Inexpensive Guitars that you Love

[Palehorseo]

My Dad's Celebration of Life was yesterday in Sequim WA. I was asked by the family to play a couple of songs he always requested and opted to take my Cordoba GK Studio on the plane. It worked perfectly plugged straight into the FOH.

Attachment 107672

that’s very moving. Thank you for sharing

[2bornot2bop]

This! Featuring a nitro finish. $650!

[Polyp]

This is my Ibanez AJF91. It cost me £300 and I spent another £50 on modifications. Sounds wonderful.

[Polyp]

Yamaha Pacifica 012. I put a Lil 59 in the neck position. It had new tuners when I bought it.

I've gigged a fair amount with it. It's my favorite to play at home because the neck is very small and very comfortable.

I bought a Pacifica 012 recently for £70. I removed the pickguard etc. and replaced it with one I made, with a Wilkinson stacked P90 in the middle position. I fitted CTS pots and an orange drop cap. Total cost was about £150. I only finished it today, but first tests, it sounds amazing.

[Bluedawg]

Picked up a PRS SE Zach Meyers recently.

It's really nice.

Looks great and sounds great.

Especially if you like blue guitars.

Just a moment...



also picked up a Sire M7 6 string bass.

[Spook410]

Gibson L5 Studio. Not an inexpensive guitar until you consider context. A really excellent guitar for a traditional jazz electric tone.

[Sleeko]

My 1994 Epiphone Emperor Regent. Big, bold, beautiful, smooth. Pretty as well.

[Gitterbug]

Oh yes, on the next tier up, AFJ-91 (modified) and Emperor Regent are all the archtop I'd ever need. These two guitars have perfect necks. Both have spruce as the topmost top veneer, and both have become acoustically more lively with age. Ibby's Super 58 PU needs no replacement. Polyp's take on the AFJ-91 looks absolutely classy. Out with the countertop pickguard and the clumsy, breakage-prone tailpiece. I retained the pickguard but made one out of MOP sheet, to match the fret markings.

[Glin66]

For acoustics, you simply can't beat the Yamaha FG700S/FG720S for the price. Solid top, consistent construction, comfortable, and they sound great.

[aebipesche]

I bought this TA40 used and put in 2 Seth Lovers. Now it plays and sounds great.

[GuyBoden]

I assembled this from parts I already had last year, then bought some nice Steinberger gearless tuners for it.

I've played it nearly everyday for practicing since, it's so nice and comfy to play.

[Palehorseo]

I’m worried this thread might have persuaded me to get a Squier paranormal…

[Bluedawg]

Gibson L5 Studio. Not an inexpensive guitar until you consider context. A really excellent guitar for a traditional jazz electric tone.

Nice!

I keep telling myself that my L5CES is inexpensive compared to a new Monteleone.

Works for me.

[2bornot2bop]

Gibson L5 Studio. Not an inexpensive guitar until you consider context. A really excellent guitar for a traditional jazz electric tone.

Absolutely inexpensive, for a Gibson. You got a steal on it, and in a rare Sunburst to boot!

[Gitfiddler]

Back in the mid-80's, Heritage Guitars of Kalamazoo, MI opened their doors and began building guitars based on several Gibson-based designs.
Compared to Gibson, Heritage prices were very inexpensive. Plus Heritage would build customer-suggested customized versions of their core models for just a marginal up-charge!

Those days are long gone, and its new owners have adopted a more 'normal' business model. Prices have increased for their basic models, and much more for any customization via their 'bespoke' program.

The point of this historical retrospective is that the original Heritage Guitars of Kalamazoo offered 'inexpensive guitars' for almost any budget.
Early adopters were treated to amazing custom shop guitars for a relative bargain price.

I love my 'early' Heritage guitars! A few are one-off, custom builds, but all are amazing bargains.

