Good quality cheapies

Schnozz

I'm on the lookout for a hardtail single coil guitar, but not a telecaster (ideally).

Budget is in the £100-£200 range, as I will be moving back into shared housing.

What would you recommend? I did have a Cort strat that was nice, but I never got round to blocking it and the neck was a bit too Ibanez for me, although a nice rounded C shape.

As usual, all input appreciated.

thegummy

Have seen a lot of recommendations for Yamaha Pacifica.

Never played one personally so can't recommend it myself but might be one to have a look at at least.

terada

thegummy said:

Have seen a lot of recommendations for Yamaha Pacifica.

Never played one personally so can't recommend it myself but might be one to have a look at at least.

Wiz’d. Pacifica’s are superb

stimpsonslostson

terada said:

thegummy said:

Have seen a lot of recommendations for Yamaha Pacifica.

Never played one personally so can't recommend it myself but might be one to have a look at at least.

Wiz’d. Pacifica’s are superb

But not hardtailed. Unless you “deck” the trem. 

Jonathangus

Epiphone Les Paul SL is properly cheap: 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/epiphone/epiphone-les-paul-guitars?#facet:&productBeginIndex:0&facetLimit:&orderBy:&pageView:grid&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&;

grungebob

stimpsonslostson said:

terada said:

thegummy said:

Have seen a lot of recommendations for Yamaha Pacifica.

Never played one personally so can't recommend it myself but might be one to have a look at at least.

Wiz’d. Pacifica’s are superb

But not hardtailed. Unless you “deck” the trem. 

There is a HH model with hardtail. I had one. Decent guitar but the neck was narrow. 

jellybelly

A used Squire ‘51 would be my first port of call

tony99

I would buy a Harley Benton flying V and aerosol it orange

Revolting1

The last Mexican Strat I bought on Evilbay was £200 this spring.

  Its the only strat I've got that I havent locked the trem on.

timhulio

Depending on your stature, this Hondo Pro copy of a Fender Lead II could be for you. I'm 6' 4" and it's a bit small on me, but it's full scale, almost-vintage, great pickups and is better than anything else mentioned so far for the money:
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/160270/fs-hondo-ii-pro-copy-of-fender-lead-ii-mij-and-jolana-graziella-spezial-2-vintage-czech-semi#latest

HAL9000

grungebob said:

stimpsonslostson said:

terada said:

thegummy said:

Have seen a lot of recommendations for Yamaha Pacifica.

Never played one personally so can't recommend it myself but might be one to have a look at at least.

Wiz’d. Pacifica’s are superb

But not hardtailed. Unless you “deck” the trem. 

There is a HH model with hardtail. I had one. Decent guitar but the neck was narrow. 

Also, the Pacifica 311H which has a splittable humbucker (bridge) and a P90 (neck), so just about meets the single coil requirement. Also has Grover locking tuners. Used one would easily be within budget.

DeeTee

grungebob said:

stimpsonslostson said:

terada said:

thegummy said:

Have seen a lot of recommendations for Yamaha Pacifica.

Never played one personally so can't recommend it myself but might be one to have a look at at least.

Wiz’d. Pacifica’s are superb

But not hardtailed. Unless you “deck” the trem. 

There is a HH model with hardtail. I had one. Decent guitar but the neck was narrow. 

I think I bought it from you... and moved it on because the neck was too narrow.

RichardT

You can get a 90s Peavey USA-made Predator (Strat) for that money. Excellent neck, everything else fine apart from crap tuners. All have trems though. That Hondo Lead is whispering to me, I really like my Fullerton Lead I and it'd be fun to have a SS too.

thecolourbox

jellybelly said:

A used Squire ‘51 would be my first port of call

Excellent instruments

jasperthecat

I'm an ex full time pro vocal guitarist from the dark ages which was my full time occupation for 13-14 years and only recently took up guitar playing again after retiring in 1980 after never touching a guitar during that period.
I've been buying up a few guitars to give me the sounds I want as I want to use my gear and 24 track to record some tracks for posterity. One of my recent acquisitions is a Gretsch G5120 in orange stain..it's superb.

I also have a caravan which I visit monthly for about a week at a time and wanted an el cheapo guitar and amp to leave up there during the season and after scouring my local Gumtree I spotted and picked up a Strat copy ( Westfield brand) for the princely sum of £40.00 including a Ritter travel bag and after setting it up, dressing a couple of wayward frets, fret leveling, adjusting the relief etc, it actually plays like a dream. It's not a hardtail but I simply screwed down the trem mechanism and it stays in tune comparable to the other hardtails I've got no matter what you do with it.

