For those who can't afford higher end guitars, you can take on some of the steps that are left out when producing inexpensive guitars, thereby drastically improving the playability of your instrument. And I'm not talking about modding the guitar which inevitably costs you money. This costs a bit, but only initially. Pick yourself up a fret rocker, fret levelling beam, and a couple fret end files. Then watch several videos from respected luthiers demonstrating how to do a fret dressing. I'm not suggesting you refret the guitar. Just clean up the frets and make certain they're level. It's amazing how much better you can make an inexpensive guitar feel by doing this (side-eye to my Firefly that required an afternoon of work but is now a joy to play). Then shape the guitar's tone to whatever you want with pedals. Great video, Kris. As always.
"Pick yourself up a fret rocker" I impulse-bought one of the cheapest guitars in the store. The frets are perfectly level. I did fret leveling many times and I wouldn't be able to improve what I got stock. (The frets "needed" polishing, but it's overrated anyway, so I didn't bother. Just play it. They'll polish themselves out in no time.) I remember the times, when even expensive guitars needed work. Sometimes lots of it. Nowadays? Just avoid total dogs, but those can happen among more expensive instruments too.
Huh ? wth....listen...when U have a real passion for the instrument...one guitar...one amp, it's not enough ! I have an Epi Les Paul, never selling it...but I want a Gibson...own orange crush solid states...excellent amps..but I'll have a marshall tube head and matching cab lol...and so it goes
The most important thing about any guitar is: how does it feel to you. Is it comfortable? Is the weight ok? Neck profile? Assuming you have a bolt on neck everything else can be changed. You will play a guitar that's comfortable to you way more than one that is not. I have an Ibanez Gio that I changed pickups and tuners on that feels and plays great. I also have a 70's Les Paul that sounds awesome but is really uncomfortable to play so it sits in it's case under the bed. If you're playing in comfort and familiarity you will play more. And get better. My 2 cents.....
The best vintage guitars, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch etc... were products of being mass produced at as low as cost as possible, with very little consistency. Not every classic Gibson, or Fender is all that great. But the ones we remember and try to recreate were the "one in a million" guitars that can _only_ be produced under these less than ideal circumstances. Once CNC really took off, the most you could hope for was just mediocre. That extra deep carve, or that special shaped neck, because some worker was feeling sick, or still drunk, was gone. It's the same way with the pickups. With custom built guitars you still get that inconsistency of a hand shaped neck, which allows you to find your own "one in a million" treasure, much more easily. That being said, as long as there is a good QC at the end of the production line, you will be ok. And price and brand are NO indication of a good QC. I've seen some absolute garbage escape the Gibson, Fender, and Rickenbacker factories in disturbing numbers, given the price and reputation. And let's be really honest with ourselves for a moment... ...how much should something like a Telecaster really cost???
I agree with the interaction and feel part, mainly because the way we ear is mostly psicologic. Regarding the quality of the eletric guitar the truth is that they are very simple, you don't need much to make a guitar or an amp, and you can't improve on them no matter how much money you throw at it. Eletronics degrade, so vintage guitars can't be great ones by definition.
Totally agree with vintage guitars. Fenders were mass produced and not build by “luthiers” . I tend to go for “boutique “ guitars these days. Consistency all the way. Good brands will not let a bad one go out of the shop. Concerning CNC vs handcarved/handmade: definitely why cheap guitars are so much better nowadays than 40 years ago. On higher end guitars also, they tend to prefer CnC and finish them by hand for small details. Best of both worlds
Arthur G. Are you working in a guitar shop and have more insight? I don’t play or shop for cheap guitars nowaday but am always amazed at how got they sound and play for the ones I had the chance to play recently
Thanx for this really substantial vid about the differences of low to mid prize to exclusive gear. I am a luthier myself building only customshop guitars and basses under my own brand USG fine instruments. Its all custommade, all individual from head to toe... My instruments start at about 2450 for an electric and 2750 for an acoustic. Why? Heres a closer look on my calculation: Normally i spend about 600-800€ on hardware/parts for a guitar. Sometimes its 1000+ depending mostly on the PUs or/and sometimes on the chosen tuners. (You can easily spend 350-450€ for highquality tuners for an acoustic model...) It needs (in my case) between 75 and 100 hrs to build a guitar (electric). 40% plus for an acoustic. When theres a lot of designwork or very special wood/material choices involved or maybe some weird finish demands it can easily go up to 200 - 250 hrs per instrument. So anyone can easyly calculate a minimum prizetag that has to be written for such an highly individual instrument. My customers get an one of a kind instrument, tailored to their wishes and needs in any detail. Thats great and lots of fun for both of us... but also gas its price that cannot compared to the massmarket. Are my instruments any better than the others? Well, USG instruments are build with passion and pride, and will be as close as possible to perfection in every detail... but mass production with a lot of cnc involved or at least production with skilled workers/luthiers delivers a consistant quality and very good overall instruments on a reasonable prize - btw way better than 50 - 60 years ago when quality control wasn‘t much in the focus. So to be honest: No. Its handmade, its individual, its all you ever wanted... but its still an instrument ment to be played and tailored to the customers needs. with pros and cons. Another player having different needs and different preferences may find it not suitable or not as good as my customer does who has also a personal connection to this specific instrument.
i love handbuilt guitars the most, because luthiers usually put all their heart and 150% of their workmanshup in each of their built instrument, you cannot get something better than this!! none of the industry guitars will have this kind of dedication. but also not everybody can afford it, and it also doesnt mean you sound better or player better, but you maybe have a better inspiration when creating art and music, and you may have an instrument that accompanies you for your whole life. isnt that beautiful? i think it is! and i also always like to support local business (even if its offtopic, but especially when it comes to food.. support your locals) but i undestand, not everbody can affort to eat organic, local grown food that costs 10x times more than the mass produced food (which i absolutely dont want to eat, just by my moral decision).. but to solve this, we would need bigger change to how our whole world is setup, i dont think that will happen, but i know what i can change in my close surroundings.
I like my cheap guitars and upgrading them a little by myself. Mainly because I have a disease, luvalotaguitaritis, and don't have enough money to buy expensive ones. Also my playing ability doesn't justify buying high end guitars. Even the big name brand guitars I have are lower end models.
Jeffrey Eagen Ohh I know that one. It’s pretty dangerous I’ve heard. As far as I know people with ineedallthepedals syndrome get it easily. :) Jokes aside, if you know what you want and take your time, you’ll find the right ones. No matter which price point. Cheers
I feel the same way ,there's no point in spending thousands on a guitar,well bass in my case,just to jam with friends and play along to music at home,I can do that with a 2/300$ bass,then add whatever catches my interest parts wise. I don't buy pedals,once again no point spending hundreds,I get the same sounds using say my Vox stomplab ,it cost me 40/50$, behringer sells a DI pedal for 30$, no need to buy a sans amp.
I don't think your playing ability is the factor to justify having an expensive guitar. Van Halen made history with one of the cheapest axes on the market back then - he did exactly the same you are doing with your "cheap" guitars. Congrats!
I had a very similar approach years ago. There was a time when I dreamed of getting an American Fender Strat but just didn't ever think that I could really afford such a thing. Instead, I opted to buy $200 to $500 guitars and do work on them. After some years of that, I was in a little guitar shop that was selling a used American Strat. I wasn't a terribly good guitarist at that point (I was still lying to myself and pretending that learning about music theory was a waste of time) but I really, really liked playing that guitar. It had some problems and wasn't well taken care of but under all that, it was obviously just a better playing, better feeling, better sounding guitar than anything I had at home. In the end, I traded up a lot of my guitars to help cover the cost of the Strat and I don't regret that even now. In fact, I actually kinda kick myself for spending so much money on cheaper stuff when I could have just saved up a bit earlier in the process and actually gotten what I wanted. It never hurts to own a few cheaper guitars but if you want a more expensive one, even a bit of saving can make that happen a lot faster and a lot easier than you might think.
I LOVED this video Kris. Kudos dude, people need to hear this. I really wish more people would watch this. Sadly if I shared this to a few Facebook guitar groups I visit, it would get flooded by haters and trolls and snobs. That's too bad. I've played for 25+ years, and if it wasn't for Harley Benton Guitars, I wouldn't own most of the guitars I do, and I would NEVER be able to afford them if it wasn't for Harley Benton/Thomann. I do wish their shipping costs would go back down. $70 for a guitar or two kinda kills the appeal it once had, plus their prices keep going up and fewer models under $150-200 are being released, most new models are $300+. I guess I'm glad I got them while I could before they shot up in price. Pandemic didn't help either. I have however turned a good handful of people on to Harley Benton's, and they've actually purchased some, and of course they're happy. Seriously, I cannot easily put into works how much the Harley Benton brand and their Pricing of their Guitars has done for me. But yeah dude, well said, very well said. ALL of it. Thank YOU.
No i wouldn't 100 % agree at the high gain it's not matters so much but when you played crunched or clean you hear probally difference between a very bad and a very good pickup and often you notice output level differences.
Wrong. The most important part of the chain is actually the speaker/cab. It has way more affect on the sound than anything else in the chain. Amps can usually be made to sound close to the same with the exception of the amount of gain.
something i made good experience with: once i brought my old midrange ibanez (~1500usd modell) to a guitar-craftman. he worked it all over. i spend about 220usd. after that, it was just another guitar. of course you can't add the details and if you want upgrades, you pay for them additionally. but in this way, it's possible to get the body/neck adjustment close to perfection. i should have made this way earlier, and if it comes to smaller stuff i do everything myself. but when de frets/bridges are worn, it's just something i don't have the tools and the experience. after i experience what a good guitar maker can make out of my old guitar, i think many people can profit from just taking a little bit of money into their hand and hand it over to a professional. it may not pay off for really cheap modells, but for worn 1-2k modells, it's worth a try in my opinion. i felt in love again with my old lady after she got some love from a professional (don't do this with your actual lady !)
I just recently added a new Harley Benton Fusion II to my guitar collection, and it stands up to the best! My Les Paul Traditional with modded bridge valued just under 3k , Jackson Dinky valued at $1,200and my modded MiM Strat, are all fine tools for the job. The most impressive has been the Harley Benton with Seymour Duncan Trembucker! What a surprise for the quality of this instrument is second to none. So I believe if you have your guitars set up by a quality conscience luthier,the price just doesn't matter! Thanks for this video.... Rock on all my Brother & Sisters Play it Loud & Proud...!!!
There are some guitar maintenance skills that are very valuable for every player to learn. Like fret leveling, recrowning, edge bevelling/rounding. And some simple mechanical things like changing tuners. Or some simple electrical things like changing PU or custom wiring options. Buying a "cheap" guitar to practice on is a great option. I would hate to be learning on a $3000 instrument. One of my best guitars started life as a Squier Affinity. Lots of fret sprout initially, bad action, bad tuners. But with a little work, it felt like the best guitar I had ever played. So I upgraded the tuners, PU, took the high gloss shine off the back of the neck, added a series switching option. This happened over a couple of years, and the upgrades in total cost way more than the original guitar cost. But it ended up being an awesome guitar, and I learned a ton along the way. And keep in mind that, even if your $3000 guitar has wonderful set up and fret ends when you buy it, wood shrinks and necks bend, frets wear .... sooner or later that $3000 guitar is going to need the same sort of work I had to do on my new Squier. But now I have the tools and skills to approach that with confidence.
I have found a lot of satisfaction overall in finding the midrange in most products. I feel like you generally get what you pay for, but there are diminishing returns the higher you start to go in price. I am also pretty sure that at some stage I won’t be attuned to the subtle improvements that a real expert or professional is. So for me the Fender Mexican made Player series hit the right spot: a marked improvement over entry level that doesn’t break the bank.
Amen!!! .....and with many pricey guitars, what you are paying for is huge advertising and promotionsl expenses and a huge legal team to protect their logo and trademark. That Gibson tour bus, those two Gibson 18 wheel rolling museums and all those lawyers add up to a big chunk of that 3000$ Gibson retail price.
There was a video interview with Trevor Wilkinson very informative on this subject , I own a Vintage Brand guitar love it, 3 P 90'S on a Strat , it's the player that makes the guitar sing, but I spoken with many Guitar Techs who had expensive high end Fenders and Gibsons that needed extensive setup, one thing about Vintage brands they use highly respected Wilkinson Hardware,
Rodney Russell you can find pretty good guitars in that price range too. You just have to search longer until you find the one. But that’s not too bad, is it? Cheers
The advantage of an affordable guitar is that you can take upgrades when you are ready. In the meantime you have a guitar to play on. It took me many years to bring my guitar to perfection, and that was fine for me.
I’m fortunate enough to have some expensive guitars, but I love my Harley Benton and play it almost as much. It is not quite as good but I don’t notice when I’m in the zone. Plus I don’t have to worry about scuffs and scratches.
mictechshooter me too :) I have some expensive fenders some vintage ones too but I got a Harley Benton fusion II in a trade and I love it! I’d say the craftsmanship is on par with my fenders
I've never had a name brand guitar or bass. I have a squier affinity tele, peavey 5 string bass and a g&l bass. They all play great if you set them up right
Never buy a guitar thinking it will motivate you more. If you don't motivate yourself you'll never be able to progress. If your guitar has problems, 90% of the time the problems are fixable. At least that's what I always thought
@@pedrosilvaproductions Within reason i agree, not everything is fixable but stuff like tidying up frets and upgrading hardware sure, as long as you are doing it yourself or at least have a friend to do it, these days it seems less common... I se youtubers who cant even solder for example! If you have to pay someone, better just buy a platform that's functional out of the box. A guitar that wont hold tune, intonate properly, has poor fretwork etc isnt going to help a beginner's motivation to play. Ive picked up and put down guitar over a long period of time, sold some instrument's while keeping others. Never had a really cheap guitar except one squier i had for a short time 15 years ago, it was okay but not as nice as what i mostly played. I tend to like Japanese stuff, as it can be affordable and holds its own very well. My main guitar is the most expensive guitar iver ever owned, an AO 50's Tele and it does inspire ME to pick it up and play! It is however not drastically better than my first Tele which was a JDM 52 that cost me something like 600usd when i purchased it 15 years ago, wish id hung onto that one... At the end of the day though having the desire to practice, learn and improve is by far the most important thing and does make more difference than playing a $100 squier or a $2000+ Fender. Despite playing of and on for like 20 years ive progressed most in my most recent stint of playing again since early Nov because i have put the effort in, cant always play every day (life gets in the way at times) but i do average over a week a bare minimum of 2 hours of practice per day, given time i will play for 6,8 or even 10 hours and i have seen the gains in my ability, doing stuff i never did even after playing for years, because i never put in the effort to improve.
The best guitar is the one that feels better in your hands. If having an expensive guitar motivates you to play more and to put your soul into the music, so go for it. If you don't care about brands and only about feel, just buy the guitar that makes you want playing everyday. I have a friend who is a professional guitar player and has lots of expensive guitars. But this year he bough an Affinity Telecaster and he loves it.
that is what a nice custom shop Jackson USA guitar did for me and made me a way better player as I enjoyed playing more often. Now I want a custom Fender Telecaster, ESP Japan Custom, Gibson LP Custom.
