Guitarists 🎸 of the smb



Dinsdale said:
From what I've heard the stuff coming out of Japan has been better than the USA stuff, and not just recently either.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I knew that the Japanese Fenders were quality gear, but I hadn't heard that.

Either way, the Japanese Fenders I've played have always been WAAAY above the quality of the Mexican ones I've played.
 
chriswallace85 said:
Stop hi-jacking the thread.


Have you an idea of the style of guitar you want @Steve 10? What do you want to play on it?

I normally think humbuckers are a good starting point when starting out. They'll not be as noisy as single coils, they'll give a fatter, more user friendly sound right out of the case. Stick a humbucker guitar in the treble position, turn the volume and tone pots to 10, and you're good to go. You've got everything from Oasis to AC/DC to Zeppelin to Sabbath covered. With that in mind, you really can't look past an Epiphone Les Paul / SG / 335 semi acoustic, all will do the job, all well within your price range with money to spare for a decent starter amp (I'd absolutely recommend the Positive Grid Spark amp). No wammy bars or owt to worry about so no issues with unstable tunings (can be a factor on cheaper guitars with wammy bars if they're not set up right).

If you prefer the look of Fender style guitars, then the Squire range has always been decent for entry lever guitars, however with your budget you'd probably be better off looking at Mexican made Fenders (Baja Telecasters have a very good rep - Custom shop design, made in Mex). The old rule of thumb was Squires<Jap Fenders<Mexican Fenders<USA Fenders. There is some crossover, i.e. A Baja Tele (probably around your budget new) is probably going to be a better guitar than the cheapest USA Telecaster, but it all depends what you're after and the guitar itself.


A Telecaster will lend itself to more straight forward rock and roll and sounds more akin to the Gibson humbucker sound (again, Oasis, Zep etc) than a Single Coil loaded Stratocaster ever will. The first Led Zeppelin album is recorded on a Telecaster. It just has that fuller, ballsier sound. But then it's also very capable of cleaning up and giving you a country twang a humbucking guitar is never gonna get - but that may be a style a bit beyond a beginner.

Strats. Well if you want to be Jimi Hendrix or a *grown up* Eric Clapton (*early stuff, Cream etc... Les Pauls and SGs) then it's a Strat isn't it. A guitar player's guitar (that's not necessarily a compliment). Personally I think you need to have some idea what you're doing to get what you really want from a Strat. And you'll never get a truly satisfying, ball shaking, overdriven rhythm sound from them - especially with a maple neck. You can get humbucker loaded strats with dark necks that are sorta the best of both worlds, but it's not the some. They're just not meaty enough.

Other brands... Well they all copy off the big 2 anyay don't they. Yamaha Pacifica's always had a good rep, but with your budget I'd look beyond those. And they're Strat style anyway, so if like me you want summit meatier, you need to look elsewhere.

PRS - never floated my boat particularly. Fancy looking Les Paul rip-offs for the most part. Top end ones will no doubt be excellent. Not so sure about their more budget guitars. The Santana range (about your budget) never impressed me a great deal.

Vintage /Tokai / Harley Benton etc etc. All rip-offs of the real thing. Most will be solid enough guitars, probably priced similarly to an Epiphone or Jap/Mex Fender. Will they be any better? Really not sure. I think Epiphone have better quality control. And unless you're a metalhead (starting out on an acoustic I'm assuming not), ya want nowt to do with metal guitars like Ibanez, Jackson, etc.



My overriding personal recommendation.... An Epiphone Les Paul Standard with a sunburst finish.
Click to expand...
I’m not hijacking the thread.

I’ve offered advice earlier in the thread just as you have here. The OP responed positively to that advice.

Like a lot of threads on here after the original purpose they meander down a lane or two.
 
fyl2u said:
Not in my day.

It went:

USA
Japanese
-- big gap --
Mexican
Korean
Squire
Click to expand...
Yeah but that was then (70s / 80s), when the Jap made guitars were out to rival the US made guitars. And whilst there'll have undoubtedly been some good 'uns, the Jap Fenders (and some Squires) have attained a bit of mythical status over the years, and become collectible in their own right. Some probably aren't as good as they're cracked up to be. And couple that with a drop in quality at Fender USA. But we are talking about 30+ year old guitars here.