[omphalopsychos]

This is the guitar that got me started playing jazz about 9 years ago. I definitely put it through its paces but but you cannot compete with what Eastman was doing at that time. It's a 16" 335 shaped guitar. Unlike a 335 it's fully hollow except for a small block underneath the bridge (which is actually carved out of the back. The binding is all wood. The pickguard is ebony. The fingerboard is ebony. The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer. The top, unlike the standard Eastman 186 IS SPRUCE! With the all carved maple/spruce and mostly hollow construction, this is essentially the offspring of an L5 and ES 335. Can you believe I just sold it for less than $1000?

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Here's my first 7 string. It's an early ESP that I bought new in about '95. The only players who wanted 7 string solids back then were metalheads, and they also wanted points and whammy bars. So ESP couldn't give these away with their hard tails, rounded horns, arched tops, and basic humbuckers. IIRC, I got it for $300, but it could have been less.

It's beautifully made, with wood binding and a gorgeous finish that still looks new - and it plays like a dream. I played it yesterday at our Sunday blues brunch because I hadn't taken it out for a while, and it sounded wonderful through the Vibrolux. I got several compliments on the tone from both my band and the audience. Some of our regulars asked if it was a new guitar, since I usually play my Raines Tele 7 on blues gigs. I've done one fret level / crown / polish on it, and it's ready for another 30 years.

The shim under the G and D strings is because the board has a fairly short radius and the bridge slots never matched it (since it's an inexpensive guitar). I like very low action and I hate fret buzz. The easiest way to achieve those goals with the stock bridge was to shim the center strings and make sure the nut slots were perfect. Someday, I'll get around to deepening the saddle slots on the other strings to match the board's curvature. But I've never broken a string at the bridge (or anywhere else), and I'm afraid that if I deepen the slots I'll leave enough roughness to ruin this guitar's perfect record of string integrity. I've thought about a "better" bridge or even trying a wood saddle, but it plays and sounds so good like it is now that I'll probably leave it alone after 30 years of loyal service as it is.

[Franz 1997]

This. Ibanez 1860 model, early 70s, as a stripped husk from ebay. Lam maple neck, black nitro with a brush! A 10 year project. Fortunately I like black.

[lawson-stone]

I am a big lover of Epiphones. I love my Zephyr Regent and my Broadway. I have nice Gibsons that I love to play, but there is also a real pleasure in these two guitars as well.

[FRRGC_]

I have a Squier Bullet Telecaster I bought for about $130 on sale that is super resonant* and plays like a dream. I'm not crazy about the amplified sound, but the acoustic sound is nice and full and even, as far as electric guitars go, so one of these days I'm going to put a nice humbucker or mini humbucker in the neck and I know it'll be wonderful.

*Pro tip for anyone who buys a low end Squier, I have found they sometimes ship them out with the screws in the neck joint not fully tightened, which really kills the resonance. Perhaps its a conspiracy so theres a bigger difference when comparing them with Fenders at a shop. Always tighten them because it makes a huge difference!

[gitman]

I found a cheap Yamaha SA50 last spring and after a re-fret and general overhaul/setup it‘s an easy playing and great sounding professional grade instrument, IMHO on par with a Gibson ES330 or similar full-hollow thinline models.
It looks like this :
Yamaha SA-50 Hollow Body Late 60's | Reverb

[John A.]

I bought my son a starter pack with a Squier Affinty PJ Bass, Rumble amp, gig bag, strap and tuner for around $400. They shipped it with a more expensive model of the am to boot.

The on the bass bridge looks like it’s just pot metal and will probably fall apart, and the “satin” finish on the neck is a little rough, but it sounds and plays great. The amp too.

[alpop]

Here's something you don't see every day. It's a 1995 History brand HS-175. According to the seller it was Terada built for the Shimamura chain of music stores as a house brand.

It has a nitro finish and honestly plays and sounds better than a 2008 Gibson ES175 that I owned previously. (A poly tank.)

It arrived at my door for just over $1,500 Canadian dollars all in. (price, shipping, and taxes)

[pingu]

ulf Wakenius
does pretty good on his Aria Pro II !

[pingu]

I still like and play out
mostly with my old Ibanez af120

(I paid £220 for it , modded it a fair
bit , new switch , jack socket ,
neck pickup failed , still a great
guitar)