I am a guitar player myself. I don't like to hate on guitars at all. I just don't like paying more then I should on a good instrument.I only have 2 guitars and they both get lots of play. I have my DG-9 Fender acoustic guitar a friend and his family got me for Christmas in 2000. I also have my 1968 Squier Thin Line Telecaster I bought for $350.00 in 2009. I'm happy with what I got.Don't need no more. But here in the USA, we are facing a Covid crisis. So it makes no sense to me to buy more guitars when there isn't many places to play.So be thankful with what I got.
For me, playing guitar is a spiritual experience. We are all literally vibrations; that's why music moves us so deeply, & why resonance is one of the most important things in a guitar. You get resonance from high quality lumber, hardware, & craftsmanship. So when I decide to buy a guitar I use metrics that I feel are more conducive to a spiritual experience to make my decision. Is this purchase benefitting my community? Did the person who made this guitar, profit from their work, equal to the amount of energy they put into it? Is the wood this guitar is born from, harvested sustainably? When I ask those questions, factoring in superior resonance, playability & tone that a professional instrument lends it's owner; the only guitars that fit the bill, are higher-dollar guitars. But think about it... what's $1000-1800 anyway? Even if you could only save $50 a week, which damn near every gringo can; you'll have an amazing instrument that can be an heirloom if you like your kids, in only 2 1/2 months! Don't waste years of your life playing on a plank, when only a little discipline & patience (which you already have if you've learned to play), will land you a treasure for life.
I forgot; don't pay for cosmetics. Make sure the money you spend is on the actual guitar, that can net you quality at a much lower price point. Unless you want frills, but that's satisfying a completely different kind of itch that has nothing to do with music.
@@JeighNeither you are very welcome! you brought some much more and such important aspects to this conversions, not only for guitars, but in general! i assume most people are not even aware or think about and thats also a reason, why the world is like it is :(
My son and I usually buy used and we always go with the feel of the guitar first, Electronics even Hardware is not too big of a deal but if it feels good in the hand we can always upgrade components and the Resonance of the guitar is important as well 👍
And the music you make will be done on the neck / fretboard . The most important part of a guitar is the part you actually play on . The rest holds everything together . Pick ups are the voice . I'm amazed at the quality necks and fretboards being made today , in mass production overseas shops ! Those people love their jobs and do the best work they can everyday taking pride . With strict quality control being important to them . I own a couple Fender Squires made in Indonesia that traveled all the way here in just a cardboard box , arriving in absolute perfect condition , perfectly set-up , play like butter , no sharp frets , ultra smooth neck , no flaws anywhere , etc .... amazing . I also own more expensive American made ones . So I have a baseline for comparison . Dudes , pots caps switches and knobs are VERY cheap replacements , and only just because you think you need to change them when you really dont . 30 bucks of little parts should not raise the price by 1 or 2 K on a exact SAME guitar build . A lemon is a lemon no matter where and or who built it . But a good guitar is what it is . It takes an experienced player less than 30 seconds with playing a guitar to know how good or bad a guitar is . Just me and my 30+ years opinion with playing guitars . Interesting well done video . Tks !
Ive got 2 guitars ill never sell, one is a gibson and the other is a modified squier strat. Price doesnt mean much after a few upgrades on cheap guitars. Resale obviously wont be there but oh well.
@@MBEG89 I have refused offers for my 84 Aria Pro ii. The only mod I made was tone and volume pots. I have been offered over $500 for it. Nope was my response.
I will agree,but to a point. I have a 2009 Washburn WI64 that I purchased new for $399. Solid mahogany body and solid piece 1 piece mahogany neck. The stopbar and tom bridge were hideous,had saddle rattle and did not sustain well at all. I changed those to Tone Pros aluminum locking,changed the existing Grovers to Grover locking Rotogrips,and installed Stew-Mac alnico v PAF pickups,put in high grade vol and tone pots. Had my lutheir to lower the frets. It has low buzz free action,stays in tune and sounds incredible. Even though I have more in the guitar than the purchase price,I cherish it,I love it and will not sell it. My luthier offered to buy it,and have had other offers--$850 and $900. I will put that one up against anything else. It has a super slim neck;it just feels like a part of me.
Got two Harley Bentons. Strat-Style and Tele-Style. Out of the box they looked awesone. I modded them, that's my hobby. New strings, new locking tuners etc. Polished and oiled the fretboard, adjusted them and so on. Now they are also playable amazing. The feeling in our fingers are doing another important job! So lets play with cheap, mid price range or expensive guitars! However, feel food by playing music and the audience will give applause😊👍Thanx for this vid! Kurt
Yes that's true. Expensive guitars are mostly expesive for a reason, but less famous makers will put the same effort into their guitars as a famous custom shop guitar because they have a reputation to build, while some famous brands may think they got the fame and that much effort is not needed anymore. So, the price to value relation is better in many cases with the less famous brands. Another thing is the prestige. If somebody asks you what guitar you play and you name a brand that nobody knows they might just roling their eyes if at all, while if you say you own a "what do i know guitar" then people will think ahhh ok nice. I would like to have one of those too.
Expensive guitars are -- in theory -- "good" right out of the box, whereas cheap ones may need to be worked on and upgraded in parts/electronics. However, there's something to be said about "personality" of the instrument which, in my experience, is rarely directly proportional to market price.
My theory about guitars---they all make music. And we are better off for that. Well there's a rose in a fisted glove And the eagle flies with the dove And if you can't be with the one you love honey Love the one you're with Stephen Stills Right on.
Fantastic overview of the fundamental differences between entry level, mid-tier, and top level custom shop and boutique built guitars (along with heavily upgraded entry- and mid-level instruments). The one spoiler I'll add is what this video lacks: hate/shade for any of the above. Highly recommended!
One of my favourite live bands uses only Squier and Epiphone guitars. They sound great! I did see them use a Roland Jazz-Chorus and a Fender Showman, so they don't seem to cheap out on amps.
Another option is to build your own custom using Warmouth parts. You get to pick the pickups you want and can build a really sweet guitar for not much money. I built a "T" style guitar with Warmouth body and neck. All other parts are Fender or Stewmac. I am impressed with the end product!
I read the difference between an American Made Fender and a Mexican made Fender is about 90 miles lol. I got a Fender Telecaster made in Mexico and I think it is a fabulous guitar for 800 bucks or so. I cannot find a thing wrong with it. Stays in tune, feels great, plays great and sounds great. I also have an old cheap Peavey Matador I think that I blocked the tremelo on, because it stunk, but it is a good guitar I bought for 50 bucks off of someone. Weighs a ton though lol. And if it gets lost damaged or stolen, it is no big deal. I left a Gibson Les Paul at a friend's house once and he hocked for some blow. Some friend he was lol. My bad for leaving it out of my control.
Thanks Kris for this great video! I have some more expensive and more mid-range. You hit the mark exactly correct, we can modify some parts on the least expensive to make it shine in glory. My strange story is that I love my Yamaha Pacifica's just as much as my Gibson's and Fender's. I do not know why, but I do! ! Did I tell you how much I enjoyed this video? LOL
Steve Cochrane haha! That’s awesome Steve, thanks a lot! Yeah I love my 2015 Les Paul CM (aka my Junior) as much as my CS 58 reissue. The only difference is that I had luck to find this one exceptionally good CM and pretty much all 58 reissues are as good as mine. Haha!
I bought a Blade Tele in 1992 vor 2200DM/1100 Euro, which was very expensive at this time. I am still playing it as my main guitar, so I spent around 39 Euro per year. My Blade turned out to be cheap guitar.
Harley benton, esp, ltd, fender, squire, prs, gibson are all made on cnc machines in a factory on a assembly line with one person stacking up bodys another stacking necks, one glueing or screwing, one putting in frets one dressing, one watching a machine cut nuts. All your buying for that money really is a brand name. I build guitars, the highest end pots are $10, pickups run more but you can get really good sounding ones for under a $100, $ 200 for some duncans, american top end fenders wood cost maybe $50 a guitar probably more like $5 cuz they buy in bulk. Ash, alder, maple are cheap and even on their nice tops its a veneer
They look, for me at least, like a frickin steal. Amazing how far they came in terms of mid range prices with really high end stuff. price is less than 400€ and you have locking tuners, stainless steel frets, graphtec nuts etc? Sign me in
If it's still actual I can approve they are awesome. I'm owning a HB Fusion-T and it's the best guitar I've ever had. I just don't want to change a thing in it. It's the first time ever happened to me :) plays great, sounds good, looks amazing. What else one needs? Suhr logo on the headstock?
Really really good explanation and big picture of the guitar industry!!! Nowadays a lot of cheap guitars are good, I played a bunch of cheap/mid-range 90' that were not so good(to be kind) !!!! Quality overall is better year after year for the cheaper ones, it's harder for the big names to keep up. There is more competition than ever and for occasional players, student and consumers in general it's an awesome opportunity. Keep up your good work!
Point of diminishing returns can happen pretty quickly in the guitar world depending on what youre getting. Mid range guitars are often the most cost effective but also have the worst resale. Guitars above a grand usually hold value pretty well.
This biggest tip for me is to try the guitar first. As you said, there are going to be hits and misses when it comes to that price point. That said there's plenty of reason to buy a cheap guitar even for advanced players. If you get a good base you can upgrade the guitar to your liking and make it play however you want. I think the 300 to 400 dollar range is the sweet spot. Below that there are a couple of models like the Kramer baretta and Jackson js22 that are usually good upgrade platforms. Great vid.
Words of the wise, this is very true. I used to play >1000 USD guitars, then financial decision hit me and I sold them and switch to 200-300 USD custom guitars, some are custom made (so it was the cost for building). Fret works and finish is what really spoke to me, with good fret levelling, I can manage to have a near-perfect setup (low as possible yet maintain note ringing well). I refret and redo the fret dressing to a guitar tech, and now my T style and S style guitar plays amazing. This would lead you to comfort and how often you would want to touch the guitar. Wood is also important in term of resonance and helping pickup get a decent amount of vibration, but at 200-300 USD I trust those manufacturers you already get a useful although not fancy guitar wood. No neck warp, no weird wood that don't sing and ring well. This ensure you get a decent amount of resonance even unplugged, and it can help with feeling satisfied about your guitar is ringing enough bells and whistles. Aside from build and craftmanship, is below: Electronic wise, there are many decent pickups out there, study and select the right numbers of caps, resistors, pots, etc for your needs (have a chat with someone in a forum or friends nearby, peek at their expensive guitars), and you're good to have the sound you might needed. No recipe for this, although there are some 'standard' or 'generic' schematics which you could use as starting guidelines. Then finally, have yourself a good, original set of strings, not using cheap or fake ones, to ensure your voicing comes out nicely. Guitar strings is like vocal chords of a vocalist. You'll need it in decency to make sure what you heard is what you can play and want to play. No dead strings, no weak sounding string, with a set of original string. PS: you could start locally with that 200-300 USD price range, bought a midrange one at 400-600 USD, or have a well known builder to have the body/neck ready for you (and it could get you to the 900-1000 USD range).
We are living in the "golden age" of affordable guitars with manufacturing standards at an all-time high, so it should not be too difficult to find a good one, especially at the mid-price range.
I have LOTS of guitars, some expensive and some not - I bought them based on my interest in the instrument, not the cost. My two main gigging guitars are my Fender American Original 50s Telecaster (about £1500.00) and my Harley Benton TE52 (£120.00). Both are great!
I have a 2012 Agile AL-3010SE it is my #1 LP and I bought it used for 350$US (Pre-Pandemic) which includes a Douglas premium HSC. It is 100% stock with an archtop maple-capped mahogany body with a mahogany set-neck with 13.7" radius ebony fretboard, abalone traps inlays, and 22 jumbo frets. The body, neck and headstock has cream binding while the body and neck are finished in blue burst over the flame maple top. Over the course of a decade in the Hawaiian sun, the transparent blue has faded to a teal green hue. The stock chrome A5 7.75/7.25κΩ humbuckers actually sounded better than a set of REAL nickel A2 8.2/7.3κΩ Pearly Gates. I know because I tried installing a set and ended up putting the lower output stockers back in. This guitar MSRPed for 325$US plus 100$US for the Douglas EGC-400LP hardshell case. Plus whatever the shipping would've been back then. Let's call it even 600$US shipped. At that price, it's a steal compared to how much a similarly appointed Gibson LP would've gone for. I think even an Epiphone wouldn't be able to compete price-wise even if it had a similar build available, which I think Epiphone don't have. Quality wise, I'm perfectly satisfied with it and have had people who had "Authentic" Gibsons (yes, I STILL remember that bullshit) say it compares favourably to them. One even offered to buy mine. Told him, Hell No! On the Strat side, I have a 1980s Stage CS-327 Strat Copy. Altho it has a plywood body, the bolt-on neck is a maple/maple that has some tiger striping visible in the glossy neck and fretboard. The guitar's arctic white and clear gloss has aged to a sandy cream and amber gloss, respectively. The white single ply pickguard has aged to a parchment tint. The white pickup covers has aged to a nice rich almost-golden cream, a sandy cream and a medium parchment colour on tge neck, middle and bridge, respectively. The knobs & switch tip also has similarly aged from white to a range of medium to light parchment colors. Unfortunately the trem bar has a tip that has aged to a golden cream but I've removed it because it has become brittle and started cracking with pieces breaking off. I still have the damaged tip in storage. The pups sounds good altho I had to sub out the obviously replaced ceramic bridge pup for a late-model Affinity HSS's neck pickup that looks very similar to the existing neck & middle 5.0κΩ pups but at 7.0κΩ. I may swap the pickups thenselves for a set of alnicos, but I will reuse the vintage covers. This guitar is my #1 traditional styled Strat (basically a Strat with pickguard mounted electronics). I absolutely LOVE how it Feels! It balances well, has a nice hefty weight (I prefer heavier guitars), the neck feels GREAT in the fretting hand and the body has good resonance when strummed. I have NO Idea how much this guitar MSRPed in the '80s, but I paid only 60$US for it. I think I only spent about another 100$ in this guitar in the form of another '80s Strat Copy to use as parts source to replace the missing rear cover, a damaged pup cover and missing switch tip. I also bought a brass plated Straplock which has tarnished to roughly match the sandy color of the guitar body! I'm figuring on spending at least another 50$US on a set of alnico pups and I reckon I oughter be finished with this guitar …aside the need for getting a proper hard shell case for this guitar!
When I worked in the wine trade, there was a tale that was thrown around quite a lot. It was basically over the eternal question: "What makes a bottle of wine good?" The answer was, quite simply, "One you enjoy drinking". The same philosophy applies here I reckon...."One you enjoy playing". My lack of skill, &/or talent will always be the limiting factor of any guitar long before the price tag comes into play. Currently in my stable of instruments, the one I play the most is one of the cheapest, my Harley Benton TE-62DB which I absolutely love. If you asked me why, I probably couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer....it just makes me want to play, it feels right in my hands, resting on my leg, or hanging round my neck and it's my go to guitar whenever I'm trying to learn a new technique, a new riff or a new song - even when I've got "better" guitars, or guitars supposedly more suited to certain styles of music, or more expensive ones.....I invariably gravitate towards the little HB most of the time. Go figure. I know I've played better guitars, heck I own several that should be better and probably are...we just like what we like and most of it is entirely subjective. Bear in mind, I'm just a hobbyist and play only at home for my own enjoyment - I don't perform or play in a band, I wouldn't even refer to myself as a guitarist, which, in my head, seems way too bold a claim to make. My guitars therefore have a pretty easy life and I wouldn't know how some of the budget ones would hold up as tools in the hands of a working musician and don't really care - of the cheaper instruments I have bought and kept, the fact that I kept them is evidence enough of their quality and worth - to me at least. They don't have much resale value, obviously, compared to my handful of Fender or Gibson models, but any cheap guitars I have bought were purchased to play and try out - I've kept the best of them and offloaded quite a few more over time. Overall, I'd say I haven't lost a lot of money on them because I didn't spend a lot on them to begin with.
