What's a decent guitar, and what would you pay for it?

fandango

Following on from a comment by @darthed1981 (thank you) in a different thread (http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/128613/thanks-a-lot-you-bunch-of-b-stards#latest), I thought I'd nick his idea and pose that very question.

What is a decent guitar* and what would be prepared to pay for it?

*To keep this sane, I suggest we restrict this to actually available guitars, and not your hypotheticals.

guitarfishbay

Stock, or final product if you know you’ll make changes/upgrades? Also new or used?

Sporky

A decent guitar is one that looks fine  plays well, stays in tune, produces the sound(so)  you need and is in budget. Also not too heavy.

That ought to be achievable for £600 or so. Being picky about shape, colour, brand, country of origin,  and so on costs more. 

p90fool

Too many variables. It's fairly expensive to make a decent Les Paul, very expensive to make a fantastic archtop and pretty cheap to make an excellent Telecaster. 

So depending on what sort of guitar I'm looking for at the time, the answer could be £400, £1500 or £3000. 

Fuengi

Based on the assumption that whatever anyone suggests there will always be a 'better' guitar available for more money, I'm aiming at the bottom end as per @darthed1981 comment.

Ibanez Artcore series. I would suggest they compare very favourably with Gibson semis two or three times the price. Specifically the AS93 which I've had the pleasure of playing, a shit-ton of guitar for under £500. 

guitars4you

No specific answer - But the quality of mid range and budget guitars is now far superior than ever before - With a good set-up many guitars below £1000 can offer a very good playing performance and tonal quality - Certainly to the point that they won't, or should not, impede your playing ability and allow you to perform, enjoy and develop your playing as required

Granted the difference between a guitar under £1000 and over is more minimal than in the past - But there is still something far more special in a more expensive instrument - Some might say subtle - But if I can feel it, hear it, like it and afford it, then I know where I want to be

richardhomer

Impossible to quantify in my view - it all depends where you set the bar.

The minimum requirement for me would be that it is playable with a ‘reasonable’ action - which again is open to interpretation, can be intonated and holds its tuning. Given the prevalence of digital modelling amps and multi-fx processors, the sound of it would be less of a concern.

Based on this - a Squier Affinity would probably meet the definition.

A used US Standsrd Strat can be bought for £500 if you bide your time - that’s a ‘very’ decent guitar, as far as I’m concerned.

sweepy

Definitely a case of diminishing returns these days, most £1k guitars are not that much inferior to £2-3k models and it’s the little touches and details that bump up the costs 

timhulio

richardhomer said:

Based on this - a Squier Affinity would probably meet the definition.

^this. Squier Affinity Tele is about £180, comes in some nice colours, has decent fretwork, the bridge pickup sounds good, and the neck is a more comfortable profile than Squiers of old. 

HAL9000

I'd guess about £500 - £600 would do it, particularly if you go brands like G&L, Revelation, Fret-King, etc where you're not paying fot the name on the headstock.

p.s. Autocorrect attempted to put 'name on the headstone'!

Barney

When I started playing the cheaper guitars were not very good..you had to pay a bit of money to get something decent ...now you can get a good guitar for not a lot of money very playable and one I would use to play without any problem ...also you can pay a lot of money for a bad guitar..so better to try them ..I honestly think now with its just down to trying them and what you like regardless of price 

fandango

guitarfishbay said:

Stock, or final product if you know you’ll make changes/upgrades? Also new or used?

Let's assume a decent guitar is one you don't need to make changes to. Agreed?

New or used? Mmmm..... remember, it would have to be an available guitar, not a dream guitar or one you've never seen for sale.

p90fool said:

Too many variables. It's fairly expensive to make a decent Les Paul, very expensive to make a fantastic archtop and pretty cheap to make an excellent Telecaster. 

So depending on what sort of guitar I'm looking for at the time, the answer could be £400, £1500 or £3000. 

Not intended to be anything to do with manufacturing cost. Or timing. A decent guitar is a decent guitar regardless of when you're looking. But having said that, maybe you can cite an example of a decent guitar you did buy, and what you paid for it (if that's something you'd like to share). If you don't think it decent or if you aren't prepared to pay £1,500, then maybe it shouldn't count.


My example: I considered this Fender Longboard Strat a decent guitar - well made, sans bling, great aesthetics, good wood choices for body, neck, the right pickup combo (H-S-S), hardtail (keeps maintenance simple). It sure ticked a few boxes when it was announced at NAMM 2015, and I went for it  without blinking - pre-order and had to wait 7/8 months for it:

https://imgur.com/4YmDEAt

Tone71

I like guitars that are makes that are known, fit my measly budget yet play well to me, more so bring a smile to my face.

Unfortunately my playing ability would be an absolute waste on a 6k guitar but worthy of a more realistically priced guitar, the likes of mim fenders are perfect for my level, yet having played acoustics for a lot longer I would and have paid a grand and over.

So to answer:

Acoustic £1000
Electric £500

digitalscream

Washburn N4. Unfortunately, not until they've been played in for a couple of years - don't know why, I've just never got on with brand new ones.

The good news is that puts them in the £600-800 range (if you hunt around a bit).

guitars4you

I'm a self confessed guitar snob - hard not to be in my position - Yet I find you can come across many guitars under a grand that have plenty of character, that you won't find in a more expensive boutique model

I've been having fun recently with a Supro Westbury and an early 80's Squier H2 Bullet - More expensive versions of such guitar don't exist - You can't play everything on them - They are not the be all and end all, but they have a character that I like and if you keep your playing 'more simple' in a Bo Diddley/Muddy Waters type of style, then they do a great job - Both are still off the shelf original with no thought about changing anything

guitarfishbay

fandango said:

guitarfishbay said:

Stock, or final product if you know you’ll make changes/upgrades? Also new or used?

