Whats your best cheapo?

robgilmo · May 4

Funkfingers said:

robgilmo said:

snowblind said:

Probably the Squier standard tele. Cost £125

I had one of these years ago, it was a great guitar, I sold it to fund another and it was like loosing a limb. Another guitar I would buy back given the chance.

I nabbed one of these about a year ago. Same colour. Same stupid cable channel running along the centre line of the body, between the two pickup cavities. It came to me with non-original pickups and pickguard. A TUSQ nut and a couple of Alegree pickups later, it is a joy to play.

I left mine into a local tech to get the nut lowered, he mullered it, so I put a Tusq on it, made a huge difference. The original nut was cut so high it was like bending strings playing a chord.

Flanging_Fred · May 4

My best ‘cheapo’ is a Westone Thunder Jet that I picked up for £39. It paid for itself many times over now.

DiscoStu · May 4

'82 Ibanez Blazer.
I think I paid £75 for it! It was a horrible handpainted blue when I got it so I had to spend a bit on it to strip and refinish it, plus there have been some other bits and bobs over the years to sort out but yeah, a total steal.
It's a fabulous guitar.

AK99 · May 4

^ Great pic.

mikeyrob73 · May 4

Vintage advanced something or other
pick it up more than anything else

https://i.imgur.com/GAkIAnb.jpeg

Lestratcaster · May 4

My 1997 Squier Strat. Was part of a starter pack thingy for £195 so the guitar on its own was probably £100 or so. Did some upgrades to it 5 years ago, probably spent around £350-£400 odd. Still cheaper than buying a Mexican strat. Outplays an American standard that belongs to a former learner of mine. He doesn't like it but I remind him of it every day haha.

topdog91 · May 4

As a confirmed tightarse and one who has always enjoyed playing around the cheaper end of the market and seeing what pickup upgrades and a good clean and setup can do, I've been following this thread with interest.

I know it's an obvious choice and I don't know if they count as cheapos as it's all relative, but for me the Chinese Classic Vibes are hard to beat. The pickups sound great out of the box which separates them from everything else at the price point, and they look good.

A little green Scotch pad to make the back of the neck less sticky and they're good to go, and I don't worry about gig damage / beer / theft.

I've been gigging a 60s CV Strat for months and loved every minute. The incoming Player HSS has a lot to live up to.

I bought an original vintage blonde Tele in Andertons back in the day, sold it around 2018 and immediately regretted it (turns out having too many guitars is fine as long as life is vaguely in order). Picked one up a few months ago, few dinks but sounds so raunchy.

Same with the mahogany Thinline Tele which accompanied me in many jam sessions in dingy Tel Aviv bars. If I see a good one at a good price, I'm having it. The way it used to resonate, wow.

And to save a NGD thread, I'm just on my way back home with this new to me baby. I had one in my hands when they were available new, again in Andertons, but managed not to buy it as at the time it would have been financially silly. Now it is just generally silly.

The only thing I will say is that the maple fingerboards are a little sticky when bending. Hence my preference for rosewood; I don't mind lightly sanding the back of the neck but I don't have the nuts to do it on the fingerboard.

But this one can go on the wall and look pretty, I have no idea how much paintings cost, but I'm fine with this value.

fretmeister · May 4

Jim Deacon Short Scale Precision Bass.

Can't remember exactly what I paid but it was no more than £150.
I upgraded some parts and it's a cracker of an instrument.

stufisher · May 4

My 1986 Westone Spectrum DX which I picked up with a 30W amp, strap and curly cable lead for the princely sum of £100.

After a complete strip down, thorough clean, new strings and pro-setup my total outlay reached £185.

The guitar is a keeper for sure..It's so comfy to play, sounds fab and still is my only HH Superstrat ... MIJ build quality still going strong and 38 years old

Funkfingers · May 4

I'm amazed that the Westone's vibrato sustain block has not shattered into one thousand tiny pieces.

stufisher · May 4

Did you have such an experience @Funkfingers? I've never heard of that.

