do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

[tone?]

so you guys think that to get a awesome sounding guitar you need to pay tons of money?

Im talking about quality of wood and build quality.

you think that wood from maker to maker differs that much?

besides awesome craftmanship and great setups do you think that you need all that to have a great sounding guitar?

Like will an anderson always sound waay better than lets say a 700$ guitar?

I dont mean going to extremes here. like a sears guitar compared to a PRS. Plus forget about cosmetics.

but for someone out there that is looking for awesome tone, do they have to pay big bucks to have it??

 

[Jay 77]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

No, there are plenty of options. It's all a matter of preference & feel.

 

[Dave]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

Of course not. I've played andersons and they're great-a close friend of mine has gone through many guitars-cloud 9LP, Historic LP, 2 andersons, 4 CS strats/teles, and he still picks mine up (2000 MIA tele) and says-"that's all I need." FWIW-his anderson hollow tele was neck and neck with his relic CS esquire. Both played great, but had totally different vibe to them. My favorite was the esquire. The andersons are more refined and are great guitars, but I'm a fender/tele fan-the esquire just worked better for me.

For bolt on electrics-I don't think there's that much difference in the mid-high range guitars. So much comes from electronics/pickups and the amp. Acoustics are a totally different story-IMO.

my 250 POS strat has great pups, a great setup and people love that guitar. It's a killer, although not a mass murderer.

 

[Dave]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

I do like The neck joint on the andersons, though-cool innovation. Don't know if it does anything...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

Usually, but not always. Manufacturers normally divide everything up by a price point, so that their cheaper guitars don't overshadow their expensive ones.
There's times when their cheap guitars overlap into high quality, and those are the ones you should always pay attention to. Guitars like used G&L's, CIJ Fenders, Dearmond.....those are some examples where you're paying less and getting more.

And if you assemble a guitar, spend the lion's share of the money on the neck, and don't try to be a smart guy by trying crazy wood combinations and odd hardware. There's a reason why most popular guitars follow a traditional formula......it's because it's been proven. Everytime I see a project guitar that's got some odd combinations, I see the seller take a big loss on it because the parts added up to a guitar with zero mojo.

 

[tone?]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

yeah im with you on this one.

I played andersons and suhrs and PRS's and although the craftmanship was great i couldnt really say that the formula for getting a great sound is to buy one of those expensive instruments.

They are worth the money kinda from the work thats put in them, but that is a different story.

A bolt on with good wood and decent hardware doesnt have to be super expensive.

 

[jmh151]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

Not necessarily. What makes a Tom Anderson, Suhr, or others better is their quality control and attention to detail. They'll have perfect fret jobs, their bodies may be made from one or two pieces, necks made from quartersawn maple. With a bolt on, extra care must be given to the fit of the neck pocket, the angle, if the neck is shimmed- what the shim material is. I find a problem with many bolt on neck guitars is the neck pocket holes on the body are drilled too big to allow the bolts to feed through rather than screw through. This leads to neck shifting and a loss of resonance.

The difference is consistency. You may occaisonally find a $700 guitar that plays amazing and perfect, whereas a high end guitar like Anderson will play perfect out of the box. A $700 guitar with quality hardware, pickups and proper setup and fret dressing may play and sound every bit as good as an Anderson

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

I don't see a problem at all getting really good wood in a $700 guitar, especially from your normal bolt-on guitar woods. You're not going to get a koa body with a 5A quilted maple top etc etc in good quality for $700, but alder or ash with a maple neck is doable. I think the Jimmie Vaughn strat is an excellent example. I've still yet to play one, but I've never heard a single bad thing about them other than the pickups could stand to be changed.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

Fender Highway One
Fender Japan
G&L Tribute

Those right there are all outstanding guitars, and most can be had for well under a grand.

 

[aleclee]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

The difference is consistency. You may occaisonally find a $700 guitar that plays amazing and perfect, whereas a high end guitar like Anderson will play perfect out of the box. A $700 guitar with quality hardware, pickups and proper setup and fret dressing may play and sound every bit as good as an Anderson

What he said.

The trick is running the racks to find a magical $700 guitar. Not every guitar in that price range has that sort of upside. They're out there but you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the one.

 

[Loserchief]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

Jackson Pro or MG made in Japan. They offer great wood and craftsmanship and with the upgrades the lines have recevied for 06(real duncans instead of designs and quartersawn maple necks on all of them IIRC correctly) they now offer probably the best bang for the buck you can find in the price class(dethroned schecter in that category imo). Once you upgrade the electronics and maybe hardware,you'll have one high class instrument for a really good price.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

to answer your question in the simplest way possible...is a $2000+ guitar always better than a $700 guitar??

the answer...
NO, not all the time!

it's as simple as that, just find what fits you best!

every guitarist is different, some people like this when others like that. so only you can decide if a $2000 guitar is better than a $700 guitar by playing them!

