duceditor
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I know I mark myself as to age when I say this, but once upon a time "cheap" guitars were crap.
My very first guitar -- this was back in about 1961 -- exemplified the breed. And calling it "crap" is unfair to that word. (More accurate ones would likely draw the attention of this site's moderators and be called "inappropriate.") Fingerboards with no -- I mean zero, nilch -- radius. Frets roughly put into place. On my own the fret markers were painted on. As was the "pickguard."
That guitar cost $12.88 -- earned by mowing lawns and the like and saving quarters.
The next step up were the Silvertones and Harmony guitars available at Sears. These were actually playable, even if their construction was at best questionable. Materials? Masonite and plywood.
No, quality instruments back then were big buck items with names such as "Gibson," "Fender," "Gretsch" and, yes, "Epiphone" on the headstocks. Epiphone then, of course, was its own company, made in USA, and right up there with the Big Boys.
I, like most working musicians, would play nothing else -- in part because nothing other than those big label brands were playable. But since they were expensive most of us owned only one. Indeed, we never even thought of owning a stable.
Going back to my own story I played a Gibson as soon as the money started coming in. A "student grade" instrument -- an ES-125TDC. This one here:
It said "Gibson."It was pretty. Its P90s sang beautifully.
Today collectors search for guitars like that. But in truth it wasn't all they good. It did the job -- which for me included some wonderful memories made on the concert stage and in the recording studio -- but in truth it would not, if put into any our hands today with our eyes closed, leave up particularly impressed.
Okay, all of that is old history. (Alas, most of mine is)
Today any budding guitarist can easily have an instrument far superior to that early `60s Gibson. And many of us, even shortly after starting out, own several. Epiphones. Squiers. Other lesser known brands. Often made in the very same factories as one-another, in the far east. China. Korea. Indonesia. And yet others.
This is understood. This is, today, a given.
Yes, by even telling this tale I am, as I said above, marking myself as an oldster. Like the old codger who tells tales of walking two miles to school every morning, up hill and in a blizzard.
Here on Epiphone Talk we know this. As do my friends of on Squier-Talk.
But in fact what I want to say here goes somewhat beyond all of the above. It is in praise of the cheap Epiphones. The really, really cheap ones. Juniors and Specials.
Like most older guys I, today, own a host of instruments. (Hey, if you buy things and mostly never sell 'em, that is what happens as the years go by.) Some of mine are costly American made models. Beautiful instruments that grace the eye as well as the ear. With delicate aging finishes with what we call a "patina." Lovely stuff.
Unlike a true collector I keep mine out. Within reach. Quickly available to play (as well as delicious eye candy). But here's the thing: When I feel like playing I rarely reach for one of them. What I reach for is an Epiphone or a Squier.
Why? No, not because of anti-snobbery. Not even because the others are delicate. (In truth they really aren't.) I grab an Epi -- a low cost Epi -- because of the way it plays and feels and sounds.
Right now my most often played guitar is TV Yellow Epiphone Special. I bought it (with a bit of finagling) for $99 at MF.
Simply put I love it.
The reasons are simple.
One, it has a GREAT neck. Yes, it really does. And most amazing (to me) was it came that way. There was no need to hone down the fret ends to prevent blood loss. (Back even 15 years ago that'd have been needed on any guitar less than $200 or so.)
No, its neck is *perfect.*
Too, it is light.
Maybe its my age -- or if not the age, then the mileage -- but to me light guitars are such a plus. Easy on the back. And in the case of the Special (or its sister, the single PUP Junior), the body shape and its balance is, again, just perfect.
Then there is the simplicity and effectiveness of the electronics.
There has never been a better guitar pickup for the music I like to play than the simple P90. Clear as a bell. Articulate. Responsive to even small changes in setting and playing technique. In short, they rock.
And the Epiphones are the real thing. No "improvements." No cheapening cop outs either. Just real AlNico bar magnets and a simple coil. The same pure magic today as they have had since their advent in mid-1940s.
