Members Yer Blues Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 I have to agree on the statement of how well almost all budget guitars are made today compared to back in the day. I believe because the guitar business is so competative today that everyone has upped their game bigtime which is a big win for players. It could also have something to do with the price of the equipment for making guitars has gone down and entered foreign markets which has resulted in a higher quality instrument being made at a lower cost (price). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluesidae Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Godin and MIM strats... I have had some good luck with Epi's as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WhatDoIKnow Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Tthe fender MiM standards that I've tried in the past few years have been excellent guitars. Plus you get the Fender logo on the headstock. That is important to some people. I agree with those saying "cheap" guitars are much better than they use to be. Hell, I picked up an $80 tele from Amazon and was shocked at the quality. I love the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LynchProtoge Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Like the title says.....do you vote for Gibsons Epiphone, Fenders MIM's or Squires, ESP's LTD's, you get the idea....my vote goes for LTD...their high end stuff rivals ESP guitars...what say yall? Nothing rivals a genuine ESP, but I agree LTD is among the best affordable. Ibanez is a close 2nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Mexican Fenders Schecter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hand Amputation Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 What I have learned is that regardless of style, you can find a good 'affordable' guitar nowadays. It's nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jpnyc Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 I think there are a fair few LTDs made in Indonesia, but not 100% sure Schecter makes guitars in China and Indonesia. ESP and Schecter are owned by the same company and their designs seem to share a lot of parts, so they Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 To keep to the style of the OP's question.I'd say PRS SE's are the best major builders "Affordable" line.Squier's CV and VM lines are close though and they are a different beast. (bolt on vs set necks) +1. Of all the more affordable lines by the bigger makers, my bet is the PRS SE line and Squier CV line will be the ones in a decade holding value with a cult following arguing on this board over which models and which years were the prime instruments. I would put Ibanez Artcore line right up there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rog951 Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 PRS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members danswon Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Depends what you mean by "affordable". To me, that means ultra-cheap. The best I've come across are probably Yamaha and Washburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 I have to agree on the statement of how well almost all budget guitars are made today compared to back in the day. I believe because the guitar business is so competative today that everyone has upped their game bigtime which is a big win for players. Yeah, the manufacturing QC is remarkably good today compared to what it was 30 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Best bang for your bucks HAS to be Yamaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Floyd Rosenbomb Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 I think it depends on the individual, what kind of style one has a player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 PRS SE, while not the cheapest, is the best budget line for a company that I can think of. Squier, Epiphone, and Ibanez all have starter pack guitars that are almost always not worth having after you have been playing for a few months. The SEs are all solid instruments, and they're good enough that someone completely unfamiliar with the PRS brand can pick one up and see that the company produces good quality instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members craigny Posted November 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Right everyone keep in mind im not talking about the cheapest model that a manufactuer makes either....like i said as far as the major companies go.....like ibanez's indo line or Schecters indos.....i understand there are makers that dont have seperate lines that may be more bang for the buck...like lets say Reverend, but that was not exactly what i was asking...guess i was a little vague, but great info here so far.....i see alot of love for the PRS SE line...i owned one for literally a half a day never gave it a chance....may have to remedy that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 Someone mentioned Yamaha, but, am I wrong in thinking that we do not get the 'better' ones here in the states? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members McCain Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 Indy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 Someone mentioned Yamaha, but, am I wrong in thinking that we do not get the 'better' ones here in the states? You're correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blingdogg Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 I like LTD the best. I got an ESP LTD EC-256 goldtop (LP style) last year and it's really awesome. Better than the other LP style guitars I tried in the $400 range. Excellent quality. Also Squiers and Ibanez are great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zakkwyldefan79 Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 My vote goes to the current LTD and Schecter import models. The PRS SE models are good too, but for the same money a Schecter or an LTD will have EMGs or Duncans. The PRS SE models have pickups built by G & B pickups. I also like the older Korean made Epiphones but all of the new ones that I've played that were built in China have sucked. The 3 Epis that I own are all older and built in South Korea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virtual Pariah Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 I like LTD the best. I got an ESP LTD EC-256 goldtop (LP style) last year and it's really awesome. Better than the other LP style guitars I tried in the $400 range. Excellent quality.Also Squiers and Ibanez are great too. We're lucky enough that we can choose based on preferences vs quality. LTD's have too angular of a fretboard edge for my tastes. No roll in the LTD line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virtual Pariah Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 My vote goes to the current LTD and Schecter import models. The PRS SE models are good too, but for the same money a Schecter or an LTD will have EMGs or Duncans. The PRS SE models have pickups built by G & B pickups. I also like the older Korean made Epiphones but all of the new ones that I've played that were built in China have sucked. The 3 Epis that I own are all older and built in South Korea. Check out the Epi Nighthawk it's not MIC and actually pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted November 15, 2012 Members Share Posted November 15, 2012 I don't think Gibson can be beat these days. I track my guitars costs in a spreadsheet and I'm marveling that I'm paying no more now for an entry level Gibson than I was paying 10 years ago and the tone of them has been getting better than I got from my earliest 3 Gibson purchases.I just purchased another "entry level" Gibson today for $607. When you can order a custom (and I mean a custom, not just in name) Agile 3200 for $700.00-800.00 the $607.00 Gibson entry level appears to be way overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brewski Posted November 15, 2012 Members Share Posted November 15, 2012 Tthe fender MiM standards that I've tried in the past few years have been excellent guitars. I completely disagree! These guitars are now at $500.00 and they all need major work to sound good unless u get lucky. I have a tele and a strat MIM and both needed major overhauls. I go with Squier Affinity Tele as a great tone and player outta the box. In fact my tele neck pickup is now in my MIM tele. I also like schecter - they seem solid and my C-1 Classic is great. I think the Agiles are now too pricey to fit their niche anymore. They are almost out of a market zone that had me buying them often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blingdogg Posted November 15, 2012 Members Share Posted November 15, 2012 We're lucky enough that we can choose based on preferences vs quality.LTD's have too angular of a fretboard edge for my tastes. No roll in the LTD line.I understand you. I wish ESP/LTD necks were a bit fatter, but the playability and tone are awesome so I don't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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