The Cheap Guitars Thread

All things guitar, Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Tokai, Ibanez etc. etc. etc.

Moderators: Slowy, Capt. Black

User avatar
jeremyb
Chorus of Organs
Posts: 40893
meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:03 am
Has liked: 7692 times
Been liked: 4159 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by jeremyb »

kdawg2a wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 12:22 pm I think if you can get them cheap, epiphone dots are great budget guitars. I got this one for $250.20230204_180233.jpg
It came with a great Epiphone Hardcase (gotta be $100 right?) which I transferred over to another guitar so I'm calling this a $150 job! Fun to modify until you decide to replace the wiring harness. Then they're possessed by Satan himself.
Ahhh yes you're in the land of plentiful bargains! Perhaps buy enough guitars to fill a container and send them over here! $$$PROFIT$$$$
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

User avatar
Slowy
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 22641
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:13 pm
Location: Orcland
Has liked: 1011 times
Been liked: 2466 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by Slowy »

jeremyb wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:30 pm
foal30 wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:03 am Had a go on a students Tobias Toby IV deluxe. It’s his first ‘proper’ instrument
$500(?) new.

A big upgrade on the instruments of budget I grew up with.
Back in your day you cut down your own tree and stole some number 8 wire off the neighbours fence and made do!
Back in the day, Alan Kingsley-Smith, well known purveyor of instruments and gear to my generation made a guitar, built exactly to NZ Customs regulations and definitions, and put it in his shop window.

It was a slat off a beer crate, nails at both ends to anchor wires (strings), a couple of pencil stubs for nut and bridge and some copper wire wrapped round a nail for a pickup. Tuners were a nail twisted into the 'string'.

I think he'd been having some trouble getting an import licence for some Ibanez or something.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

User avatar
codedog
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 6706
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:44 pm
Location: Christchurch
Has liked: 3476 times
Been liked: 1083 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by codedog »

Molly wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:02 am
StrummersOfThunder wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:44 am Hang on. I think we've lost the idea here, Molly will tell me if I'm wrong but shouldnt this be genuinely guitars that retailed cheap rather than expensive guitars you scored for a bargain?
Because if not we should just change the thread title to 'guitars'.
Yeah, that was the idea. Indonesian Squiers that are cheap as hell but perfectly functional guitars. That sort of thing.
That'd be the Yamaha Pacifica 112 for me. It was relatively cheap, even at presumably RRP. Not cheap at a pawnshop, or a TM steal, just plain old reasonable.

User avatar
Bg
Site Admin
Posts: 43189
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:13 am
Location: Auckland
Has liked: 2255 times
Been liked: 3873 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by Bg »

I'm a big fan of SX guitars, they truly are sleepers. I've had 3 or 4 that have been punching way above their weight. Number 1 P-Bass is still an SX with mods.

Artist are superb for the cash - Jazz bass and jazzmaster I still own and won't sell because - peanuts.

Most of my guitars are cheapsters, I've sold the pricier ones over the years because I find that paying a shit load more money only produces a minor amount of difference. My most expensive guitar is the LP that was the first to go into the storage unit recently because its the least used, I have cheaper guitars that make me feel better. PRS SE, Epiphone ES-339 and of course the Arps.

Cheap guitars need mods and setting up properly. But so do most expensive ones.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

User avatar
jeremyb
Chorus of Organs
Posts: 40893
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:03 am
Has liked: 7692 times
Been liked: 4159 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by jeremyb »

Bg wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:07 pm Cheap guitars need mods and setting up properly. But so do most expensive ones.
Ain't that the truth, even my Taylor acoustic which is supposed to be immaculate out of the factory had action that was way too high....
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

User avatar
Slowy
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 22641
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:13 pm
Location: Orcland
Has liked: 1011 times
Been liked: 2466 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by Slowy »

jeremyb wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:14 pm
Bg wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:07 pm Cheap guitars need mods and setting up properly. But so do most expensive ones.
Ain't that the truth, even my Taylor acoustic which is supposed to be immaculate out of the factory had action that was way too high....
Probably set up for Bluegrass.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

User avatar
kdawg2a
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3361
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:28 pm
Location: U S and A
Has liked: 239 times
Been liked: 1041 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by kdawg2a »

jeremyb wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:31 pm
kdawg2a wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 12:22 pm I think if you can get them cheap, epiphone dots are great budget guitars. I got this one for $250.20230204_180233.jpg
It came with a great Epiphone Hardcase (gotta be $100 right?) which I transferred over to another guitar so I'm calling this a $150 job! Fun to modify until you decide to replace the wiring harness. Then they're possessed by Satan himself.
Ahhh yes you're in the land of plentiful bargains! Perhaps buy enough guitars to fill a container and send them over here! $$$PROFIT$$$$
You know, I think I got bargains more often in Christchurch than I do here. Over the last 2 years I've scored 6 good deals here and I was usually finding something every 2 months in NZ. I often hoped I'd be able to find all sorts of cheap, vintage Harmony's, Kay's and so forth but the reality is most of them didn't survive past the 1980s. Everyone here thinks they know the value of old stuff thanks to the interwebs so if you do find something cool it's vastly overpriced. But the search continues!!!!!!!
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

