Hi all,
I was planning to sell my cheap strat knock off that i owned for three years and planning to get a better one for under 400… Honestly my only requirements are that it should be either a strat or tele, have a good clean tone, has respectable tuners and doesn’t go out of tune every practice session . Honestly don’t really care about the brand of the guitar.
For now was mainly looking into Harley Bentons for the price they provide but being a noob i was honestly overwhelmed with the options they have to offer…
I normally play some blues and RHCP… Would love to know your suggestions… I’m all ears
I’m based in Europe in Germany
I have an AIO (All In One) brand Tele-style guitar that I purchased just over a year ago… it’s my only T-style & I find myself playing it most of the time. The brand is very well made & the company emails you to ask your setup preferences before they ship to you… pretty unheard of! Since I got mine, they’ve had a price increase across the board - they use to have several models for under $400 USD, but now it looks as if the least expensive ones are about $429. This is a pic of one of the cheaper models:
Not sure where in the world you’re located but if you’re in the US the shipping is free… other countries have a fee which varies depending where you live.
Good luck with your search & I hope to see a NGD post soon!!!
Earlier this year I got an Epiphone Les Paul Modern for about $450. would probably sell for less now. Wouldn’t be surprised if you could find something like it within your price range.
I have a few guitars covering quite a wide price range but the one I play 90% of the time is my cheapest purchase, a Jet JT300, you could step up to the jT350 just to get the strings through body feature.
He’s upgrading the guitar he’s had for 3 years, but I guess he describes himself that way. I’d expect after playing at least 3 years you can tell a duff guitar. Could also buy 2nd hand at a store if not comfortable.
About the worst that can happen is you spend a bit of time and money on a guitar you end up not liking and sell it on again, for about the same price.
The used market is flooded with good, unwanted guitars.
Very few are duds these days and a try out in person before handing over the cash reduces what risk there is to negligible. There is the option to walk away without buying. Asking for advice in advance. Taking a more knowledgeable friend.
If you look at The Guitaristas you tube channel, he just reviewed cheap teles. All of them are well within your budget. He also did another comparison video on slightly more expensive ones about 1-2 years ago, several of which are also in your price range.
Aim for playability; don’t focus on the type of wood or the brand of pickups.
I found a cheap lefty strat that I deep cleaned and worked on…turns out, with some love, the neck on that thing plays like butter.Your speaker followed by your amp will do most soundwise so make sure it plays fun and keeps you wanting to play more.
Lukily, the cheaper brands offer that as well these days BUT it is a very subjective thing.
Looks and playability ignite the love for me. The rest is secondary.
Consider keeping your first guitar.
you’ll be/might be sorry later for selling your first guitar. I was. I got it back
You’ll have asecond guitar, you can use it to practice your setup skills or mod it, paint it…study on it and have fun with it!
having another guitar for different tunings or styles can come in handy
I noticed that Jet got a mention. When I bought my first guitar I did a mass of online research and Jet came up a lot as an exceptional instrument despite its budget price.
I went for a JS 400 and am very pleased with it.
Check the YouTube reviews…
