Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

[pureoldsound]

I’ve been thinking about this for some time now. There are plenty of amazing inexpensive guitars out there that are very eye catching. I think the quality and attention to detail of much lower end guitars has grown in order to attract younger players and those who are on a tight budget but seek quality instrument as well. I’ve been reading some many post about people investing a lot of money on their instruments (not that there is anything wrong with it) and is it worth it at the end.

Lets just set an example, the Epiphone LP. Very nice looking and sounding guitar, with a very nice wood solid body and a very fair neck. The major changes I’ve seen people do right away, pickups. Changing of pickups depending if you get them new would be around $60-75 more or less (per pup). $30-60 used depending on the model. Lest jus assume you got the most expensive ones $150 new or $120 used. If you are like me, who does not know anything about electronics or soldering that means you will have to take it to a tech….All techs have different rates and it all depends were you live as well…Lets just say that it will charge you about $40-50 for the job.

After the pups you noticed that you are getting some buzzes on some frets. You decide you want to do a fret job on your neck. Take it to your tech to sand down some of them (if that is what it takes) really can’t give a accurate quote on this. Although I had a Dean that I had to do some fret work and it was around $35-50 if I recall correctly.

Already have pups, no more buzzes, but can get the guitar to stay tuned all the time. Need some new tuners. Those are inexpensive and they are a do it yourself project, unless you need to drill to make whole bigger. Lets just say you can get them for $10-25.

You are setup already and kind of feel like you want to change the tail piece to give a better feel. Those could run about $30 – 50 to as high as 100, depending on what you want.

Now you got a super armed to the teeth guitar. The pup selector and the input jack start to give you some problems (cutting off). You decide to change them. While replacing those parts why not change all the pots and have the guitar rewired with better quality parts, for the sake of better sound. Again if you are like me a Tech is a most…..I have never done this but I know pots are not that expensive and the other parts are not that bad so $ 3.75 for the switch, about $5-7 for the jack. $6-10 for Gibson’s pots….Plus labor…Say $50-100 at the most for re-wiring and installation of the parts……..

Roughly you are looking at $370 to $460 in upgrades, picking from the least expensive to the more expensive parts and labor……..(NOT AQURATE AMOUNTS ON PARTS OR LABOR, just an assumption) Depending on the model the guitar alone could cost from $375 - $600 or more depending on the model. But for standard references lets just say $475. $475 for the guitar plus upgrades put you right in the $875-935 margin, (could be more or less) Wow…..For that amount of money you can get a USA LP in the first place (at least used).

After a while playing it (days, weeks, months, years) you decided to move on and get something different. Put the guitar for sale, although despite all these upgrades you probably would not be able to get the amount of money you put on the guitar. So you end up under selling the guitar for probably the same about or less you bought it……

At the end what is worth it?????????

Please don’t get me wrong not everyone has 1K or 2K to spend on a guitar right away. Some are in a transition to save some money. Others (Like me, try to go the cheap way to learn a valuable lesson in the end) Plus some inexpensive guitars are actually good…..But despite all this if you sat down and start thinking about it……..what do you guys think??????????

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

For pickups I say yeah, because you can always use them in a different guitar, other universal (with this I mean, can be used in other guitars as well) high quality parts too.
You should learn to do some easy tech work (like soldering electronics, installing and tweaking pickups) saves you a hell of a lot money.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

Some of my best guitars are instruments that I found in a beat up or less than ideal state. One of them was an SG that I bought for $150 that looked like it had been run over by a tank. Pieces were missing, etc. I did the rebuild work myself and refinished it myself, but had to put on a new tailpiece to replace the Bigsby that was shot ($50), new frets ($150), "new" pups ($150), new nut ($50), miscellaneous electronic work ($35). Another Mexican tele that I picked up for $250 5 years ago, I've put AT LEAST another $700 into further modification. Was all of that necessary? Probably not. Was it worth it? Definitely. It's a much more balanced instrument and looks pretty cool for a stupid Telecaster. Plus, it was fun to do. That guitar goes with me to every show, because I know that if I can't get the tone I want from the Les Paul or the SG or the Dean or whatever else I brought, the Tele will have it. And it's just a stupid Mexi Tele.

