100% maybe not. But closer to 95% than "different". Are these subjective minor differences worth thousands ? I don't think so. SM57 is not a bullshit mic in my opinion, and that close to the speaker the room becomes irrelevant. With low volume and close miking you could record anywhere without any noticeable difference.
The problem here is that you're talking to the wrong person. I used to check out woods before buying, learning from common-knowledge discussions about what makes X guitar more suitable that Y for Z genre, waching pickup comparisons (that appeared to be manipulated, hello Mike Stamper, thanks to your D-Activator vs SH-11 comparison on YT I bought a pickup only to have the same exact tone), I upgraded pickups and electronics and caps and whatnot on my guitars, only to finally achieve the same result than before the upgrade when recording. I digged up the Internet to find other people that came to my conclusion, then Jim and Glenn made the studies themselves and came to the same conclusion as me. I completely changed my opinion based on my own observations (going against the immense majority's opinion) and other's. I went literally against my confirmation bias to face reality.

When you're not on their side, it's always easier to point out what they didn't include in their test than note everything they did. Some people are progressively debunking 50 years of beliefs and marketing speech, and it's hard to grasp when you spent thousands in your musical journey. So yes, maybe there is a sonic difference between $300 and $3000 guitars, but so insignificant (especially in a mix or gig context) you should spare your money for things that matter more. And different doesn't mean better as someone already pointed out here.

For future replies (from anyone), before writing, take this into account : I'm not into music business, I have nothing to sell, nothing to gain for being right, nothing to lose for being wrong, I'm just a tone-freak who spent literally hundreds of hours to figure out how my guitar sound works and why it is as it is. Losing handful of hair in the meantime. Believe what you want, spend all the money you want, it's your problem. Just don't expect the sound quality to go higher with your dollars. The build quality however, yes up to some point, after which it's branding or luthier craftsmanship. Your $5000 Fender custom shop will not sound better than your $1000 MIM, maybe different (in clean only, once you add drive differences are gone) but certainly not better.

Sorry for the novel, but I don't understand why people refuse to just accept they can spend less to still have a great sound. If I were pushing to increase the budget, yes I would understand a backlash, but not in that direction. Get a 800-1000€ instrument, grab a decent amp, a good cab and a good set of speakers (or simply a good amp sim / profiler), and move on, you'll do great

 

This is what it comes down to. Manufacturers usually offer tiers of products to cover every budget, and while they all perform essentially the same function, there is a tangible difference in the usability and reliability of the components across tiers. As the cost in these tiers increases, the cost and attention put into the cosmetic appeal of these tiers increases in kind, but I don't think anyone here is arguing those cosmetic differences are what matter. You can see this in acoustic (classical) instruments as well.

It comes down to the consumer to discern where the increased cost is applied to what matters most to them. Does the higher cost model have the maple neck you like with locking nut and tuners, or are you pondering between a flame top and a quilted top. Are the lower cost models made in a different factory, in a different country with QC standards that focus more on volume than quality, versus the ones coming out of the HQ factory, where every piece comes out flawlessly because they're made more slowly by fewer people with considerably more experience? All of these choices have a real cost to the manufacturer, but differ in perceived value to any given consumer.

Check any buying guide for an instrument, you want budget, the instrument material will suffer, the durability of the moving parts will suffer, the QC will suffer, these are the main areas where your money gets the most value, not a fancy wood veneer, surely that is not lost on anyone with two neurons to rub together.

 

You see, discussions like this will always have people arguing past one another. If you're quoting prices to me, you've already made assumptions that I never asserted. I know very well where money is spent wisely on an instrument and where it is wasted. And those concepts extend to nearly anything you buy. It's just common sense.

This doesn't change that the video is bullshit.

 

Nowadays, you can get a PERFECT fretwork for less than 300 bucks.
It was NOT like this when i started.

You can buy a 2000 Gibson and get a crappy guitar setting and average fretwork

Each period of time get good buys.

My friend bought one of the last Japan made RG entry level : it was almost twice quality/price ratio than their Korean follow up.

Same with his Floral JEM blue : it was one of the last Japan made.
When Ibanez switched to Korea made ... they kept selling them the SAME PRICE
But quality was not there anymore.

How many ppl i've seen playing their cheaper guitar ALL TIME and getting their expansive one ONLY for gig/live ?
Just to show them ...

3000 bucks guitars are a joke sound/playing wise.
Now if you like spending your money there, no problem.

