A guitar for 500 USD/EUR/GBP.... can't be "good"

[Paruwi]

Recently we had a similar thread on a german guitarboard, meanwhile it's around 500+ replies..

It's a bit provocative, just to get the discussion running

What's your thoughts on this ?

Where does a 'good' guitar start ?

What is a 'good' guitar ?

 

[fuelish]

"Good" for me means "good enough"... all of mine are "good," only one of 'em >$500, iirc

 

[cybermgk]

If we are talking $500 US, and new, then I say no validity in that. One can get a good guitar. Squier, Epiphone, DBZ-Diamond, Agile, Ibanez and Schecter are just a few top of my head and from personal experience, that you can get and leave stock and gig or record with. All with models that fit that bill at $500 or less. Go to $700-800 and the list gets staggering in size imho.

 

[El Cid]

The Plus Top Pros sell everywhere for $499 new. Great guitars IMHO. Even less if they are used or refurbs.

There a slew of other guitars under $500 that can be used or refurbs that are definitely 'good' guitars

 

[BlankinLoud]

My two Epi's (Genesis Pro reissue, Emperor Swingster) cost me significantly less than $400, each, brand new.

I believe they are great guitars, not merely "good" guitars.

 

[Digger]

My Agile was $400 USD and that is a great guitar!

I bought both Tele and Strat copies each for about $349 AUD, J&D Luthiers brand and they have been prefect out of the box, real players! The Start copy is the most comfortable guitar I have!

Conversely two of my 3 Epi's were about $1000 AUD and have needed repairs in the short term. The other one a G400. We don't get along!

 

[WillieB]

What is a good guitar?

- Stays in tune
- neck and fretwork are well constructed and do not need major work straight off the shelf
- electronics and pickups reliably produce nice tone (tone can be very subjective)
- durable

Those are the items I can think of that make a "good" guitar. The need for an initial setup should be anticipated for all guitars, not just those at less than $500. Both my epi's meet the requirements I listed and look great too.

 

[RTH]

Same here, willie.

Good for a beginnner? Good for a pro? Good for live performances, etc. Very subjective.

 

[Digger]

I suspect that the majority of people that buy guitars aren't rock stars so perhaps not quite that subjective.

 

[MarkB]

Good for me = feel and tone and that is down to the player. I don't care if it is made from chip board or hand carved with a solid gold chisel, if it sounds great and feels great it is great! It's all about the mojo!

 

[Ralph Henderson]

Same folks that say you can't get a good guitar for under 500 bucks are typing on their MIC keyboards, into their MIC phones or computers. All these "Pacific Rim" guitars are good instruments.. By the time we get 'em, they've been in trucks, on boats, railcars and in planes. In all types of climates, humidity and temperatures. If they weren't any good, they wouldn't survive the shipping.
People need to justify the cost of their expensive guitars, by putting down the inexpensive ones.
Play the crap out of what you have and enjoy it!! If you want a new Gibson or Suhr, BUY it. But my Squiers and Epiphones do exactly what I need 'em to do, and I will happily put them up against ANY MIA, and happily leave with what I came in with....
An through careful mods and shopping, I'll do it for 10% of what those MIA's cost....

 

[jim adams]

got my new sheraton for $509,hard to say no for that price.

 

[MarkB]

I do sometimes wonder if there isn't a touch of racism about this... Westerners care about there work whereas Asians don't... for example why is a pickup made from the same plans and to the same specifications in China or Korea deemed "not as good" by many as one made in America? I can understand the price difference may be a real one when it comes to materials and process - one might expect a guitar with a carved maple top to be more expensive than one with a veneer, though it is less obvious why an SG which is basically a mahogany slab (& I love them btw) made in one place should be so much more expensive than one made elsewhere. Yes, there is the cost of wages factored in but wages are relative (a lower wage where the cost of living is substantially different may actually be worth more!) and anyway it is not a given that people who are paid less care less about what they are doing. There is also no doubt a psychological thing going on too - I paid more for it so it *needs* to be better, so I am subconsciously convinced it *is* better!

