Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

[Calsip]

Hey everyone! Never post in this area but had a question! What’s the best mid-priced guitars in your opinion?

What I want;
Looking for something that’s a jack of all trades kind of deal and good for modding. Guitars that may fit this are MIM Fenders, PRS SE’s, etc. It can be used or new.

What I do not want;
I do not want anything that has a Floyd or a fingerboard flatter than 14”. Also No pointies please.

I am never able to justify spending upwards of 1000 on guitars so I look for those sweet sweet deals. If you have had outstanding experiences with something in this price point please let me know (brand or model).

I will probably be looking for a guitar soon so feel free to offer me some suggestions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

I hate to go outside of the price range you're looking for, but I just picked up a Sterling SUB Silo 3 and it plays like a $500+ guitar. Chimey single coils and a really crunchy articulate humbucker. It has a two point not locking tremolo, medium frets, and a really cool neck that is thicker on one side that the other. It's basically the Squier of Musicman guitars, but a lot higher quality IMO. Plays like butter. Worth checking out.

 

[justFred]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Squire Classic Vibe Stratocaster
by may accounts better than MIM...definitely better pickups...if you shop around you can pick one up that you will be able to sell for close to what you paid for it when you are ready for the next one (that day will come)...

 

[Blille]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Yamahas and G&L Tributes punch above their weight IME.

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Squire Classic Vibe Stratocaster
by may accounts better than MIM...definitely better pickups...if you shop around you can pick one up that you will be able to sell for close to what you paid for it when you are ready for the next one (that day will come)...

The Squier Vintage Modified 70s Strat is great too. Duncan Designed pickups a well. If you don't mind a sticky finished neck, it plays great. Has that good looking darker maple fretboard.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Here's my top 3 in no particular order:

MIM Stratocaster or Telecaster: Very good guitars for the money and highly customizable. Lots of positive reviews are to be found for these. There have also been so darn many versions of these released over the years.

Music Man Sterling Axis: All around good and versatile guitars. They feature two humbuckers with coil splitting and a master volume and tone. The AX3 has a vintage styled tremolo and the AX4 has a flush mount Floyd, that means it doesn't have the tuning issues of a normal Floyd. They also come with cool quilted veneers and are only $299 new.


Schetcher C1 Platinum: This one is on the more expensive and pointier end of the spectrum then the others, but it's not bad. It costs $450 ne, but it comes with EMG 81/85 pickups but can easily be sold to pay for less Metal pickups. It also has 24 frets, a hard tail body, neck through construction, master volume and tone, and a 3-way toggle. I modded one to have a PGn and Custom Custom bridge for my Jazz/Blues playing cousin as a wedding present. His wife didn't like it so much, so she swapped in a Saturday Night Special set and was as happy as could be .

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Music Man Sterling Axis: All around good and versatile guitars. They feature two humbuckers with coil splitting and a master volume and tone. The AX3 has a vintage styled tremolo and the AX4 has a flush mount Floyd, that means it doesn't have the tuning issues of a normal Floyd. They also come with cool quilted veneers and are only $299 new.

Can confirm, just like the Silo 3, these rock.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

G&L Tribute, or Sterling Music Man.

Or spend about $100 more for a used American Standard Fender.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Prs SE guitars are usually pretty dependable in that price range, especially the older ones. They usually do not need any fret work done to play well off the rack. They are really easy to change the pickups on. You don't even have to remove the strings.

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Prs SE guitars are usually pretty dependable in that price range, especially the older ones. They usually do not need any fret work done to play well off the rack. They are really easy to change the pickups on. You don't even have to remove the strings.

Yep! Just got a 2016 PRS SE Custom 24 Floyd NOS. Great guitar for
the money. Woulda even paid more for it. Awesome craftsmanship, beauty,
and playability. Good luck on your quest.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Another vote for G&L Tributes.

Bill

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

G&L Tributes are big bangs for the buck when purchased new. They also lose tons of value once they become used, so they are huge bangs for the buck on the used market. The older, the better. They used to come with U.S.A. G&L hardware, and a free gig bag. They do not any more (though they are still a great value).

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

A sample from G&L's website seems to show certain models have the nebulous designation Gagon "designed" pickups or something to that effect; some models still indicate US pickups. Tribute hardware I think is now all import though.

No use buying new unless you plan on needing the warranty; I never factor that in to my own decisions but I had two warranty claims on one of the only guitars I ever bought new (a Breedlove acoustic,) go figure.

