A first guitar for the wife - suggestions?

[WimWalther]

Maybe get her a gift certificate to a guitar store for your budgeted amount. Then you can go together and select the one that seems best, but still have a surprise factor.

Yes, it’s cool to have a guitar with a bow around it on Christmas morning or whatever. BANG!

But that’s mainly a feel good buzz for you yourself, honestly. For HER, it would be good to hold and play different guitars.

Hi Kirk,

Appreciate your thoughts, but you seem to be laboring under a misapprehension or two. Might be good to scroll back and re-read my relevant comments.

[Kirk Garrett]

Hi Kirk,

Appreciate your thoughts, but you seem to be laboring under a misapprehension or two. Might be good to scroll back and re-read my relevant comments.

Buy her a gift certificate and let her make the choice herself is my advice. Unless the whole guitar surprise buzz is more for you.

[Doctor Jeff]

Aye, this is as I'd presumed.

I've strung & tuned gits in the past, but not much more. Being the tech that I am, I'll probably take in whatever tutorials & so forth that I can find, then decide if doing a more complete setup on a new piece is within my abilities.

ETA: Watched & read several setup tuts. There's nothing there I cannot handle, and most of the tools I either have or can improvise. Do need to pick up a pack of torch tip cleaners.. or nut files as they are also known.

LOL that's what I use!

FWIW I have only used them once with a repair and have never really had a guitar have any issues at the nut. In my experience major playability issues are rare unless you're buying sight unseen or really cheap mass-produced guitars. Or weather damage or something like that.

I've probably bought/sold 30 guitars, if not more. Yes I know people talk about it all the time. And yes some people have bought many more guitars than me or do repairs or luthiery as their job.

Or maybe I just settle for minor defects. So take what I said with a grain of salt.

[RJVB]

I've strung & tuned gits in the past, but not much more. Being the tech that I am, I'll probably take in whatever tutorials & so forth that I can find, then decide if doing a more complete setup on a new piece is within my abilities.

Maybe find a professional to do the 1st set-up and see if s/he agrees to walk you through what clearly needs to be done beforehand and/or what was done afterwards. I'd feel horrible trying to improve a gift only to realise I messed it up. You'll have enough opportunities to fine-tune the guitar later - unless your wife discovers she likes to do that herself
Re nutfiles: get the MusicNomad ones that match the strings your wife settles on. Torch cleaners can do the job if you have nothing better but in that case an old string or the unused part of a new one can work just as well and I get the impression you appreciate having the right tools.

[WimWalther]

.. playability issues are rare unless you're buying sight unseen or really cheap mass-produced guitars. Or weather damage or something like that.

Or something like building one from a kit.. or.. getting a cheap-to-free cast-off that's been flogged and neglected into unplayability.

While I may have my various plans, I'm always open as to what-may-come. Sometimes, the deals that just fall into your lap are the best kind.

[sgosnell]

The problem with the tip cleaners is that they're very slow, and require a lot of work to get a slot lowered very much. They work fine to remove carbon buildup in torch tips, but they work bone or other hard materials very slowly. They will eventually get the job done, but it takes time. The advantage is that they're dirt cheap, and AFAICT that's the only one. My set has been in a drawer for years, without even being thought about, because I invested in some actual nut files. But for a one-time job by someone with limited income, they're a lot more economical and probably just as useful. Just don't expect to spend a few minutes on the nut, it will likely be much longer.

[WimWalther]

Re nutfiles: get the MusicNomad ones that match the strings your wife settles on.

Nice tools, I'm sure. But for $100-$300 a set, they make absolutely no sense for me. I'll probably use them once.

[WimWalther]

The problem with the tip cleaners is that they're very slow, and require a lot of work to get a slot lowered very much.

I can imagine. Thing is, time is something I have.. at least in this one sense. If the process is too slow, I'll improvise - sandpaper folded over a feeler gauge, or whatever.

Anyway, no point getting mired in these details right now. You've all been helpful in getting me thinking along the right lines, and so on. For one, I didn't realize how many decent, new instruments are available for not very much money.. even if I wish to avoid the PRC.

And speaking of the Chi-Coms.. I don't care what they call themselves. They are a still deadly enemy of Western-style liberal democracy, and free people everywhere. They represent real, functional evil in our times.

[Litterick]

It is best to do nothing, in case you might void the warranty.

[Christian Miller]

Chinese guitars may be a bit too expensive for this price point now anyway…

[Bluedawg]

Thanks for the tip.. but the only shipping option is eighty-four flipping dollars! Wtf?

Even though it says Thomann USA it seems they are still shipping stuff from Europe.

I was looking at a gig bag for my Mark Bass amp head and Thomann USA has the Mark Bass bag I need in stock, but the shipping costs for a $65 bag were around $54. Yikes!!

I guess the first clue was when you enter your shipping information it doesn't ask for your state, just your city and zip code. It works, but no US based store does it that way.

[pdfiddler]

Sweetwater is closing out there Fender Vintera I guitars and basses, fantastic guitars.
Epiphone China factory is owned by Gibson and workers are Gibson employees. Also Guitar Center has Epiphone ES 335 guitars for sale for $449.00 Fantastic guitars. GREEN, GOLD or black
ZZounds has ice tea Epiphone 335 for $500.00

[WimWalther]

Thank for the heads-up, pdfiddler.

@all

Did I mention that I'm primarily a tube audio tech? If any of you guys (gals?) have issues / questions about tube stuff, I'm happy to help where I can.

Btw, ever seen an "Elk" amp head? They're a period Fender copy, IIRC, from the early 70s. I did a full rebuild on one a few years ago - it was kind of a mess, but turned out to be a really sweet sounding amp. The owner still uses it as his main rig.