User avatar
NippleWrestler
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 2891
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:05 pm
Has liked: 78 times
Been liked: 1066 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by NippleWrestler »

Bg wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:07 pm I'm a big fan of SX guitars, they truly are sleepers. I've had 3 or 4 that have been punching way above their weight. Number 1 P-Bass is still an SX with mods.
The SX brand is owned and operated by the same guys who handle the Agile brand, another guitar line that makes very good instruments for cheap. Agile will make you a Korean made neck thru Les Paul clone with all the bells and whistles (ebony board, quilt top, compound radius, graphtech bridge, strap locks) for around $500 USD, and more basic ones for around $249. They're really decent guitars, just typically very heavy.

User avatar
kdawg2a
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3361
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:28 pm
Location: U S and A
Has liked: 239 times
Been liked: 1041 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by kdawg2a »

Not a guitar, but for staying power this gets a lot of credit from me. Peavey Delta blues 2x10 combo.
IMG_20230205_153036.jpg
IMG_20230205_153036.jpg (1.53 MiB) Viewed 1577 times
IMG_20230205_153110.jpg
IMG_20230205_153110.jpg (1.37 MiB) Viewed 1577 times
I got it off craigslist for $200. Apparently the 15 inch combos are more sort after but this is a frickin great wee amp. Nails the SRV tone to bits and every guitar I put through it sounds good, and I've got a lot of weird guitars. Made in Mississippi, handles a gold foil, what's not to love!
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

User avatar
kdawg2a
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3361
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:28 pm
Location: U S and A
Has liked: 239 times
Been liked: 1041 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by kdawg2a »

Oh, heavy as fuck. Find a local one before thinking of shipping.
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

User avatar
Bg
Site Admin
Posts: 43189
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:13 am
Location: Auckland
Has liked: 2255 times
Been liked: 3873 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by Bg »

kdawg2a wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:39 am Not a guitar, but for staying power this gets a lot of credit from me. Peavey Delta blues 2x10 combo.IMG_20230205_153036.jpgIMG_20230205_153110.jpg
I got it off craigslist for $200. Apparently the 15 inch combos are more sort after but this is a frickin great wee amp. Nails the SRV tone to bits and every guitar I put through it sounds good, and I've got a lot of weird guitars. Made in Mississippi, handles a gold foil, what's not to love!
I had a 15", was even better with an alnico in there. Suffered from tube rattles that I never quite got to the bottom of. Would go there again.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

User avatar
olegmcnoleg
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 5545
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:26 am
Location: Awkland
Has liked: 860 times
Been liked: 741 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by olegmcnoleg »

Bg wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:59 pm
kdawg2a wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:39 am Not a guitar, but for staying power this gets a lot of credit from me. Peavey Delta blues 2x10 combo.IMG_20230205_153036.jpgIMG_20230205_153110.jpg
I got it off craigslist for $200. Apparently the 15 inch combos are more sort after but this is a frickin great wee amp. Nails the SRV tone to bits and every guitar I put through it sounds good, and I've got a lot of weird guitars. Made in Mississippi, handles a gold foil, what's not to love!
I had a 15", was even better with an alnico in there. Suffered from tube rattles that I never quite got to the bottom of. Would go there again.
I had one of these also, a 2x10. I got it brand new for $300 USD while I was living in the USA--local music store closing down sale. Fantastic amp, loved the trem.

User avatar
jeremyb
Chorus of Organs
Posts: 40893
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:03 am
Has liked: 7692 times
Been liked: 4159 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by jeremyb »

Bg wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:59 pm I had a 15", that I never quite got to the bottom. Would go there again.
Fnarrrrr fnarrrrr
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

User avatar
Bg
Site Admin
Posts: 43189
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:13 am
Location: Auckland
Has liked: 2255 times
Been liked: 3873 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by Bg »

jeremyb wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:28 pm
Bg wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:59 pm I had a 15", that I never quite got to the bottom. Would go there again.
Fnarrrrr fnarrrrr
/sausagefest
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

User avatar
jeremyb
Chorus of Organs
Posts: 40893
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:03 am
Has liked: 7692 times
Been liked: 4159 times

Re: The Cheap Guitars Thread

Post by jeremyb »

Bg wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:58 pm
jeremyb wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:28 pm
Bg wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:59 pm I had a 15", that I never quite got to the bottom. Would go there again.
Fnarrrrr fnarrrrr
/sausagefest
It was your post buddy!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

Post Reply