so the question becomes are you trying to get groceries or trying to overcompensate for something?

are we trying to make music or make flash?

in headphones 99.9% of people can't hear that $2700 difference between a 300$ guitar and $3000 guitar
better to spend that 2700$ on studio time or intoxicating beverages (Liquid inspiration) than prestige.

Slap a Fender pro shop sticker on it if it makes you feel better, or an "M" badge on your chevy.

Its difficult being a musician, where does the magic come from? will it be there tomorrow or tonight when I need it?
many become a superstious lot, relying on ritual and myth to soothe the ego and the tiny voice that questions everything.
If a 3000$ guitar can bring inner peace, then yes for those individuals it makes a difference, though we may never hear it in our ears, it makes a difference in their hearts and perhaps that difference translates into a better performance or more confidence or whatever it takes to continue on their musical journey.

For me it makes little difference, but I have my lucky guitar pick collection, my rabbits foot and my lucky cowboy boots to assure my musical abilities.Plus I always burn a candle to St. Jimi each morning in the hopes to receive his blessing for this day before us.

people are an odd lot aren't we?

 

I bet this guitar that Seasick Steve is playing is worth much more than $3,000 now... It's all relative.

 

I've got several guitars that are worth a few bucks... but I purchased them in my youth,and prefer not to play them out anymore. Why should I... when I have @ 15 different models of those cheap Epiphones (!). With new electronics (if needed) and a good set up... they all pass the test. My absolute fav is a single P-90, double cut Les Paul Jr TV model... w/bolt on neck! I bought it new (@ '98) for $179. I wound up getting new tuners for it... but that's all. Best sounding and playing guitar. If someone walks away with it (and same for the other Epi's)...at least I'm not out thousands of bucks. I'm keeping the real guitars for my future display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Or would it be the Hall of Shame. Whichever...

 

I have a left handed Epiphone SG Tony Iommi model that I paid around £220 for - somebody told me the pickups would cost that if bought separately. If I could somehow transport it back in time and hand it to Tony Iommi when his strat broke, instead of the SG he was given, to finish the rest of the first album nobody would be any the wiser. It's basically his tone.

 

If a cheapo is good enough for an O.G. Allman Bros Band guitarist that's proof enough a $300 guitfiddle can sound just as good if not better than a 3K guitar.

@52:42 on the 2nd vid.

 

Last edited: Nov 25, 2023

I mean, what are you really saying here, that sounding like an Allman brother is the apex of what a guitar is supposed to sound like? Besides the fact that I think the appreciation of his proficiency with the guitar is being a little conflated with the idea that a Squier is enough for him to shine, I think that's the crux of the argument: how much guitar do you need to purchase, to achieve your best performance?

For this guy, that Squier has the qualities that give him what he needs to express his music. For some, a Floyd Rose 1000, fanned frets and 8 strings is what they need to express themselves. How "good" either sounds is subjective, and irrelevant, but ultimately the cost of the guitar 100% matters, because you know the latter guitar costs a hell of a lot more than a Squier, even if it's unpainted bare wood.

 

At the time Jeff was playing Squire monikered guitars, they were still made in Japan. Comparing those to new Indonesian or other places "cheap" guitars are made now is nonsense. Woods were more plentiful, and other materials used such as metals and quality plastics were too. Look what those "cheap" Squier guitars are going for now. I have owned a few mij 80s and 90s built Fenders and there is NO comparison to what $300 will buy you today. Yeah cnc and other manufacturing make things cheap relatively but, plywood vs solid basswood or ash as used on them for bodies and cheap maple family necks vs hard maple and other cost saving measure make them mere shadows of what we were able to get at the time. Yeah, wages were lower and it took a lot longer to raise 300 bucks for a guitar than it does for most people now days, but what you get for those dollars is not the same quantity (not quality as that may in some cases be better and/or more consistent,) of construction. Comparing Jeff's 1980's MIJ Squier to a new guitar of similar features is not even logical. That said, if an new axe in any price range does what you want out of it good on ya! Oh BTW he hot Rodded the heck out of em too.Emg pickups and new wiring/pots cause it is the one thing all of those lacked was good electronics unless you lived in Japan where they used US stuff in most if em.

Oh, a 1954 strat was $249 and an Lp was about 4 bills. Everything is relative.

 

Last edited: Nov 25, 2023

@passeee

See. If you never asked the question. This Shipshewana of a thread wouldn't of never needed to happen.

 

Can we all at least agree the majority of what people call “sounding good” comes 95% from the player?????

 

I must admit, I'm tempted.

 

Who is disputing that?

 

no.

 

I remember reading an interview with Ted Nugent in an old GP magazine where he said when he was touring with VH he asked a roadie if he could plug in to Ed's rig. Roadie let him, and he said it made no difference as he still sound like himself. Lol. Two entirely different player in the same rig will yield diffrent results. It's then up to the listener to decide who they want to listen to more. Develop your own tone and taste/style. It is the only way you could potentially become the next Ed or Ted. Oh, you have to have a fuck if a lot of inate talent and drive and be willing to sacrifice lot of life most won't be willing to if that is your ambition as well. If not yer thing, just have fun playing what ever gear you can afford when/while you can.

