Wiseman88 said:
hi all,
What's a good budget guitar (strong aversion to cheap squiers and epiphones) for the money? And anybody got experience with either gfs guitars or rondo musics guitars? & it would be preferable if i didn't have to do excessive modding to make it good.
Wiseman,
Samick makes very good guitars...if you avoid thier entry-level model. I bought my first Samick, an FB2, which is a Greg Bennett designed knockoff of Eddie Van Halen's Wolfgang, for $149 USD with a hardshell case, at a pawn shop in Killeen Texas.
I bought my second Samick on Ebay, a unique 1990s model that has no model name but has Floyd Rose Locking nut-bridge-trem system and two humbuckers. Paid $120 USD for it, no case.
Both have great necks and I liked these so well I started surfing Ebay for more. Found a Samick Jazzmaster knockoff with P90s and a gig bag for $99 USD. Another great guitar!
So I'd recommend Samicks and Greg Bennett guitars (by Samick).
Another option is the Fender Squier reissue 1959 DuoSonic. I love mine...the shape, light weight, vintage colors & style...the action is perfect and the range of tones through my Peavey Classic 30 are clear and can get pretty gutsy. You can find a used one for about $200 USD. The caveat is that there are some of these DuoSonics that should not have slipped through Quality Control...like some are hard to intonate.
It's alway a good idea to have a used guitar checked out by a good luthier (or budget to cover a good set-up after you buy). But you can find some very good guitars on a budget.
Hope this helps.
