Cheap guitars in retail stores

  • Thread starter Thread starter 3nigma
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feel the love

A good guitar has an organic feel to it. The sound resonates with your own body. The feel of the finish and the small things that make a guitar more expensive are what makes it sound and feel good to you. The more you play the more you learn to know what you like. Eventually you'll find a guitar that really makes you want to play and that's whats important. A cheap guitar can get you started but you will soon learn to see and hear the compromises and will be dissatisfied and stop playing. Get a good guitar. It's a relationship that is worth investing in.
 
I have a small shop.
I sell some Saga kit guitars.
I've built several of them.

They get a bad rap.
and that's too bad.
Nobody has ever complained about one of mine.

The tuners are junk. The tele neck pickups sucks.
otherwise, the tele model is really very nice.
They do a very good job on the frets.
one piece maple neck, one piece rosewood board.
I cut the headstocks and finish them, free, with my kits.

The bodys are basswood. a less expensive tonewood, but it perks right up with a better neck pup.
the bridge pup is standar squier territory. Not bad. I put an import strat pup in the neck position, with top adjust, free, with my tele kits.

they intonate. the look good..they are light.. they play nice..
I do fretwork, minor leveling and polishing, also free with my kits.

You can get them on ebay from a lot of folks. usually shipped in the box it comes in, never even looked at.
I pull all mine and check all parts and quality, and duds go back.

I have two on hand.
both were held back as they had really nice two piece bodys.
you can get as many as four pieces on some.
one is clearcoated..looks fantastic.
the other is pearl white with a flag pickguard.

for 130.00 to 150.00 I'll put them up against anything under 300.00 anytime.

out of the box, it's up to your skills.
I try to take care of that end before you get it though.

they make nice guitars for beginners, no doubt about it.. leo had a great basic design.. but they're good as back up or bar gigging or jamming guitars, too.
I upgrade the tuners as well.
Overall, I've found I can't really compete with the ebay guys.. they just want to move them fast, and it wrecks the saga reputation, and undercuts me so bad it just isn't worth it.

so these will probably be my last two.

I think I've got one of their p basses here, too.

starter packs are really only ok if you know something to start with, or have someone pretty wise with you to help pick 'em out.

too often, especially with acoustics, you just aren't getting anything at all.

I only wish I still had my original five watt all tube amp from sears..
I paid 65.00 for it and a guitar.. les paul custom copy .. made of balsa wood and kite string, I think.
But the amp was nice. I just didn't know it.

electrics can have problems that seem adjustable, until you try to adjust it.
then you find out it's just made wrong.
so.. always take someone experienced, but not snobby, with you.

You can get a pretty nice inexpensive guitar nowadays.. you're chance are, I think, much better than 'back in the day'.

TWANG
 
3nigma said:
You guys ever come across those cheap guitar "sets" in retail stores? I usually see them going at around $100, with a small amp and strings and such. Are those ANY good?

I usually hear alot of people that play guitar say "It's 99% about the amp you use." So my question is, if I bought one of them to use for recording would it hold up? Also, what about recording it through an audio interface, transferring it to the computer, and then mixing and screwing with the sound. Could it do some major improvements?
Click to expand...

The original poster seems to be asking a recording question. 3nigma, let me address your original question. You have not stated whether you have any guitar experience, or the ability to assess the instruments in question.

So assuming the following things:
The instrument is functionally playable,
It has no fret buzzes or noisy electronics,
It is tunable, and stays in tune,
It doesn't seem likely to fall apart,

then yes, you can run it into an interface direct, (bypassing your 99% useless starter amp) and get some cool sounds. BUT, they will be just that. Cool "niche" type sounds, not bread and butter guitar sounds for your music. Most likely they will be neat effect type sounds. If you want the guitar to run direct into an interface, (as your post implies)skip the crappy amp, take someone knowledgeable with you, (if you are not yourself) and put your money into the guitar itself. I went shopping at Guitar Center once and helped my sister pick out a Washburn electric for $99 that is actually a pretty good little guitar. Something like that would fit your stated purpose just fine.
And shop at a real music store. Your chances of getting an actual musical instrument are much better.
 
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