But NOTHING sound/playing wise justify it.

I can justify paying some more for floyd rose, 7 strings, fanned frets ... but only for roasted maple neck and such ... NO WAY.

 

it doesn't but it happens that $3000 guitar are way more fun to play with and help with confidence and shake off the nervousness on the stage real quick. You intimidate the crowd instead of them doing it to you. Some would say there's no scientific proof that they are better than the usual $300 guitar, hard to disagree but those expensive guitars have their own magic, afterall all that craftsmanship of the skillful builder aint going to be in vain. Stay useful for 40-50 years and age like a fine wine. I own few vintage LP Customs and Fenders that crossed that price point on today's market value. People take me seriously on the stage even before I play a single note. Soundguy, recording engineer will listen to what you want during soundcheck/recording. That's some of the benefits among other things.

 

My first guitar was 300, it was fucking garbage. The neck was fucked up, but being new to the whole thing, I had no idea what to expect. It sounded ok, but my next guitar was 650 and it was great the build, the components. The one that followed was over 800 and it's also amazing and had a lot of things I purchased aftermarket and put on the cheaper guitar. The next guitar I want is around 1500, a part of that price is a cosmetic upgrade, but without that it is not just 300 dollars worth of workmanship and I respect the price it's offered at.

Now as far as 3000 goes, did the OP mean literally 3000 or was 300 vs 3000 a metaphor for cheap or expensive, did they specifically type 3000 instead of 1000 because they are aware of how much "more guitar" is being sold as the price goes from 1000 to 3000, because you can definitely make valid points about how much less you are getting in that price range versus what is available below it. I think there are a number of models that have components that matter to a player and are priced fairly at about 1000, likewise I think that closer to three thousand, unless there is some sort of innovative technology being implemented somehow, then I don't believe you are getting more value at that price.

Since OP didn't think it pertinent to make the distinction whether the dollar amounts were to be taken literally or if there was an element of hyperbolic rhetoric, since 300 vs 3000 is not really the likely toss-up the average person is faced with when in the market for a guitar, "the 300 dollar one or the 3000 dollar one...hmmmm." I assume they meant a cheap versus an expensive one.

 

no i'm saying desire drives price, hence the more expensive guitars offer something intangible to lure the heart rather than the logical mind.

 

Sticking with reputable brands is VERY important when looking at budget guitars.
Among reputable brands, the accuracy of the build can usually be trusted.
So long as the tolerances are good on an electric, then it is a matter of 2 things:
1) Tone 2) playability.

1) Tone will depend most on the pickups, and will vary with the player's style and taste.

Spoiler

The cheaper range of most will not have the most expensive pickups, but for some tastes might sound "better" than the more expensive pickups.

If you play very clean, the tone will matter most.

If you rely on the pickup's output / volume knob to mate well with amp input to produce the final tone / overdrive, it might be more tricky to choose pickups, but sometimes a boost from a pedal is a favored way to deal with that matching.

If you play with heavy distortion high output may take precedence over exact tone (so long as high frequency response is maintained with the higher output).

If you must change pickups, that goes towards final cost.

2) Playability (after build accuracy) depends on setup and finish.

Spoiler

Look at reviews on Youtube... Some historically top brands fail the setup and finish.
Setup is not as important as it is a matter of adjustments, whereas finish is mostly about fret edges and polishing (the level(ing) of frets being a "build tolerance" thing for a new guitar). If the edges are sharp it can affect playability either consciously, subconsciously or both.
Fretwork can be tricky (polishing is less difficult and is more a maintenance thing).
Care must be taken to not damage the wood around the fret ends while rounding the corners, and procedures and experience matter.

If you must have fretwork or setup done, that goes towards final cost.

I have been happy with less expensive but well-built guitars. I've owned mostly Ibanez guitars. I had access to a Gibson LP Studio and a Telecaster for comparison, and while i would have liked to keep both, my Roadstars did the job

Spoiler: my Roadstars

One I bought new while in Germany in 1982 (RS100) and one from a pawnshop (RG410 DX) a few years later.
I did end up customizing both over time ..

More pics...
I ended up selling them when I became an expat, but I plan to get another Ibanez (probably) sometime soon... just not sure what exact model.

 

Last edited: Nov 25, 2023

I love threads like this

 

More money buys you better materials, components, workmanship, and quality control. However, the law of diminishing returns is also in play.

These videos will give you some idea about what goes into the making of a guitar.