It's the old 80:20 rule which loosely applies to most human activities. You can get 80% of your ideal result with 20% of the effort, resources, time etc (eg. mass production); it then takes the remaining 80% effort, resources, time etc, to get the final 20% of your ideal result (eg. custom shop/high end). The 80:20 rule plus factor in much more expensive bits and labour and we're getting there.
@@corymcgrath5652 No it isn't. We are talking about something limited . You can build a million dollar hammer and it will performe has a far cheaper one. If can have a mona lisa reproduction far closer to the original but still with a fraction of its value. If we are taking about a guitar like a piece of art or a colectible, then yes, has a guitar no.
Yes, you can definitely get away with buying a mid grade guitar and play a gig and nobody will know because you might have very good skills. My deal is that l have been playing for four decade's. Spent countless hours practicing. That's why I like higher end guitar. I don't have money to burn, it just gets to a point where you have so much of your own time invested you want to have a very good nice quality guitar because you deserve to. Yes you can get away with a cheaper model. There's nothing at all wrong with that, but in my very humble opinion if you put years and years literally decades of learning and playing a high end guitar seems to inspire you to the next level. And l believe that's what everbody that plays want's , the next level. Just my stupid opinion. Rock on and cheers.
the bentley sounded disapointing in this video. But great looks! As they are normally sold over "photo-looks" online this is a logical concept. I never would buy a guitar online other than for decoration.
Not to fanboy on PRS, but the video of them unloading a huge truck full of wood, then picking through the whole thing, selecting maybe 10-20% of the wood and reloading it back up and send the rest down the road. That has to cost a crazy amount of money. I’m sure to train a guy to do that, he tends to be well paid, which adds a ridiculous amount to the price. Just the initial QC is so over the top and that costs crazy amounts of money to the final product. Great video as always brother. Much love from Tulsa.
Gibson is obvious exception to this rule..They made expensive guitars with premium materials but QC sucks..I can tell you as owner of 2 Gibson Les Pauls..And I tried dozen of Standards, Customs, Classic in shops. Each and every have some anomaly..Ridge on neck or body binding, poorly scraped neck binding and finished nibs etc...I also found that studio faded models without all that premium stuff(binding,hi gloss etc).. are built more consistent and is better chance to find 'perfect' example...
As a machinist I must say that hand built means nothing to me, I think components will have most impact on quality. Manauell work take alot of time, while machines are fast and extremely accurate. But of course machining needs to be combined with luthier skills. I sent my premium Jem for PLEKING and the results were great, but the price were higher compared to a ordinary freth dressing. Maybe its possible to make it as good by hand, but is it possible to have 0.01 mm precision by hand?
thats a good point, i agree that you dont only need the proper tools (machines), but also the proper educated staff working with these tools who are also strive to make the best product/quality work, which falls than back to working conditions and work ethics where these parts are beeing produced. this is not a new topic at all, loads of industries suffered in quality for a very long time when they started to outsource their "automated" production to foreign countries
The quality gap is closing though. What you can buy now for 300 to 500 is ridiculously good and then there are the premium brands that aren't always that great. I just went to the music store thinking I was going to grab a gibson lpj for a beater, experimentation guitar so I picked one up and there was a gap down a long portion of the fret board. The next one buzzed like crazy. I've got a gibson es 137 that sounds awesome but it's not perfect either, one of the sides by the single cut was cut on an angle and there is a crooked gap between the wood and the binding. I also have a Corona California strat that had so much clearcoat on the frets that i had to tape off the maple fretboard and slice the clear down the fret with an olfa blade and polish them all afterwards, so bad that some of the fret crown was clearcoat and removing it was almost a bad idea. I didnt end up buying a Gibson lpj the other day but a friend sold me a cheap epi SG for 80 bucks. It was almost new and everything was perfect on it(only thing I didnt like was the bolt on neck). Not a painted guitar, exposed grain, stain grade so less room for error. Going to swap out all the electronics when work slows down, cut a bone nut for some heavier strings and cut a reverse batwing pickguard for it out of some veneer maybe copper or something.
I make over $100,000 grand a year and just bought a Epiphone Riviaria. I was looking for a guitar that had p90's and that one has them. I love it! My brother asked why I bought it since I could afford anything I wanted and I said because it sounds good and looks good.
The guitar that's worth buying is the one you as a player bond with the most. Then that's when the price tags or journeys just sort of seem to matter less (to an extent) because you know you have a keeper.
in the early 2000's when we started seeing higher quality cheap guitars I had a whole stable of fiddle I bought through the 80's and 90's.. Always afraid to damage them at gigs etc.. So I actually started with my "cheap" guitar collection looking for expendable stage gear.. I drop or damage a $2500 LP I'm gonna cry.. I drop or damage a $350 harleybenton , bad cat, or firefly lp , Im gonna be bummed , but it wont take a chunk out of my retirement fund to replace it...
Kris, have you looked at the 10S guitars? They are a very small custom guitar builder in Beijing, China. They are using real materials (real mother of pearl, real ebony wood fretboards, real maple tops, and real mahogany bodies and necks) and are [supposedly] hand-built by guitar luthiers. I first heard about them a few weeks ago, but they've been in business since around 2017. I have Gibsons, Epiphone's, Fenders, Ibanez, Jackson, etc... But I was intrigued by the reviews I saw online, and how people were pulling them apart to check build quality and were showing long neck tenons, real materials, pretty high-quality craftsmanship and fit and finish...But at a VERY attractive price point. I checked them out, and ended up pulling the trigger on one a few days ago, so I haven't gotten it yet. But I figured it was worth the investment if it has good bones... I can always upgrade the tuners and hardware and toss in a Seymour Duncan and some switchcraft jacks and CTS pots if it's not up to par. I got this one. reverb.com/item/26861216-10s-gf-goldtop-relic-single-humbucker-electric-guitar-vintage-antique Like you said, quality is not always indicative of price, especially when cheaper labor countries are brought into play, like China, Indonesia, Korea, etc... Since you are also a Les Paul guy with Gibsons and Epiphones, I would love to see a review on one, and how you feel it compares to both. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. 🤘🏻
@@jaezryl Of course. This happens almost always (If you aren't buying a collector's piece) But as you know isn't the same to sell a Made in USA/Japan expensive guitar as any other cheap Made in Korea/China/Indonesia guitar. By selling a guitar you always lost a bit of money, but in the case of cheap guitars you always lost more money than the expensive/recognized guitars.
Is my Japanese Ibanez jem 777 made in Japan from 1989 better than my Harley Benton Fusion Pro2? I love them both like brothers, but man, I really love the Jem.
Great commentary on the subject, Kris. After owning guitars all across the spectrum, I too have settled on a 50s tele reissue. Looks almost exactly like yours lol. It’s not custom shop, but you can tell it had a very high standard of production. Made in Corona late 90s. $1250 new, $850 used in 2003. It plays and sounds best out of my two LP Studios, Am Strat, 70s SG p90s, 80s LP jr. I bought a used LPJ to get an “affordable “ goldtop. and someone had put an epiphone LP set of pickups n electronics in it. 🙄. But obviously it worked for them. I changed it back to LP studio specs. Sounds good and plays pretty well, but it’s absolutely clear it was a much lower production standard than a LP standard or even a normal LP studio model. I’ve tweaked and touched it up and got it to my liking, but it will never quite be as good as the real thing. But that’s ok, I didn’t want to shell out the $, and it basically does what I want while looking badass. 😂 Rock on....
Thanks a lot Allen! That’s my experience too. You can get really good affordable guitars with a little luck. Chances are still bigger finding an even better guitar if you go higher up in the price range. Guitar brands know what they’re doing. Haha
My most expensive guitar is over $4k and cheapest around $550. The expensive one... PRS core 24 is built to perfection and has a flame top that is stunning. My cheapest guitar is a Squire classic vibe 50s telecaster. I may have gotten lucky because my CV is perfect also.... but I'm very picky to make sure everything is in order when I buy any guitar. I think they both sound incredible. I can't say one sounds better than the other just different. I can obviously tell that for asterisks the PRS is in a league above almost any guitar... but the CV is no slouch...it sounds, feels and plays stellar. It may not have a fancy top or nitro finish...or locking tuners... but it's still a great guitar. I have eight other guitars that are fairly expensive too. I do find that overall the more expensive guitar the better quality... but things are changing where I see some mid priced guitars that are quite exceptional. But at the end of the day if you don't care about asterisks you can certainly find a few exceptional sounding and playing guitars for very cheap these days... with quality parts, pickups, etc. The CV is one of them, PRS SE silver sky is another... sterling cutlass, PRS SE 245 and Zach Wilde... and Chris Robertson are some others that if you are lucky and find the right one can be a quality instrument.
That said about wood, I bought the HB cabronita equivalent and totally lucked out with an awesome beautiful light one that blew the floor model away. Had a HB tele, the cheapest one for 79€ that had a flamed maple fingerboard and a body that was so well matched it looked like one piece from front and back, but of course that one had to be a boat anchor. I would have never sold it otherwise.
I am not a guitar player but i believe if you are planning to buy one, try to get access to as many as possible and play them to find the ONE that you like and fits your style of playing.
I have an Epiphone Sheraton, and man... Let me tell you. It's my favourite guitar. It does everything perfectly from Django Reinhardt to Queens of the Stone Age and between.
Those are really good machines. I've never played a guitar with such a low action before. The luthier who set up the one I played he really knew how to REALLY make them low
I bought my first gutar in 1980 for £100. It was a Kay Tulip, and by every measure today, it was a total piece of garbage! I am AMAZED at the quality you can get for less than that these days (taking inflation into account) A Harley Benton strat copy is ten times the guitar my old Kay was! Trust me, this really is a golden era for guitars and guitar players! (oh, and my next guitar is likely to be a Schecter Nick Johnston signiture - I'm a strat man all the way but sadly fender don't make what I want in that price bracket - no slam on fender, it just is what it is)
One thing one should be aware of when comparing guitars is bias in familiarity. If you already own the guitar you are very familiar to it because of the time put in. For example I own a Schecter S1 Elite which I bought because it FELT good and SOUNDED good to my ear. Years ago I got to play a Joan Jett (love me some Joan) signature Gibson. Now, loved the look and the sound was pretty good, but because it didn't have my brand or guage of strings, or my set up (I'm a rhythm guy, look up rhythm guitar setups) it just didn't have that edge or familiar feel. Now since it was twice as much as what I bought for my Schecter and my Schecter looked, felt and sounded better, well I passed on the Gibson. I ended up coming home and appreciating my Schecter even more. I will point out that both are essentially stock. Also I played the Gibson on an amp that was not mine. Now, if I had both side by side through one of my amps, I think it would be the same outcome but I think I might appreciate the Gibson more. Now two big places to spend time and money are: 1. A really good amp. 2. A professional set-up. These two will bring out the best in the gear you have and the guitars you want. Is my Partscaster Tele in my pic as good as a Custom Shop Fender? No. Will it give the Custom Shop a run for it's money? Hell yeah! Will it complement a Custom or high end guitar? Oh yeah it will! What do I have in that guitar financially? More or less around $800ish but spread out over more than a decade. The Ibanez Artcore in my pic is around $550ish and I played it up against a Gretsch White Falcon (same amp and cable). Did I hear a $2800 difference? Nope. But my familiarity with the Ibanez and the fact that I set it up as something that I wanted to weigh greatly in my choice. Now lets say you like a particular song...was that song recorded on a $2500 guitar or a $100 guitar? Honestly you don't know. Cheap gear makes its way to the studio all the time. I personally prefer mid level guitars because I can customize them for an affordable price and I have no fear of digging in and playing to best of my ability. Now compare that to a new Gretsch 6120 through a vintage Fender amp and you will see that nerves of dinging up the guitar or something happening to the amp will definitely eat up mental bandwidth and keep you (or in this case, me) from playing my best. Buy gear based on happiness. Does a used $275 Epiphone Les Paul make you happier than a $1300 Fender Stratocaster? Is your tone obtained by sleeper gear? Will owning a 1976 Les Paul Custom bring you to the door step of perfection? Go for that then. Buy what you find is sexy and what helps you to play your best...that's the best gear for you regardless of price or brand.😎👍✨ I will tell you one last thing. I typically do not hear or feel a huge difference when I A/B my Epiphone AJ guitar to any Gibson J45 I have played. I have a bone nut and saddle, an LR Baggs I-Beam pickup with Gibson rosewood bridge pins. I have $375ish in that guitar and it absolutely complements the Gibson in sound and tone. I will say that I do FEEL a difference of my 25.5 inch scale to the 24.75 scale. That's pretty much it. I still prefer my Epiphone because I get more out of myself as a player vs the Gibson.
To me it comes down to the following: Low prices guitars and Basses are incredibly well crafted nowadays. You get so many sound and playability for i.e. 300 euros. Stunning! When it comes to quality materials and hardware the medium priced guitars are just killer. You pay I.e. 1,000 euros and get an absolutely professional instrument in every possible way. then there are the custom shop guitars for 3,000 euros or more. As you said the main benefit is not pure quality, sound, or hardware. The main Benefit relates to the production process and simple perfection. You buy a modern day full-blown prs or other custom shop and you get a just plain perfect instrument. With stunning woods, finishes, materials, and build by an actual luthier in a first world country. To me and many other this has its value. And then there is all the mojo stuff. Relic, vintage, rates, and so on. From here on the prices increase massively and you pay 5k, 7k or even above 10k. Mainly for stuff has primarily emotional or asthetic value to it. This kind of instrument also serves its purpose. But this ist just for a specific niche of customers. Not for the masses anymore.
I have an Eastman E486B which has top quality components and is hand built by luthiers - here’s the kicker the workshop is in Beijing!! I paid just over £1300 for a ES335 type guitar which is the same quality as a Gibson custom shop. I’ve played their Les Paul 59 re-creation which again has top quality components and is hand built by luthiers. In terms of quality it’s well up there with the Gibson 59 re-issue BUT the Eastman comes in at £1600 or £1900 if you want the aged version. Both are superb instruments, none are budget guitars they are mid range in price but top class in quality. You can get quality for reasonable money but you have to be prepared to have a different name on the headstock. If you can accept that you can, as I did, save several hundred pounds. I looked at the base level Gibson ES335 with P90s which I wanted, at a cost of £3500 - I saved over £1000!!! The best guitar? the one you pick up and can’t put down!
So really, when it comes down to it...you get what you pay for. 🤷♂️ The last two guitars I bought I dug deep and got American made... and the resonance, and subtlety of note flavours just ....it's like suddenly seeing the world in colour, when before you didn't even know you were seeing in black & white. I really can't go back, now.
