Favourite affordable guitars?

El Dunco

El Dunco

Sock Supplier to RHCP
My fiancée (member “cyberkitten”) wants and is absolutely good enough again to warrant a replacement for her electric that sadly burned up in a shed fire. Ideally I would give her one of mine but she’s a righty. She does not want me to spend too much money on it. She doesn’t care about hardware as she’ll upgrade it if need be and definitely doesn’t care about finish, just wants a solid painted colour as she’s an artist and has all these cool ideas about body and finish modifications.

She played a lot of rock and punk but knew it was a total POS beginner guitar that came with a tiny practice amp. Now that it won’t be necessary as she gets to rock with my gear so the whole price can go into the axe. Doesn’t need to be 3/4 size as she plays very cleanly and competently on a full-size steel string. What would you recommend the rockin’ gal who just wants something solid but cheap she can mess with to her heart’s content?
 
Well, for me, (since you didnt define exactly) I would consider "cheap" guitar would be 200-500 USD

For sub 300.00. nothing beats a Yamaha Pacifica or Squire Affinity but some dudes rave on Harley Bentons on here and I picked one up in the store in London and it was similarly priced and pretty good.

Sweetwater puts G&L. ASAT Teles on sale on the regular for $300 and they are regular 450-550 -they are pretty excellent

As far as value and quality goes in $300-500 range...Nothing beats a Gretsch Streamliner series IME

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I was going to say, a Yamaha Pacifica. They have them at a few price points, but they are all good guitars. A Classic Vibe Squier is also a good idea, if she digs Fender-ish things.
 
I’ll show her around all the suggestions. Criteria is so far something easy to prep for repainting and no matter the style/scheme, the ability to easily put a bucker in the bridge for when she wants to rock. Can be H-S-S, H-H, H-S-H, H-x-H, doesn’t bother her. She’s not counting any shapes out, but the more unique and funky, the better.

I have a good feeling about the solid black Gretsch. I get the vibe she’s more of a Gibson style girl. Maybe even an Ibanez LP style might do the trick!
 
Last edited:
Beer$ said:
I’ll show her around all the suggestions. Criteria is so far something easy to prep for repainting and no matter the style/scheme, the ability to easily put a bucker in the bridge for when she wants to rock. Can be H-S-S, H-H, H-S-H, H-x-H, doesn’t bother her. She’s not counting any shapes out, but the more unique and funky, the better.
!
Click to expand...

Just FYI, most Gretsch streamliners come with a "Broadtron" humbucker pickup which a hotter rockier version of the classic "Filtertron" but retaining some of the "breath" "Depth" and "airiness" (if thats a word) of a Gretsch sound.....

So the streamliners are more rockier than a classic Gretsch
 
For this kind of purpose I bought a Gibson Les Paul Studio satin for around $600. I use it to test pickups and wiring. Fun guitar, weight relieved but sounds good. Needed a little work to make it play in tune better, but it's surprising how much I've used it over the last 5-10 years.
 
beaubrummels said:
For this kind of purpose I bought a Gibson Les Paul Studio satin for around $600. I use it to test pickups and wiring. Fun guitar, weight relieved but sounds good. Needed a little work to make it play in tune better, but it's surprising how much I've used it over the last 5-10 years.
Click to expand...

I’m swimming in decent aftermarket bridges and tuners, so that shouldn’t be a problem. As long as she doesn’t feel it’s “too much” for something she’s going to sand down, do all kinds of crazy artistic things to and refinish (as well as playing obviously.)
 
As always, Squier CVs, but also Pacificas, and even Corts around the +400$ mark, those will all play great and have great build quality for the price.
Just depends on the preferred route, style-wise for her.
 
Insane specs for under $600, loaded with JB/Jazz, 2point trem, 24 fret stainless steel, roasted maple neck and board, basswood body, locking tuners, luminlays I think?
 
I have a Squier Classic Vibe Esquire that I absolutely love and recommend. I think it's on par quality-wise with my Epiphone 1959 Standard which is more than double the price. It's a great mod platform because the quality is definitely there. I upgraded mine with Gotoh locking tuners, Gotoh bridge with brass saddles, a Hot Rails and Schaller straplocks, and it's a killer playing and sounding guitar.
 
Beer$ said:
I’m swimming in decent aftermarket bridges and tuners, so that shouldn’t be a problem. As long as she doesn’t feel it’s “too much” for something she’s going to sand down, do all kinds of crazy artistic things to and refinish (as well as playing obviously.)
Click to expand...

FWIW on the satin finish line, the finish comes off pretty easy, whether you want it to or not. I think it was intended to relic itself in less than 2-3 years.
 
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