 

Last edited: Nov 25, 2023

The prices were not for you directly, I just put together my point regarding the video and the topic. And the "you" associated were plural you's that I could have replaced by "one".
Regarding the video, I don't know what you could expect more except a spectral analysis (that would just confirm what our ears already discovered), and a treated control room that would change absolutely nothing to the result (close miking, and same method for both test samples, so valid comparable results). The dude worked tens of hours for this and documented everything step by step with strict measurements, used the same equipment for both samples in the final test, if that's not valid I don't know what is.

Now I'm eager to know what you have to say about Glenn's video where he plays the same riff on 10 different guitars and each sound like 90% identical. Yes it's high-gain only, but it's what a great proportion of guitarists is after.

 

Are you curious as to what I think about making such a video and how useful or not it is with such a narrow testing condition or are you actually curious how much I think what parts of the electric guitar have the most substantive contribution to the tone, because I think the latter is a more productive question and more relevant to the topic than the former.

I suffer no illusions about how much of the sound comes from the pickups. At the same time there are qualities of the guitar (from build type to way the strings are strung through) that have a real and verifiable albeit nuanced affect on the overall envelope of the sound.

Will an LP sound pretty much like an ESP? Yes. Will your average single coil Strat sound like ES-335, No. Can I tell a PRS from a Jackson? Yes (I'm not alone with that one, a PRS has a specific sound if you listen to them enough across genres, across decades). Can I tell an Ibanez from a Schecter with similar pups, No. Can I pick out an Epiphone from a Gibson, No.

I won't dispute that the more distortion you apply to any sound, the more they all eventually sound like each other, but how useful is such a conversation. Just because a lot of people like high gain guitar doesn't mean that anything that isn't relevant to that end just doesn't matter. Yes there are differences, yes they are small, but they exist. And as a consumer, you have to decide what is important and what isn't. And as we have both stated, there is a point where your money is going to the shit that matters, and beyond that is where you are spending on shit that doesn't.

 

Ignore. Rewrote below,

 

Last edited: Nov 25, 2023

Being in the music retail industry for over half my life ( pushing the big 60) the biggest difference in the thousands of cheap and not-so-cheap axes I have played is pretty much always been frets. Better wire= better resonance. Of course they need to to be installed properly, dressed, etc., but softer cheap wire will never transfer sustain to the neck and therefore the rest of the instrument. I've seen lots of great looking, well built, and well set up, guitars that fail because of the cheaper fret wire they used. Better fret wire, will play smoother and make any instrument more resonant overall as a result IF properly dressed. How many $300 guitar do you think use good hard fret wire? Not many, and a good refret ain't cheap unless your best friend is a pro level tech. Lol
Dead wire. Dead guitar.

 

Roadsters are amazing axes! Some of the best quality for price ever built. I had a Luke back in the late 80's never should have sold it. Hope you find another one when your ready for it,

 

I don't understand why people care so. much about how much other people pay for anything let alone something as personal as a musical instrument. I've bought guitars, banjos, mandolins from as low as $150 to as much as $5000 but I've never spent over $400 on a guitar without playing it first. I just got a Chinese made Eastman mandolin this week for $650 and it it looks, feels and sounds beautiful. I didn't buy it because it's better than the others I already own, I bought it because I liked it and that's true for all of the instruments I own outside of the ones that were curiosity buys and they all play they all make sound in their own way.

You can make anything with strings make a sound, I am comfortable in my own skin to not really care what you buy or how much it costs you.

You can like what you like.

What's the next question... all genitals are the same why spend so much time looking for a mate when you can just shack up with whatever is closest to you?

 

analogy: you could buy about 3000 cyber trucks for what one lunar dune buggy cost in 1969, adjusted for inflation. what matters is will you be playing your guitar on the moon or not. albeit, this is a logically expensive analogy.

 

whats better a 10,0000$ prenup or a $100 mexican divorce?

 

wrong kind of pickups, think you meant to post in the "are bigger trucks better?" forum on Autosex.pro,

 

One doesn't negate the other, comparing apples to footballs on that one. You can. have your $100 divorce in Juarez and it will not mean two shits to the judge in Calabasas that gives you. ex half of all your shit. The prenup on the other hand will stand in court.

A bit of a logical fail there. I don't know what any of it has to with play what you like and fuck what you want.

What's better getting your dick stuck in 6 ton hydraulic press or 5K C blast furnace....