Can guarantee it's due to the pickups. You can get the same pickups in a cheap guitar and it would sound just like that I believe. With a good setup as well
@@pedrosilvaproductions There are some more conditions though when you want to go that route. Meaning, modding a cheap guitar: 1) Body and neck have to be up to standard. You've got to have a good base, because if the neck is crap even a setup won't magically change it into a good one. 2) It will take more than just a pickup change in order to compete with a more expensive, higher quality instrument. You might need to change the tuners, electronics, change the bridge, add a better string tree, and put in some shielding as well. And then get a good setup. 3) You won't be able to sell if for the amount that you've spent on it. But if it's something that's well thought out you could very well end up with an instrument that you really like. Which still costs less than a boutique brand.
Glad to hear that, thanks man! I try to mention things I would’ve loved to hear about when I was younger. There are also many „black and white opinions“ even though I do believe all the colors are there for a good reason. 😁
Hey Kris, you should definitely make a video on that "Barocsi Exploder" project! It came out very cool. Congrats! Hope to see that in the future... and congratulations on the channel ;)
Research before you buy a cheapo guitar. Quality will very drastically. Something like the Kramer focus VT-211s is really well built. Then be prepared to do a lot of learning and a lot of work and yes, you can make a cheap electric sound just as good as a thousand guitar at a fraction of the price, with the help of some used parts on reverb. Only downside is, that's your guitar forever no matter what you do the price will not raise all that much regardless of what electronics you put into it. But I do this as a hobby and yes you can do it, and it's so much more fun customizing your very own guitar rather then just going into the store and grabbing one.
I don't know. In the past ,I had two Strats in mind ,I wanted to put together , either with genuine Fender parts , Warmoth or both. I guess I was lucky , because Fender Mexico actually released the 60th Anniversary Classic Player £750 Inc tweed case , and later the Jimi Hendrix signature Strat £680 with gigbag. It was a no brainer , I couldn't have bought everything individually for that money and then having to assemble it . I couldn't have improved on Fender's finish & set-up personally. Those prices , btw, are British Pounds and include VAT (sales tax).
The biggest difference in my mind sits in the neck. A premium Pro Stage guitar for 2000 bucks and up and you will get a neck that is so much more in every point, the truss is thicker and made dead accurat while on those budgets it is just a flimsy rim made of cheap metal and the woodwork is a total mess, yeahh no one will look in there! Well I have and it is no wonder why cheap guitar are hard to set, some of them will never come to an rest, be reliable. Still I prefer $200 guitars either that or $2000, in between there are murky waters.
@@andresni981 One have to look hard because the importance of an right thru well made neck that is forgotten knowledge. Everyone is talking about pups and nothing else seems to matter! Today I made my final healing on my Epiphone LP Pro Plus. I have named her "Greta" because she is a dark blond beauty that enjoyes to inflict pain. I have done all for her, all my tricks, my best gear, plekted her. but she bitched me on and on, today after two years she finaly submited to love, take and give. Dam that I hate her but she will stay, a true beauty and a rare guitar to find a limited first series Bourbon burst. The neck is genuine crap, that is the big wrong with the guitar or was and all the job and time I have put in to fix it that is crazy and in the reality not even worth it but I am a stubborn man.. Yes, custom made those are the best ones.
Can't beat the Tele, I have $4000, Gibson $3000 Gretsch guitars, and right now my main guitars are modified Squier Strat, Tele, [ those necks to me are perfect], Harley Benton Fusion II, CST 24, gigging, practicing everyday, case in point EVH Frankenstein, it come down to ability. Good guitar+ good effects+ good amp + ability to play = Hell Yeah Baby! even on a budget. Thanks Kris, you rock bro!
Like you pointed out, if you want a good guitar for less money you have to pick the one(s) from the pile. It seems to me that there is a price/quality threshold (600/700 euros) I see for example with your HB minus electronics or the newer HB Amarok and EX with EMGs. Biggest problem is that the options (shapes, designs, specs) are somewhat limited. What i mean is that if you can find a guitar that is build with desired shapes and measurements details, decent wood specs, good fretwork, hardware and electronics and decent finish (so you don't have to swap literally anything) up to 600/700 euros. Then personally i wouldn't mind paying additional money to a luthier for a good check up and nut/fret filing minutiae. So overall up to a 1000 euro you should get a near perfect guitar. You just have to find good one going through the bunch. If guitar costs over 2000 euros and the nut is a bit high or low or there is a fret buzz with string height around 1,2 mm on 12th fret i would expect immediate and full refund or any "repair" paid by the company to your nearest to reach luthier. :D
If you are buying for quality, then around the $2000 range is the limit. Guitars don't just keep getting better the more expensive they're. Gibson and Fender keep talking about how their guitars are made exactly the same as 1969, while South Korean companies keeps advancing their manufacturing.
I once dreamed about ultra-expensive strat. But after playing a while on cheap guitars and checking out expensive ones in shops I decided to buy the best Squier Classic Vibe model and modify it as I want to. So I bought it, sanded the neck for this satin feel, changed electrics and pickups and (for me) it feels now as good as any guitar out there which is 4 x the price but I appreciate it more.
Yeah, I just got myself a Classic Vibe to upgrade it up in the future. And what people also forget is that it hurts a lot when you accidentally scratch or hit a very expensive guitar, so +1 to cheap guitars.
Let me ask you an honest question. When you say it "feels now as good as any guitar out there which is 4x the price", are you basing this on experience or are you basing this on the sentimental connection you have to your guitar? I don't ask to insinuate that your guitar isn't good or that you should dislike it. I ask because I think it is important to occasionally step back and ask oneself why they feel the way they feel about something and how much that feeling might or might not apply to others. Another aspect is experience. When you go to a online guitar retailer and check out the reviews for entry level guitars, you are going to see a lot more positive reviews than anything else. This is especially going to be the case for some of the more aggressively marketed (via influencers nowadays) stuff like Harley Benton. One pattern you will start to notice in those reviews is that the person doesn't have a lot of long-term experience with a wide variety of guitar price-points. To make matters worse, a lot of the larger guitar stores don't really take care of their stock so that person who has really become deeply entrenched in the entry level guitar price range (and has had that feeling supported by certain CZcamsrs and the like) is likely to pick up a more expensive guitar at a large store, feel the lack of a decent set up or good strings, and assume that it is a problem with the guitar (because that supports the narrative they want to believe) and not just basic maintenance issues on the store's part. I mean, seriously. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to various large guitar stores and picked up $3000+ instruments only to find that they just play like garbage because nobody at the store is taking care of them. In contrast. When I go to (some) smaller stores and the higher-end guitar shops, all those same $3000+ guitars play as well as they should (even if I may not always personally like them). I guess what I am getting at here is that there seems to be this deeply ideological debate about the merits of entry level guitars versus more expensive models and that debate doesn't seem to really involve a lot of practical experience or knowledge. A entry level guitar can be a very solid, very decent instrument. Nowadays, factories have gotten quite good at ironing out a lot of the major issues that cropped up even fifteen or twenty years ago. That being said, those entry level guitars are entry level for a reason. There are parts, features, and even construction techniques that simply are not available at lower price points and while that may not matter to everyone in the same way, it is still an objective reality that should not be so easily dismissed.
i recently took a 2k + guitar from Esp.. going off you mentioning attention to detail well they missed some paint on the head stock it was Minuit but noticeable on inspection. I did not feel good about it after paying all that cash. i sent it back. of course it played like a dream but if one pays so much, atleast have a complete paint job ?
it's worth saving up money for a custom shop instrument. if you enjoy playing. the problem is that, after you buy your first CS guitar, you only want CS guitars 😁
That’s why I stay away from expensive stuff I don’t wanna know how good it is😂 that said I still plan to buy something wicked and expensive when I’m too old to play it proficiently . You know like an 85-year-old who can barely see buying a Bugatti Veyron 😂
sch2412 Hey, first part: yes it’s absolutely worth saving up for custom shop guitars. For many reasons. Second part of your comment: that’s not always the case. I love my mid priced Les Paul CM (probably the cheapest Gibson ever built) and even my EX-style which started its life as a 170€ Harley Benton. What changes if you get used to custom shops is your expectations. At least then you can tell which affordable guitar is worth buying and upgrading. ;) Cheers
@@KrisBarocsi i own a custom shop ES-335 and i recently bought a regular memphis USA 335. i was so disappointed how less resonant and characterless the new guitar was in comparison to the CS model. you don't even have to plug it in. just strumming a few chords "dry" you can hear a huge difference. i'm not saying it's a bad guitar, but once you experience a truly great guitar you always compare. at least i do :D
thats so true :-) and then someday you will find the joy in getting guitars custom built by luthiers, and years later, you still order a HB Fusion II from thomann because you like the color and it has a roasted maple neck and stainless steel frets for under 400€, :D where is the logic? :D
Hi I’ve been playing for two years I own a Korean PRS Tremonti and a Mexican Tele honestly both of these guitars put a smile on my face every time I pick them up 🤷🏻♀️
Nice Vid Kris! I highly regard your advice and opinions! I play LH strung RH. I recently purchased a LH HB Fusion-T HH, it’s currently going through Thomann’s Service Dept. to have the changed made and setup. What can I expect of the guitar when I receive the Guitar here in the US? Will I have made a Good decision purchasing this Guitar? In my 56yrs of working I’ve been a Touring, Studio and Local musician. I do own Gibsons, Fenders, Gretschs and a PRS. Thanks for your opinion, I highly appreciate it. Please stay Safe and Healthy and have a Great Day. Cheers from Salem, Ohio. USA!
*I have got a strat and it's a squire and a Mexican tele and I love them both, been playing since I was in 7th standard and now I'm in my graduation. Btw, nice content Chris.*
That "one" guitar will come at different prices. It might be from the brand's custom shop, a vintage one that has seen the road, a cheap one that someone gave to you or something that you made as a project. Personally, I love the big brands such as fender and gibson but I find myself enjoying my Jay Turser strat and my Tele project.
It's all about the pickups and amp. Get yourself a guitar you're comfortable with and that's what counts. If anything, a more expensive guitar will have a better neck and have the bottom horn routed out to get easier access to the upper frets. But you can get a cheap guitar, upgrade all the electronics and neck, if you want, if possible, take a dremel and route out the bottom horn for your hand to get better access to those upper frets and there you go.
I love your guitar playing Kris, you have this really nice mojo when playing the guitar. Happy to have found your chanel. By the way you inspired me to do the "tele bridge pickup mod" to one of my strats, ordered the pickup yesterday!
Lefty Guitarist Thanks a lot dude! And good luck with the mods on your strat. You know that you’ll have to extend the routing for a tele pickup, right?
Kris Barocsi Yeah man I plan to use my dremel tool, works perfect for smaller modifications👌🏻 I ordered a quarter pounder Seymour Duncan pickup, hot hot hot haha🤘🏻
Very well said! Many people confuse "expensive" with "overpriced". If you have a luthier working on a guitar and giving attention in details for hours and days you don't say the guitar is "overpriced", it's like an insult! Many people say that when it's more expensive that they can afford, they just say "overpriced". Some of them want the same features half the price but that's not possible for the reasons you mention in this video!
Stumbled on this channel,you seem to be the voice of reason! Very good outlook and a grasp on what can be a touchy subject! For me me play what you can afford and play for enjoyment! New subscriber!
I’m on an epiphone Sheraton made in Korea.. it was cheap (£400) but it was a gift from my mum.. my only other working guitar is my first electric guitar that is a strat that my mum paid £20 for with an amp and gig bag when I was 10 and 16 years later I still love and play it even though it’s cheap the neck is so amazing...... I know personally I will never be able to afford anything more but I’m thankful for the guitars I have and I love watching someone connect with a expensive guitar or cheap guitar because as long as you have a connection with it and it feels comfortable to you then that’s all that matters!! I admit I’m always looking on Thomann and andertons at high end guitars and pedals and valve amps and dream but end of the day if you have the spare cash to buy an expensive guitar then go buy your dream guitar!!! But if you can’t afford it well just work with what you have or can afford because you may connect with it more then a expensive guitar
From Leo: Learn to set up your own guitar, level the fret boards and dress and polish the frets. If you can make the neck feel great, you are 1/2 way there. You have to pay a LOT for that attention to detail on a higher shelf guitar. Don't automatically throw away the Potentiometers , switches and pickups. Work with them a little while before you spend the extra money. They may be better than you think. If they fail, of course replace them with better grade parts
The best guitar is the one you actually make music with ;)
Gabriel Nacu Thank you! That’s my favourite comment ‘till now. :) 100% true
The reason that budget guitars are less quality because they figure the buyer is going to MODIFY them anyway!!
@@KrisBarocsi Thanks Kris! I worked enough music retail and taught enough guitar to hear every opinion under the sun hahahaha
fantastic comment Gabriel!!
@@ChrrZ Thanks! Just my observation after years of working out what's "better" hah
For those who can't afford higher end guitars, you can take on some of the steps that are left out when producing inexpensive guitars, thereby drastically improving the playability of your instrument. And I'm not talking about modding the guitar which inevitably costs you money. This costs a bit, but only initially.
Pick yourself up a fret rocker, fret levelling beam, and a couple fret end files. Then watch several videos from respected luthiers demonstrating how to do a fret dressing. I'm not suggesting you refret the guitar. Just clean up the frets and make certain they're level. It's amazing how much better you can make an inexpensive guitar feel by doing this (side-eye to my Firefly that required an afternoon of work but is now a joy to play).
Then shape the guitar's tone to whatever you want with pedals.
Great video, Kris. As always.
Make sure you don't have warped neck. and don't try to ridiculously set the action low while having vintage radius style fretboards.
"Pick yourself up a fret rocker"
I impulse-bought one of the cheapest guitars in the store. The frets are perfectly level. I did fret leveling many times and I wouldn't be able to improve what I got stock. (The frets "needed" polishing, but it's overrated anyway, so I didn't bother. Just play it. They'll polish themselves out in no time.)
I remember the times, when even expensive guitars needed work. Sometimes lots of it. Nowadays? Just avoid total dogs, but those can happen among more expensive instruments too.
Totally agree
Old Man Zen I did fret work on my peavey rotary guitar I but blackouts in and a real Floyd rose. It plays just as good as my Gipson explorer
Frets? What are frets? Why don't you guys play fretless? No fret, no cry...
The best guitar is the one that makes you stop buying another guitar anymore .....
something that will never happen IF you are a REAL guitarist :D the optimium amount of guitars = X+1 ;-)
Huh ? wth....listen...when U have a real passion for the instrument...one guitar...one amp, it's not enough ! I have an Epi Les Paul, never selling it...but I want a Gibson...own orange crush solid states...excellent amps..but I'll have a marshall tube head and matching cab lol...and so it goes
I guess I don't have that one yet, then. I keep on buying them, no matter how many times I tell myself I already have enough of them.