To be honest, I'm not even sure if Jap Fenders are made for the Western market nowadays.
 
chriswallace85 said:
To be honest, I'm not even sure if Jap Fenders are made for the Western market nowadays.
Click to expand...

They're not. Fender wants to maintain the premium status of the USA product, so it won't allow distributors to get stock from Fender Japan and undercut its own product. Worth pointing out a lot of the product at the USA plant is assembled there, but a lot the necks and bodies come out of the Ensenada plant at Mexico.
 
chriswallace85 said:
Yeah but that was then (70s / 80s), when the Jap made guitars were out to rival the US made guitars. And whilst there'll have undoubtedly been some good 'uns, the Jap Fenders (and some Squires) have attained a bit of mythical status over the years, and become collectible in their own right. Some probably aren't as good as they're cracked up to be. And couple that with a drop in quality at Fender USA. But we are talking about 30+ year old guitars here.

To be honest, I'm not even sure if Jap Fenders are made for the Western market nowadays.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about 90's-00's. :)
 
Dinsdale said:
They're not. Fender wants to maintain the premium status of the USA product, so it won't allow distributors to get stock from Fender Japan and undercut its own product. Worth pointing out a lot of the product at the USA plant is assembled there, but a lot the necks and bodies come out of the Ensenada plant at Mexico.
Click to expand...
I know there's all kinds of crossover with the USA and Mex models. I'm sure there was a range at one point that was USA parts, Mexican assembled or summit (might that have even been the Baja guitars I was on about??).

If you go on the forums, they get into the nitty gritty about the California plant being full of Mexican labour anyway. :lol:

Then there's talk of how many bits of wood make up a Strat body (gotta admit, I never even realised it wasn't one piece routed out).

Nowadays, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a truly bad guitar with Fender on the headstock.
 
If I was looking for a Les Paul with £700 budget I’d be steering away from Epiphone and looking at used Gibson Les Paul Studios.. a quick look on gumtree shows a few at or around 700 notes. Better fit and finish on the Gibsons.

Then again, I’m not a Les Paul guy.
 
fyl2u said:
Based on the ones I played. The Mexican ones felt cheap and crappy. The Japanese ones always felt like good instruments.
Click to expand...
Fair dos.

I've played a few Mex and always found them to be decent. Much preferred on mate's Mex Strat to another mate's USA Strat (Highway Series I think). Was heavy as owt anarl the USA one.
 
Last edited:
Big Jeff said:
Have we got many acoustic players on here?

Most of the people on this thread seem to focus on electrics. Anyone an acoustic player?
Click to expand...
Love a guitar thread 👍

I play acoustic but really don't get time to play much these days.

I have thinned the herd a bit recently. I have 2 'Hog' Martins (D-15m and 000-15M)
And an OM-JM that I'm looking to sell /Swap / PX for a Rosewood Martin Dread at some point.

Sold an OM42 a couple of years ago that was an absolute belter. Wish I'd kept it a year longer a would have gotten a lot more money for it.

Got a couple other acoustics and a Sigma by Martin Dread which my mum (RIP) bought me when I started playing. I snapped the headstock in the 90s and the lads at. Kings Music (oldies will remember) fixed it.

Memories 🥴
 
Quinninho said:
Love a guitar thread 👍

I play acoustic but really don't get time to play much these days.

I have thinned the herd a bit recently. I have 2 'Hog' Martins (D-15m and 000-15M)
And an OM-JM that I'm looking to sell /Swap / PX for a Rosewood Martin Dread at some point.

Sold an OM42 a couple of years ago that was an absolute belter. Wish I'd kept it a year longer a would have gotten a lot more money for it.

Got a couple other acoustics and a Sigma by Martin Dread which my mum (RIP) bought me when I started playing. I snapped the headstock in the 90s and the lads at. Kings Music (oldies will remember) fixed it.

Memories 🥴
Click to expand...
Haway @Quinninho get a pic hoyed up of those hog Martins.
 

Back
Top