I also picked up a s/h Yamaha THR10 amp for £120.00 also with the intention of leaving it up there too but after taking it with me and playing for a few days it I realised it like the guitar was too was too good to leave there permanently and the guitar also gave that typical and distinct Strat 'quack' which I wanted for some recordings.. The guitar's playability was reinforced by my cousin who is a Fender Strat freak/collector with several American models including one worth god knows how much, who lives near to where my caravan is sited and after playing the little £40.00 guitar and the Yamaha amp he couldn't believe the sound or how well the guitar played so I can honestly say it was the best £40.00 I've ever spent.

It certainly plays and sounds as good as any Mexican Strat and for anyone on a tight budget one simply can't go wrong.
Another excellent value guitar is a Vintage (brand) VS6 ( Gibson SG copy) . a true hardtail. I bought one about two years ago for £90.00 and once I'd set up the neck, dressed the frets and set the relief and spent £9.00 on a replacement TOM bridge it's another of my favourite guitars.
I love restoring guitars and levelling the frets, adjusting the necks etc and getting the actions as low as possible which suits me and my style of playing.
You really don't have to spend hundreds or thousands on a guitar to get a good playing guitar..there are lots of used budget bargains to be had out there which just need a little attention and as long as you can and are willing to set it up yourself which is often what you have to do with budget models, then you'll end up with a great playing guitar.
If you don't know how to set them up just go onto Youtube, there are dozens of really good tutorials on setting up guitars.
If it's a really cheap guitar and you mess it up you haven't lost much but the only problem is that if you're successful then you'll be looking for more with which to do the same. 
 

Henrytwang

It’s certainly a good idea to take some time to learn simple jobs like fret levelling and setting up guitars, they’re not difficult jobs they just require care and patience. I’ve worked on many boot sale bargain instruments, some costing as little as £7.50 , and ended up with very playable guitars. Most of what you need to know can be found on YouTube.

jasperthecat

Henrytwang said:

It’s certainly a good idea to take some time to learn simple jobs like fret levelling and setting up guitars, they’re not difficult jobs they just require care and patience. I’ve worked on many boot sale bargain instruments, some costing as little as £7.50 , and ended up with very playable guitars. Most of what you need to know can be found on YouTube.

Exactly.
Actually someone called to see me during the week to ask my opinion on a guitar he brought with him which he was thinking about buying and during me testing it he spotted the Westfield guitar that I'd set up and asked if he could play it. After a few minutes he asked if I'd sell it to him and I declined his offer and so far he's sent me four texts offering more each time. I had one yesterday from him offering a daft price of £200.00. He knew how much I'd paid for it but it played so well for him he just wanted it.

I don't blame him in that respect, it's not how expensive a guitar is that makes it worth it's money to the owner, it's how it plays but I don't need the money so I just don't want to sell it as it's worth more to me for the recording jobs I want it to do. If I sold it I'd just have to find another Strat type guitar to replace it so I'd rather keep it.

I don't think that model of Westfield  cost anywhere near £200 when new. They are however, very decent guitars once set up and I'd be happy to do gigs with it anytime if I was still doing them.
I did see one for sale the other week on Gumtree going for £20.00 but I spotted it after I was packed to set off for my caravan so couldn't get it before I left and it was quickly snapped up.
Someone was selling an Epiphone Les paul in good condition for £45 the other day...they said they'd probably reduce it as the amp was faulty!!! By the time I'd rung up maybe an hour after the ad went up it was sold!

carlos

Harley Benton Mustang. Hard tail, two singles, excellent reviews, very cheap

rossi

I just picked up a" prelaw suit " Japanese type Hondo  slim Les Paul type .for 40 smackers .Plays well and sounds fine ...as long as you dont expect a LP sound coming out of it .Another great cheapy is my Keiper 109 hollow LP sized jazz box.I play this at jazz bars instead of lugging my MIdtown down dark and empty  streets .Cant fault it at all .

5redlights

The squier bullet hardtail strats get alot of praise. Gives you a modding platform to tinker with or just play as it is. Will feel cheap though. 

Thst Hondo lead II is an excellent option, as are the squier 51s, but you may want to change the wiring on them. 

They're rare as anything, but the Hagstrom Metropolis S is a good option for a single coil hardtail with LP looks and a 25.5 scale. Rarely pop up though. 

There are a few squier jazzmasters with hardtails. I think there's one of the vintage modified ones with the maple neck and sunburst alder bodies on Facebook marketplace at the moment under budget. They're lovely to play, feel upmarket. 

Revelation guitars all play great, there's a few hardtail jazzmasters that they do. 

Vintage are a very good option. There's a cheap but new LP junior copy on ebay at the moment - 
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/223528180443

If you were open to teles, you'd have some great choices under £200. 

ESBlonde

It is worth visiting a couple of car boot sales and maybe the local Crack converters and making an offer they can't refuse. A lot of dross to seive through, but the odd gem may fall into your hands for paper round money. It's no good setting your heart on such and such a model in sunburst if there are none for sale in your area. Once you get into ebay and travelling, the cost goes up, or not?