Post Your Personal Gear

I've got what I gather is the single worst Fender Telecaster ever made (Korean '91, Silver Logo,, plywood body with lots of wood filler in the headstock where a tuner split the wood), but heck, it was $100 USD

You sure thats even a Fender??

Yeah, I'd probably imagine it's a Made in China copy.

Seriously, 100 USD? That's too cheap for an instrument! You need to invest more, MUCH more, if you want anything that's quality and worthwhile!

Here's the thing about instrument prices that many people tend to get wrong. Beginners (and their moms) tend to get into music with a train of thought that they'll spend cheap money on a crap quality instrument, so that if they don't end up continuing the journey, they haven't really "lost" any money.

Here's a reality check for all you beginners out there - quality instruments cost money. Forget EVERYTHING that you think you know about instruments, 'cause they're completely different from every other generic household item you've ever purchased in your life. A musical instrument is made with various different components, and are made with varying degrees of craftsmanship depending on the amount of money you spend on. Generally speaking, anything less than 300 USD are considered junk because they're made with very little time, very little care, to the point where it'll cost you a lot MORE than the MSRP you paid for the guitar just to get it into recording shape.

Now, having said that, you don't have to bust the bank for a $4000-5000 Ibanez J. Custom right off the bat. However, at the same time you don't want to spend any less than 500-800 USD minimum. Here's why...

1. Pickups - No-name instruments come with generic pickups that are either prone to ground loops/60-cycle hums, or they may be poorly wired. Those are failed pickups waiting to happen, and it's only a matter of time before you'll have to spend more money to upgrade to aftermarket pickups anyway. (I learned this lesson the hard way before.)

2. Craftsmanship - This is the single MOST IMPORTANT REASON as to why you spend more money on higher-quality instruments. Expensive instruments (with the exception of Jackson and Gibson guitars) are just built better. With more money that goes into the instrument, more craftsmanship is implemented, and thus more care is taken into account with quality control and overall build of the guitar. With cheaper guitars you are much MORE likely to run into factory defects/issues such as a warped neck, fret buzzes (or even worse, dead notes!), unstable tuning pegs, etc.

3. Expensive instruments have BETTER resale value. As long as all of the parts remain stock, you can probably recoup around at least 80-90% of the MSRP that you paid for the high-end instrument. I'm not making this up, I've actually seen original EBMM JPIX's and Ibanez JEM's sell for just barely $100-200 less than the original prices.

4. Playability - Expensive instruments encourage musicians to play more because of how great they feel. With cheaper quality instruments you'll be sorely discouraged from playing further due to issues that could potentially be far beyond your control. I've seen several beginner guitarists give up on their journey simply because their instrument didn't last through their journey and they couldn't afford a better instrument.

If you want an instrument that'll actually last, expect to pay minimum $500-1000 for an instrument. Great, cheap instruments simply do not exist. And I'm not saying this just to be an elitist snob. It's just a fact.

I mainly agree here. A good rule of thumb on fender type guitars is that if you can't build a parts caster that cheap its probably too good to be true regardless of reviews.

Edit: No pickup is more prone to a ground loop than another. That statement belies a fundamental misunderstanding of shielding and grounding. Don't electrocute yourself.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/11/12/understanding-guitar-grounding/

https://www.ranecommercial.com/legacy/note151.html

I've got what I gather is the single worst Fender Telecaster ever made (Korean '91, Silver Logo,, plywood body with lots of wood filler in the headstock where a tuner split the wood), but heck, it was $100 USD

The switch from MIJ to MIK budget models was a dark time at fender. That's when I was learning and i remember the enormous quality difference between my first guitar, a japanese squire branded strat bought second hand and a friend's brand new Korean bullet series. You could literally feel the difference just holding one and then the other. Night and day.

Rubbish. Squier's Bullet Series can never be topped in value for money. £150 and worth every penny. After that, the more you pay, the less you'll notice in quality increase. Sure it won't be the Holy Grail of guitars, but they're are well built, reliable instruments that play beautifully.

Rubbish. Squier's Bullet Series can never be topped in value for money. £150 and worth every penny.

Depends on the year. In the early 90s when they came out they were pretty bad for a little. By 95 the line got ironed out. I was around in high school punk bands then. I remember those guitars... and not fondly.

I disagree. I've actually tried Squier Bullet's and Affinity's in Long and McQuade before, and let me tell you, NONE of them stayed in tune for more than 5 seconds. If that wasn't bad enough, one of my friends' Squier Bullet Strat actually broke down after less than 6 months.

If you want a quality instrument, you have to invest in one with a good amount of money. #YouGetWhatYouPayFor

I'm more talking the latter runs of the series (2015 onwards). I know very little of the older stuff so I can't speak for it's quality but I know recent years have been brilliant.

In what way did it break, cause I've played many a bullet and I've never had any issues?

To start, tuning pegs were shit quality - they would constantly come loose and no matter how hard you re-tighten them, they were beyond saving.

If that wasn't bad enough, the truss rods on at least THREE (!) of the Bullet Strat's were completely warped. This caused fret buzzes and dead notes across the entire fretboard and no amount of fret dressing could save them.