Let's assume a decent guitar is one you don't need to make changes to. Agreed?

New or used? Mmmm..... remember, it would have to be an available guitar, not a dream guitar or one you've never seen for sale.

Ok. There honestly isn’t a single guitar I’m aware of with the exact spec I want anyway.

The LTD MH1000ET is closest, I changed the neck pickup on mine.

For me I’d want an evertune on a guitar which generally means modding as there aren’t many choices off the shelf.

If we ignore that I’d happily play any number of PRS SE, LTD or MIM Fenders (though higher than standard as I don’t like the pickups). As long as the fretwork and setup is ok I’m happy with ballpark specs and a comfortable neck shape. Incorporating used prices I guess under £400 then.

Acoustics seem to be much more expensive to get a really nice sounding one. I’m less up to speed with current models though to give examples.

Voxman

Also depends whether you're looking to buy new or 'pre-loved' as you'll get way better value with the latter.  I have 12 guitars and every one of them I've bought second-hand - I'd never buy brand new simply because of the instant devaluation loss you'd get hit with as soon as you walked out the door with it.  

As a general rule of thumb you can look to save a 1/3 - 1/2 the cost of a guitar if you buy used. Provided you buy from a reputable source (eg on the Fretboard here!) you'll avoid being caught with a fake (eg Gibson Les Paul's) or a dog that's not been looked after or set-up properly.  

Modellista

guitars4you said:

I've been having fun recently with a Supro Westbury 

I just took delivery of one of those for £400 new, and it's superb.  Would have been a good guitar for the £800-ish they were asking initially, so at £400 it's a bargain.  Build quality, sounds, playability, all top notch.  At the minute it might be my favourite guitar, due in no small part to it looking achingly cool.  In the past I had one of the Les Paul 50s Tributes which GuitarGuitar were knocking out, also for £400.  Ultimately I didn't get on with it but it was a lot of guitar for the money.

So in answer to the OP's question, if you wait for something to come along, £400-£500 will get you a brand new guitar of sufficient quality comparable to anything out there.  It just won't be made out of unobtanium.

Used, the £150-£250 range will get you a very nice Indonesian-made or Korean-made instrument.  And if you find a Godin SD, you can have a North American-made guitar for around £250.  Korean PRS SEs can be found around £250 or less.  Yamaha have loads of midrange Indonesian stuff - I picked up an RGX320FZ (crap name, great guitar!) for £150 - that's a great rock guitar with set neck, binding, Strat-shaped body and scale but Les Paul-style electrics.  Indonesian Squires can be great - a Squier '51 is all the guitar anyone really needs, and they're sub £150 all day long.

If you can stretch to £500 you can get some really nice used US stuff - Strats, Teles, Les Paul Studios and Tributes, PRS S2s, and all manner of Japanese Fenders.  You could luck into a "transitional" Japanese Fender from around '85 which have a whiff of vintage about them and play fantastically.

Overall, unless you want rare woods or something old and collectible, £500 gets you a solid guitar for life.

Rocker

I presume the OP is asking what is a decent guitar that can be bought from a shop and played 'out of the box'.  A lot of replies suggest getting a setup done on the instrument.  This is a good suggestion if the player is experienced and knows what he wants but a new player will know little of this.  Contrast buying a trumpet or a keyboard.  These work perfectly straight off, why is it that guitars need works which is usually costs a bit on top of the buying price?  It would be more honest if the advertised price indicated that an additional £50 is payable to setup the guitar to the customers preference. Or better still, price the guitar to include the setup.

You don't buy a car, used or new, and expect to change the gearbox or the seats before use.  Why should guitars be any different?  My own experiences in the past six months involved a search for a decent bass.  Every Fender Mex felt like it had been thrown together, some where so poorly 'built'  that no amount of setup would ever make them playable.  These are €700 instruments.  Squiers are cheaper and better put together but using inferior hardware and nondescript pickups.  To make a Squier play and sound the way I wanted would mean a total rebuild of a new instrument!  A ridiculous state of affairs in anyone's book.  I bit the bullet and bought a USA Fender bass, one that was properly built, plays great and sounds the money it cost.

In this day and age of global business, it is not good enough that a guitar costing £400 new, should require a £50 setup and £200 on replacement pickups and controls to get it 'right'  You end up spending £650 on a guitar which should cost (max) about £500 as manufacturers can buy hardware at much lower prices than you or I.

My hard earned advice to the OP is to buy 'good' from the start.  By good I mean a better guitar than you think you will ever need.  Buy cheaply and you will need to upgrade.  Again and again.  Ignore the BS about selling it on for what you paid for it, you end up losing no matter how you do it.  Buy good, buy once and be done with it.  Then play your guitar and enjoy it.

Roland

A decent guitar is one that’s fit for purpose, and doesn’t cost too much. We all have different versions of purpose and cost.

I’ve got two decent acoustics. One I take to acoustic gigs. T’other I don’t.

fandango said:
Let's assume a decent guitar is one you don't need to make changes to. Agreed?

No. I’ve always modified my electric guitars. “Decent” is always going to be a personal definition.

fandango

It makes me laugh that people are assuming I’m asking about decent guitars because i want to buy a guitar.

I’m not asking for my benefit, I am just putting the question out there.