I've gotta say that my Westie is in great nick, even though it had a semi-pro band life in the 80s and 90s and then sat in a farmhouse cupboard for 25 years. I just gave it some TLC and it came back to life.

TTBZ · May 4

Got an LTD EC-401 for around £100 a couple of years ago. Was absolutely filthy (hence the price I guess) but soon cleaned up nicely. Great guitar and I wish I'd kept it now, won't get one again for that price! Would have been a nice one to keep in lower tunings, the EMGs sounded great too.

PhilKing · May 4

Image: https://i.imgur.com/QOsDgSU.jpg?1

The 1959 Junior. Picked it up for $250 with a very dodgy custard yellow finish and a repaired headstock break. The refinish is curtesy of @WezV and he cleaned up the break too. The DC Special was also a bargain. It is a 1960 SG Special (no Les Paul on the headstock), was advertised (from a guitar dealer in the US), as a junior with added pickup, for $400. The body had been stripped to the wood, but the neck still has the TV finish and S/N.

SlopeSoarer · May 4

I've recently posted about this in another thread but I got this Crafter SA for £100! The guy couldn't shift it, it appreared to be in a manky condition in the very poor photos.

Image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53684911333_ee185b7191_k.jpg

My nephew did very well about 4 years ago, he saw an ad in Gumtree for a Martin with a crack in the top for £100 and was being sold as an elderly gentleman had passed away. My nephew was really uneasy about going and finding an equally old lady selling it and decided if this was the case he would tell her that it was worth much more and take it from there.

When he arrived he said the house was near enough empty and was met by a snotty young woman with a new Porsche on the drive.

He handed over £100 and took the guitar.

It turned out to be a Martin HD-28e and the crack wasn't that significant.

sev112 · May 4

I’m not convinced any Squier, Ibanez, etc are “cheapo”s - they are made by the biggest companies in the world.

Pete.R · May 4

SlopeSoarer said:

I've recently posted about this in another thread but I got this Crafter SA for £100! The guy couldn't shift it, it appreared to be in a manky condition in the very poor photos.
................

Wow - that was a steal......

I've recently got one of them (SA-TM-bk) for € 340 including a hardcase

and think I got a good deal

https://i.imgur.com/SGmxJCd.jpg

ToneControl · May 4

DiscoStu said:

'82 Ibanez Blazer.
I think I paid £75 for it! It was a horrible handpainted blue when I got it so I had to spend a bit on it to strip and refinish it, plus there have been some other bits and bobs over the years to sort out but yeah, a total steal.
It's a fabulous guitar.

I had one, my first decent electric, learned my first decent electric stuff on it, in dark brown though- was stolen from a car, I've never left a guitar in a car since.

CavemanGrogg · May 5

How are we defining cheap? Nowadays people generally consider £1+k to be mid tier in terms of pricing. And would guitars we get given for free be considered to be ''cheap'', since they cost us nothing, even if the guitar cost the purchaser a few K to 5 even 6 figures.

Though 2 sub £500 that really stand out for me would are:

- The PRS SE One I really really regret selling all of mine and really really wish that I had kept one for myself

- The JHS Vintage - as in the brand Vintage, SG Jnr clone that they got into a lot of trouble for making and are now no longer allowed to make, they're that good I'm scared to sell any of mine just in case I end up selling them all by mistake and forget to keep one for myself.

topdog91 · May 5

CavemanGrogg said:

How are we defining cheap? Nowadays people generally consider £1+k to be mid tier in terms of pricing.

Definitely not sure about that.

guitarjack66 · May 5

topdog91 said:

CavemanGrogg said:

How are we defining cheap? Nowadays people generally consider £1+k to be mid tier in terms of pricing.

Definitely not sure about that.

I was going to say similar. A 1k guitar would be a landmark buy for me and most people I know.

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Whats your best cheapo?

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