Yes, they were there at the birth of rock and roll. Their pedigree shows. They are the real thing.
The simplicity of the wiring, too, is to me a plus. One volume. One tone control. A switch if there is more than one pickup. That's it.
And frankly it is more than I need most of the time. -For rolling off the volume also rolls of the highs. And if the amp is set right even the bridge PUP alone will provide me with almost any sound I'd ever need. Clear. Crisp. Biting. Crunchy. Sweet.
(No, I don't play heavy metal)
Then there is the "cheap" finish. Poly to be sure. Tough as nails.
No, it'll never get a "Patina." Hah! Instead it'll always look new. Is that really a bad thing?
"But that heavy finish kills the tone."
Really? Then what's that I'm hearing?
Do these "cheap" guitars have any faults?
Yes. For one they really, really need a good setup.
I mean the reason they can be so cheap and so good is because the machines that make them are all computer driven. But there is still no computer that can set 'em up properly. And sometimes it seems that no one really tried too.
When I get them I immediately snip off the strings that came on them. Put on a set of my preferred weight and type. (On short scale guitars I like medium through heavy -- 10-52. Rotosound "Blues" are my current favs.)
Then I carefully set relief and let it settle over night. Then comes string height, intonation, and (especially important with P90 IMO) pickup height.
After that it's just making music. No fuss. No bother.
Oh, I also have changed the tuning machines on mine. On the Junior because it needed them -- it was ten years old when I got it and had been played hard. On the Special because I thought it would and had bought a pair before the guitar was delivered. (In fact the ones that came on it weren't half bad and would have more than sufficed.)
Some people elsewhere would likely be surprised at all the above. And newer players here on Epiphone Talk may be too. -Convinced by common lore that those other, pricier, guitars are really much better.
Older players like me know otherwise. Well, either that or have different standards of what makes a guitar good.
I love my "cheap" Epis. And Squiers. And you can take that (or the money it perhaps may help you save) to the bank.
-don
My very first guitar -- this was back in about 1961 -- exemplified the breed. And calling it "crap" is unfair to that word. (More accurate ones would likely draw the attention of this site's moderators and be called "inappropriate.") Fingerboards with no -- I mean zero, nilch -- radius. Frets roughly put into place. On my own the fret markers were painted on. As was the "pickguard."
That guitar cost $12.88 -- earned by mowing lawns and the like and saving quarters.
The next step up were the Silvertones and Harmony guitars available at Sears. These were actually playable, even if their construction was at best questionable. Materials? Masonite and plywood.
No, quality instruments back then were big buck items with names such as "Gibson," "Fender," "Gretsch" and, yes, "Epiphone" on the headstocks. Epiphone then, of course, was its own company, made in USA, and right up there with the Big Boys.
I, like most working musicians, would play nothing else -- in part because nothing other than those big label brands were playable. But since they were expensive most of us owned only one. Indeed, we never even thought of owning a stable.
Going back to my own story I played a Gibson as soon as the money started coming in. A "student grade" instrument -- an ES-125TDC. This one here:
It said "Gibson."It was pretty. Its P90s sang beautifully.
Today collectors search for guitars like that. But in truth it wasn't all they good. It did the job -- which for me included some wonderful memories made on the concert stage and in the recording studio -- but in truth it would not, if put into any our hands today with our eyes closed, leave up particularly impressed.
Okay, all of that is old history. (Alas, most of mine is)
Today any budding guitarist can easily have an instrument far superior to that early `60s Gibson. And many of us, even shortly after starting out, own several. Epiphones. Squiers. Other lesser known brands. Often made in the very same factories as one-another, in the far east. China. Korea. Indonesia. And yet others.
This is understood. This is, today, a given.
Yes, by even telling this tale I am, as I said above, marking myself as an oldster. Like the old codger who tells tales of walking two miles to school every morning, up hill and in a blizzard.