[rlrhett]

…

And speaking of the Chi-Coms.. I don't care what they call themselves. They are a still deadly enemy of Western-style liberal democracy, and free people everywhere. They represent real, functional evil in our times.

I share your feelings, but I can’t help but comment on the contradiction of expecting to buy a complicated and resource intensive consumer good for the price of a fancy dinner for two. That is the hold the Chinese have had over us.

I don’t make them anymore, but for about twenty years I made guitars on a hobby business basis. I sourced wood responsibly (urban lumber, plantation hardwoods, etc), avoided Chinese hardware, and bought pickups from artisan makers. A guitar would easily have $500-$1000 in raw materials. I would spend 50-60 man hours on each one, working in a shop I put at least $30,000 worth of tools in, in space that would have cost me $1,000/month to rent. I’ve given up on turning my hobby business into a real business. I can’t make $250 guitars because I can’t just appropriate land for a factory, I don’t have an army of near slaves to build the factory for me, I can’t commandeer power from a local power station, I don’t have the ability to ravage the forests of the world for cheap lumber, I can’t force displaced people to work in my factories for slave wages, I don’t control the roads and shipping ports to ship my guitars, etc.

The Chinese sell to our fantasies of wealth and consumer excess. We assume we should be able to buy luxury goods for near trivial prices. We seem happy to impoverish ourselves and empower hostile governments with values abhorrent to us for a relatively cheap Apple Watch.

Even a slab guitar has valuable hardwoods; industrially produced hardware; and complicated construction, assembly, and finishing processes. That costs money. You can buy used, you can buy a parts-caster from a company like Warmouth, or you can buy American made. You won’t be supporting the PRC, but it won’t be a new high quality guitar for a couple of hundred bucks.


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[WimWalther]

.. but it won’t be a new high quality guitar for a couple of hundred bucks.

I never said it had to be new. In fact, I'd prefer that it wasn't.

I'm not afraid to spend money - but I do fear spending the wrong money.

[Kirk Garrett]

I share your feelings, but I can’t help but comment on the contradiction of expecting to buy a complicated and resource intensive consumer good for the price of a fancy dinner for two. That is the hold the Chinese have had over us.
…
The Chinese sell to our fantasies of wealth and consumer excess. We assume we should be able to buy luxury goods for near trivial prices. We seem happy to impoverish ourselves and empower hostile governments with values abhorrent to us for a relatively cheap Apple Watch….


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Yep. Well said. The enemy is really us at this point.

[RJVB]

a relatively cheap Apple Watch.

Erm, in what world is any Apple product cheap relative to something it can be compared to?

And then the message is signed ...

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[rlrhett]

I never said it had to be new. In fact, I'd prefer that it wasn't.

I'm not afraid to spend money - but I do fear spending the wrong money.

You’re right, you didn’t. But I’m afraid even used an American made guitar will exceed your budget. Still, I think used will get you the closest. A used Tele would probably fit the bill best. Super versatile and available for less than American made PRS or Gibson in the used market.


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[sgosnell]

China isn't the only country in which guitars are made. Korea, Japan, and Indonesia also have guitar factories which export to Europe. Japanese guitars are near the price of US made guitars though. Fender produces guitars in Mexico, but I'm not sure there are any electric guitar factories other than that. Lots of classical guitars are made there, though.

[Kirk Garrett]

China isn't the only country in which guitars are made. Korea, Japan, and Indonesia also have guitar factories which export to Europe. Japanese guitars are near the price of US made guitars though. Fender produces guitars in Mexico, but I'm not sure there are any electric guitar factories other than that. Lots of classical guitars are made there, though.

I have a 2009 Squier that I love that was made in Taiwan, for whatever difference that makes. I spent $175 for it, then replaced most everything on it, probably for around $100 or so. But it’s a really good guitar.

[fep]

Even though it says Thomann USA it seems they are still shipping stuff from Europe.

I was looking at a gig bag for my Mark Bass amp head and Thomann USA has the Mark Bass bag I need in stock, but the shipping costs for a $65 bag were around $54. Yikes!!

I guess the first clue was when you enter your shipping information it doesn't ask for your state, just your city and zip code. It works, but no US based store does it that way.

Reverb.com is the U.S. distributer for Harley Benton. Free shipping

[RJVB]

But I’m afraid even used an American made guitar will exceed your budget.

Yeah, if you exclude most of what Godin build in Canada...

[rlrhett]

Yeah, if you exclude most of what Godin build in Canada...

“Most” of what Godin built can be had used for $300? That’s GREAT!!! Are you just talking Sessions and Stadiums, or is that true for 5th Avenues and Multiac too? I’m sure the OP would appreciate a listing. We all probably would. Can you share where you are seeing those prices? I might be interested in picking one up too.


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[Doctor Jeff]

Yeah, if you exclude most of what Godin build in Canada...

Good point. I think I mentioned a Kingpin above.

I understand people’s opinions about certain countries, but if you want to be a stickler throw away your iPhone or iPad and be prepared to do some research and pay a lot more for stuff.

Many guitars made in Indonesia or other Asian countries use Chinese parts. For instance, I think cheaper Epiphone pickups are made in China. (And Indonesia while technically a democracy is hardly a paragon of a clean, antidiscriminatory political system.)

I personally don’t think it’s productive to go down that rabbit hole. But if you want something at a reasonable price whose provenance is pretty well known, I’d go with Godin. I have read pickups on their cheaper models are made in Korea, otherwise the bodies and necks come from Canada and they’re assembled there as well.

[WimWalther]

I would recommend a Classical Guitar. The nylon strings are much easier on the fingers.

I find it amusing that a "classical" guitar requires a space-age material for some or much of its characteristic sound.

Originally, they were gut-strung, I'm guessing?