 

[kill your scene]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

If you're going to get an inexpensive guitar for the sole purpose of fixing it up, then my advice is to do it for yourself and only yourself. Cheap guitars usually have very low resale values and butchered cheap guitars have even lower resale values.

If, however, you're interested in creating your own little masterpiece, then go for it. Learning about pickup replacements, neck replacements (on bolt-ons) and other repair techniques helps you in the long run. Not to mention the fact that it's fun and if you do it correctly, you'll have a guitar that not everyone else owns already.

I've always liked Fenders for their customizability. I've done complete revamps on both my Squier bass and Squier guitar (my first two instruments) and I still play them every day. They're great guitars... mainly because I hot-rodded them myself.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

Nightburst is right. If you're investing $475 into work you should be able to do yourself, then yeah, it's not gonna be worth it. Best advice I can give is to do searches on the internet, look around and find out how to do this stuff by yourself. Stuff like refretting most people would bring to a tech, but why doesn't everyone just check out the instrument beforehand to make sure that and fret buzz isn't an issue?

All in all, there are some fantastic "lower level" instruments out there. Pickups will make it sing. It's up to you to pick up a guitar that has got it playing well from the get go.

 

[southadc]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

Take a budget guitar, upgrade the pickups, hardware and electronics. Add WD scratchplate. Change the machineheads, put on some new locking strap buttons. Buy a new body from Warmoth, and a new neck from USA custom guitars. Change the strings to a heavier gauge and have a new nut cut to fit.

Then you'll have a quality guitar :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Only kidding - seriously, I think cheaper guitars are worth it with some upgrades, but you have to draw a line under how much upgrading you're prepared to do, especially if you have to pay someone else to do it. It ends up costing too much for it to be worth it. Learning to do mods yourself would help - I'm trying new stuff out at the moment, and I'm about to start trying to build me a project guitar

 

[some_dude]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

Would you want to cut up and experiment on a $2000 guitar?

I don't really upgrade my guitars thinking about it's potential resale value, I only care about how it plays while I still have it. And since I've found I have a preferance for cheap guitars, I kinda need to be willing to upgrade the electronics.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

All in all, there are some fantastic "lower level" instruments out there.

One of the joys of CNC routing. It's really helped with the whole consistancy thing.

 

[kaknight]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

I think that it depends on the guitar. as I have always said, the fender style guitars were designed to be cheap and should be. When fender created the tele and strat, they wanted guitars that were made of cheap parts that were easy to mass produce. I think that this style of guitar can be made very poorly or very well, but there isn't any reason for a multiple thousand dollar strat (at least not a vintage one). Yes, if you want to get a nice one you do pay out a lot, but I don't see any reason other than "because this one is better than that one and that one costs X, so this one will cost X + $100"

In the case of this type of guitar, I think that if you find one that has high quality woods may be a great guitar that you can modify. Squires are made of plywood, and therefore I wouldn't put into this boat, but MIM strats, and many other guitars in that $300-500 range are great candidates. You can drop in some new pups and have them run over by a top notch tech to create a really fine guitar. Other guitars with a more Les Paul style I don't think translate to the cheap market. The woods needed to make these guitars really good is very expensive. Most of the glue in neck type guitars in this price range that I have tried are not only lacking in electronics quality, but also utilize poor woods (like flame veneer instead of a real maple top). Additionally, the construction on all of the cheaper guitars may not be up to par, and with a set neck, you are limited in how much you can do to fix it. Yes, there are some really nice epi LPs that I've played, but many more have been pretty poor. Considering that these guitars are already at least $500 and you are looking at at least $300 to mod the thing (pickups, fret dress, setup, perhaps new pots, caps, switches) you are into the territory of some of the truly nice guitars (heritage sell used regularly for somewhere between $750 and $1100), as well as several of those killer japanes law suit guitar brands that you can pickup on eBay from time to time. The one exception to this glue in neck guitars for cheap are bad rule is the semi-hollow guitars (335 style). As the true american ones are made of laminated sheets of maple just as the Korean and Japanese models, you won't lose much in the quality of woods buying a cheaper guitar. You are still going to have to shell out cash for new pickups and such, but it comes out much cheaper than buying a gibby 335. Just learn to do your own wiring as many shops charge extra to work on 335s because everything has to come in and out of the F holes.