Here on Epiphone Talk we know this. As do my friends of on Squier-Talk.
But in fact what I want to say here goes somewhat beyond all of the above. It is in praise of the cheap Epiphones. The really, really cheap ones. Juniors and Specials.
Like most older guys I, today, own a host of instruments. (Hey, if you buy things and mostly never sell 'em, that is what happens as the years go by.) Some of mine are costly American made models. Beautiful instruments that grace the eye as well as the ear. With delicate aging finishes with what we call a "patina." Lovely stuff.
Unlike a true collector I keep mine out. Within reach. Quickly available to play (as well as delicious eye candy). But here's the thing: When I feel like playing I rarely reach for one of them. What I reach for is an Epiphone or a Squier.
Why? No, not because of anti-snobbery. Not even because the others are delicate. (In truth they really aren't.) I grab an Epi -- a low cost Epi -- because of the way it plays and feels and sounds.
Right now my most often played guitar is TV Yellow Epiphone Special. I bought it (with a bit of finagling) for $99 at MF.
Simply put I love it.
The reasons are simple.
One, it has a GREAT neck. Yes, it really does. And most amazing (to me) was it came that way. There was no need to hone down the fret ends to prevent blood loss. (Back even 15 years ago that'd have been needed on any guitar less than $200 or so.)
No, its neck is *perfect.*
Too, it is light.
Maybe its my age -- or if not the age, then the mileage -- but to me light guitars are such a plus. Easy on the back. And in the case of the Special (or its sister, the single PUP Junior), the body shape and its balance is, again, just perfect.
Then there is the simplicity and effectiveness of the electronics.
There has never been a better guitar pickup for the music I like to play than the simple P90. Clear as a bell. Articulate. Responsive to even small changes in setting and playing technique. In short, they rock.
And the Epiphones are the real thing. No "improvements." No cheapening cop outs either. Just real AlNico bar magnets and a simple coil. The same pure magic today as they have had since their advent in mid-1940s.
Yes, they were there at the birth of rock and roll. Their pedigree shows. They are the real thing.
The simplicity of the wiring, too, is to me a plus. One volume. One tone control. A switch if there is more than one pickup. That's it.
And frankly it is more than I need most of the time. -For rolling off the volume also rolls of the highs. And if the amp is set right even the bridge PUP alone will provide me with almost any sound I'd ever need. Clear. Crisp. Biting. Crunchy. Sweet.
(No, I don't play heavy metal)
Then there is the "cheap" finish. Poly to be sure. Tough as nails.
No, it'll never get a "Patina." Hah! Instead it'll always look new. Is that really a bad thing?
"But that heavy finish kills the tone."
Really? Then what's that I'm hearing?
Do these "cheap" guitars have any faults?
Yes. For one they really, really need a good setup.
I mean the reason they can be so cheap and so good is because the machines that make them are all computer driven. But there is still no computer that can set 'em up properly. And sometimes it seems that no one really tried too.
When I get them I immediately snip off the strings that came on them. Put on a set of my preferred weight and type. (On short scale guitars I like medium through heavy -- 10-52. Rotosound "Blues" are my current favs.)
Then I carefully set relief and let it settle over night. Then comes string height, intonation, and (especially important with P90 IMO) pickup height.
After that it's just making music. No fuss. No bother.
Oh, I also have changed the tuning machines on mine. On the Junior because it needed them -- it was ten years old when I got it and had been played hard. On the Special because I thought it would and had bought a pair before the guitar was delivered. (In fact the ones that came on it weren't half bad and would have more than sufficed.)
Some people elsewhere would likely be surprised at all the above. And newer players here on Epiphone Talk may be too. -Convinced by common lore that those other, pricier, guitars are really much better.
Older players like me know otherwise. Well, either that or have different standards of what makes a guitar good.
I love my "cheap" Epis. And Squiers. And you can take that (or the money it perhaps may help you save) to the bank.
-don
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