 

[Blille]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

G&L Tributes are constantly merchandised in MF's stupid deal of the day for $300 IIRC. So if you buy new, buy there.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

A sample from G&L's website seems to show certain models have the nebulous designation Gagon "designed" pickups or something to that effect; some models still indicate US pickups. Tribute hardware I think is now all import though.

No use buying new unless you plan on needing the warranty; I never factor that in to my own decisions but I had two warranty claims on one of the only guitars I ever bought new (a Breedlove acoustic,) go figure.

You are right about the pickups. It's the hardware that I meant to highlight as being cheaper now.

The various MFD models, and Legacy pickups, are still U.S.A. models. As they've introduced more and more Tributes with humbuckers, they've used outsourced pickups for them. This is because G&L don't build Gibson-style humbuckers in house. They normally use Duncans in their U.S.A. guitars that have humbuckers, but they probably couldn't afford purchasing Duncan pickups for guitars at the Tributes' price points. Probably no real affordability problem putting their own factory made non-humbucker pickups in, though.

The bridges were G&L U.S.A. parts at first, and the wood parts were even made of G&L U.S.A. wood. The second grade wood was actually shipped overseas for building and finishing, then the bodies and necks were shipped back to BBE's facility in CA for assembly and setup, which included fret and nut work. These early Tributes were almost entirely the same as U.S.A. G&Ls in terms of materials; the wood parts were just constructed and finished by much cheaper Asian laborers, and the finish quality, while very good, was not entirely up to U.S.A. G&L (i.e. top notch) quality.

That sounds like an unsustainable, money-losing way to do it. Hard to believe that two-way pan-Pacific shipping was worth the reduced labor costs...but G&L does put a lot of labor into their awesome U.S.A. finishes. And maybe they were able to ride a sweet introductory contract with that Asian factory for a few years or sumthin' – who knows. Perhaps the introductory contract with that factory expired, and/or perhaps G&L realized they were quickly losing their ass. Maybe it was always in the plans to step the parts quality down bit by bit after making an initial splash with a huge bang for the buck product. My best guess, knowing something about the dopes who manage G&L nowadays, is that they honestly thought the line would be extremely popular, but that it fell flat, since very few people know or care much about G&L. Then they scrambled to turn it around into something that could make some money (cheap out the guitars a bit by using an Indonesian factory, design some Tribute-only models, cut deals with Musician's Friend for exclusive runs, etc.). But for whatever reason, they started cheaping out. They're still good stuff for the money, but not the absolutely ridiculous steals that they were when new.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

I'm just going to suggest a brand ... Godin makes some great guitars and most are a good chunk above the stated price range. Made in Canada (some assembly was done in USA on some models). They range from, around $650 to $2500. However, they don't hold value. You could probably pick up one of Godins that normally sell at 1K or below as a used, discontinued or maybe even an "SF" (blem/finish flaw) within your budget.

Examples ...

The discontinued Godin Freeway's go for dirt cheap and pop up often ...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Godin-Freeway-Classic-Electric-Guitar-Made-in-USA/112975196336?hash=item1a4dd8b0b0:gHAAAOSw441a61Vx

More recent .... Godin Session

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Godin-034055-Session-Black-Burst-SG-MN-6-String-Electric-Guitar-Made-in-USA-Ca/372302270599?hash=item56aef1d087:g:fE8AAOSw75xa9FeY

Godin Core ...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Godin-Core-HB-Blue-Denim-Flametop-Electric-Guitar-With-Case-Nice/362327530459?epid=1538249449&hash=item545c675bdb:g:a3QAAOSw-a1bEHYe

Godin Richmond (recently discontinued). They are/were only around $650 new. They had modlels with different pickup options. One example ...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Near-MINT-Richmond-Empire-Electric-Guitar-Godin-SN-11034174-Natural-Raw-Gig-bag/232791475518?hash=item363374053e:g:A~4AAOSwQItUB2Y-

 

[Aceman]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

You know, these days, in that price range, there are so many wins it almost doesn't matter.

The level of production in that zone is getting close to the 500-800 range of 20 years ago. Not quite - but it is in that direction. Sure - you will have to spend some setup time to really dial in your preferences. Maybe change a pickup, a pot or a tuner. But on the whole, so many great guitars available for that.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

^^^ Used Godin was my second suggestion after an older used G&L Tribute.

 

[mxaniac]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

Epiphone Prophecy LP GX, comes with coil splitting. Get an older one and you have an ebony fretboard.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Best Guitars in the $300-$500 range

My favorite guitar I’ve ever owned is a USA Standard Strat I got for right in the middle of your budget. This was 3 or 4 years ago. Don’t go shopping for something in that range, but rather save the money and wait for a killer deal to fall in your lap.