: And they cost too much.

A "sort of" +1 on that one. I see what you are saying, but there are some good guitars being built now...

Here's what I do. I don't really buy new anymore. What I love is finding that "deal" at pawnshops and whatnot. Like the MIA/MIJ Kramer I just scored for $100. Yep, it's a cheap guitar pricewise but it's not quality wise. Those are the $100 deals to jump on, IMHO...

[hippietim]

A "sort of" +1 on that one. I see what you are saying, but there are some good guitars being built now...

Here's what I do. I don't really buy new anymore. What I love is finding that "deal" at pawnshops and whatnot. Like the MIA/MIJ Kramer I just scored for $100. Yep, it's a cheap guitar pricewise but it's not quality wise. Those are the $100 deals to jump on, IMHO...

That is an exception. 99.999999999999% of the $100 guitars in pawn shops are junk.