Guitars under $400

just out of curiosity, what kind of sound difference is there between a fender strat and telecaster?
 
hye man look on musiciansfriend.com i'm sure u've been on the sight or looked through the magazine or something. If not check it out, you can get a lot of guitars for that price get an epiphone i play an epiphone sg and it kicks ass great tone and all. it's worth more than 400 $475 to be exact but they have nice ones for cheaper. hopes this helps i doubt it.
 
Sounds like you're going the single coil route; in that case I'd agree with Eyes, mexi strats are big bang for the buck.

Ive also been impressed with the lower end Dean guitars, I own a Chafin and record with it quite often. It's a semi-hollow so that might not be what you're after...
 
A Telecaster has had, over the years a more traditional "County Sound" You will see many rythmn and lead guitarist in country bands playing them and many session players using them if you look closely on country videos.

You won't find many rock band members playing them because of the tone. They are still an excellent Fender guitar. Just for a different type of music.
 
**originally from Sennheiser**

You won't find many rock band members playing them because of the tone. They are still an excellent Fender guitar. Just for a different type of music.
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That's a great observation, and is also the biggest contributing factor (next to the tone) in my decision to purchase one. I went to large store here in the bay area with a guitar budget of $350.00. As of now, billions and trillions of people in every genre play a Strat or Les Paul, which is fine.... but i just wanted something different. I was watching VH1 Classic and noticed that almost all of the 60's rock bands were playing a Tele. You don't see that anymore though...not in a "rock" situation anyway! For the longest time I thought they were ugly as sin but after watching VH1 Classic for about a week, they really started to grow on me. To the point where I had to have one! I wasn't even in the market for a guitar and that's why I only allowed myself $350.00.

So anyway.... I went there and played about 5 or 6, all of which were $349.00. They sounded nice through a Marshall combo but I wasn't too happy with the distorted tones. Then after being there for a while I noticed one on the wall that really caught my eye. It was black with a white pickguard, which was the color I was hoping to find. To my suprise....it was only $329.00! I asked why it was less but his reply was not at all confident so to this day I don't know why it's cheaper. Anyway.... I plugged it into the same amp and wow!! It sounded killer! The clean tone was nice and warm and the distortion was "clean" sounding. It was heavy yet warm and had no bad overtones. It just sounded "right". So I bought it and I love it. Even though I'm not a guitar player, I found that the Tele just felt good and produced a nice tight all around sound. I've had 2 Strats now and it doesn't bother me that they're gone. I'll keep the Tele for as long as I can though!!

RF
 
yamaha

Check out all the Yamaha line. Pacifica's are amazing for the price. Also check out the AEX520 and the AES500!

There is an AES500 on ebay. This in my opinion is the most solid best sounding guitar for your price range. I fell in love with mine.


Good Luck!

Tyler
 
Re: Teles....


Page, Keef, Beck.....to name 3 that got a tone that was out of this world from teles........

Die hard LP players almost always like teles as well.....it's a guitar thang................gibs

:cool:
 
Maybe you'll be able to find a used Parker P-38 in that price range. With the built-in piezo's, you should be able to dial in some hybrid tele-ish sounds.

The Pacifica's are pretty slick too.
 
Just an update: I had planned on making a trip to mars music this weekend but didn't. I'm going to give these guitars a run. Yamaha Pacifica's have especially interested me as they have been mentioned here more than any other. Basically, I just wanted everyone to know that I have been reading these posts, even though I don't have any news. Whenever I return from mars, I'll post what I thought.
thanks
 
if i had 400 bucks to spend on a guitar and i liked solid bodies with single coils (which i do)....i would find a deal on a strat. why buy a copy when you can have the real; thing.
i've seen alot of nice strats go for 250 to 400 bucks.

a used strat is the way i would go... the yamahas are in the "under 200.00" range. 400.00 puts you in the fender strat market.
 
I also wouldn't lock tele's into the "country" genre. There are plenty of rock & blues players using teles, and there always has been!

Do you have a music store? Go to it!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Jimmy Page played a Tele throughout the 1960's... from the Yardbirds all the way to the very first Led Zeppelin album.

I didn't hear any twangy Country songs on Zeppelin's debut album, did you?

Check it out.....
http://www.zeppinhood.net/lzequip/

The lead guitar on Stairway To Heaven is a '58 Telecaster!
 
jimistone: The pacifica I was going to look at was the 312, but my guess is that you would still recommend the fender. I'm definitley going to play both. After that, hopefully, it won't be a tough choice.
 
jimistone: The pacifica I was going to look at was the 312, but my guess is that you would still recommend the fender. I'm definitley going to play both. After that, hopefully, it won't be a tough choice


check you local newpapers and "for sale" publications. there are great deals on used strats out there. i saw an american standard strat for 450 bucks in "tradewinds" (a local classified ad publication in this area)...i saw a fender precision bass in a pawn shop in new orleans priced at 199 bucks 2 weeks ago. remember...just cause they are asking 450 bucks for an american strat dosn't mean thats a firm price....if they are advertising a guitar in the classifieds they are wanting to move it quickly to generate some cash. offer what you are willing to pay for it and don't worry about insulting them with a lower offer.....there are plenty of guitar deals out there and if they won't come down to your offer someone else will.

also, check out e-bay to get an idea of what the going price is for the guitar you are interested in. (i don't think i would buy a guitar that i couldn't play first though)

the american strats and the 80's era jap strats are high quality guitars. people bash the mex strats but i have a mex strat and an american one and i think the mex strat body and necks are just as good as the american ones...pickups are not quite as good though

but....you can get a used mex strat for 200 bucks (or less) and a set of fender custom shop pickups for 140 bucks (brand new)

do that and you could have a fender strat loaded with texas specials for damn near the same price that you are talking about sinking into a strat copy

just my 2 cents
 
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