@@ChrrZ talk to BB king and Willie Nelson about it
@@shashankrao23 actually, i would love too :-)
The most important thing about any guitar is: how does it feel to you. Is it comfortable? Is the weight ok? Neck profile? Assuming you have a bolt on neck everything else can be changed. You will play a guitar that's comfortable to you way more than one that is not. I have an Ibanez Gio that I changed pickups and tuners on that feels and plays great. I also have a 70's Les Paul that sounds awesome but is really uncomfortable to play so it sits in it's case under the bed. If you're playing in comfort and familiarity you will play more. And get better. My 2 cents.....
The best vintage guitars, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch etc... were products of being mass produced at as low as cost as possible, with very little consistency. Not every classic Gibson, or Fender is all that great. But the ones we remember and try to recreate were the "one in a million" guitars that can _only_ be produced under these less than ideal circumstances. Once CNC really took off, the most you could hope for was just mediocre. That extra deep carve, or that special shaped neck, because some worker was feeling sick, or still drunk, was gone. It's the same way with the pickups. With custom built guitars you still get that inconsistency of a hand shaped neck, which allows you to find your own "one in a million" treasure, much more easily.
That being said, as long as there is a good QC at the end of the production line, you will be ok. And price and brand are NO indication of a good QC. I've seen some absolute garbage escape the Gibson, Fender, and Rickenbacker factories in disturbing numbers, given the price and reputation.
And let's be really honest with ourselves for a moment...
...how much should something like a Telecaster really cost???
ravenslaves .... 100% A-1+ Well said
I agree with the interaction and feel part, mainly because the way we ear is mostly psicologic. Regarding the quality of the eletric guitar the truth is that they are very simple, you don't need much to make a guitar or an amp, and you can't improve on them no matter how much money you throw at it. Eletronics degrade, so vintage guitars can't be great ones by definition.
Totally agree with vintage guitars. Fenders were mass produced and not build by “luthiers” . I tend to go for “boutique “ guitars these days. Consistency all the way. Good brands will not let a bad one go out of the shop. Concerning CNC vs handcarved/handmade: definitely why cheap guitars are so much better nowadays than 40 years ago. On higher end guitars also, they tend to prefer CnC and finish them by hand for small details. Best of both worlds
Arthur G. Are you working in a guitar shop and have more insight? I don’t play or shop for cheap guitars nowaday but am always amazed at how got they sound and play for the ones I had the chance to play recently
Thanx for this really substantial vid about the differences of low to mid prize to exclusive gear.
I am a luthier myself building only customshop guitars and basses under my own brand USG fine instruments.
Its all custommade, all individual from head to toe...
My instruments start at about 2450 for an electric and 2750 for an acoustic. Why? Heres a closer look on my calculation:
Normally i spend about 600-800€ on hardware/parts for a guitar. Sometimes its 1000+ depending mostly on the PUs or/and sometimes on the chosen tuners. (You can easily spend 350-450€ for highquality tuners for an acoustic model...)
It needs (in my case) between 75 and 100 hrs to build a guitar (electric). 40% plus for an acoustic.
When theres a lot of designwork or very special wood/material choices involved or maybe some weird finish demands it can easily go up to 200 - 250 hrs per instrument.
So anyone can easyly calculate a minimum prizetag that has to be written for such an highly individual instrument.
My customers get an one of a kind instrument, tailored to their wishes and needs in any detail.
Thats great and lots of fun for both of us... but also gas its price that cannot compared to the massmarket.
Are my instruments any better than the others? Well, USG instruments are build with passion and pride, and will be as close as possible to perfection in every detail... but mass production with a lot of cnc involved or at least production with skilled workers/luthiers delivers a consistant quality and very good overall instruments on a reasonable prize - btw way better than 50 - 60 years ago when quality control wasn‘t much in the focus.
So to be honest: No.
Its handmade, its individual, its all you ever wanted... but its still an instrument ment to be played and tailored to the customers needs. with pros and cons.
Another player having different needs and different preferences may find it not suitable or not as good as my customer does who has also a personal connection to this specific instrument.
i love handbuilt guitars the most, because luthiers usually put all their heart and 150% of their workmanshup in each of their built instrument, you cannot get something better than this!! none of the industry guitars will have this kind of dedication. but also not everybody can afford it, and it also doesnt mean you sound better or player better, but you maybe have a better inspiration when creating art and music, and you may have an instrument that accompanies you for your whole life. isnt that beautiful? i think it is!
and i also always like to support local business (even if its offtopic, but especially when it comes to food.. support your locals) but i undestand, not everbody can affort to eat organic, local grown food that costs 10x times more than the mass produced food (which i absolutely dont want to eat, just by my moral decision).. but to solve this, we would need bigger change to how our whole world is setup, i dont think that will happen, but i know what i can change in my close surroundings.
I like my cheap guitars and upgrading them a little by myself. Mainly because I have a disease, luvalotaguitaritis, and don't have enough money to buy expensive ones. Also my playing ability doesn't justify buying high end guitars. Even the big name brand guitars I have are lower end models.
Jeffrey Eagen Ohh I know that one. It’s pretty dangerous I’ve heard. As far as I know people with ineedallthepedals syndrome get it easily. :)
Jokes aside, if you know what you want and take your time, you’ll find the right ones. No matter which price point. Cheers
I feel the same way ,there's no point in spending thousands on a guitar,well bass in my case,just to jam with friends and play along to music at home,I can do that with a 2/300$ bass,then add whatever catches my interest parts wise. I don't buy pedals,once again no point spending hundreds,I get the same sounds using say my Vox stomplab ,it cost me 40/50$, behringer sells a DI pedal for 30$, no need to buy a sans amp.
I don't think your playing ability is the factor to justify having an expensive guitar. Van Halen made history with one of the cheapest axes on the market back then - he did exactly the same you are doing with your "cheap" guitars. Congrats!
I had a very similar approach years ago. There was a time when I dreamed of getting an American Fender Strat but just didn't ever think that I could really afford such a thing. Instead, I opted to buy $200 to $500 guitars and do work on them. After some years of that, I was in a little guitar shop that was selling a used American Strat. I wasn't a terribly good guitarist at that point (I was still lying to myself and pretending that learning about music theory was a waste of time) but I really, really liked playing that guitar. It had some problems and wasn't well taken care of but under all that, it was obviously just a better playing, better feeling, better sounding guitar than anything I had at home. In the end, I traded up a lot of my guitars to help cover the cost of the Strat and I don't regret that even now. In fact, I actually kinda kick myself for spending so much money on cheaper stuff when I could have just saved up a bit earlier in the process and actually gotten what I wanted.
It never hurts to own a few cheaper guitars but if you want a more expensive one, even a bit of saving can make that happen a lot faster and a lot easier than you might think.
@@gnatiu Van halen put his own guitar together from different pieces
I LOVED this video Kris. Kudos dude, people need to hear this. I really wish more people would watch this. Sadly if I shared this to a few Facebook guitar groups I visit, it would get flooded by haters and trolls and snobs. That's too bad. I've played for 25+ years, and if it wasn't for Harley Benton Guitars, I wouldn't own most of the guitars I do, and I would NEVER be able to afford them if it wasn't for Harley Benton/Thomann. I do wish their shipping costs would go back down. $70 for a guitar or two kinda kills the appeal it once had, plus their prices keep going up and fewer models under $150-200 are being released, most new models are $300+. I guess I'm glad I got them while I could before they shot up in price. Pandemic didn't help either. I have however turned a good handful of people on to Harley Benton's, and they've actually purchased some, and of course they're happy. Seriously, I cannot easily put into works how much the Harley Benton brand and their Pricing of their Guitars has done for me.
But yeah dude, well said, very well said. ALL of it. Thank YOU.
The truth is: Crappy amp bad sound, good amp good sound doesn't matter what guitar you got with the exeption what type of pickup Single, hum etc.
Absolutely and have no idea people don't realize this yet Oh well
We evaluate with our eyes more then our ears at times.
No i wouldn't 100 % agree at the high gain it's not matters so much but when you played crunched or clean you hear probally difference between a very bad and a very good pickup and often you notice output level differences.
That's why I want a Friedman.
Wrong. The most important part of the chain is actually the speaker/cab. It has way more affect on the sound than anything else in the chain. Amps can usually be made to sound close to the same with the exception of the amount of gain.
something i made good experience with: once i brought my old midrange ibanez (~1500usd modell) to a guitar-craftman. he worked it all over. i spend about 220usd.
after that, it was just another guitar. of course you can't add the details and if you want upgrades, you pay for them additionally. but in this way, it's possible to get the body/neck adjustment close to perfection. i should have made this way earlier, and if it comes to smaller stuff i do everything myself. but when de frets/bridges are worn, it's just something i don't have the tools and the experience. after i experience what a good guitar maker can make out of my old guitar, i think many people can profit from just taking a little bit of money into their hand and hand it over to a professional. it may not pay off for really cheap modells, but for worn 1-2k modells, it's worth a try in my opinion. i felt in love again with my old lady after she got some love from a professional (don't do this with your actual lady !)
I just recently added a new Harley Benton Fusion II to my guitar collection, and it stands up to the best! My Les Paul Traditional with modded bridge valued just under 3k , Jackson Dinky valued at $1,200and my modded MiM Strat, are all fine tools for the job. The most impressive has been the Harley Benton with Seymour Duncan Trembucker! What a surprise for the quality of this instrument is second to none. So I believe if you have your guitars set up by a quality conscience luthier,the price just doesn't matter!
Thanks for this video....
Rock on all my Brother & Sisters Play it Loud & Proud...!!!
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Harley Benton.
I have the fusion 2 and is amazing. The only guitar you need. So versatile. Love it.
There are some guitar maintenance skills that are very valuable for every player to learn. Like fret leveling, recrowning, edge bevelling/rounding. And some simple mechanical things like changing tuners. Or some simple electrical things like changing PU or custom wiring options. Buying a "cheap" guitar to practice on is a great option. I would hate to be learning on a $3000 instrument. One of my best guitars started life as a Squier Affinity. Lots of fret sprout initially, bad action, bad tuners. But with a little work, it felt like the best guitar I had ever played. So I upgraded the tuners, PU, took the high gloss shine off the back of the neck, added a series switching option. This happened over a couple of years, and the upgrades in total cost way more than the original guitar cost. But it ended up being an awesome guitar, and I learned a ton along the way. And keep in mind that, even if your $3000 guitar has wonderful set up and fret ends when you buy it, wood shrinks and necks bend, frets wear .... sooner or later that $3000 guitar is going to need the same sort of work I had to do on my new Squier. But now I have the tools and skills to approach that with confidence.
I have found a lot of satisfaction overall in finding the midrange in most products. I feel like you generally get what you pay for, but there are diminishing returns the higher you start to go in price. I am also pretty sure that at some stage I won’t be attuned to the subtle improvements that a real expert or professional is. So for me the Fender Mexican made Player series hit the right spot: a marked improvement over entry level that doesn’t break the bank.
Amen!!!
.....and with many pricey guitars, what you are paying for is huge advertising and promotionsl expenses and a huge legal team to protect their logo and trademark.
That Gibson tour bus, those two Gibson 18 wheel rolling museums and all those lawyers add up to a big chunk of that 3000$ Gibson retail price.
So well said. Exactly my feelings.
There was a video interview with Trevor Wilkinson very informative on this subject , I own a Vintage Brand guitar love it, 3 P 90'S on a Strat , it's the player that makes the guitar sing, but I spoken with many Guitar Techs who had expensive high end Fenders and Gibsons that needed extensive setup, one thing about Vintage brands they use highly respected Wilkinson Hardware,
I wish I could afford an expensive guitar but for the moment I’m stuck at Harley benton prices. It’s ok for me though and I don’t hate on anyone.
Rodney Russell you can find pretty good guitars in that price range too. You just have to search longer until you find the one. But that’s not too bad, is it? Cheers
The advantage of an affordable guitar is that you can take upgrades when you are ready. In the meantime you have a guitar to play on.
It took me many years to bring my guitar to perfection, and that was fine for me.
I’m fortunate enough to have some expensive guitars, but I love my Harley Benton and play it almost as much. It is not quite as good but I don’t notice when I’m in the zone. Plus I don’t have to worry about scuffs and scratches.
Kris Barocsi that’s not bad at all. I can spend all day at Thomann. Perhaps I’ll see you next time I go there.
mictechshooter me too :) I have some expensive fenders some vintage ones too but I got a Harley Benton fusion II in a trade and I love it! I’d say the craftsmanship is on par with my fenders
I've never had a name brand guitar or bass. I have a squier affinity tele, peavey 5 string bass and a g&l bass. They all play great if you set them up right
That was one of the *best* unbiased guitar videos I've ever seen and I couldn't agree more. Rock on brother. 👍🏻
The best guitar is the one that motivates you to keep playing and inspires your own guitar playing. Thanks for your thoughts and for the video!
Never buy a guitar thinking it will motivate you more. If you don't motivate yourself you'll never be able to progress. If your guitar has problems, 90% of the time the problems are fixable. At least that's what I always thought
@@pedrosilvaproductions Within reason i agree, not everything is fixable but stuff like tidying up frets and upgrading hardware sure, as long as you are doing it yourself or at least have a friend to do it, these days it seems less common... I se youtubers who cant even solder for example! If you have to pay someone, better just buy a platform that's functional out of the box. A guitar that wont hold tune, intonate properly, has poor fretwork etc isnt going to help a beginner's motivation to play. Ive picked up and put down guitar over a long period of time, sold some instrument's while keeping others. Never had a really cheap guitar except one squier i had for a short time 15 years ago, it was okay but not as nice as what i mostly played. I tend to like Japanese stuff, as it can be affordable and holds its own very well. My main guitar is the most expensive guitar iver ever owned, an AO 50's Tele and it does inspire ME to pick it up and play! It is however not drastically better than my first Tele which was a JDM 52 that cost me something like 600usd when i purchased it 15 years ago, wish id hung onto that one... At the end of the day though having the desire to practice, learn and improve is by far the most important thing and does make more difference than playing a $100 squier or a $2000+ Fender. Despite playing of and on for like 20 years ive progressed most in my most recent stint of playing again since early Nov because i have put the effort in, cant always play every day (life gets in the way at times) but i do average over a week a bare minimum of 2 hours of practice per day, given time i will play for 6,8 or even 10 hours and i have seen the gains in my ability, doing stuff i never did even after playing for years, because i never put in the effort to improve.
The best guitar is the one that feels better in your hands. If having an expensive guitar motivates you to play more and to put your soul into the music, so go for it.
If you don't care about brands and only about feel, just buy the guitar that makes you want playing everyday.
I have a friend who is a professional guitar player and has lots of expensive guitars. But this year he bough an Affinity Telecaster and he loves it.
that is what a nice custom shop Jackson USA guitar did for me and made me a way better player as I enjoyed playing more often. Now I want a custom Fender Telecaster, ESP Japan Custom, Gibson LP Custom.
I am a guitar player myself. I don't like to hate on guitars at all. I just don't like paying more then I should on a good instrument.I only have 2 guitars and they both get lots of play. I have my DG-9 Fender acoustic guitar a friend and his family got me for Christmas in 2000. I also have my 1968 Squier Thin Line Telecaster I bought for $350.00 in 2009. I'm happy with what I got.Don't need no more. But here in the USA, we are facing a Covid crisis. So it makes no sense to me to buy more guitars when there isn't many places to play.So be thankful with what I got.
