Cheap Guitars That Play Great

[Telewanger]

Have you ever gone out to shop for a really nice brand name guitar and end up coming home with a cheap guitar that sounds and plays as good as your Gibson or favorite Fender guitar.

I went guitar shopping and was playing American made guitars all day. I normally only buy American stuff. I looked over in one store and saw this Tele copy. Since it was in reach, I grabbed it to see just how awful it was going to be. To my surprise, it plays better than my Les Paul Custom and my Fenders. I looked at the back and it said "Made in Korea". I put it back in the shelf and went to several other music stores. Towards the end of the day, I went back to the pawn shop where the Tele copy guitar was and picked it up again. I couldn't believe that after all of the expensive guitars that I played all day, that I ended up back in that pawn shop.

The price tag was $180.00. It was brand new. I have had it now for several years and still can't believe how great it is compared to my other guitars.

Here is a video of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7wFkt6XOwM

 

[MichaelE]

Don't discount Samick guitars. They're really not bad instruments and in many cases a heck of a lot better than what's coming out of China.

They make guitars for several brand names that escape me at this moment.

Very nice sounding guitar you have. Enjoyed your video too.

 

[oldguy]

Heck, yeah.........chik--ken------pik-ken goodness...mmm......mmMMM.
Samick makes some great guitars. I had a semi-hollow but never warmed up to it, and sold it. It was a very well made and beautiful guitar, however.
I just could not bond with it.

 

[Telewanger]

I think that I will build my next guitar. There are so many places to get necks and bodies now for decent prices.

 

[syo]

Don't discount Samick guitars. They're really not bad instruments and in many cases a heck of a lot better than what's coming out of China.
QUOTE]

More than "really not bad", Korean and (yes, really) Chinese guitars can be excellent instruments. Peerless guitars in Korea for example are amazing. And actually what's coming out of China these days are some quality guitars for companies like Ibanez, Hagstrom, Eastwood (some China, some Korea) etc. Many Korean comapnies have moved production to China as well. "Made in China" can mean anything from a toy guitar to a professional instrument nowadays.

And what does MIC really mean? Many companies, like Hagstrom, design and import alot of the parts/materials in their MIC guitars. Of course there are plenty of cheap, crap $30 starter strats out there but one shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that's all that comes out of China.

 

[ZMAN]

I recently picked up a Gold Top P90 Les Paul from a company called Vintage guitars. They are based in Great Britain and are made in China and Distributed by John Hornby Skewes company. They come with Wilkinson bridges and tuners and Wilkinson pickups. The "street" price was 429 Can.
I had a couple of buzzing frets and had a Fret job done on it. The cost was 100, and that included new strings and a set up.
Now it plays as good as any of my Gibson LPs. I really like the headstock treatment and the logo is quite nice.
May not come in some peoples "Cheap guitar" category but when you pay over 2 grand for a Gibson Gold Top they are a bargain.

 

[syo]

Very nice Zman. Tell me, are the logo and ornament inlay or decal?

 

[otaypanky]

The Epiphone L.P.Signature, which I recently sold, was one of the best built guitars I have ever played. ( I still have an original Gibson version from '73)
So was the DeArmond X-155 I owned, also Korean made. I had a PRS SE II and the same was true of it, just perfectly crafted.

A few weeks back I got a brand new Gibson Johnny A model. It's a rather pricey (to me) custom shop model. It's kind of rare and there are not really any shops with high end gear within driving distance of me, so I purchased it from a great shop I have done business with in another state and the guitar was shipped to me. I never had the chance to play or see one in person.

Now this is not meant to sound sarcastic, but when I first opened the case and picked it up I thought to myself that Gibson Custom Shop had finally built a guitar as precisely made as my Korean made Epiphone Les Paul Signature hollow body.
Enjoy your new guitar :AOK

 

[MAXIFUNK]

Have you ever gone out to shop for a really nice brand name guitar and end up coming home with a cheap guitar that sounds and plays as good as your Gibson or favorite Fender guitar.

