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Your recs for a solid beater electric guitar


tantric superman

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So I'm officially tired of my cheapo Epiphone SG (plus amp, plus carrying case, etc.) electric. I want to move up to a solid guitar that is going to last many years but, with the assumption that I keep improving, will not be my ultimate guitar.  I want this to be a workhorse that is fun and always ready to do and has solid quality.  

I realize that lower end guitars are not a commodity so understand that it depends on the individual guitar. 

But I'm interested in some of your 2nd or 3rd guitars (Sub $800?) that you have enjoyed and which did all that you asked for but may not have been your dream guitar. 

(I haven't played enough to know whether I'm wed to a Gibsonish style guitar.  I've got short fingers and I'd like to get playing up the neck a bit.)  I'd be totally happy exploring non-Fender/Gibson/Epiphonish guitars.

I generally play barre chords on the low end of the neck and an exploring "dyads and triads" up the neck.  I don't really have a right handed technique. 

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Wait . . . your budget is $800?  There are a million options and I wouldn't call something at that price a "beater".

I've had a couple of Gibson "Faded" guitars that I really liked.  Both were SG models but they have a similar Les Paul type model.  Very bare bones but pretty well made and they sound good.  Otherwise, you could probably get close to an American Standard Tele or Strat at that price (gently used).

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Huge caveat that I don't play electric much anymore and have not shopped for a new electric guitar in 15 years . . . but I always loved G&L and seem to remember that even their cheaper models had pretty good quality.   So maybe try out a legacy ASAT special and see what you think.  

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800 is a lot for a beater guitar, to me at least. For super cheap guitars, I've seen good things about Harley Benton guitars especially their PRS knockoffs although I've never played one.

My strategy is to cycle through cheap used gear until I find a gem. For example I recently bought a cheapo second tier Washburn shaped like Nuno's N4 that was total dog shit. And I also found a cheapo ESP LTD that plays as sweet as any American made I've played. 

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Musiciansfriend had a USA SG faded on their stupid deal of the hour for $599 this morning.

But yeah, $800 is not exactly what the poors like me call a beater. That's my prime stuff.

Tough to beat a PRS SE Korean made model, great quality guitar.

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I think a SSH Strat is kinda the ultimate versatile guitar in that price range. You get that great Fender neck sound but you still have a humbucker in the bridge if you wanna crank it. And Strats are some of the best players around.

 

Edit: something like this:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/fender-standard-stratocaster-hss-plus-top-maple-fingerboard-electric-guitar/h96910000001001?pfm=item_page.rr1%7CClickEV

 

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/fender-deluxe-hss-stratocaster-with-maple-fingerboard/j42416000001000?pfm=item_page.rr1%7CClickEV

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2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

Make a decision between an sg/les paul/humbucker and a strat/tele/single coil and we will happily spend your money for you.  But short answer is a strat or telecaster.  Get a classic 60s strat in fiesta red because that's what I kinda want right now.

maxresdefault.jpg

Here ya go...new meaning for SDOTD...https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Original-1961-Fender-Stratocaster-Fiesta-Red-/253619658730

...niiice birdseye tho

Edited by noharleyyet
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Picked up a strat partscaster with an early 80s replacement neck that's really worn in.  It's on a squire strat body with American standard picups and ebay knobs and switches.  It is always on a stand (no case).  It gets grabbed for practicing more than anything and I even took it to a show at my kid's school to rock out Billie Jean with the Dad Bod band.  I paid $220 for it, almost sold it once, got it back and would be hard pressed to sell it now.  Look for a beater partscaster and buy the one where the seller put the money in the important spots. 

 

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Edited by dcbc
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  • 3 weeks later...

My favorite electric to play is my Mexican made, Nashville tele (3 pickups/5 way switch)  I bought it at a used shop for $200.  Still had the sticker on the pickguard.  I have a guitar I paid 10x as much for but if I only had to pick one, the tele would be it.  $800 buck is a lot of fun to be had.  Like mentioned, since you have a Gibson, get a Mexican made Fender.  I can't keep the new names straight anymore.

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Or go partscaster.  Set aside $250 for a good tech to set it all up.  That leaves $550 for parts, which should be easy to hit and end up with a far better instrument than a Mexican Strat.

So who has opinions on the best bang-for-buck parts out there?  Personally, I'd drop the coin for a Warmoth neck in one of their Screamin' Deals, but beyond that, I suspect bodies & parts can be bought cheaper without taking a huge quality hit.

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Psa - I bought a guitar fetish HH tele body for $69. Looks great. The rout was for complete shit though. Nothing fit. My guy had to cut a fret off the damn neck because the neck pickup hole was too close. And the neck pocket was all jacked, never have been able to get the action correct

 

For your $800 budget, I’d get this

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TelePM3TS--fender-player-series-telecaster-3-tone-sunburst-with-maple-fingerboard

 

Can’t tell from that where it’s made though.

 

Edit: google says Player Series is MIM.

 

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I bought one body from Guitar Fetish and it was fine, but yeah, I get that it's a crapshoot.  The weird thing is that the guy who sets up my guitars said he loved that body -- it was like $59 -- because it was so light.  It resonates like crazy.  I put horrible pickups in it, though.  I was seeing how cheap I could assemble a guitar.

Now that I think about it, it's almost the perfect gloss orange for my Gulf livery partscaster.  Maybe I could mask off a center orange stripe, krylon the rest baby blue, and add a white pickguard?

Holy shit!  A project with no cost!  (OK, it needs new pickups and a better neck.  I think I have a Warmoth neck in a closet somewhere.)

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I put crazy hot hand wound bill Lawrence pickups in mine. Same ones dimebag used in his blue lightening guitar. Turns out they are really versatile, but I figured they would overcome the tone suck of whatever Chinese balsa wood GF used.

And they do. It sounds great. Just doesn’t play well.

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