For me, playing guitar is a spiritual experience. We are all literally vibrations; that's why music moves us so deeply, & why resonance is one of the most important things in a guitar. You get resonance from high quality lumber, hardware, & craftsmanship. So when I decide to buy a guitar I use metrics that I feel are more conducive to a spiritual experience to make my decision. Is this purchase benefitting my community? Did the person who made this guitar, profit from their work, equal to the amount of energy they put into it? Is the wood this guitar is born from, harvested sustainably? When I ask those questions, factoring in superior resonance, playability & tone that a professional instrument lends it's owner; the only guitars that fit the bill, are higher-dollar guitars. But think about it... what's $1000-1800 anyway? Even if you could only save $50 a week, which damn near every gringo can; you'll have an amazing instrument that can be an heirloom if you like your kids, in only 2 1/2 months! Don't waste years of your life playing on a plank, when only a little discipline & patience (which you already have if you've learned to play), will land you a treasure for life.
I forgot; don't pay for cosmetics. Make sure the money you spend is on the actual guitar, that can net you quality at a much lower price point. Unless you want frills, but that's satisfying a completely different kind of itch that has nothing to do with music.
great comment Jeigh!
@@ChrrZ Hey, thanks! I really appreciate that, & am happy at least one person agrees with me, haha, -Cheers.
@@JeighNeither you are very welcome! you brought some much more and such important aspects to this conversions, not only for guitars, but in general! i assume most people are not even aware or think about and thats also a reason, why the world is like it is :(
Great take on a difficult topic! Bottom line is, when you are happy with your guitar(s) and it inspires you to play...it's the right one! :)
My son and I usually buy used and we always go with the feel of the guitar first, Electronics even Hardware is not too big of a deal but if it feels good in the hand we can always upgrade components and the Resonance of the guitar is important as well 👍
Used was the best way to go, but now people want too much close to what it would cost new 1k used for a guitar that only cost 1100 .
And the music you make will be done on the neck / fretboard . The most important part of a guitar is the part you actually play on . The rest holds everything together . Pick ups are the voice . I'm amazed at the quality necks and fretboards being made today , in mass production overseas shops ! Those people love their jobs and do the best work they can everyday taking pride . With strict quality control being important to them . I own a couple Fender Squires made in Indonesia that traveled all the way here in just a cardboard box , arriving in absolute perfect condition , perfectly set-up , play like butter , no sharp frets , ultra smooth neck , no flaws anywhere , etc .... amazing . I also own more expensive American made ones . So I have a baseline for comparison . Dudes , pots caps switches and knobs are VERY cheap replacements , and only just because you think you need to change them when you really dont . 30 bucks of little parts should not raise the price by 1 or 2 K on a exact SAME guitar build . A lemon is a lemon no matter where and or who built it . But a good guitar is what it is . It takes an experienced player less than 30 seconds with playing a guitar to know how good or bad a guitar is . Just me and my 30+ years opinion with playing guitars . Interesting well done video . Tks !
Squier Vintage Vibe guitars are incredible - at $400 it's a steal.
Ive got 2 guitars ill never sell, one is a gibson and the other is a modified squier strat. Price doesnt mean much after a few upgrades on cheap guitars. Resale obviously wont be there but oh well.
@@MBEG89 I have refused offers for my 84 Aria Pro ii. The only mod I made was tone and volume pots. I have been offered over $500 for it. Nope was my response.
Really enjoyed the intro
I will agree,but to a point. I have a 2009 Washburn WI64 that I purchased new for $399. Solid mahogany body and solid piece 1 piece mahogany neck. The stopbar and tom bridge were hideous,had saddle rattle and did not sustain well at all. I changed those to Tone Pros aluminum locking,changed the existing Grovers to Grover locking Rotogrips,and installed Stew-Mac alnico v PAF pickups,put in high grade vol and tone pots. Had my lutheir to lower the frets. It has low buzz free action,stays in tune and sounds incredible. Even though I have more in the guitar than the purchase price,I cherish it,I love it and will not sell it. My luthier offered to buy it,and have had other offers--$850 and $900. I will put that one up against anything else. It has a super slim neck;it just feels like a part of me.
Got two Harley Bentons. Strat-Style and Tele-Style. Out of the box they looked awesone. I modded them, that's my hobby. New strings, new locking tuners etc. Polished and oiled the fretboard, adjusted them and so on. Now they are also playable amazing. The feeling in our fingers are doing another important job! So lets play with cheap, mid price range or expensive guitars! However, feel food by playing music and the audience will give applause😊👍Thanx for this vid! Kurt
Yes that's true. Expensive guitars are mostly expesive for a reason, but less famous makers will put the same effort into their guitars as a famous custom shop guitar because they have a reputation to build, while some famous brands may think they got the fame and that much effort is not needed anymore. So, the price to value relation is better in many cases with the less famous brands. Another thing is the prestige. If somebody asks you what guitar you play and you name a brand that nobody knows they might just roling their eyes if at all, while if you say you own a "what do i know guitar" then people will think ahhh ok nice. I would like to have one of those too.
Expensive guitars are -- in theory -- "good" right out of the box, whereas cheap ones may need to be worked on and upgraded in parts/electronics. However, there's something to be said about "personality" of the instrument which, in my experience, is rarely directly proportional to market price.
My theory about guitars---they all make music. And we are better off for that.
Well there's a rose in a fisted glove
And the eagle flies with the dove
And if you can't be with the one you love honey
Love the one you're with
Stephen Stills
Right on.
Fantastic overview of the fundamental differences between entry level, mid-tier, and top level custom shop and boutique built guitars (along with heavily upgraded entry- and mid-level instruments). The one spoiler I'll add is what this video lacks: hate/shade for any of the above. Highly recommended!
Thanks a lot man! I really appreciate your words! 😁
I've got a mid price tele and two second hand guitars. What I love to do is upgrade my two cheap ones. It's another way to have a good sound.
Really thinking about buying one of these harley benton fusions to do that. Just mod it and make it crazy good
One of my favourite live bands uses only Squier and Epiphone guitars. They sound great! I did see them use a Roland Jazz-Chorus and a Fender Showman, so they don't seem to cheap out on amps.
Another option is to build your own custom using Warmouth parts. You get to pick the pickups you want and can build a really sweet guitar for not much money. I built a "T" style guitar with Warmouth body and neck. All other parts are Fender or Stewmac. I am impressed with the end product!
I read the difference between an American Made Fender and a Mexican made Fender is about 90 miles lol. I got a Fender Telecaster made in Mexico and I think it is a fabulous guitar for 800 bucks or so. I cannot find a thing wrong with it. Stays in tune, feels great, plays great and sounds great. I also have an old cheap Peavey Matador I think that I blocked the tremelo on, because it stunk, but it is a good guitar I bought for 50 bucks off of someone. Weighs a ton though lol. And if it gets lost damaged or stolen, it is no big deal. I left a Gibson Les Paul at a friend's house once and he hocked for some blow. Some friend he was lol. My bad for leaving it out of my control.
Thanks Kris for this great video! I have some more expensive and more mid-range. You hit the mark exactly correct, we can modify some parts on the least expensive to make it shine in glory. My strange story is that I love my Yamaha Pacifica's just as much as my Gibson's and Fender's. I do not know why, but I do! ! Did I tell you how much I enjoyed this video? LOL
Steve Cochrane haha! That’s awesome Steve, thanks a lot! Yeah I love my 2015 Les Paul CM (aka my Junior) as much as my CS 58 reissue. The only difference is that I had luck to find this one exceptionally good CM and pretty much all 58 reissues are as good as mine. Haha!
You like the 58's to claim your name.
I bought a Blade Tele in 1992 vor 2200DM/1100 Euro, which was very expensive at this time.
I am still playing it as my main guitar, so I spent around 39 Euro per year.
My Blade turned out to be cheap guitar.
Harley benton, esp, ltd, fender, squire, prs, gibson are all made on cnc machines in a factory on a assembly line with one person stacking up bodys another stacking necks, one glueing or screwing, one putting in frets one dressing, one watching a machine cut nuts. All your buying for that money really is a brand name. I build guitars, the highest end pots are $10, pickups run more but you can get really good sounding ones for under a $100, $ 200 for some duncans, american top end fenders wood cost maybe $50 a guitar probably more like $5 cuz they buy in bulk. Ash, alder, maple are cheap and even on their nice tops its a veneer
Hmm, and that Harley Fusion 2 HH are still in the house - Must be good as you said one year back, then. 😎
They look, for me at least, like a frickin steal. Amazing how far they came in terms of mid range prices with really high end stuff. price is less than 400€ and you have locking tuners, stainless steel frets, graphtec nuts etc? Sign me in
If it's still actual I can approve they are awesome. I'm owning a HB Fusion-T and it's the best guitar I've ever had. I just don't want to change a thing in it. It's the first time ever happened to me :) plays great, sounds good, looks amazing. What else one needs? Suhr logo on the headstock?
Really really good explanation and big picture of the guitar industry!!! Nowadays a lot of cheap guitars are good, I played a bunch of cheap/mid-range 90' that were not so good(to be kind) !!!! Quality overall is better year after year for the cheaper ones, it's harder for the big names to keep up. There is more competition than ever and for occasional players, student and consumers in general it's an awesome opportunity. Keep up your good work!
Point of diminishing returns can happen pretty quickly in the guitar world depending on what youre getting. Mid range guitars are often the most cost effective but also have the worst resale. Guitars above a grand usually hold value pretty well.
This biggest tip for me is to try the guitar first. As you said, there are going to be hits and misses when it comes to that price point. That said there's plenty of reason to buy a cheap guitar even for advanced players. If you get a good base you can upgrade the guitar to your liking and make it play however you want. I think the 300 to 400 dollar range is the sweet spot. Below that there are a couple of models like the Kramer baretta and Jackson js22 that are usually good upgrade platforms. Great vid.
Words of the wise, this is very true. I used to play >1000 USD guitars, then financial decision hit me and I sold them and switch to 200-300 USD custom guitars, some are custom made (so it was the cost for building).
Fret works and finish is what really spoke to me, with good fret levelling, I can manage to have a near-perfect setup (low as possible yet maintain note ringing well). I refret and redo the fret dressing to a guitar tech, and now my T style and S style guitar plays amazing. This would lead you to comfort and how often you would want to touch the guitar.
Wood is also important in term of resonance and helping pickup get a decent amount of vibration, but at 200-300 USD I trust those manufacturers you already get a useful although not fancy guitar wood. No neck warp, no weird wood that don't sing and ring well. This ensure you get a decent amount of resonance even unplugged, and it can help with feeling satisfied about your guitar is ringing enough bells and whistles.
Aside from build and craftmanship, is below:
Electronic wise, there are many decent pickups out there, study and select the right numbers of caps, resistors, pots, etc for your needs (have a chat with someone in a forum or friends nearby, peek at their expensive guitars), and you're good to have the sound you might needed. No recipe for this, although there are some 'standard' or 'generic' schematics which you could use as starting guidelines.
Then finally, have yourself a good, original set of strings, not using cheap or fake ones, to ensure your voicing comes out nicely. Guitar strings is like vocal chords of a vocalist. You'll need it in decency to make sure what you heard is what you can play and want to play. No dead strings, no weak sounding string, with a set of original string.
PS: you could start locally with that 200-300 USD price range, bought a midrange one at 400-600 USD, or have a well known builder to have the body/neck ready for you (and it could get you to the 900-1000 USD range).
We are living in the "golden age" of affordable guitars with manufacturing standards at an all-time high, so it should not be too difficult to find a good one, especially at the mid-price range.
I got so fed up trying to find “the one” that I built my own super strat with Les Paul sound and 12” radius neck.
I have LOTS of guitars, some expensive and some not - I bought them based on my interest in the instrument, not the cost. My two main gigging guitars are my Fender American Original 50s Telecaster (about £1500.00) and my Harley Benton TE52 (£120.00). Both are great!
Mr humble over here
I have a 2012 Agile AL-3010SE it is my #1 LP and I bought it used for 350$US (Pre-Pandemic) which includes a Douglas premium HSC. It is 100% stock with an archtop maple-capped mahogany body with a mahogany set-neck with 13.7" radius ebony fretboard, abalone traps inlays, and 22 jumbo frets. The body, neck and headstock has cream binding while the body and neck are finished in blue burst over the flame maple top. Over the course of a decade in the Hawaiian sun, the transparent blue has faded to a teal green hue.
The stock chrome A5 7.75/7.25κΩ humbuckers actually sounded better than a set of REAL nickel A2 8.2/7.3κΩ Pearly Gates. I know because I tried installing a set and ended up putting the lower output stockers back in.
This guitar MSRPed for 325$US plus 100$US for the Douglas EGC-400LP hardshell case. Plus whatever the shipping would've been back then. Let's call it even 600$US shipped. At that price, it's a steal compared to how much a similarly appointed Gibson LP would've gone for. I think even an Epiphone wouldn't be able to compete price-wise even if it had a similar build available, which I think Epiphone don't have.
Quality wise, I'm perfectly satisfied with it and have had people who had "Authentic" Gibsons (yes, I STILL remember that bullshit) say it compares favourably to them. One even offered to buy mine. Told him, Hell No!
On the Strat side, I have a 1980s Stage CS-327 Strat Copy. Altho it has a plywood body, the bolt-on neck is a maple/maple that has some tiger striping visible in the glossy neck and fretboard. The guitar's arctic white and clear gloss has aged to a sandy cream and amber gloss, respectively. The white single ply pickguard has aged to a parchment tint. The white pickup covers has aged to a nice rich almost-golden cream, a sandy cream and a medium parchment colour on tge neck, middle and bridge, respectively. The knobs & switch tip also has similarly aged from white to a range of medium to light parchment colors. Unfortunately the trem bar has a tip that has aged to a golden cream but I've removed it because it has become brittle and started cracking with pieces breaking off. I still have the damaged tip in storage.
The pups sounds good altho I had to sub out the obviously replaced ceramic bridge pup for a late-model Affinity HSS's neck pickup that looks very similar to the existing neck & middle 5.0κΩ pups but at 7.0κΩ. I may swap the pickups thenselves for a set of alnicos, but I will reuse the vintage covers.
This guitar is my #1 traditional styled Strat (basically a Strat with pickguard mounted electronics). I absolutely LOVE how it Feels! It balances well, has a nice hefty weight (I prefer heavier guitars), the neck feels GREAT in the fretting hand and the body has good resonance when strummed.
I have NO Idea how much this guitar MSRPed in the '80s, but I paid only 60$US for it. I think I only spent about another 100$ in this guitar in the form of another '80s Strat Copy to use as parts source to replace the missing rear cover, a damaged pup cover and missing switch tip. I also bought a brass plated Straplock which has tarnished to roughly match the sandy color of the guitar body! I'm figuring on spending at least another 50$US on a set of alnico pups and I reckon I oughter be finished with this guitar …aside the need for getting a proper hard shell case for this guitar!
When I worked in the wine trade, there was a tale that was thrown around quite a lot. It was basically over the eternal question: "What makes a bottle of wine good?" The answer was, quite simply, "One you enjoy drinking".
