What is a "pro level" guitar anyway?

Lewy

The term comes up often when discussing cheaper guitars and it got me wondering what people are actually thinking when they consider a guitar to be fit for purpose for professional use. I guess my criteria would be:

- It has to be able to be set up to intonate properly and stay in tune, whether it comes that way out of the box or not.
- Pickups can't be microphonic
- Hardware has to be robust and smooth in operation
- Electrics have to be sound and repairable
- Has to be structurally sound so if it gets a few knocks it's not show over
- Can't look like a piece of shit - music is still largely show business and that has a presentational element to it, like it or not.
- Standardisation of parts - no point having an instrument you can't easily gat replacement parts for

Beyond that, I'd say it's all a matter of taste, and matching the instrument to the gig (so you might need a broad range of sounds, thus requiring a certain pickup consideration).


So by my definition, around £300 probably gets you into the "pro level" ball park. What are your criteria?

JerkMoans

Esoteric tone woods, the rarest of hide glues, and mojo.

EricTheWeary

Assuming being pro at anything means being paid to do it then it's whatever guitar works for you as a tool of the trade. There are examples of people who have done that with instruments that probably don't tick all the boxes in the OP. 

If I was trying to be the next Hound Dog Taylor then what constitutes pro is different than if I was trying to be the next Steve Vai. 

Kittyfrisk

Hmmm... 
- Pickups can't be microphonic
- Has to be structurally sound so if it gets a few knocks it's not show over

That puts 1950's Gibsons out of the race then   

Dan_Halen

A 'Pro level guitar' is a phrase invented by manufacturers to convince people to pay way above the sum of the parts. Or, at least, significantly more than the price of one of their more competitive offerings.

See Fender who are always more than happy to illustrate this point.

Dan_Halen

So by my definition, around £300 probably gets you into the "pro level" ball park. What are your criteria?

Or to answer your actual question... anything that can be gigged/taken on the road without falling apart.

You're right though, £300 quid gets you a lot of guitar these days and either new or used will get you a solid, good sounding and possibly great playing guitar.

ICBM

No paperwork.

Winny_Pooh

IMO why £300 is not pro level 
- finishes are used for curing speed and ease, and are not usually thin and hard.
- Hardware is not as robust as Gotoh etc. Trems are unstable & tuneomatics are rattley and made of softer steel where it matters.
- tuners are not likely to be as stable or fine ratio'd 
- pickups are serviceable but often do not suit the guitar they are in. Wrong magnet, wind choices.
- pots and switches will be far quicker to fail.
- wood is not selected for weight. Tone aside, comfort matters.

Most of these problems go away from £1500 up, although the big 2 still put shit pickups in.

Keefy

• Plays in tune
• Works reliably

That's it.

thegummy

It's very much a marketing term that has definitely penetrated people's thoughts.

I once watched a video where a guy does a good job of comparing a mid priced guitar to a more expensive one and he dissects it and goes in to detail comparing each part and how they're equal in every practical way. But then at the end he concludes "so if you're not a professional, it will do you very well".

But he'd just explained himself that they were equal so (according to the details he'd given), even a professional would be just as well off with the cheaper one.

But the marketing must have affected him so deeply that, despite finding the guitars equal, still believed one of them is for professionals.

Sassafras

Whatever you can make work for you.
There are lots of people who've made careers out of playing just one guitar, be it a Tele, Strat or Les Paul type. The make doesn't really come into it.
Whatever you feel comfortable with.
Cheap guitars can always be upgraded for better reliability and performance.

Whitecat

People can be professionals, objects cannot. 

This marketing isn’t unique to guitars. Cameras are another sector where what constitutes “pro” or not has generated about eleventy billion pages of online debate and counting. 

JayGee

I’m with the OP.

If it works well enough, is reliable, and is durable enough to play paying gigs with on a regular basis then it is, by definition a “pro level” guitar, and yes you can easily hit those targets for £300 or less...

thegummy

There could be the aspect of perception too - e.g. a producer or singer might have the idea that Squier is a cheapo kids brand so be prejudice if a guitarist shows up with one.

vasselmeyer

There's no such thing as Pro-Level...it's been invented by manufacturers to sell nice looking, well-built flexible guitars.

If you look at the complete dogs that some extremely successful Pro players have become associated with (e.g., Neil Young, SRV, Rory Gallagher) then they have taken the idiosyncrasies of the instruments they  played and made awesome music with them. If you'd given them a PRS or an Anderson when they were starting out, they'd still have been successful but their music would be different.

Having said that, I play a "Pro" PRS DGT for 95% of our covers set because it does everything I want it to, it never goes out of tune and it plays really well. I could also play the Tele that Steve Robinson built for me, which is not "Pro" but in my current band, the PRS suits me better.

"Pro" is an invention.

ICBM

thegummy said:

There could be the aspect of perception too - e.g. a producer or singer might have the idea that Squier is a cheapo kids brand so be prejudice if a guitarist shows up with one.

Musicwolf

 'Pro', when applied to an instrument, is purely a marketing term.  The description Pro Guitarist / Musician / Athlete / Porn Star suggests somebody who gets paid for doing what they do with the implication being that this is their primary source of income.

So, what constitutes a 'Pro Guitar'?  Anything with the suffix 'Pro' against the name in the catalogue.

What defines a 'Pro Guitarist'?  Somebody who can't get a proper job

stonevibe

'Pro' is usually linked to having to pay for that blow job.

ThePrettyDamned

Kittyfrisk said:

Hmmm... 
- Pickups can't be microphonic
- Has to be structurally sound so if it gets a few knocks it's not show over

That puts 1950's Gibsons out of the race then   

I'd broadly agree - they're mostly collectors pieces, and the ones that are gigged are likely somewhat modified or repaired already. 

OilCityPickups

A pro level guitar is any guitar you can make your living playing ... I started making my living way back with a bolt on neck Antoria Les Paul copy ... true I fitted Schaller tuners and a Pair of DiMarzio Super Distortions ... but it wasn't what people today would call 'pro level'. Personally I think the term is total bullshit ... give a halfway reasonable guitar player a Squier Strat, Tele, Epiphone LP, Harley Benton etc etc and they can gig and get paid for it.

richardhomer

Watched an Anderson’s video last night where Pete plays a £139 limited run Squier Tele (purple with maple neck) fitted with Mojo pick-ups.

No question in his hands it sounded like a ‘pro level’ guitar....