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What's your cheapest playable guitar??


maniak

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This may really not belong here because my cheapest guitar right now is not an epi nor is it electric but,this is where i hang out and all my Buds are so what the heck. I scored a taiwanese classical guitar for $15 and it plays like a monster.Really I've played $800 Guitars that didnt feel or sound as nice Check it out on my Youtube page

 

http://www.youtube.com/maniakmusik3

 

oh yeah there are some epi electrics there too(other vids with my SG Prophecy and my V. My next cheapest is my 76 Ibanez Strat which i bought new for $199.95,,out the door case and all. My cheapest epi is my Explorer which i got used(for one month by a freind) for $400 so ,,,lets hear about some cheapies guys.

oh yeah,,just remembered i got my mandolins for$25 Each

 

MY Noisemakers:

Epiphone 2008 Sg Custom Prophecy GX

Epiphone 2003 Korina G-400 Sg

Epiphone 1998 Korina Explorer

Epiphone 1998 Korina Flying V

BC Rich 1981 Maple Mockingbird Handmade

Ibanez 1976 Stratocaster

Gibson 1968 Les Paul Custom

Charvel Fretless Bass

Washburn Lyon P bass

Guild Madiera P-600 Jumbo Acoustic

Applause A-25 Acoustic

Chuan Yin Marina Mark 20SS classical

Carlo Robelli 5 string Banjo

Carlo Robelli Electric Violin

Kay Electric Mandolin

Lignatone Mandolin

Midiman Radium Keyboard

2 Marshall JTM-612 60 watt 1 12 Combos

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My first electric guitar (which I still have) was a '95 Slammer by Hamer Pacer, that my mom bought for me, when I was 13 for $150, and let me tell you, I've played A LOT of Gibson LPs, and Strats since then, and this guitar feels/sounds/plays better than a lot of them.

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A Fender (Japan) "Blackie" Strat, I bought in 1982-3-4(?)...not sure of the exact year. Anyway,

it was when Fender was being made in Japan, while they were building the Carona

factory. It was $175.00 (guitar only), and I got my little "Sidekick 35 Reverb," at the same time...

Don't really remember the exact cost of it...but, it was less than 100 bucks. It might have even been

a "package" deal. The only thing I remember for sure, was the "Strat" seemed to be really good

quality for that price! I hadn't played in years, and it was kind of a nostalgic impulse buy. I jammed

a bit, with some friends from work. But, it wasn't more than a few times.

Then, I put it in storage, where it remained, until 2001...when I got the "bug" to play again, Big Time!

I still have both. I did change the pickups, to "Vintage Noiseless," the first year they came out.

Still play it, out in the bars, etc. And...it still sounds great! I may (someday) change the neck, for a

newer one, with the "rolled edges," as they are more comfortable. But, there's no hurry, really.

 

CB

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Duuuhhhhh.... This is a no-brainer!!! Good Question, Maniak!

 

See ye, see ye and behold:

 

Bought as a $99.00 "G.A.S." special, it SUCKED right out of the box. Nasty-azz

flat black paint, pickups had that "nasty" bottom-end sound..and that's ALL

they had ... Cheap cr@p! But for some strange reason, it held tune better than my

Epis...huh???? Cheap hardware, String-thru design with "Paulownia" light

weight body wood. Had Fret buzz problems from 19th thru 22nd frets, had to file,

sand, then steel wool. Problem solved.

 

Faith and begorrah! It crossed my mind to make this my FIRST Project/Re-do

Guitar, soooooo...... I Re-did! Now has Many upgrades, could go into detail,

but bottom line is I used left-over parts from Raven West LP Copy upgrade,

PLUS a set of Epi G-400 Pups (Thanks, Gen Zero) and I added a decent tailpiece

instead of the "Stoopid-Azz" string-thru of the original, now:

 

Just my OWN personal opinion, but DEAN should offer this Version of their

"Vendetta XM" - Looks a hell of a lot better than what comes from the factory.....

 

100_0217.jpg

 

 

Total "EXTRA" investment (Counting paint, Gloss and Time), Probably $75.00 +...

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!980's The Samick MIK Lp copy set neck for a hundo. snatched it up for my son plays as nice as my custom, and has the cool looking open book headstock. If my son don't like the black it will be the perfect candidate for a refinish.

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Here is a Chinese-made Strat copy (TGM brand) I bought new about three years ago for AU$150 when I first started learning. If I knew what I knew now about GAS, I wouldn't have bought the next 12 guitars except for an acoustic. I would've put in new pups and maybe one or two other mods on this cheapie and saved the thousands of dollars I've spent on GAS (guitars and gear). Despite having an Ultra, Dot, Fender Strat etc., I still play this one a lot. Of course, the Ultra and the rest are good guitars, but the cheap Strat copy is fine too.

 

100_1553-2.jpg100_1554-1.jpg

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My cheapest guitar would be a new black Traveller Speedster I got at a Guitar Center Memorial Day

sale a while back for $250 out the door tax incl. My cheapest Epi is kinda weird since I've bought

G-400's for as little as $88. incl. shipping costs. Once modified, different story, usually stupid $$$

compaired to new pricing for stockers. This works out to the cheapest being the one with no mods,

my Iommi. I feel like I stole this thing, it was an iffy Ebay purchase that worked out nice. It arrived

PERFECT; filthy but perfect. Cost and shipping on this l'il Korean nugget was $325.

