Advice on guitar needed

[kevink]

Id rather buy a good secondhand guitar, u can always sell it on when u dont like it anymore and the quality is much better. U wont get any money back for a cheap new guitar. Look for a good secondhand Fender or Gibson. Cheaper guitars are cheaper because the use cheaper parts like the tuning pegs, bridge, the wood etc. Especially bad tuning pegs can be a horror, u dont want your guitar to detune when your recording. Same goes for tremolo-bar.

I think that the above is less true than it used to be. It was once the case that cheap guitars were cheap because they used crap components. Now they're cheap because they're either made in Chinese prison camps and Indonesian sweatshops, where labor costs are negligible, or in Korean or Taiwanese factories that are massively automated. Numerically controlled machine tools don't do as good a job as a real luthier, but they do a much better job than a bad luthier, and much more quickly.

[Jazz Franco]

Thanx for all the advice, ppl! Sadly, I can hardly opt for a second hand Gibson or Fender--here even used top-notch guitars are way too expensive, and buying one through e-bay or likes wouldn't help either, if you think about delivery costs... unfortunately where I live is counted as "rest of the world" for postal rates. Anyway, I'm gonna read some reviews on harmony central and have a look at cheaper decent brands on sale round here (J&D, Washburn, Ibanez, Squire etc)

[Hernan]

Thanx for all the advice, ppl! Sadly, I can hardly opt for a second hand Gibson or Fender--here even used top-notch guitars are way too expensive, and buying one through e-bay or likes wouldn't help either, if you think about delivery costs... unfortunately where I live is counted as "rest of the world" for postal rates. Anyway, I'm gonna read some reviews on harmony central and have a look at cheaper decent brands on sale round here (J&D, Washburn, Ibanez, Squire etc)

I feel your pain Franco... I would recommend going to the music store and trying out the cheaper guitars they may have. Also, I would recommend trying out the amps too... I bought a headphone amp once that had a lot of background noise/hiss, even with the guitar plugged out.

Some multi-effect units like Zoom I think can function as headphone amp. Some are comparable in cost to a practice amp. Never tried one of them, though.

Good luck

L

[liqih]

Korean or Taiwanese factories that are massively automated. Numerically controlled machine tools don't do as good a job as a real luthier, but they do a much better job than a bad luthier, and much more quickly.

totally agreed,

just bought a very cheap Korean guitar(branded Wolf) and it's amazing for the money,

heard that Stagg are good too, and you can find it very low priced from Germany,

anyway it's also a matter of luck, so if you can try before you buy it's always better,

I also suggest a ZOOM as cheap start point to play it thru


my 2c

[donkey tugger]

heard that Stagg are good too, and you can find it very low priced from Germany,

I'll 2nd that. Just bought a 12 string acoustic by them. It sounds the bees-knees (better in fact than the Yamaha which cost 3 times as much!), action is fine and it only cost £79 Tried out one of the electrics briefly in the shop too, seemed ok as well.

[fateamenabletochange]

I bought a cheap Ibanez Roadster which did the trick for 25 years before multiple components went into meltdown.? what about a 2nd hand pod? My son has a Marshall 15MG dfx practise amp which has been excellent value.Too much choice.

[Sascha Franck]

Stagg is great for low end prices, so is Cort.
But I'd probably save a bit more of money and go for a Pacifica. Very good guitars for what you spend. And you can even find 2nd hand ones.

[PaulG]

There tends to be two kinds of guitarists - the ones who spend the proverbial "bukoo" bucks on a guitar and worship, yet never play it, and those who treat their guitars like cheap, um, dates.

I tend to be the latter. I've been playing 23+ years and have a cheap $200 Ibanez that I use for practically all my recording stuff, and yes, I beat it up pretty bad, but then again, it's worth it to not have to worry about trying something or to spend thought-time thinking of how much I damaged the precious whatever.

Just as long as you get a humbucker (double coil) pickup for the bridge you should be fine for what you need. Now this does NOT mean that you won't upgrade later, like I'll probably have 3 or 4 decent guitars if I ever go out on the road, but the truth is it's the player, not what they're playing.

Anyway, if you want to hear what some heavy rock sounds like through a $200 6 year old Ibanez and a $99 Line6 GuitarPort, I think you'll be pretty amazed. These types of tones and sounds cost upwards of several thousand just several years ago. Lemme know and as soon as I get done with my first Sonar test mix, I'll upload or email you something. I have the V-AMP and it's really good, but the GuitarPort just outshines it and you can get all kinds of album-quality tones.

Thanks,

- Paul

[C00kie]

One thing to keep in mind 'though: Cheap guitars == cheap pickups.

That's how it used to be. Now it's different.

Oh!? Imho it used to be cheap wood & finishing!!

If you're in the sticks, try to find a second-hand deal in the adds of local newspapers, supermarket / church bullettin boards, whatever!

When buying a guitar it is critical to actually feel it, play it, check it for bent neck etc. Would you buy a car online without a test drive? You're going to be mates for a while, so...