Electric Guitars

[Dr. Scottie C]

What electric have you played that when it was new.....could be bought for $300 or less at that time?

[wankdeplank]

Have to be a Squier of some sort.  Maximum bang for the buck.

[lz4005]

You could buy a Strat in 1960 for $299.

Just sayin.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I owned a 51 ES125 with the original receipt for $125.00.
I paid $300 for it sometime in the 90s.

[Alecto]

There was the Squier Affinity Tele I found for one of my best friends because he wanted to learn how to play guitar.  It was $199 plus a $50 off coupon.  That was a surprisingly juicy sounding Tele although I'd probably swap the pickups if it was mine.  The annoying thing is that it's currently collecting dust in his basement because he's too busy with work and his 1-year-old daughter.

Repeat after me: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele . . ." :robotembarrassed:

[kayd_mon]

Hmmm... My Epi G400 was bought for $299 new, and I think it's pretty good.

[billybilly]

To be honest, I've never played an electric sub $300 that I could put the word "best" beside.  They've always lacked something whether it be pickups, hardware, stability, etc...  For $200 more dollars, a world of much better guitars opens up.  I realize it's not what the original question is asking but still...

[Marko]

Years ago, some will remember, when overstock.com had higher-end (at the time) satin-series strats for ~$100 and coupons on top of that.

I got a nice HH crimson satin strat for ~$115, still have it with EB 9-46s and it’s a nice player.

I also got this OLP from some on-line store, black double/cut rocker-type HH, 24-fret, really hot pickups for $80, and it’s a well-built guitar.

I can mention my Squier Jazz V bass, that if I did the same setup and upgrades would probably be about as good as my MIM. 

[BeanoBoy]

A buddy's '65 Strat. I imagine it was around $300 in '65. Best guitar I've ever played.

[gardo]

Do you mean $300 back in the day or in recent history?  In recent history I would pick the Xaviere XV 900 that was delivered to my door in a hard case for under $300 last year. This is my number one guitar and it gets played almost everyday. I like it even more than the vintage Gretsch I once owned.

[zer0psi]

The Sterling EBMM Silhouette copy - consistently impresses me.  Great necks.

[kayd_mon]

All the vintage guitar answers are clearly cheating. Online inflation calculators put a $300 guitar in 1965 at custom shopprices these days.

[american sinner]

My Epiphone Dot Studio was $299. Granted I changed the pickups, electronics, and had it plek'd, but it played well when I got it. Now it sounds good too and has perfect action. 

[gardo]

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Alecto wrote:

There was the Squier Affinity Tele I found for one of my best friends because he wanted to learn how to play guitar.  It was $199 plus a $50 off coupon.  That was a surprisingly juicy sounding Tele although I'd probably swap the pickups if it was mine.  The annoying thing is that it's currently collecting dust in his basement because he's too busy with work and his 1-year-old daughter.

Repeat after me: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Tele . . ." :robotembarrassed:

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My wife gave me an Affinity Tele as a gift. I like it but decided to change pick ups,then discovered  the opening on the bridge plate was too tight so I opened it up.Next the 500k pots sounded bad so they were changed to 250k which did not fit,the control plate needed reamed out and of course the knobs no longer fit so they were replaced. The 3 way switch was cheap so it was upgraded but that did not fit..the mounting holes were too small so they needed reamed. If it wasn't a gift from my wife I would not have kept it but she is happy that I play it a lot

[Marko]

Hopefully in a few days I’ll be able to respond to this thread with this one.    

http://www.rondomusic.com/EG6CUSTRW.HTML

Needing/wanting 1-3/4 width at the nut (difficult to find), I just ordered this for an office practice guitar. 

And $300 still leaves me a bit of room to improve on it, but I’m hoping just a basic setup & string change will do the trick.

My first SX… wish me luck, haha.   

[mymindsok]

Definately my Squier 51.

Bought two of em brand new in the box off of Ebay for less than $150, had a pro set-up done on one of em and its a winner. Matter of fact, I frequently pick it up more oftem than my EJ.

It's just a fun, lightweight axe that I don't have to worry about scratching, denting or leaning up in the corner of the bedroom. The fact that it sounds petty good as/is was an unexpected plus.

OTOH, I recently restrung a cheap Strat for a friends kid. Dad bought it at a resale store for $25 and I  think it was a huge bargain! That one has a good neck and frets and is perfectly playable for a kids first guitar. Sure... Crappy pickups and switches but it stays in tune for days. I'd give him $25 for it in a minute!

Yeah, I too bought an SX a few years ago... What a pile of crap! 

[Mav64]

I paid $259.99 for my Ebony LP-100 in 1995 and it's still the guitar I'm most comfortable with just cause I played it so damn much I know every nook and cranny intimately...

[Marko]

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mymindsok wrote:

Definately my Squier 51.

Bought two of em brand new in the box off of Ebay for less than $150, had a pro set-up done on one of em and its a winner. Matter of fact, I frequently pick it up more oftem than my EJ.

It's just a fun, lightweight axe that I din't have to worry about scratching, denting or leaning up in the corner of the bedroom. The fact that it sounds petty good as/is was an unexpected plus.

OTOH, I recently restrung a cheap Strat for a friends kid. Dad bought it at a resale store for $25 and I  think it was a huge bargain! That one has a good neck and frets and is perfectly playable for a kids first guitar. Sure... Crappy pickups and switches but it stayes in tune for days. I'd give him $25 for it in a minute!

Yeah, I too bought an SX a few years ago... What a pile of crap! 

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I still have my ‘51 from years ago, paid $99.  Later a guitarist I was playing with who played a Tele, wouldn’t bring a backup, too cheap to buy another Tele, so I talked him into taking the ’51 to use. 

He took it home and set it all up, put SIT 10-46s on it (only strings he uses), and it’s now a nice player.

As for the SX (if you were sorta responding to my post above yours), I was just looking for a cheapish beater to keep at work with a 1-3/4 nut, which is difficult to find, and found that. 

I never thought I’d order an SX, but if set up it’s playable, it’ll do nicely for that.  The students inevitably find their way into my office and pick up whatever I have there to play with, so I want something cheap. 

And if I’m lucky and it’s worth improving in time, it could make a fine backup. 

[jtr654]

57 & 59 Lp Standard ,58 Flying v, 52 p BASS and Nocaster ,58 Lavender Strat 56 Blonde Hardtail Strat 57 Shorlne gold Strat with tags .58 335 no binding.

[Dr. Scottie C]

Keep it coming guys...some good responses.....what I meant by the $300 rule is this..... Looking for guitar that are $300 or less present day.

A dollar was worth approximately 8 times more in 1960 than it is now. So a $300 guitar in 2013 would have been a $37.00 guitar in 1960.

In reality, this list will likely include guitar bought in the last 12-15 years..