Anyone happy with their inexpensive(cheap) guitar?

I have a Vintage (brand) V52 t-style guitar and it is absolutely great. The only problem it gives me is that it is hard to justify buying a more expensive guitar. There is really no need to improve anything.

 

Yep.

 

My guitars range from a Squier Strat to a Gatton Telecaster.
The Squier gets played regularly, it's a solid instrument.
I swapped the pickup out for an old Gibson T-Top but that's the only modification I've done.

 

In the past year, I have come to bond most closely with my 21-year-old Squire Affinity Strat. It doesn't even have "Ocaster" on the label.

Sounds good, plays easy, and stays in tune. What more could I ask?

 

Yup!

-Seagull acoustic, think I paid $250 used over 10 years ago.

-Parts P bass, cost me $400 all in. Love this mutt.

-Squier bullet. $150 on sale. Some fretboard oil, fret touch up and Chromes, and she’s good to go.

I’ll say, learning how to swap parts and do touch up work has gone a long way in my enjoyment of these instruments.

 

#1

#2

As I said, both less than $300, and, as I said, from a stable numbering somewhere in the mid seventies, with many high-shelf ($)guits in there. (I did add the bigs to #1 afterwards, and it cost prob more than the guitar itself)

 

Yep, If you can't beeee with the one you love. Love the one your with.

 

I have a couple of nice guitars - a 75 Strat, and am early 60s Guild Freshman. I'd probably sell the Strat for the right money. The rest are cheap, my favorite being a Douglas from Rondo. After a fret level and a good setup, it's really nice, and I play it all the time. I don't really change anything unless it breaks.

 

I have several Fenders and Gibsons, but my Squiers get as much play time as the others. My current, fun player is a Bullet Strat in Sparkle Red with a pair of GM '59 humbuckers in it, unlike the photo. It's my 'experiment with pickups' guitar.

Squier_bullet_s_fsr_spkred_10 by archetype posted Jan 26, 2018 at 3:51 PM

 

I chanced on a Switch Vibracell last summer. It turned out $30 after selling the amp, bag, and stand that came with it. I was interested with the resin body and its rarity.



Mod'ed it into my "Bluebird" beast, it now has Gibson Firebird V pickups, some circuit wizardry by an awesome friend...






I am so happy with the turnout!

 

I'm a fan of any affordable ( cheap!) guitar, that is good enough, or better as is-stock.

Versus really cheap and meant to be almost automatically ( maybe even intended to be...) modded with pickup/tuners/ pots, cut or file nuts, fret leveling, etc. upgrades.

It's just me! I don't know ( or care to know) how to replace or do any of this work ( I have replaced worn out tuner sets).
I play a lot, and gigworthy out of the box, is what I hope for. Not perfect, but good sounding 'players'

So I would spend a few dollars more for 'cheap'- in other words $300-$400, vs. $150-$250. ( not that I would turn down, a really good $150 find!).

I bought a fantastic 2018 Epi SG Pro last year ( used on CL for $300, w/o case), and it is great- exactly what I was hoping for.

 

Snagged a candy apple red Squier Affinity for about $130 about 3 years ago to see what all the TDPRI fuss was about re:Teles. Great guitar, all stock (didn’t really like the shiny/overly-glossy finish though)

Decided to plunge into making a couple mods, learn how to solder &, in general, learn how to care for a guitar. So I picked up another butterscotch/orange Squier Affinity with the Bubba mod done & GFS lipstick PUPs for $135.

Fast forward:
- sanded ‘Red’ w/800, then 1000, then 1500 grit sandpaper
- aged the pickguard a bit
- did the Bubba Mod to ‘Red’ & put some metal push pins in the old saddle drill holes
- swapped necks
- got good quality pots & pickup selector
- finally threw in a Cavalier Lion King in the neck & a Fat Lion in the bridge

Put the other Squier back together & gave it to my nephew & told him to play the sh*t out of it.

Very happy. And thankful to TDPRI where I learned 90% of this stuff.

 

As an aspiring guitarist it seems to me that you folks that have talent doesn't matter what brand instrument you play the majority if not all of it is in technique IE fingers

 

I got a old Douglas brand Tele. Got it from Rondo like 10 years ago for about 150 bucks. Replaced everything but the neck and body, so technically it's no longer that inexpensive I guess.

Also have a Rondo SX strat. Mohagany body and 2 P90s. I'm keeping that stock, though I may change the tuners. Only cost me like 160 bucks, real player and sounds great.

 

The luthier I use had a rainy Wednesday with no work on the bench, so he decided to go through his parts bins and straighten up. He finds enough parts to build a partscaster, none of which he can identify. All stuff he had replaced for customers.

So he puts it together, level and crown and a new nut for the neck. Turns out to be a superb guitar.

And he sold it to me for $166.00.

 

What’s cheap and what’s expensive depends on your means. My cheapest is my avatar Telecaster, a MIM Nashville I “won” on an eBay auction years ago for $400. It’s been modified to meet my needs. It’s my #2 behind my FCS ‘69 Stratocaster, ahead of my American Standard Strat, Gretsch Annie, and Gibson SG. Cheap isn’t always bad and expensive isn’t necessarily better.

 

I decked the trem, oiled the fretboard, and put new strings on my cherry burst Squier Standard Strat last night. Looks and plays great--resonant and lively guitar. I have new pots and switch in there, and am thinking about some hotter pickups, but nice as it is.

 

Almost all of mine came in sub $500. The only 2 over that were my Taylor acoustic and PRS baritone. I haven't done many mods as I don't derive much satisfaction from that activity. Cheapest one I ever got was a Squier Strat and I gave it away as it was my least favorite. It played OK but the trem was on the bogus side.

 

"A lot of great music has been made on instruments cheaper than what you are playing"
Joe Walsh

 

some have "talent" and some just have thousands of hours of developing their craft, and the "best" often tend to have both