Re: Budget guitars.
Woodcutter said:
Squier makes some good guitars, but they also make some horrible guitars.
If your looking for a semi-hollow I'd check out the gibson blueshawk. It might be a more than you want to spend (about $400 used) but there incredible guitars.
Good Luck
Ya, I've heard a lot of that about Squiers. You really have to play lots of 'em to really find a good one. Inconsistancy seems to be the thing about instruments made in China. Some people will go through heaps of crap to find a gem. It's a gamble with most Squier guitars. There are a few, seems to be with most of the newer guitars that they've been introducing recently, that have a lot more quality to them. It's really confusing though, because I don't quite know what to go with. I've played a couple of Squiers. Not exactly great instruments. I know that, in terms of consistancy in playability, I'd be better off buying a cheap Ibanez, but I have to say that I like the sound of Squiers more than Ibanez, and I'm personally a bit more concerned with capturing my sound than I am with ease of playability, though I know that both are vital to top notch guitar playing.
There are a couple of Jackson guitars out there for less than $300 that I've been considering, because I have played Jackson and they are good. Nice and smooth, though I find the necks to be a little slow for my liking. I'd rather Peavey or Cort in terms of neck speed. Cort is another that makes a guitar under $300 that I've been considering, as well as Peavey's Generation EXP.
There's just so much out there, it's really hard to make a choice, because there's nothing about any of these that I've found to stand out about any particular brand as a whole. A lot of it is just taking a risk and hopefully getting lucky and finding the good guitars out of the bunch. The only one's that I've found to be pretty exceptional for this range are the Agile guitars.
