Are expensive guitars overrated?

  • Thread starter Thread starter GT
  • Start date Start date
GT said:
JR,

The three guitars In my studio, that I was refering to, are a bass, acoustic, and electric.

Are you saying that your Musicman is all of these in one?

GT
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I was referring to electric guitars in reference to those who need a Strat, a Les Paul, and a Tele, etc.

If you don't want to spend high dollars, then don't. I wasn't trying to be high brow or anything. Hell, I'm damn poor myself! I know what it's like to have cheap gear... 15 years of a shit $100 Korean acoustic guitar and going through three shit sub $500 electric guitars... But to me, having one $1000 electric and one $1500 acoustic that I will probably keep forever is worth driving a shit 89 s-10 blazer, buying my clothes at thrift shops, and using hockey gear that is falling apart.
 
JR#97 said:
I was referring to electric guitars in reference to those who need a Strat, a Les Paul, and a Tele, etc.

If you don't want to spend high dollars, then don't. I wasn't trying to be high brow or anything. Hell, I'm damn poor myself! I know what it's like to have cheap gear... 15 years of a shit $100 Korean acoustic guitar and going through three shit sub $500 electric guitars... But to me, having one $1000 electric and one $1500 acoustic that I will probably keep forever is worth driving a shit 89 s-10 blazer, buying my clothes at thrift shops, and using hockey gear that is falling apart.
Click to expand...

JR,

Man I know your not trying to be high brow, because your like the rest of use here, we just love guitars, and discusions like this are really fun.

I actually believe that you can get a great electric guitar for $100.00.

I would love for you to have a listen, if you would be so kind, and then come back and brutilize me, for my outlandish beliefs.

Have a listen to a Christmas tune I just did, it has chords all up and down the neck, and running clean. Should be pretty revealing, as to how good or bad my Alvarez electric is.

Also I'm using my $200.00 Ibanez acoutic on this tune.

My Rickenbacker 4001 bass needs little introduction. I was very lucky to get this out of the classified, for $300.00.

So total cost of acoustic, electric, and bass $600.00.

Try to hear past any playing flaws.

Song: What child is this

http:www.nowhereradio.com/gt/singles

Would love to hear your honest oppinion!!

GT
 
GT said:
JR,

Man I know your not trying to be high brow, because your like the rest of use here, we just love guitars, and discusions like this are really fun.

I actually believe that you can get a great electric guitar for $100.00.

I would love for you to have a listen, if you would be so kind, and then come back and brutilize me, for my outlandish beliefs.

Have a listen to a Christmas tune I just did, it has chords all up and down the neck, and running clean. Should be pretty revealing, as to how good or bad my Alvarez electric is.

Also I'm using my $200.00 Ibanez acoutic on this tune.

My Rickenbacker 4001 bass needs little introduction. I was very lucky to get this out of the classified, for $300.00.

So total cost of acoustic, electric, and bass $600.00.

Try to hear past any playing flaws.

Song: What child is this

http:www.nowhereradio.com/gt/singles

Would love to hear your honest oppinion!!

GT
Click to expand...

Thanks man! If it's ok, I'm also part of Christmas Compilation CD of home hobbiests. If you want, I can throw your tune on there. PM me for details if you're interested. I thought it sounded great. What kind of amp and signal chain? The bass line was great.

I am very keenly aware that you can get good results with budget gear. In fact, one of the tunes that I get the most compliments on was recorded on my $100 Korean cheapo acoustic. And when I was gigging with that guitar, nobody ever said it sounded like shit. I will say though, that playing my $1500 acoustic in comparison is like driving a luxury car compared to a Honda Civic. Both get you from A to B, but it's how you get there.
 
JR,

Certainly, you can use this tune.

I will also look forward to hearing your musicman in the clinic.

Get something in there soon, can't wait after this heated debate!!

This has been a very interesting thread, with two sides of the coin. Ecuse the pun.

Crank them $1000.00 puppies up and let us have a listen.

GT
 
GT said:
JR,

Certainly, you can use this tune.

I will also look forward to hearing your musicman in the clinic.

Get something in there soon, can't wait after this heated debate!!

This has been a very interesting thread, with two sides of the coin. Ecuse the pun.