 

[Alty]

I think it's more 'Social Engineering' rather than racism and the Marketing & Advertisers have a lot to answer for....personally I do not think that "a pickup made from the same plans and to the same specifications in China or Korea deemed "not as good" by many as one made in America", it makes no difference to me where it was made as long as it does what it is suppossed to do and in the way I want it to.

A guitar for 500 USD/EUR/GBP....can't be "good", whoever thinks this, needs to get out more....or learn to play something else....

A good guitar is the guitar you like playing.

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Can we say Epi Dot.nough said

 

[Razz]

I agree with everything stated so far, a good guitar is where you find it. I have and have had guitars made in the US and overseas and love them all on their on merits. I recently got a Squier standard strat deluxe at a pawnshop, $125 out the door, has become one of my favorites.

 

[David Wiese]

I had a Gibson LP Studio a few years back. It was great, but the sound and playability didn't wow me like the PTP I'm using now... or the Madore (LP Custom copy) I recently acquired. The Probuckers are IMO some of the best humbuckers I've come across, and I lean towards gear that's transparent, clear, and unforgiving (I've had people use my amps at shows complain about being able to hear every mistake they made). I tried a 2015 Gibson LP (G-Farce and all) with its Burstbucker Pros, and thought the guitar sounded quite muddy compared to my Epi.

Come to think of it, I haven't disliked any of the clone pickups that have been coming out of China. The GFS' are great, and the Duncan Designed stuff has been too good to replace. I put a DD HB102 (Duncan's own JB clone) on my lead guitarists Squier and that pickup damn near made me weep.

If it's a "Made in the USA" thing, fine. But don't be shopping at Walmart for TV's and coffee tables, and bitch about us cutting some corners on guitar gear.

If it's cork-sniffing, I'm fine sniffing bottle caps, as long as the product tastes good, and gets me drunk. I'm more of a Pabst guy anyway.

I've said many times in the past few years, it's gotta be great being a kid starting out these days with great gear being as cheap as it is.

 

[JohnnyGoo]

The Gibson Designed pups in my new 2001 Epi Dot are very good.they will stay....

 

[cybermgk]

People need to justify the cost of their expensive guitars, by putting down the inexpensive ones.....

I often think this is a large part of it.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html

Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors.

This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance etc.

For example, when people smoke (behavior) and they know that smoking causes cancer (cognition).

Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance)......

Although many who buy very expensive guitars, may love them, I contend that many, at some level feel bad about spending 2K on a guitar. This causes Cognitive Dissonance. TO relieve said dissonance, they make themselves believe (and it aint always a conscious act) that less expensive guitars must not be quality or good. Thus, they are justified in spending for 'quality', and the dissonance is relieved.

ADD to those like above, those that take any choice not the same as theirs as a personal 'attack' on themselves. Those types then also must denigrate anything not like their choice, to show how good their choice actually is.

It is sad, really.

If I had a Custom Shop Gibson, I could revel in it's glory, for it's own merits, but still love and revel in the glory of my Agile, for it's merits, My Epiphone Lee Malia for it's, my Schecter for it's, and my Squier Master Series for it's, etc.

 

[David Wiese]

I use to poo-poo the foreign-made guitars at one point. Then I moved out of my parents house, married, and started paying for things not related to guitar. This made me reevaluate my stance on the Squiers, the Grecos, the Tokais, MIM Fenders, Epiphones, MIK equivalents of my favorite basses, etc.

Every time guitar manufacture goes to a different country, that country figures out how to build guitars (as well as amps and pedals) fairly quickly. I remember when people would say "At least it's not Japanese". a few years later, it was "The Japanese ones are great. You don't want Korean". Now it's "Get this Epiphone. It's Korean. Way better than China". I'm guessing the next step is to have them built by a Pygmy tribe, and we'll all be lining up to buy the Chinese made guitars. Hell, the local Jackson dealers sold out of every single Japanese made guitars when people caught wind that they were going to start being made in Korea.