The same philosophy applies here I reckon...."One you enjoy playing". My lack of skill, &/or talent will always be the limiting factor of any guitar long before the price tag comes into play. Currently in my stable of instruments, the one I play the most is one of the cheapest, my Harley Benton TE-62DB which I absolutely love. If you asked me why, I probably couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer....it just makes me want to play, it feels right in my hands, resting on my leg, or hanging round my neck and it's my go to guitar whenever I'm trying to learn a new technique, a new riff or a new song - even when I've got "better" guitars, or guitars supposedly more suited to certain styles of music, or more expensive ones.....I invariably gravitate towards the little HB most of the time. Go figure. I know I've played better guitars, heck I own several that should be better and probably are...we just like what we like and most of it is entirely subjective.
Bear in mind, I'm just a hobbyist and play only at home for my own enjoyment - I don't perform or play in a band, I wouldn't even refer to myself as a guitarist, which, in my head, seems way too bold a claim to make. My guitars therefore have a pretty easy life and I wouldn't know how some of the budget ones would hold up as tools in the hands of a working musician and don't really care - of the cheaper instruments I have bought and kept, the fact that I kept them is evidence enough of their quality and worth - to me at least. They don't have much resale value, obviously, compared to my handful of Fender or Gibson models, but any cheap guitars I have bought were purchased to play and try out - I've kept the best of them and offloaded quite a few more over time. Overall, I'd say I haven't lost a lot of money on them because I didn't spend a lot on them to begin with.
It's the old 80:20 rule which loosely applies to most human activities. You can get 80% of your ideal result with 20% of the effort, resources, time etc (eg. mass production); it then takes the remaining 80% effort, resources, time etc, to get the final 20% of your ideal result (eg. custom shop/high end). The 80:20 rule plus factor in much more expensive bits and labour and we're getting there.
Ain't that the truth.
@@corymcgrath5652 No it isn't. We are talking about something limited . You can build a million dollar hammer and it will performe has a far cheaper one. If can have a mona lisa reproduction far closer to the original but still with a fraction of its value. If we are taking about a guitar like a piece of art or a colectible, then yes, has a guitar no.
Damn, I can spend all day listening to that Les Paul and that Tele. They sound amazing and your playing is brilliant, congrats!
Yes, you can definitely get away with buying a mid grade guitar and play a gig and nobody will know because you might have very good skills. My deal is that l have been playing for four decade's. Spent countless hours practicing. That's why I like higher end guitar. I don't have money to burn, it just gets to a point where you have so much of your own time invested you want to have a very good nice quality guitar because you deserve to. Yes you can get away with a cheaper model. There's nothing at all wrong with that, but in my very humble opinion if you put years and years literally decades of learning and playing a high end guitar seems to inspire you to the next level. And l believe that's what everbody that plays want's , the next level. Just my stupid opinion. Rock on and cheers.
Bottom line: On AVG, Chinese make 1/4th of the AVG American. Bentley would cost $800-1k+ if it were built in Corona or Kalamazoo.
No, it wouldn’t.
the bentley sounded disapointing in this video. But great looks! As they are normally sold over "photo-looks" online this is a logical concept.
I never would buy a guitar online other than for decoration.
Not to fanboy on PRS, but the video of them unloading a huge truck full of wood, then picking through the whole thing, selecting maybe 10-20% of the wood and reloading it back up and send the rest down the road. That has to cost a crazy amount of money. I’m sure to train a guy to do that, he tends to be well paid, which adds a ridiculous amount to the price. Just the initial QC is so over the top and that costs crazy amounts of money to the final product. Great video as always brother. Much love from Tulsa.
Gibson is obvious exception to this rule..They made expensive guitars with premium materials but QC sucks..I can tell you as owner of 2 Gibson Les Pauls..And I tried dozen of Standards, Customs, Classic in shops. Each and every have some anomaly..Ridge on neck or body binding, poorly scraped neck binding and finished nibs etc...I also found that studio faded models without all that premium stuff(binding,hi gloss etc).. are built more consistent and is better chance to find 'perfect' example...
Have a lefty sg faded. Love it
As a machinist I must say that hand built means nothing to me, I think components will have most impact on quality. Manauell work take alot of time, while machines are fast and extremely accurate. But of course machining needs to be combined with luthier skills. I sent my premium Jem for PLEKING and the results were great, but the price were higher compared to a ordinary freth dressing. Maybe its possible to make it as good by hand, but is it possible to have 0.01 mm precision by hand?
thats a good point, i agree that you dont only need the proper tools (machines), but also the proper educated staff working with these tools who are also strive to make the best product/quality work, which falls than back to working conditions and work ethics where these parts are beeing produced. this is not a new topic at all, loads of industries suffered in quality for a very long time when they started to outsource their "automated" production to foreign countries
The quality gap is closing though. What you can buy now for 300 to 500 is ridiculously good and then there are the premium brands that aren't always that great. I just went to the music store thinking I was going to grab a gibson lpj for a beater, experimentation guitar so I picked one up and there was a gap down a long portion of the fret board. The next one buzzed like crazy. I've got a gibson es 137 that sounds awesome but it's not perfect either, one of the sides by the single cut was cut on an angle and there is a crooked gap between the wood and the binding. I also have a Corona California strat that had so much clearcoat on the frets that i had to tape off the maple fretboard and slice the clear down the fret with an olfa blade and polish them all afterwards, so bad that some of the fret crown was clearcoat and removing it was almost a bad idea. I didnt end up buying a Gibson lpj the other day but a friend sold me a cheap epi SG for 80 bucks. It was almost new and everything was perfect on it(only thing I didnt like was the bolt on neck). Not a painted guitar, exposed grain, stain grade so less room for error. Going to swap out all the electronics when work slows down, cut a bone nut for some heavier strings and cut a reverse batwing pickguard for it out of some veneer maybe copper or something.
I make over $100,000 grand a year and just bought a Epiphone Riviaria. I was looking for a guitar that had p90's and that one has them. I love it! My brother asked why I bought it since I could afford anything I wanted and I said because it sounds good and looks good.
@@roman-fo2sk Exactly why I got rid of Facebook, Furbar
The guitar that's worth buying is the one you as a player bond with the most. Then that's when the price tags or journeys just sort of seem to matter less (to an extent) because you know you have a keeper.
in the early 2000's when we started seeing higher quality cheap guitars I had a whole stable of fiddle I bought through the 80's and 90's.. Always afraid to damage them at gigs etc.. So I actually started with my "cheap" guitar collection looking for expendable stage gear.. I drop or damage a $2500 LP I'm gonna cry.. I drop or damage a $350 harleybenton , bad cat, or firefly lp , Im gonna be bummed , but it wont take a chunk out of my retirement fund to replace it...
Great video Thanks ! How about a video on the true difference between a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Murphy lab ?
Kris, have you looked at the 10S guitars? They are a very small custom guitar builder in Beijing, China. They are using real materials (real mother of pearl, real ebony wood fretboards, real maple tops, and real mahogany bodies and necks) and are [supposedly] hand-built by guitar luthiers. I first heard about them a few weeks ago, but they've been in business since around 2017. I have Gibsons, Epiphone's, Fenders, Ibanez, Jackson, etc... But I was intrigued by the reviews I saw online, and how people were pulling them apart to check build quality and were showing long neck tenons, real materials, pretty high-quality craftsmanship and fit and finish...But at a VERY attractive price point. I checked them out, and ended up pulling the trigger on one a few days ago, so I haven't gotten it yet. But I figured it was worth the investment if it has good bones... I can always upgrade the tuners and hardware and toss in a Seymour Duncan and some switchcraft jacks and CTS pots if it's not up to par.
I got this one. reverb.com/item/26861216-10s-gf-goldtop-relic-single-humbucker-electric-guitar-vintage-antique
Like you said, quality is not always indicative of price, especially when cheaper labor countries are brought into play, like China, Indonesia, Korea, etc... Since you are also a Les Paul guy with Gibsons and Epiphones, I would love to see a review on one, and how you feel it compares to both. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. 🤘🏻
The expensive ones hold their value over time
This.
exactly, when you buy a expensive guitar 2nd hand, in almost every case you can resell it later without a big loss
Then again, you bought an expensive guitar and selling it for less.
@@jaezryl Of course. This happens almost always (If you aren't buying a collector's piece) But as you know isn't the same to sell a Made in USA/Japan expensive guitar as any other cheap Made in Korea/China/Indonesia guitar. By selling a guitar you always lost a bit of money, but in the case of cheap guitars you always lost more money than the expensive/recognized guitars.
I buy guitars to play, not to sell.
Really great to see someone trying to give some education to the market.. Really important indeed..
Is my Japanese Ibanez jem 777 made in Japan from 1989 better than my Harley Benton Fusion Pro2? I love them both like brothers, but man, I really love the Jem.
Great commentary on the subject, Kris. After owning guitars all across the spectrum, I too have settled on a 50s tele reissue. Looks almost exactly like yours lol. It’s not custom shop, but you can tell it had a very high standard of production. Made in Corona late 90s. $1250 new, $850 used in 2003. It plays and sounds best out of my two LP Studios, Am Strat, 70s SG p90s, 80s LP jr.
I bought a used LPJ to get an “affordable “ goldtop. and someone had put an epiphone LP set of pickups n electronics in it. 🙄. But obviously it worked for them. I changed it back to LP studio specs. Sounds good and plays pretty well, but it’s absolutely clear it was a much lower production standard than a LP standard or even a normal LP studio model. I’ve tweaked and touched it up and got it to my liking, but it will never quite be as good as the real thing. But that’s ok, I didn’t want to shell out the $, and it basically does what I want while looking badass. 😂 Rock on....
Thanks a lot Allen! That’s my experience too. You can get really good affordable guitars with a little luck. Chances are still bigger finding an even better guitar if you go higher up in the price range. Guitar brands know what they’re doing. Haha
My most expensive guitar is over $4k and cheapest around $550. The expensive one... PRS core 24 is built to perfection and has a flame top that is stunning. My cheapest guitar is a Squire classic vibe 50s telecaster. I may have gotten lucky because my CV is perfect also.... but I'm very picky to make sure everything is in order when I buy any guitar. I think they both sound incredible. I can't say one sounds better than the other just different. I can obviously tell that for asterisks the PRS is in a league above almost any guitar... but the CV is no slouch...it sounds, feels and plays stellar. It may not have a fancy top or nitro finish...or locking tuners... but it's still a great guitar. I have eight other guitars that are fairly expensive too. I do find that overall the more expensive guitar the better quality... but things are changing where I see some mid priced guitars that are quite exceptional. But at the end of the day if you don't care about asterisks you can certainly find a few exceptional sounding and playing guitars for very cheap these days... with quality parts, pickups, etc. The CV is one of them, PRS SE silver sky is another... sterling cutlass, PRS SE 245 and Zach Wilde... and Chris Robertson are some others that if you are lucky and find the right one can be a quality instrument.
Enjoyable video, informative & honest, keep up the good work.
Thanks a lot Kim!
That said about wood, I bought the HB cabronita equivalent and totally lucked out with an awesome beautiful light one that blew the floor model away. Had a HB tele, the cheapest one for 79€ that had a flamed maple fingerboard and a body that was so well matched it looked like one piece from front and back, but of course that one had to be a boat anchor. I would have never sold it otherwise.
I am not a guitar player but i believe if you are planning to buy one, try to get access to as many as possible and play them to find the ONE that you like and fits your style of playing.
Ami mandl you see, you don’t have to be a guitar player to understand it. You’re absolutely right mate! Cheers
I have an Epiphone Sheraton, and man... Let me tell you. It's my favourite guitar. It does everything perfectly from Django Reinhardt to Queens of the Stone Age and between.
I heard your online concert last weekend. Sounds like an earth quake, it rocks! Especially in your "in between" numbers. Good on yer!
Those are really good machines. I've never played a guitar with such a low action before. The luthier who set up the one I played he really knew how to REALLY make them low
I bought my first gutar in 1980 for £100. It was a Kay Tulip, and by every measure today, it was a total piece of garbage! I am AMAZED at the quality you can get for less than that these days (taking inflation into account) A Harley Benton strat copy is ten times the guitar my old Kay was! Trust me, this really is a golden era for guitars and guitar players! (oh, and my next guitar is likely to be a Schecter Nick Johnston signiture - I'm a strat man all the way but sadly fender don't make what I want in that price bracket - no slam on fender, it just is what it is)
14:20 what is the zebra bridge pickup in that Les Paul? It sounds amazing!
One thing one should be aware of when comparing guitars is bias in familiarity. If you already own the guitar you are very familiar to it because of the time put in. For example I own a Schecter S1 Elite which I bought because it FELT good and SOUNDED good to my ear. Years ago I got to play a Joan Jett (love me some Joan) signature Gibson. Now, loved the look and the sound was pretty good, but because it didn't have my brand or guage of strings, or my set up (I'm a rhythm guy, look up rhythm guitar setups) it just didn't have that edge or familiar feel. Now since it was twice as much as what I bought for my Schecter and my Schecter looked, felt and sounded better, well I passed on the Gibson. I ended up coming home and appreciating my Schecter even more. I will point out that both are essentially stock. Also I played the Gibson on an amp that was not mine. Now, if I had both side by side through one of my amps, I think it would be the same outcome but I think I might appreciate the Gibson more.
Now two big places to spend time and money are:
1. A really good amp.
2. A professional set-up.
These two will bring out the best in the gear you have and the guitars you want. Is my Partscaster Tele in my pic as good as a Custom Shop Fender? No. Will it give the Custom Shop a run for it's money? Hell yeah! Will it complement a Custom or high end guitar? Oh yeah it will! What do I have in that guitar financially? More or less around $800ish but spread out over more than a decade. The Ibanez Artcore in my pic is around $550ish and I played it up against a Gretsch White Falcon (same amp and cable). Did I hear a $2800 difference? Nope. But my familiarity with the Ibanez and the fact that I set it up as something that I wanted to weigh greatly in my choice.
Now lets say you like a particular song...was that song recorded on a $2500 guitar or a $100 guitar? Honestly you don't know. Cheap gear makes its way to the studio all the time. I personally prefer mid level guitars because I can customize them for an affordable price and I have no fear of digging in and playing to best of my ability. Now compare that to a new Gretsch 6120 through a vintage Fender amp and you will see that nerves of dinging up the guitar or something happening to the amp will definitely eat up mental bandwidth and keep you (or in this case, me) from playing my best.
Buy gear based on happiness. Does a used $275 Epiphone Les Paul make you happier than a $1300 Fender Stratocaster? Is your tone obtained by sleeper gear? Will owning a 1976 Les Paul Custom bring you to the door step of perfection? Go for that then. Buy what you find is sexy and what helps you to play your best...that's the best gear for you regardless of price or brand.😎👍✨
I will tell you one last thing. I typically do not hear or feel a huge difference when I A/B my Epiphone AJ guitar to any Gibson J45 I have played. I have a bone nut and saddle, an LR Baggs I-Beam pickup with Gibson rosewood bridge pins. I have $375ish in that guitar and it absolutely complements the Gibson in sound and tone. I will say that I do FEEL a difference of my 25.5 inch scale to the 24.75 scale. That's pretty much it. I still prefer my Epiphone because I get more out of myself as a player vs the Gibson.
To me it comes down to the following:
Low prices guitars and Basses are incredibly well crafted nowadays. You get so many sound and playability for i.e. 300 euros. Stunning!