Crank them $1000.00 puppies up and let us have a listen.

GT
Click to expand...

Nothing worth posting on my Musicman yet. But here are some samples of my nice acoustic:
Tennessee and Sansamp Acoustic DI Sample

Here is a sample of my shit acoustic:
Mediteranean Slide

Please ignore all of the other tunes on my site.:eek:
 
Wide Awake said:
Cheap guitars = good/acceptable

Cheap amplification = shit
Click to expand...

That's an excellent point. Does anybody have budget amps that sound great?
 
JR,

Outstanding, this debate is over, that is some fine sound.

You my friend are an acoustic guitar player.

I will never get my $200.00 Ibanez to sound that good.

Great play, and tone!!!

GT
 
...next time I buy some with Les Paul shape, I'll read it carefully. It won't happen again, they won't cheat me twice. It should be GIBSON not BIGSON.


...ouch dammit!!!
:mad:
 
Well, GT, who the hell knows? I happen to have an Epiphone SG Special (the older one with the laquered neck, I know the ones you're talking about, and I didn't like them either, even though they had better tuners). I also own an SG Supreme in midnight burst. I put Seymour Duncans with taps on the Supreme to make it sound like a Tele (love tele sound, hate Fender necks), and dropped the classic 57 humbuckers from the Supreme into the Epiphone. I use the cheapie for a travel guitar, and for Blues and power chords/distortion. I use the Supreme for clean stuff and fingerstyle (think Lindsay Buckingham/Pete Townsend-Tommy). In the end, both axes work for me and make me happy- $2100 plus the pickups, and $179! The acoustics are the same- a Taylor 710CE over $2000, and an old Epiphone dreadnought I bought for $300 new in 1980. On any given song, I don't know which axe I'll use until I hear it on the monitors.
If expensive guitars are overpriced because good guitars can be had cheap, then they are overpriced. Frankly, if I love the guitar enough, I don't care if it'a expensive or cheap. I've made my living playing $100 guitars, and this is the first time in my life I've gotten to own high-end axes. The time I've spent playing a Penco makes me appreciate my Taylor a lot.-Richie
 
good guitars for less

Here's a testimonial. I bought a really expensive customized Strat Plus and played it for years but for the money I always thought I would get more. The odd time I would bump into a friend with a guitar that I really liked and immediately I started to feel longingly unsatisfied feeling. The guitars that got me going were at least half as expensive. Then one day I decided just to go and play a bunch and buy another ax. Well. I tried quite a few. I budgeted for under 500. Most of the guitars were nothing special. But I seemed to keep going back and playing an Ibanez of the SA series. Finally I just had to buy it. It seemed too good for 450 Canadian but when I got it home it still was as good as in the sound room. The set up was near perfect and the sustain and neck were fabulous. From then on I never really bothered with the luxury ax (in fact I traded it for a bunch of cool and much needed gear). Even with the stock pickups ( two positions on the 5 position switch a little noisy ) it just shone out. Since then I have contiued to play store axes just for the heck of it to see what sort of value is out there and I must confess that the newer manufacturers make better cheaper guitars than the old snobs such as Fender and Gibson. An Ibanez neck always out plays those other and set up is always almost right on. I also find more consistency and less variation from guitar to guitar than I would with a Strat or... Anyhow, I have been playing for 15 years and now have played a lot of different guitars and I say if you spend 350-500 and look carefully you will find all you really need. I say need because there are always options that are nice that may only come with higher priced guitars such as locking nut tuners but think of this. But here's an idea: why don't you just buy that guitar I am talking about and then go out and spend some money on after market parts and have someone upgrade it for you or you learn something new, do some reading and upgrade it yourself. Parts are usually a lot cheaper than a brand name. And who cares about a name if your sustain is insane!

On the other gender, Acoustics to be specific, as everyone else says here, more money usually means sweeter, better, richer tone, etc. Just don't take these sorts of beauties camping. Make sure that you keep your stress level down by keeping them in a well regulated environment (heat, cold, humidity)! These things are alot more sensitive than an electric. A really nice acoustic for around the 1000 dollar mark for recording, etc. is the Yamaha Compass series. This guitar sounds good plugged in and unplugged with a fresh set of strings. By the way Yamaha is making most of it's low enders now with solid tops as well. They have good beefy low end for your camp fire sing alongs when amplification is absent. Hey I hope this gives you a well rounded approach to think about. Geeves.
 