-Mike

 

[ErikH]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

To answer the title/question: Heck no. Granted, the search may take a little longer in the lower price range to find one suitable to your tastes but it is highly possible to get a great sounding guitar for little money, especially in the used market.

My homemade Frankenstrat: less than $500 total cost - built in 1993.
1994 American Standard Strat: $499 with case + tax - purchased brand new in 1994.
1991 American Standard Tele: $550 with case - purchased used from fellow forum brother, paultelestrat, just a few months ago.

To me, these guitars sound great. Everyone who has heard them has said the same thing, even fellow guitarists who play higher dollar guitars.

They're out there, you just need to look.

 

[big_black]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

I find a problem with many bolt on neck guitars is the neck pocket holes on the body are drilled too big to allow the bolts to feed through rather than screw through. This leads to neck shifting and a loss of resonance.

Do you mean too big or too small (body holes)?

You have to have the holes in the body larger than the holes in the neck, this ensures they are clamped tightly with no airspace. The bolts should feed through the body, and screw into the neck.

You certainly don't have to pay a ton for a good guitar. It helps if you buy used!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

NO! NO! NO! NO!

I have several guitars that range in price from $350 to more than I care to talk about and they all sound good! My most recent is a MIM Esquire that aside from a new pickup, some caps and a few personal tweaks is mostly stock. That guitar sounds amazing...no doubt about it! It's not a freak either...I have several "low dollar" guitars (Jimmy Vaughan strat, HW1 Tele, 80's MIJ Strat, etc) that all sound killer...just find one that feels good and sounds good UNPLUGGED then put good pickups in it and you'll be happy.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

Absolutely not. Used MIA Fenders go for under $700 all the time. Kind of like the guy who has to drink a case of beer to get drunk, I feel kinda bad for people who have to shell out more than $700 to get something good enough for them to play.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

It's odd.... i have quite a few solid bodies now... over 18 or so.... i have a few nicer ones, no custom shop pieces or anything, but some American made stuff, some custom Warmoth stuff... What i end up using most of the time is some cheap assed MIM Fenders, Imported Jacksons, other used and abused super strats, a few cheap parts guitars i threw together.... and so on.... I have done lots of jams, a few gigs, and lots of home playing with my cheap guitars while my good stuff stays in it's case...

These days my current fav is a cheap 1999 MIM Standard Tele i picked up used last fall.... When i pluck the strings you can feel the body and neck vibrate like mad! Plug it in and it sounds full and wonderful.... it is oddly quiet for single coils and it is stock! for a few Hundred Bucks i have found a winner!!!!!

Still my best guitar is a custom parts guitar made out of various aftermarket parts-(Warmoth neck, Chandler body)... It cost me in total around $1900 Canadian in parts and tech charges... i had the tech/guitar maker do the paint in nitro. But oddly i hold this MIM tele in the same light as the more expensive custom guitar.... both are just great! But the tele was cheap!

 

[dani]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

i have a mij strat from the 80s that plays like a dream. that bugger resonates like crazy. i recently auditioned about 9 fender custom shop strats unplugged and only one surpassed my strat in the ring department. it was a gold sparkle relic strat with a cost of approx $4990. cost of my strat, less than $350.

fwiw, we do not have much offering from boutique strat makers such as anderson, melancon etc. so no experience there. my answer to your question based on playing lots of custom shop, mia, mim strats, is no. you don't need to spend big bucks for a player.

half the fun is going through all the junk till you find the gem.

 

[mind_transplant]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

besides awesome craftmanship and great setups do you think that you need all that to have a great sounding guitar?

Well there's your answer. There's plenty of cheap bolt-ons made of resonant wood out there (there's even more junk ones though...) and while I love rescuing those pawnshop "import wonders" as much as anyone, there's downsides too. They usually need some help, be it fretwork, electronics, new hardware, a neck shim, etc.

It's just like cars: some people will buy an old Fiero and tweak the hell out of it, while others would rather just drop the cash for a shiny new Camaro. I love those cheapo "miracle guitars", but you have to spend a lot of time finding them and then getting them to play just right, and some people would rather just pay for a Suhr/EBMM/whatever and play.

 

[Tux789]

Re: do you have to pay big bucks to get a great sounding bolt on guitar?

the only thing about bolt-ons is that cheap ones usually have a very big and annoying heal, if you mainly play rhythm you probably wont have a problem, but it can get very tiresome if you want to use it as a "shredder" guitar