When it comes to quality materials and hardware the medium priced guitars are just killer. You pay I.e. 1,000 euros and get an absolutely professional instrument in every possible way.
then there are the custom shop guitars for 3,000 euros or more. As you said the main benefit is not pure quality, sound, or hardware. The main Benefit relates to the production process and simple perfection. You buy a modern day full-blown prs or other custom shop and you get a just plain perfect instrument. With stunning woods, finishes, materials, and build by an actual luthier in a first world country. To me and many other this has its value.
And then there is all the mojo stuff. Relic, vintage, rates, and so on. From here on the prices increase massively and you pay 5k, 7k or even above 10k. Mainly for stuff has primarily emotional or asthetic value to it. This kind of instrument also serves its purpose. But this ist just for a specific niche of customers. Not for the masses anymore.
We live in age of superb guitars whether cheap or expensive. My first electric was a Colombo Les Paul copy which was absolute crap! Haha!
I have an Eastman E486B which has top quality components and is hand built by luthiers - here’s the kicker the workshop is in Beijing!! I paid just over £1300 for a ES335 type guitar which is the same quality as a Gibson custom shop. I’ve played their Les Paul 59 re-creation which again has top quality components and is hand built by luthiers. In terms of quality it’s well up there with the Gibson 59 re-issue BUT the Eastman comes in at £1600 or £1900 if you want the aged version. Both are superb instruments, none are budget guitars they are mid range in price but top class in quality. You can get quality for reasonable money but you have to be prepared to have a different name on the headstock. If you can accept that you can, as I did, save several hundred pounds. I looked at the base level Gibson ES335 with P90s which I wanted, at a cost of £3500 - I saved over £1000!!! The best guitar? the one you pick up and can’t put down!
Love the videos man... 2thumbs up..my favorite channel.. peace on...
So really, when it comes down to it...you get what you pay for. 🤷♂️
The last two guitars I bought I dug deep and got American made... and the resonance, and subtlety of note flavours just ....it's like suddenly seeing the world in colour, when before you didn't even know you were seeing in black & white.
I really can't go back, now.
Since you paid a _lot_ it makes sense that you feel like you've found the holy grail.
Can guarantee it's due to the pickups. You can get the same pickups in a cheap guitar and it would sound just like that I believe. With a good setup as well
@@pedrosilvaproductions There are some more conditions though when you want to go that route. Meaning, modding a cheap guitar:
1) Body and neck have to be up to standard. You've got to have a good base, because if the neck is crap even a setup won't magically change it into a good one.
2) It will take more than just a pickup change in order to compete with a more expensive, higher quality instrument. You might need to change the tuners, electronics, change the bridge, add a better string tree, and put in some shielding as well. And then get a good setup.
3) You won't be able to sell if for the amount that you've spent on it.
But if it's something that's well thought out you could very well end up with an instrument that you really like. Which still costs less than a boutique brand.
Really like your channel. You discussed a lot of questions/doubts/debates we have, as we progress from a beginner to a more advanced player.
Glad to hear that, thanks man! I try to mention things I would’ve loved to hear about when I was younger. There are also many „black and white opinions“ even though I do believe all the colors are there for a good reason. 😁
Hey Kris, you should definitely make a video on that "Barocsi Exploder" project! It came out very cool. Congrats! Hope to see that in the future... and congratulations on the channel ;)
Research before you buy a cheapo guitar. Quality will very drastically. Something like the Kramer focus VT-211s is really well built. Then be prepared to do a lot of learning and a lot of work and yes, you can make a cheap electric sound just as good as a thousand guitar at a fraction of the price, with the help of some used parts on reverb.
Only downside is, that's your guitar forever no matter what you do the price will not raise all that much regardless of what electronics you put into it. But I do this as a hobby and yes you can do it, and it's so much more fun customizing your very own guitar rather then just going into the store and grabbing one.
I don't know. In the past ,I had two Strats in mind ,I wanted to put together , either with genuine Fender parts , Warmoth or both. I guess I was lucky , because Fender Mexico actually released the 60th Anniversary Classic Player £750 Inc tweed case , and later the Jimi Hendrix signature Strat £680 with gigbag. It was a no brainer , I couldn't have bought everything individually for that money and then having to assemble it . I couldn't have improved on Fender's finish & set-up personally. Those prices , btw, are British Pounds and include VAT (sales tax).
The biggest difference in my mind sits in the neck. A premium Pro Stage guitar for 2000 bucks and up and you will get a neck that is so much more in every point, the truss is thicker and made dead accurat while on those budgets it is just a flimsy rim made of cheap metal and the woodwork is a total mess, yeahh no one will look in there! Well I have and it is no wonder why cheap guitar are hard to set, some of them will never come to an rest, be reliable.
Still I prefer $200 guitars either that or $2000, in between there are murky waters.
I was looking through to the comments to de if anyone had realized this! I honestly go for custom made stuff just because of the neck!
@@andresni981 One have to look hard because the importance of an right thru well made neck that is forgotten knowledge. Everyone is talking about pups and nothing else seems to matter!
Today I made my final healing on my Epiphone LP Pro Plus. I have named her "Greta" because she is a dark blond beauty that enjoyes to inflict pain. I have done all for her, all my tricks, my best gear, plekted her. but she bitched me on and on, today after two years she finaly submited to love, take and give. Dam that I hate her but she will stay, a true beauty and a rare guitar to find a limited first series Bourbon burst.
The neck is genuine crap, that is the big wrong with the guitar or was and all the job and time I have put in to fix it that is crazy and in the reality not even worth it but I am a stubborn man..
Yes, custom made those are the best ones.
Can't beat the Tele, I have $4000, Gibson $3000 Gretsch guitars, and right now my main guitars are modified Squier Strat, Tele, [ those necks to me are perfect], Harley Benton Fusion II, CST 24, gigging, practicing everyday, case in point EVH Frankenstein, it come down to ability. Good guitar+ good effects+ good amp + ability to play = Hell Yeah Baby! even on a budget. Thanks Kris, you rock bro!
Like you pointed out, if you want a good guitar for less money you have to pick the one(s) from the pile.
It seems to me that there is a price/quality threshold (600/700 euros) I see for example with your HB minus electronics or the newer HB Amarok and EX with EMGs. Biggest problem is that the options (shapes, designs, specs) are somewhat limited.
What i mean is that if you can find a guitar that is build with desired shapes and measurements details, decent wood specs, good fretwork, hardware and electronics and decent finish (so you don't have to swap literally anything) up to 600/700 euros. Then personally i wouldn't mind paying additional money to a luthier for a good check up and nut/fret filing minutiae. So overall up to a 1000 euro you should get a near perfect guitar. You just have to find good one going through the bunch.
If guitar costs over 2000 euros and the nut is a bit high or low or there is a fret buzz with string height around 1,2 mm on 12th fret i would expect immediate and full refund or any "repair" paid by the company to your nearest to reach luthier. :D
If you are buying for quality, then around the $2000 range is the limit. Guitars don't just keep getting better the more expensive they're.
Gibson and Fender keep talking about how their guitars are made exactly the same as 1969, while South Korean companies keeps advancing their manufacturing.
I once dreamed about ultra-expensive strat. But after playing a while on cheap guitars and checking out expensive ones in shops I decided to buy the best Squier Classic Vibe model and modify it as I want to. So I bought it, sanded the neck for this satin feel, changed electrics and pickups and (for me) it feels now as good as any guitar out there which is 4 x the price but I appreciate it more.
Yeah, I just got myself a Classic Vibe to upgrade it up in the future. And what people also forget is that it hurts a lot when you accidentally scratch or hit a very expensive guitar, so +1 to cheap guitars.
Let me ask you an honest question. When you say it "feels now as good as any guitar out there which is 4x the price", are you basing this on experience or are you basing this on the sentimental connection you have to your guitar? I don't ask to insinuate that your guitar isn't good or that you should dislike it. I ask because I think it is important to occasionally step back and ask oneself why they feel the way they feel about something and how much that feeling might or might not apply to others.
Another aspect is experience. When you go to a online guitar retailer and check out the reviews for entry level guitars, you are going to see a lot more positive reviews than anything else. This is especially going to be the case for some of the more aggressively marketed (via influencers nowadays) stuff like Harley Benton. One pattern you will start to notice in those reviews is that the person doesn't have a lot of long-term experience with a wide variety of guitar price-points. To make matters worse, a lot of the larger guitar stores don't really take care of their stock so that person who has really become deeply entrenched in the entry level guitar price range (and has had that feeling supported by certain CZcamsrs and the like) is likely to pick up a more expensive guitar at a large store, feel the lack of a decent set up or good strings, and assume that it is a problem with the guitar (because that supports the narrative they want to believe) and not just basic maintenance issues on the store's part.
I mean, seriously. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to various large guitar stores and picked up $3000+ instruments only to find that they just play like garbage because nobody at the store is taking care of them. In contrast. When I go to (some) smaller stores and the higher-end guitar shops, all those same $3000+ guitars play as well as they should (even if I may not always personally like them).
I guess what I am getting at here is that there seems to be this deeply ideological debate about the merits of entry level guitars versus more expensive models and that debate doesn't seem to really involve a lot of practical experience or knowledge. A entry level guitar can be a very solid, very decent instrument. Nowadays, factories have gotten quite good at ironing out a lot of the major issues that cropped up even fifteen or twenty years ago. That being said, those entry level guitars are entry level for a reason. There are parts, features, and even construction techniques that simply are not available at lower price points and while that may not matter to everyone in the same way, it is still an objective reality that should not be so easily dismissed.
If it plays good, sound good, feel good, looks good, then it's good.
Btw, nice greeny tele bro 👍👍👍
i recently took a 2k + guitar from Esp.. going off you mentioning attention to detail well they missed some paint on the head stock
it was Minuit but noticeable on inspection. I did not feel good about it after paying all that cash. i sent it back. of course it played like a dream
but if one pays so much, atleast have a complete paint job ?
it's worth saving up money for a custom shop instrument. if you enjoy playing. the problem is that, after you buy your first CS guitar, you only want CS guitars 😁
That’s why I stay away from expensive stuff I don’t wanna know how good it is😂 that said I still plan to buy something wicked and expensive when I’m too old to play it proficiently . You know like an 85-year-old who can barely see buying a Bugatti Veyron 😂
sch2412 Hey, first part: yes it’s absolutely worth saving up for custom shop guitars. For many reasons.
Second part of your comment: that’s not always the case. I love my mid priced Les Paul CM (probably the cheapest Gibson ever built) and even my EX-style which started its life as a 170€ Harley Benton. What changes if you get used to custom shops is your expectations. At least then you can tell which affordable guitar is worth buying and upgrading. ;)
Cheers
@@KrisBarocsi i own a custom shop ES-335 and i recently bought a regular memphis USA 335. i was so disappointed how less resonant and characterless the new guitar was in comparison to the CS model. you don't even have to plug it in. just strumming a few chords "dry" you can hear a huge difference. i'm not saying it's a bad guitar, but once you experience a truly great guitar you always compare. at least i do :D
thats so true :-) and then someday you will find the joy in getting guitars custom built by luthiers, and years later, you still order a HB Fusion II from thomann because you like the color and it has a roasted maple neck and stainless steel frets for under 400€, :D where is the logic? :D
Hi I’ve been playing for two years I own a Korean PRS Tremonti and a Mexican Tele honestly both of these guitars put a smile on my face every time I pick them up 🤷🏻♀️
Nice Vid Kris! I highly regard your advice and opinions! I play LH strung RH. I recently purchased a LH HB Fusion-T HH, it’s currently going through Thomann’s Service Dept. to have the changed made and setup. What can I expect of the guitar when I receive the Guitar here in the US? Will I have made a Good decision purchasing this Guitar? In my 56yrs of working I’ve been a Touring, Studio and Local musician. I do own Gibsons, Fenders, Gretschs and a PRS. Thanks for your opinion, I highly appreciate it. Please stay Safe and Healthy and have a Great Day. Cheers from Salem, Ohio. USA!
*I have got a strat and it's a squire and a Mexican tele and I love them both, been playing since I was in 7th standard and now I'm in my graduation. Btw, nice content Chris.*
That "one" guitar will come at different prices. It might be from the brand's custom shop, a vintage one that has seen the road, a cheap one that someone gave to you or something that you made as a project. Personally, I love the big brands such as fender and gibson but I find myself enjoying my Jay Turser strat and my Tele project.
It's all about the pickups and amp.
Get yourself a guitar you're comfortable with and that's what counts.
If anything, a more expensive guitar will have a better neck and have the bottom horn routed out to get easier access to the upper frets.
But you can get a cheap guitar, upgrade all the electronics and neck, if you want, if possible, take a dremel and route out the bottom horn for your hand to get better access to those upper frets and there you go.
I love your guitar playing Kris, you have this really nice mojo when playing the guitar. Happy to have found your chanel. By the way you inspired me to do the "tele bridge pickup mod" to one of my strats, ordered the pickup yesterday!
Lefty Guitarist Thanks a lot dude! And good luck with the mods on your strat. You know that you’ll have to extend the routing for a tele pickup, right?
Kris Barocsi Yeah man I plan to use my dremel tool, works perfect for smaller modifications👌🏻 I ordered a quarter pounder Seymour Duncan pickup, hot hot hot haha🤘🏻
Very well said! Many people confuse "expensive" with "overpriced". If you have a luthier working on a guitar and giving attention in details for hours and days you don't say the guitar is "overpriced", it's like an insult! Many people say that when it's more expensive that they can afford, they just say "overpriced". Some of them want the same features half the price but that's not possible for the reasons you mention in this video!
Stumbled on this channel,you seem to be the voice of reason!
Very good outlook and a grasp on what can be a touchy subject!
For me me play what you can afford and play for enjoyment!
New subscriber!
Thanks a lot Rob! I do all kinds of videos but I always try to make them worth watching. :) cheers
I’m on an epiphone Sheraton made in Korea.. it was cheap (£400) but it was a gift from my mum.. my only other working guitar is my first electric guitar that is a strat that my mum paid £20 for with an amp and gig bag when I was 10 and 16 years later I still love and play it even though it’s cheap the neck is so amazing...... I know personally I will never be able to afford anything more but I’m thankful for the guitars I have and I love watching someone connect with a expensive guitar or cheap guitar because as long as you have a connection with it and it feels comfortable to you then that’s all that matters!! I admit I’m always looking on Thomann and andertons at high end guitars and pedals and valve amps and dream but end of the day if you have the spare cash to buy an expensive guitar then go buy your dream guitar!!! But if you can’t afford it well just work with what you have or can afford because you may connect with it more then a expensive guitar
Riley IoAcura It’s ALL about connecting with a guitar. No matter which one. It great to have all the options out there nowadays. Cheers again. Haha
I wasn't paying attention and thought the les Paul and the cheap explorer were the same guitar
Me too the sound difference was minimal
From Leo: Learn to set up your own guitar, level the fret boards and dress and polish the frets. If you can make the neck feel great, you are 1/2 way there. You have to pay a LOT for that attention to detail on a higher shelf guitar. Don't automatically throw away the Potentiometers , switches and pickups. Work with them a little while before you spend the extra money. They may be better than you think. If they fail, of course replace them with better grade parts