Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

How do these stack up for the price?
http://visalia.craigslist.org/msg/1244367070.html

http://visalia.craigslist.org/msg/1244371126.html

http://visalia.craigslist.org/msg/1244375939.html

http://visalia.craigslist.org/msg/1244386041.html

Which one would be the best for a beginning guitarist? Which is the most versatile?

May just be me but a $100.00 guitar just sound suspicious.
No pun intended.

I would not buy a guitar that I could not pick up, play and inspect.

Just my .02

100 dollars sounds cheap

George, I would have agreed with you 100% a couple of years ago about not buying a guitar unless I could play it. But the black Les Paul you see me playing in the pictures these days. I saw it on ebay, there was pic with the serial number and I did check to make sure it was a Gibson. I put a low bid on the thing. Some pawn shop up north had it, in the pictures it just looked like it needed cleaning up. I forgot about it and then got the message that I won it. It scared me cause they wouldnt take pay pal for some reason, I put it on a credit card.

When it got to me it was a softshell case between two pieces of card board. The UPS guy brought it in and I said wait a minute. I unwrapped it expecting it to be in 5 pieces. To my amazement everything was fine and it was exactly as described. I cleaned it up and had a good setup done on it and Ive been playing it and putting stickers all over it every since.

Im sure there are other folks who have horror stories about buying guitars like this but I guess I got lucky. I did know what model the guitar was cause I have an older one just like it, but in the end I got a really nice playing Les Paul for a third of what I would have paid for it off the rack in guitar center.

Well, the seller is in my home town so I think I'll be able to go to his place and try them all out . . . Just wondering which one would be the best for a beginner/ best quality of construction?

You will best determine that by looking them over. Dont worry about cosmetics. Look to see if the neck is in good shape, do all the pickups work, the switches and potentieometers (spelling)
Is there some adjustment room left to the saddles.
Tune em and play em. Hell at $100.00 if it sounds and feels good how can you lose.

I will add that for an electric guitar play it without and amp. Hit some big ole open string chords and see if it will just ring. If it will sustain good without an amp, then plug it in. If you hit a chord and it just dies on you put it back down and walk away.

None of those guitars is worth a crap. You buy one of those, all you're going to be is disappointed, wishing you had your $100 back so you could save it up for a real guitar.

The only 1 I would consider is the 1st one, provided it isn't a glaring error.

Yea dude.. Anytime you buy a cheap guitar, always go into it with a plan to install a pimp Bridge pickup. 'Cause all stock pickups on lower level guitars suck.

However.. Yesterday I dropped in a pawn shop (passing by one is never an option for me, I have to at least look). And I ran across a Squier Sunburst. The neck was F**KED up, the guitar body had some dings and dents.. But holy crap if it didn't have 2-Seymour Duncan JB jr. pickups in it. And some Graph Tech saddles.

I asked to take a look at it.. Showed them where the neck was broken. Offered $50, and walked away with it. JB pickups go for $75 ea. Graph saddles $40-50, Relic body maybe $30-40.

My point to this story.. I don't know. I just thought I'd share.

But that's how you find a good deal. I spent $50, walked out with at least $200 worth of products.

If I were to choose between what you listed. I'd take the Epiphone and drop a Dimarzio, Duncan, or Rio Grand BBQ pickup in the bridge later. You can do that with pretty much any of those guitars. The main factor for me would be fret-wear. The one with the best frets wins.

I know what you mean Shred.

The best guitar I ever got was one off of eBay and it was a mess.

The neck was warped a little bit and they had taken the neck off the body to sell separately.

I got the neck for 100$ and then concentrated on the body. At 60$, he stopped the auction and sent me the whole thing with gig bag.

Turns out that is the best guitar I ever played. It's a bit chewed on, but the tone and playability is light years away from anything else I ever touched.

I just saw a similar one on Craigslist and the guy wanted 600$, firm.
I laughed at him..lol

The first guy thought the guitar he sold me wasn't worth anything because it didn't have a stamped saddle. SUCKER!

When I get a camera up in here I'll post some pics of what I did with the Squier. I pieced it together with a Westone neck (fender 21-fret size w/ Ibanez wizard shape). Single hum, one volume knob Black EVH pickguard, Dimarzio Air Norton PU. Just spare parts laying around the house.

Tobacco sunburst with black pickguard and black headstock. This thing looks wicked and has great tone. Quiet as hell too. I used copper tape to shield the wiring cavity. Ive got other plans for the JB pickups.

ooh (drool) copper shielding..

A must for people with wireless setups or so I hear..

I never had much trouble with the 60 cycle hum, then again I like "extra noise".lol

Here it is dude.. This thing plays like a freak. The only way I can describe the neck is if you were to cross an Ibanez Wizard with a Fender Strat.



I'm diggin' the one Vol knob setup. I don't think I've ever used a tone knob live. I always set everything to 10 anyway, so why not cut out the dead weight.