The non-locking tremolo system doesn't do any favors at all, and my friend got so frustrated to the point where I actually gave away my modified Ibanez PGM Mikro to him as a gift. (And believe me, he ACTUALLY preferred the Ibanez Mikro over the Shitquier Bullet Strat's, but that was only because I actually had the luthiers install aftermarket pickups and do some proper nut filing job on the low E string.)

I mean, okay, I'll say that select (and by that, I MEAN select!) Ibanez Mikro's and/or Gio's might be the exceptions to the rule, but anything beyond that which has a price tag less than $500-1000 is a straight-up AVOID in my books. I for one stay away from Epiphones with a 10-foot pole because of how heavy and uncomfortable they are to play. Not even 5 minutes and I get shoulder and chest cramps.

What sort of era of squier are you talking here?

2010-2020. My friend's trashed Squier was around the 2017 era.

My very first electric was some unknown brand (Crafter) Chinese-made strat, it cost $100 for the guitar, amp, cable, and gigbag as a set, and was decent as a first electric guitar (I'd already started playing on my mum's old acoustic so knew all the basic chords and stuff), but eventually when I started playing live I needed an upgrade. I upgraded to a Cort TS 250 Les Paul ($200 for a used one around 11-12 years ago, nowadays a new one costs around $4-500), the difference in quality was huge! So I'd say even if someone doesn't have $500 to spend on a guitar, they can always look in the used market. As for cheaper instruments, they can be great sometimes but it's a real lottery, I have two Harley Bentons for example, one was set up perfectly and feels amazing quality! But with the other I needed to do a lot of work on it to get it to a comfortable, playable level.

I'd add that for electric guitars and basses, a good quality amp is just as important as a good quality guitar, if not more so. You could have the best quality guitar, but if the amp is terrible then there's no way of making that guitar sound any good. On the other hand, if you have a cheap guitar but a great amp, it can still sound decent. So I'd say one should definitely invest in a good amp (even if it's a small one for playing at home). I have a 15W Marshall bass amp (I also use the bass amp for regular guitars as it gives quite a rich bassy tone), and even my cheapest guitars sound great on it!

"You sure thats even a Fender?" - Well that's a philosophical question if there ever was one; what is a Fender! I take the pragmatic view that if Fender puta Fender sticker on it, it's a Fender

Technically, it's a Fender Squier Series which was an early attempt at forming their lower tiered Fenders in the early 90's. Found a good article about them (link below) and they say "The Squier series Standard Telecaster was .... made at the Cort factory a relatively low quality model replaced by a Mexican made equivalent"

https://www.alston-family.co.uk/MIK/fentele.php

I'd argue that BOTH a great instrument AND a great amp are equally important. In fact, I'd even go as far to say that EVERY. SINGLE. ELEMENT. of the rig are important.

Quality tones and playability don't come cheap. If you want great sounds, you're gonna have to spend money either way. The same applies to FX pedals too - I've dealt with reverb and delay pedals that were absolutely underwhelming that ruined the overall result. (EHX Oceans 11, I'm looking at you!)

I know it will hurt a lot of beginners' wallets, but at the end of the day, if you want that professional setup that inspires you to play more, you have to be willing to invest at least a minimum of $3000-5000 into your rig, and that's even assuming that you're using a quality guitar with a high-end modeller. As soon as you go into the tube amp territory (and/or a stereo/wet dry wet rig at that!), the price point IMMEDIATELY skyrockets into 20-30 grand.

No, not made in China, it's a Korean Fender (Squier Series) from the early 90's. You can check out the headstock in my gear page if you want to validate. It's from around 1992/1993. I picked it up on a whim (I was a drummer then) in Mr. Music Guitar Centre in Boston in 2004. You can read about them here: https://www.alston-family.co.uk/MIK/fentele.php Is it the best guitar, nope, but it came with Sperzel USA locking tuners and it started me playing (eventually) so I'm not complaining. If the concept of a $100 guitar is an issue, consider it a $100 set of tuners with a free talking point :-P

As for price, I reckon there are bargains to be had; what would be considered my 'best' guitar (2016 Squier Jazzmaster Deluxe; 'exact' same as the venerated J Mascis one, but candy Apple Red instead of White), I picked up my for the equivalent of under $250 USD. Only issues it has is some chipped paint. My 'go to' guitar (Hohner JT60; also early 90's) I actually picked up for equivalent of $45 USD (not a typo). Cosmetics are horrific (check it out my Gear Page) but it's actually the one that just feels the most right to me and I love how it plays. I could never imagine selling it (so resale value not an issue) and I'm always on the look out for another to have as a backup incase of fire/theft etc...

Sure, I have tried a few freinds more expensive guitars along the way (2005 Fender American Pro Strat, 70's Gibson 335) and they were nice and all, but for someone at my level (only started playing consistently in Nov 2021), I'm not really noticing the benefits that would justify spending 'real' money on a proper quality guitar just yet. That will that change in the future, I expect so but for now I'd use the analogy of learning to drive in an old reliable Corolla and I'll buy myself a Polestar when I decide it's time to drive faster :-)

Kids, there's no end to this but acrimony so please stop vying for the last word. I believe punk rock has demonstrated how much can be acomplished without resourslces or even knowledge. On the other hand there's been many a guitar virtuoso with a great rig out there showing us all that great tools encourage a player to great heights.

Peace.

Moderator has spoken. This is the way. 😂

Moderator has spoken. This is the way. 😂

It is the way.