anybody use cheap gear?

[mbengs1]

I got to see one of my favorite bands called Wolfgang featured on TV and I saw the guitarist using really expensive gear. a fractal axe-fx and bogner halfstack and the guitar is custom built too. that's really expensive gear. all I use is a Boss DS-1 and GE-7 with a cheap bugera stack. my guitar is an Ibanez jem7vwh though. and I think my tone is better than the guys.

[Chordite]

I got to see one of my favorite bands featured on TV and I saw the guitarist using really expensive gear. a fractal axe-fx and bogner halfstack and the guitar is custom built too. that's really expensive gear. all I use is a Boss DS-1 and GE-7 with a cheap bugera stack. my guitar is an Ibanez jem7vwh though. and I think my tone is better than the guys.

 

Stay with what works for you. I think most of us modify out technique slightly around our rigs,

I don't know what style you play but I would definitely ad a delay pedal it just opens the sound up.

[Bucksstudent]

Yep. My Digitech RP-150, Epiphones, and Line 6 cab are evidence of that. None of them play or sound cheap, but they're not upper price range gear. In contrast, my amp, pedal, and Rickenbacker 12 string were.

[DeepEnd]

"Cheap" is in the eye of the beholder. I'd say you have some decent gear, especially your guitar. My gear is actually cheap, with quality to match. There are plenty of guitarists who would say their gear is "cheap" and plenty more who would say it wasn't. If it works for you, don't worry about it.

[speakerjones]

I have gear that I bought cheaply, but not much of it would be considered "budget" gear. They're just tools though, so whatever suits your needs is what you should use. Do you play live with a band? Do any recording? As far as Wolfgang's guitarist, good tone is pretty subjective, and what you heard on a TV performance may not be a good gauge of his tone as he was hearing it on stage, or even as the audience heard it.

[wankdeplank]

There's so much amazing gear out there today for not a whole lot of money, particularly if you buy used. Personally, I demand professional quality; entry level gear doesn't do it for me. But there are unbelievable bargains in the guitar gear market if you look hard enough. I hold my MIM Fender and MIM Squier to be on the same level (after mods) as my American Standard; and my Korean made Robelli 335 copy on the same level as my Gibson LP. I have a Mesa Heartbreaker combo, Magnatone Custom 413 and a Fender Pro Jr that sound as good as anything I've played and didn't cost me a ton of dosh on the used market. People spend entirely too much money on pedals and pickups in my opinion (I've been guilty myself). I have a $400 dollar Damage Control Timeline that I never even use, in favor of a board full of BBE, digitech, Rocktron and Boss stuff. Tons of fantastic new pedals and pickups to be found on the cheap these days IMO. Anyway that's my take.

[knotty]

If you dont keep spending money how are you going to improve?

[Chordite]

I use a very old Simms-Watts Ike Isaacs 100 watter. Like this one.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDU5OA==/z/CMEAAOSwd4tT~agE/$_86.JPG

 

It is very clean and I don't think it is even capable of distorting, just clean with a long spring reverb

and some cheap but comfortable (that is a key value for me) guitars that I have cherry picked from many that have passed through my hands.

 

I'd like to try a marshall stack for the heck of it but as I lean toward jazz it wouldn't suit my style if I had one tbh

[gardo]

If you dont keep spending money how are you going to improve?

The two keys to becoming a better guitarist

1 Spend more time on guitar forums

2 Buy more expensive gear

You have now created a fantasy world and if you never post samples of your playing people might believe the hype.

[Grantus]

My main guitar is a $700 Fender Pawn Shop Mustang. Amps are a VHT and a Peavey Vypyr VIP. Pedals are Boss, TC Electronic, a few other cheapies.

 

Given my other budget priorities, I'm not sure I can justify more expensive equipment.

[1001gear]

The two keys to becoming a better guitarist

1 Spend more time on guitar forums

2 Buy more expensive gear

You have now created a fantasy world and if you never post samples of your playing people might believe the hype.

 

Aside from I have stopped buying gear and it's mostly entry level pro stuff, 1500 plus in Boogie separates is the major guitar layout, I could be that guy. I must say that posting your work though is like leaving it on the curb for pickup. If there's anything good about it, you best hang on to it in case it has value. As to Wizard of Oz syndrome, I feel if the readers can't tell truth, effum.

[gardo]

 

Aside from I have stopped buying gear and it's mostly entry level pro stuff, 1500 plus in Boogie separates is the major guitar layout, I could be that guy. I must say that posting your work though is like leaving it on the curb for pickup. If there's anything good about it, you best hang on to it in case it has value. As to Wizard of Oz syndrome, I feel if the readers can't tell truth, effum.

Thanks, I needed a good laugh !