 

Wedgie

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Guest icantbuyafender

hmm, itd have to be a les paul speciall II in black that i got for FREE

when i bought a gibby deluxe gig bag and fender strat case ($10 a piece)

 

Granted, aside from setup and elbow grease it was literally good to go. They thought it was busted, but a quick solder job and wipe down and she was decent. bought some essentials (new switch and jack) and dropped in a set of duncan design HB102 jb/jazz combo clones and re-used an old push pull, some knobs and pup rings.

 

so roughly 20 bucks for the cases and 15 for a good jack and I have a real looker (after cleaning) and player (after setup and rewiring the stock spaghetti job)

 

next, my customed LP jr that i got for 40 bucks via pawn shop... (

Not hard to convince them that it was crap)

refinished, rewired, used spare parts, and voila!!!!

dropped in a 4 conducter pup, push-pull pot, and fender TBX tone pot from my junk pile

another budget friendly and solid player...

gave it an antique worn white and after a few gigs the beer stains and cigarette burns gave it a tried a true look

 

off ebay i got a SG special some guys kid upgraded from for 60bucks and it was immaculate and sent in a 70-80's Gibson protector case (or "chainsaw case") I was ecstatic just to have that case!

Wired it up with duncan designed HB103s (SH-6 clones) and a pushpull pot and my LP special II had a mate.

 

I love my luck haha

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Got a chinese sss strat copy for AU$130 delivered, I've bought a set of wilkinson pups, gfs roller saddles, roller trees, straploccks, 3ply pg, aluminium sheilding and some knobs for it prob all up cost now $200-250. It's got a beautiful narrow neck (short fingers), keeps tune and sounds great, it's my go to guitar and I prob play it 95% of the time. Even spent about 6-7hrs filing down the ends of the frets and edge of the fretboard to give that rolled edge feeling and about 7-8hrs lining the cavity with aluminium tape (didn't need it, just had it open).

 

It's just as valuable to me as any of my others.

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I just picked up a Chinese Squier Strat for £40, it had a string missing and one of the pups didn't work. After a blob of solder, a pack of strings and a setup it plays like butter! I even got a Ritter gig bag with it - bargain!

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I bought my first electric in 1992, a used Sunn Mustang (Strat copy) for £30 and that included a 15w Sunn amp. Apart from strings the only parts replaced have been the volume pot and 5 way switch (and for many years this was my only guitar) it still gets played regularly.

If I could only keep one guitar it would be difficult to chose between it and my Epi Les Paul Standard. I think it probably has my favourite neck of any guitar I have and is way better than my Squier Strat.

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I picked up a new Dean Vendetta about five years ago for $90 from Ed Roman. Their shop set it up and it plays great.

 

The neck pickup sounds pretty crappy, but the bridge isn't bad. Either way, both could be changed and this would be a great guitar for the money.

 

Guit002.jpg

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Are we talking cheap as in quality or price?

 

Quality-wise, I have a Johnson strat that is pretty decent for what it is. It has a solid alder body and sounds pretty good unplugged. I put a Squire Bullet neck on it purley for the headstock shape. The neck quality is about the same as the original neck. Not a bad beginner guitar. The PUPs are a little dull, but it feels pretty good.

 

Price-wise, I picked up a '99 Kramer off of Craigslist for $60 a couple years ago. The FR trem was a disaster, but after I rebuilt it, it plays great. Whomever owned it previously, took apart the bridge and put the saddles on in the wrong order. As well as installed it incorrectly as to make it sit at a 30 degree angle.

It just needs a new input jack now. At the price I paid, plus a little work, I consider the guitar a steal.

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Pic_2s.JPG

 

Got it for almost nothing, put in the GFS Mean 90s and Varitone, sold the original humbuckers, I have about $100 into it.

 

The build it great, fretwork excellent, fast neck, finish was flawless until I dinged it, fit was outstanding, and even the paint and wiring inside the cavities was neat and tidy.

 

Not only is it playable, but I bring it to all the gigs that I don't want to take my Casino or ES-330 to.

 

Notes

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A Yamaha Pacifica. Bought in England when I was an exchange student in the mid-1990s. I bought it new from Rushworths in Whitechapel, Liverpool, sometime in early 1996. As I recall, I paid £179. I had intended to sell it before returning to the US, but somehow it found its way on to the airplane...

 

I have since discovered that it's a little unusual. Pacificas were ubiquitous in the UK at that time, but mine has a maple neck (most of them were rosewood).

 

This guitar is currently on extended loan to a friend, while he makes his mind up as to whether guitar is something he intends to stick with - in which case he can go ahead and buy his own guitar ASAP and return my Pacifica!

 

Hence, the photo below has been nabbed via Google image search, but shows an identical guitar to mine:

 

yamhaguitar004.jpg?t=1244558200

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Doesn't really qualify as a guitar, but it IS stringed, so...my Mandolin (Johnson MA100) I paid 75 bucks brand new, and after throwing on some real strings (Martin), it plays and sounds really nice. Guitars? 2008 Squier Standard Stratocaster, paid 150 bucks at Sh1t...er, Guitar Center new, but it had issues that were resolved by yours truly, thank you, thank you very much.

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I have an Epi SG G-400, I paid a 175 dollars for, put a pair of GFS Mean P-90,s in it. The neck is straight as an arrow with a low action and no string buzz anywhere...I think I like this guitar better than my Casino's or Ultra II for ease and comfort of playing...!

 

Plus it has a "tone" of it's own...!

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50th aniversery squire strat. neck joint sucks, replaced all the electronics, replaced the tuners, shimed the neck, the body is some cheap muti and i mean multi-ply crap, but it plays nice, and i can get that "fender single coil sound " when recording. cheers.

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