I went guitar shopping and was playing American made guitars all day. I normally only buy American stuff. I looked over in one store and saw this Tele copy. Since it was in reach, I grabbed it to see just how awful it was going to be. To my surprise, it plays better than my Les Paul Custom and my Fenders. I looked at the back and it said "Made in Korea". I put it back in the shelf and went to several other music stores. Towards the end of the day, I went back to the pawn shop where the Tele copy guitar was and picked it up again. I couldn't believe that after all of the expensive guitars that I played all day, that I ended up back in that pawn shop.

The price tag was $180.00. It was brand new. I have had it now for several years and still can't believe how great it is compared to my other guitars.

Here is a video of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7wFkt6XOwM

Very nice axe!

 

[Tone2TheBone]

The Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster is a great playing and sounding cheap guitar.

 

[deeaa]

Have you ever gone out to shop for a really nice brand name guitar and end up coming home with a cheap guitar that sounds and plays as good as your Gibson or favorite Fender guitar.

All the time. In the early 90's U.S. made Fenders (at least those we got here) were reeeeallly bad compared to mexican ones. Of pro players who visited our shop looking for a strat, 9 out of 10 left with a mex one and a set of better pickups quite often. Even upon just visual inspection the woods were better on those. Gibsons of that time were very good, though.

Of late, U.S. Fenders I've played have been absolutely top notch guitars though, and now it's been Gibson's turn to be bad. I've come accross some really terrible U.S. gibsons. I bought me an Explorer a few years back and comparing a Gibson and an Epiphone one in the store there was simply no contest, the Epi one was much better right down to the quality of lacquer finish.

The real prizes can, IMO, be found in those 80's less known brands - sometimes you come accross a guitar in 100-300 buck range that is simply superb. Like my ole Charvette; 120 bucks and the best neck I ever tried anywhere, period. 15 years old, thin like a leaf and doesn't even ever need adjustments, straight as a razor in any weather - simply incredible.

Too bad these 'finds' are getting harder to locate every day :-(

But yeah...it happens a lot. I have owned a lot of those pawnshop prizes over the years. Also on basses - one of the nicest basses I have played was a dirt-cheap Tanglewood 5-string---it just put 10 times the more expensive basses to shame even in studios. I used to play it thru an old Yamaha SS bass amp and the low end was so solid and round yet clear one studio owner tried to buy them off me for five times the money I had paid

 

[ibanezjunkie]

im thinking about buying the Vintage V100 in Sunburst, looks nice.

gibson lp knockoff, pretty cheap compared to the real thing. Similar to ZMAN's.

 

[Auriemma]

First you need to define "Cheap". Under $300, check out Squiers, Agiles, SX, used Michael Kelly's, many of the 70's MIJ guitars are outstanding.

And yes, you can find many gems in pawn shops and on CL. Just keep your eyes and ears open.

 

[MichaelE]

$95 Dean Vendetta. Plays great for what it is. Straight neck, no sharp frets, etc.

 

[oldguy]

I always liked that finish on your Dean.
$95 is cheap-cheap for a guitar that good!:AOK

 

[ZMAN]

Very nice Zman. Tell me, are the logo and ornament inlay or decal?

Sorry I missed your question. They are a very nice inlay, with a mother of pearl look to it. Actually a really nice feel to the whole instrument. They also have a Vintage Icon series that is slightly distressed and looks like a well worn 30 year old guitar.
They also have a "Lemon Drop" that is version of the Peter Green/Gary Moore Les Paul with the out of phase pickups.

 

[ZMAN]

im thinking about buying the Vintage V100 in Sunburst, looks nice.

gibson lp knockoff, pretty cheap compared to the real thing. Similar to ZMAN's.

The only issue I had with mine was the fret levelling. If you can try one out first you might be able to get one with no issues. I was looking for a GT and they only had one. The level cost me 100 dollars but my tech did a really nice set up and it has a lovely low action.
The humbuckers are Wilkinsons as are the rest of the hardware which is not too shabby. What is the street price in England for the V100?