 

I CAN'T SHOUT IT ANY LOUDER...THE GUITAR MAKES THE MAN

Oops, I meant to say a guitar made out of a man!!! Meee baddd.

 

kinda hard to play above the 10th fret on that body...
but if your amp goes to 11, no(body) will notice....

 

I think it would be much easier to see the additional value of more expensive guitars, if for every 500$ in price, another neck was required. Making it blindly obvious to even the tone deaf, the added value proposition of the more expensive guitar...

 

What kind - make - look - are your hollow and semi-hollow guitars? Did you buy them new? When did buy them?

I want to buy a good quality hollow guitar and a semi hollow guitar - to play Jazz - for U$300.00 each.
Which ones do you recommend?

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2023

I would say years ago yes, now a days not too much. Since most $300 guitar makers are using better materials.
As far as play-ability yes 3k guitars play better to me. I have been playing for 40 years. Now to add the last strat I purchased I really wanted a transparent sunburst so off i went to Guitar center. I sat down and played 15 or 20 2 k strats guitars. None would stay in tune when I bent the strings hard except one a burnt sunburst. So I purchased the Burnt Sunburst. So my point to this is that really any guitar can be good or bad price doesn't matter, but build quality does. I would defiantly say the hardware on a more expensive guitar is way better.

 

my oldest and 1st was a 1967 Gretsch 12 string, similiar to Mike Nesmiths without the custom padded back, that was around 1978. A friends cousin had a Gibson es-335 I'd play and enjoyed and not knowing anything about guitars except which end is up I bought the Gretsch. Still have it, learned to love it. - it was a used guitar by the way, and it was hardly played , cost me a $100 with hardshell case. I thought it was pricey at the time..

In 2015 I bought a Yamaha AEX-500, minihumbucker at the neck postion and piezo under the bridge, loved it. it was used they were made in the late 90's early 00's. Bought another just in case, I wear a belt and suspenders so don't ask. Then I bought the nylon string version the AEX-500N. Loved it.

https://www.alston-family.co.uk/AEX/aex.php

Then I bought an Epiphone es-339 p90, loved it. Then I bought a Yamaha AE500, hoping it would like the AEX500, well it wasn't but I like the body its bigger, almost a jazz box. The pickups however are lackluster, they can be augmented with some nice fx, but I plan on installing an onboard 5 position overdrive (lord knows there's plenty of room inside that thing.

The QC wasn't up to snuff on these, check out how the pickups are slightly skewed. They are all like this.



still I like it and kept it, the bones are there, it just needs some tweaking. Somewhere in there a relative passed away and
I received an Orange Ibanez Artcore archtop. Took me a while to bond, as the neck rises where it meets the body as
thats the way archtops like these are designed to accomadate the body top. This makes playing the most upper frets
a bit more challenging. a bit of practice makes it easier to work with. like the sound.



so then I was struck by pure madness and bought a Framus Hollywood floating pickup and picguard, vintage about 1959
similiar to this one but with 2 pickups



well I needed a guitar to mount this apparatus upon, so I bought a framus Black Rose hollow body, hoping to make it
into a Billy Lorento Hollywood



This ones still an ongoing project, working on buying a farm so I can build a studio, and house all these beasts and the
rest of the fleet, and the recording gear and cables and transformers and amps and you know the things they never tell
you about when they hand you a guitar and you fall in love with wood and wire.

anyhow thats the major ones, i've got an es-335 kit to build out, a Tele Thinline knockoff, and lord knows I'm sure I missed one or two. Still the yamaha's aex500 is my daily player.

what about you, do you enjoy the semi-hollow lifestye?

The Epiphone Es-339 is a good bet, its smaller than a 335, like the size of a Les Paul.

https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=epiphone es-339&make=epiphone&product_type=electric-guitars

look around in February, people get guitars for christmas and sell them off, also people make new years resolutions to "play more" and by 6 weeks or so they give up..

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2023

Yes I do, but I have never had the money to buy a proper one!
Yours are really lovely!!! And I bet they sound good too!!!

I had a Gibson Explorer Tobacco Sunburst USA - 1982 - the best Guitar I have ever had - which I sold because of money problems - something I came to regret for the rest of my life...I was very young and naive...



After that I went to college - and worked for 1,5 years in a music store to pay my living costs. Today I have an Ibanez electric and a Yamaha acoustic, among other electronic instruments.

Sure!!!

This is the part I disagree with you. Good quality instruments - when handled properly - can get "better" with age. You're not paying only for prestige or status, but good quality. These are not U$300,00 dollars Guitars - don't sound like nor feels like one.
They are made with quality materials and great craftsmanship!!!

Do most of us need one of these to play good music? Probably not!
Jimi Hendrix (left hand) played a right hand Stratocaster...
Eddie Van Halen a Frankenstrat...
go figure!

Amen!

 

Last edited: Nov 29, 2023