Yes they are over rated. I've played cheap guitars that have played and sounded great.
 
I don't think the fact that you can get good guitars for cheap makes expensive guitars overrated.

To continue with the car analogy - you can get a reliable Honda that gets you to all the same places the Ferrari will. You can buy a Japanese sportscar that goes about as fast as the Ferrari. But still, given the option, most of us would take the Ferrari, and if you've driven one, you know why.

I've played some great $200 guitars. That doesn't mean I would prefer it over a McInturff, Anderson, Baker, Grosh, Suhr, etc...

I actually have just spent the most I ever have on a guitar this month - it's one I am building from custom ordered parts. We'll see if it is worth it when I strum the first chord. :)

There are a lot of expensive guitars that really are not that great - the big manufacturers come to mind: Fender, Gibson, PRS... I have a Fender that I love, and have played some great guitars from all of these brands. I've also played $3000 PRS guitars that seemed to suck. On the other hand, I have never played an Anderson or other "small" builder's guitar that wasn't VERY nice.

I guess the way I see it, guitars are a "relatively" inexpensive obsession for people with the means to indulge in. (I hang out at the PRS Forum - in the "guitars from other builders" page - and those guys spend LOTS of money on guitars... It's kind of amusing.)
 
JR,

You've beeen very gracious in this debate.

I have listened to the Sansamp Cad blend, and I think I can honestly say the may be the best, or at least one of the best sounding acoustic recordings I have ever heard.

You have given a perfect example of an expensive acoustic at it's best.

I am going to try new strings on my Ibanez, which I haven't ever changed. They are the strings that came with the guitar, and I got the guitar in August.

I hope you're happy now I'm going to have to go out and spend $8.00.

GT (An Enlightened Cheap Bastard Produtions)
 
I tend to like expensive guitars better, what records best is another matter.
 
GT said:
JR,

You've beeen very gracious in this debate.

I have listened to the Sansamp Cad blend, and I think I can honestly say the may be the best, or at least one of the best sounding acoustic recordings I have ever heard.

You have given a perfect example of an expensive acoustic at it's best.

I am going to try new strings on my Ibanez, which I haven't ever changed. They are the strings that came with the guitar, and I got the guitar in August.

I hope you're happy now I'm going to have to go out and spend $8.00.

GT (An Enlightened Cheap Bastard Produtions)
Click to expand...

That recording was done with year old Elixir strings. I have a hard time changing those strings unless I break one because they never get "old" sounding. (they're expensive so beware!)

I highly recommend the Sansamp Acoustic DI. A little blend with a mic gives a great sound. That CAD GLX2400 mic is pretty cheap... $59... and the Sansamp really acted like the the "glue" to bring the low end DI sound which I like, together with the open mic sound. The Sansamp has tube mic emulation that adds a tad bit of compression, so I didn't even have to use any compression. I think that sound needs a bit of reverb though, but I don't have a good one. For live, the Sansamp Acoustic DI is the best thing I've ever bought for my acoustic. Oh... and thanks for the compliments!
 
Well I have eight guitars,all of them "cheap".I know that in the future I'll be going more upscale but not without a lot of investigating and playing.

My "best" electric is 90'S Japanese strat 60's reissue but I barely ever play it.
My most played electric is a Danelectro Hodad.$149 brand new,no sustain,got to stay way away from the monitor or any thing else that might make it buzz.Tape binding,you've got to love it.
But I love it's flat ass neck and action,plus it gives me that garage/pop/60's sound that I love.

Are expensive guitars overated?

Thats strictly a matter of opinion.

Are nice clothes and beautiful homes overated?

Makes for great debate though.
 
A lot of it comes down to what kind of tone a person wants (and can afford). I bought a new D-41 about 2 years ago. $2500. It took 41 years to afford one and I taught a lot of guitar lessons to pay for it. I'll never sell it. It plays like I want it to play, and sounds like I want it to sound. But everyone's taste is different.

Here it is solo.... www.nowhereradio.com/graftedin/singles

Christmas Solo
 
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