[WRGKMC]

Wanting good gear is often a passion with guitarists. They like to stay on top with their gear as well as the music they play. Using that gear effectively doesn't always add up. The first band I played in with a rich kid who couldn't put two notes together taught me that lesson. Sometimes you make that decision to compromise taking someone into a band because they could afford a PA, got good gigs or always had hot chicks hanging around.

[Steve2112]

It would be nice to spend money on cool expensive toys. But you don't HAVE to. Buy within your budget, and just make music. I've had custom Jacksons, Hamers, BMG's to name a few and my favorite go-to is my Epi LP. Put a nice set of pups in it...sub 500 guitar that I don't have to worry about taking out to bars like a $2000 Gibson.

 

If you are diligent and discerning, even lucky...you can get the perfect instruments for yourself that don't break your wallet, bank or credit card.

 

Above all....keep making music no matter what you have.

[gardo]

I like cheap guitars because I'm not afraid to take it apart and mod everything. By cheap I mean $200 - $300. I don't really care about new guitars that are any cheaper.

[FormerlyBassred]

My main amp came to me after a 3 month long search playing through a lot of different options. It is an $800 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. For the 'wet' side of my wet/dry setup I use a Vox VT15 - entry level kids modelling amp. They both sound very good and I was able to make 'my sound' with them. I tried Boogies and Blackstars and a bunch of really expensive options, but the Fender just screamed 'my sound'.

 

My first 5 string bass was from ROndo Music. It was a non-copy (no J or P-bass ripoff) with soapbar pickups and cost me $270 shipped to my door in a case - it still plays well and sounds good and is in place as my back-up bass.

 

I'm all about VALUE, so no matter what the price tag or brand name says, I'll give it a try. If I don't like it, fine, there will be something else to try. If I like it, good, I'm not out too much money even having tried a few options to choose the right one!

[knotty]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

I think value is the key word. Value relative to you.

I went out with cash to buy a LP standard or traditional.

When i compared them with the 2014 LP Studio pro. It was a no brainer. The studio wins on every level and came home with me, along with more than £1000 of my cash. It may not give me posing or bragging rights but its a hell of a "value" guitar.

[Jasaoke]

I've never spent more than $500 for a guitar. Less than $1000 in my entire rig. High-end guitars don't offer anything that reasonably priced guitars have. I mean, they've got pickups and strap buttons, right? I personally don't care if it's made out extict wood with unicorn horn inlays or if you bought if from a hobo who used it as an umbrella. It's the man behind it that makes a guitar what it is.

[Burgess]

I use some cheap stuff and some pricier stuff. I get what I like and the price isn't really much of a factor. I feel like I can make pretty much any decent rig sing.

[Bucksstudent]

 

This is Rusty. I met Rusty not too long ago in the local shop. He's an MIK Epiphone SG G-400 Deluxe, and he was a little worse for the wear when we initially shook hands. See, Rusty's previous owner must've been intoxicated or a dumb teenager, because the luthier had to put his neck back on for him. When I picked him up to give him a strum, his action was a little too high and he was a little dirty. However, his finish stuck with me, and I kept seeing Rusty each time I visited. One day, I decided I missed having an SG, and and I love MIK Epis, so I took him off the peg and he played so beautifully. I took him home, cleaned him and put on new strings, and I think Rusty will be staying with me for a long time. It's not often that I get a guitar, especially a used one, that just clicks with me.

 

Rusty isn't a high end, fancy pants model MIA, but he's my guitar and I love him as he is.

[billybilly]

I'm not adverse to expensive or cheap gear but there is no sense spending money that is not necessary, IMO. I know I can build a strat or tele for $1000 sourcing quality parts that will be as good as any Suhr or Tom Anderson. In fact, they would be better as I could get "exactly" what I want, fully customized.

 

For $500-$700 used? Well, you can get some pretty nice axes these days for that. Both my MIA Std Strat and Gibson Les Paul came in that price point. Even $200-$300 can get you something decent.

[peskypesky]

Cheap gear? Yes, sir!!

 

Crappy gear? No, sir!!

 

Luckily, these days, the cheap gear is usually obscenely great for the money.

[Virgman]

I regularly play from my stable of Johnson guitars, a couple I paid $20-$30 for.

 

I have a Fullerton strat I paid $50 for new from MF and it is a fine guitar.

 

I also use a early 80's Peavey Bandit 65 I paid $75 for.

 

This forum has become full of gear snobs.

[Buttcrust]

I like Epiphone junk...Is that wrong ?

[knotty]

I regularly play from my stable of Johnson guitars, a couple I paid $20-$30 for.

 

I have a Fullerton strat I paid $50 for new from MF and it is a fine guitar.

 

I also use a early 80's Peavey Bandit 65 I paid $75 for.

 

This forum has become full of gear snobs.

$75 ? I thought you had a $50 ceiling? Lottery win?