 

[pureoldsound]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

my only experience doing a self mod was soldering a pedal that I have. My soldering was pretty terrible so I ended up sending it to a tech to do the custom work I wanted plus fixing my soldering job. I know I won't be that great the first time and probably have to work on it but for the mean time, if it is something that you need right away it is going to cost money...............

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

my only experience doing a self mod was soldering a pedal that I have. My soldering was pretty terrible so I ended up sending it to a tech to do the custom work I wanted plus fixing my soldering job. I know I won't be that great the first time and probably have to work on it but for the mean time, if it is something that you need right away it is going to cost money...............

I know exactly what you're saying. I'm frustrated because something isn't working with my wiring on my Dean. I'm tempted to just bring it in and have someone do it, but I know it'll be worth it when I do get it right. And yes, I've tried soldering things like wetting the tip and tinning and I can't get it to work like they show. You're not alone in getting frustrated with it, but the more experience, the better you'll get at it. So, anyone have in depth soldering tips that may actually work for me?

 

[mongrollo]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

I have self modded two guitars. An Ibanez RT (very short series from 1993) and a Danelectro U-1 reissue. I've changed every thing from them: pickups, tuners and electronics. On the Dano I even change the bridge for a filed telecaster one. The tone improoved immensely, althought they never reached my Guild S-100 they have they own personal sound and i like them like the other guitar i have.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

I think the mods you suggested for an Epi Les Paul are well worth the time and expense to perform. No need to do everything at once either...spread it out over a year or so and make it a fun learning experience.

I'd start with new pickups and a professional set up that would include a little fret leveling and polishing if needed.

If the switch and pots look cheap, I'd replace them at the same time...but you could wait until they start to malfunction in a year or two.

Tuners you could wait on for a while.

 

[strat_master]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

I'd rather buy a guitar that requires minimal mods. Such as pick ups are reasonable but thats it. A goods guitar should have no problems with its pots, frets etc. Don't get me wrong moddding up a guitar can be fun and cool, but i would rather spend my money on an axe that is already a good guitar and in no need to new hardware anytime sooon. Just my opinion on the subject.

 

[jmv]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

Don't have time to read this all, but my squier strat gets as much play time as my gibson LP. It really is a good playing guitar, i just bought one of Dan Erlewine's books and set it up myself, it wasn't that hard. The stock pickups aren't super, but with that duckbucker in there, it sounds real nice through my amp. I think if you have a decent guitar and a good amp, you'll sound good. You won't be billy gibbons, but it'll sound good.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

I have always lost money on cheap guitars. Seriously, that's why I think they are more expensive!

B

 

[Mr Wolf]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

Some day i wanna do up a strat!

 

[Hellion]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

....Then again, we have my "Tractocaster" which I made out of a Squier Strat. I've had people offer me insane amounts of money for that piece of junk which I made as a joke for a local bar owner that happens to like tractors. It's even got a new headstock moniker that reads "Fendeere Tractocaster", painted green with a yellow pickguard, tractor tire knobs and black pup covers. I've heard it sounds quite nice, but I haven't played it myself.

 

[RACER X]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

I hottrodded 2 single hum Fender Bullits and they HONK, enough said!

 

[GnR_Guy]

Re: Is it worth it to upgrade a cheap guitar?

This is where i like those brands that already have upgraded things on them for price range of 500-900. Brands like ESP, Schecter, and Fernades come to mind. Those guitars in that price range usually come stock with Duncans or Emgs and some like ESP with Tonepros bridges and Sperzel tuners. A really good investment right there. But then again I have two really awesome guitars that I can't see myself parting from that I have upgraded quite a bit. It just depends on your own opionion i suppose.