Bargain Jems

B

BloodRose

Professional Scapegoat
I believe there was recently a thread about guitars you got great deals on. Used, etc.
And we often talk about overpriced guitars.

What are some amazing guitars that for a new price that was hard to believe for the guitar you got?

Ill start.

One of the most impressive guitars Ive played for the price is my Michael Kelly Patriot Custom. New, these ran $499. Not exactly cheap, but considering for that price you get a very nicely made and excellent playing and sounding mahagony body and neck with maple top, Grover keys, Ebony board, excellent fretwork, 24'75 scale with easy access neck joint, Tonepros bridge and tailpiece and brand name pickups that sound pretty darn good. (Rockfields, a new brand, but they now sell aftermarket.) Anyhow, alot of guitar for the money. The wiring inside is incredibly tidy and even zip tied up nice and neat.






Also, another AMAZING guitar that could be had for a ridiculous price is the Washburn HM24. These were $400-500 ish new, but quickly started selling for much less. I never understood why Washburns dont get more respect. Anyhow, the 2008 models are basically baby brothers to the incredible WM526. They had a thin comfy mahogany body and neck, ( bolt on tho) upside down headstock, Grover keys, Floyd, (import quality), and a phenolic fretboard. (the 526 is a Carbon composite like the Parkers)
The fretwork is very good, the board nice and slick, the guitar plays and sustains great and the action very low and speedy. Well worth many times more than the $350 or less they can be had for.




**** Sorry for the title.. Meant to put GEMS, but being a guitar junkie....
 
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I think Godin makes some pretty awesome guitars for the cash. Take their (now discontinued) Exit 22 for example. Great fret work, mahogany body, maple neck with either maple or rosewood fretboard, 24 3/4 scale, great upper fret access with a nicely carved heel, SSH with a comfy fixed bridge ( no shap edgers, plenty of adjustment) and decent tuners . . . And you can score these for 200-300$ all day long used.

Godin_24605.jpg

Oh yeah, AND they're assembled in the US from Canadian made parts.
 
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I got a PRS SE Akesson signature for around 410 bucks, probably one of the best guitars I have ever owned and one of the like three I actually miss (I've owned 28).
 
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There were (and, possibly, still are) great close-out deals to be had on the last of the Hamer XT models. Some variants shipped with USA Duncan pickups. The hotter Duncan Designed pickups serve pretty well also. Just choose very carefully.

You probably already know that Cort manufacturers a whole slew of instruments for other brands. If you are prepared to wear the C word on your headstock, pre-owned Cort instruments are often far better value than their direct Ibanez/Schecter/Squier equivalents.
 
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The best deal I scored on a guitar was a Parker PM 20 Pro. Tone Pros bridge, SD pickups, Sperzel tuners, set neck all mahogany with an Ebony board. These things went new for $800-$900 and you can get them for around $400 when they come up. Highly underrated less talked about guitar. Unfortunately I had to get rid of it because of tough times and other circumstances.
 
Re: Bargain Jems

GuitarStv said:
I think Godin makes some pretty awesome guitars for the cash. Take their (now discontinued) Exit 22 for example. Great fret work, mahogany body, maple neck with either maple or rosewood fretboard, 24 3/4 scale, great upper fret access with a nicely carved heel, SSH with a comfy fixed bridge ( no shap edgers, plenty of adjustment) and decent tuners . . . And you can score these for 200-300$ all day long used.

View attachment 49619

Oh yeah, AND they're assembled in the US from Canadian made parts.
Click to expand...

+1 on the Godins. I've been lambasting LPs in one thread for cheating on wood claiming, but its sort of the same trick with them. They're using excellent wood from Canada that's subject to export restrictions to everyone except Canada...assembling them in the USA as a Canadian company still counts. The Icon series is stunning.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
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This Samick made for Japanese market, which comes with a TB-4 stock and is less than 150 bucks. I thought SD only comes in above-800 bucks guitars.

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Edit yo' title, bro :o)

Edit yo' title, bro :o)

BloodRose said:
didnt think about that. can you edit thread title? Ive never been able to figure out how
Click to expand...

At the bottom right hand corner of post #7,
Click on Edit Post
Click on Go Advanced
Above the toolbar typeface, style and size stuff is a text edit box.
 
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500$ for a USA made Charvel Strathead (1990 Europe Only limited run, Jackson CS neckplates)?

Why yes, I think I will... and I`m very happy I did so about 10 years ago...
 
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this epiphone ls100 was only $200something used, looked good, played great, i was just futzing around at the store and strummed it and it was magic. I upgraded parts here and there and put in SD Pups and this is a rocking machine.

 
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Well, depends, do we mean a bargain model in general or a bargain at a specific sample?

Swing is a Korean manufacturer that builds pretty nice guitars for the money, if you're serious you'll probably want to upgrade some of the electronics like the pickups and MAYBE if you're OCD like me the bridge but the platform itself is pretty darn solid to begin with.
This is what I got for 300€ NEW:
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Unassuming I know, however here's how she is now (a good photo before and a crappy one after the installation of two Fuglybuckers):
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Like you, I got a Michael Kelly Patriot (mine is the Limited model) for 550€ new which is not "cheap" per se but definitely "inexpensive" and I also feel that I got a lot of a guitar for the money:
dsc00145qz7.jpg

Now she's sporting a Suhr Dough Aldrich at the bridge, otherwise completely stock including the electronics.

Also the mid-90s Washburn MGs are what I consider to be bargain guitars that can be had, depending on condition from 300-700 USDs used unless you can find a forgotten NOS. =
I myself got one from BloodRose, two more from Ascension and wish my skill, time and space allowed to get twice as many. Truly incredible guitars regardless of price:
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.

However, the biggest bargain for me was a NOS USA Parker Mojo Fly Single Cut that I got last Christmas for just 1,300€!!! (MSRP 5,000 USD, sold new for 3,500€).
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Super light, super resonant and after a bridge pickup swap (the JB REALLY wasn't for her) super toneful. The neck is also extremely fast and comfortable and the fretboard is one of the best I tried feel-wise. Just an incredible instrument IMHO.
 
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I'ma chime in about teh Squier Hot Rails Deluxe Strat again...

I "think" street price is about $300,got mine for C-note out the door(pawnshop).

:headbang:
 
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Scored this 2002 20th Anniversary Squier Strat for $42.00. Now modded with GFS '64 stagger single coils and a Dimarzio 36th Anniversary humbucker. Sorry, I couldn't get anything from SD cheaper than this.

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Here is my recently acquired Ernie Ball Luke. It is immaculate. I found it on Craigslist a few months ago for $900 USD. I seriously love it!!!

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