What seperates the good guitars from the bad ones?

[dims]

I've got a squire bullet strat :lol: and wondering what the better guitars have that is different from the bad ones.

[Akeh]

Better:
Hardware
Construction
Pickups
Woods
Quality Control (for most companies)
Electronics

[M7S]

Better:
Hardware
Construction
Pickups
Woods
Quality Control (for most companies)
Electronics

And:

Action (how far the strings are off from the neck)
Overall quality
Wood quality (is different than just 'wood')
Playbility

That's about it. You will find out that there are differences between 100 and 150 bucks guitars, 150 and 200, 200 and 250 and so on.

Basically, the more you pay, the better the guitar is. But at a certaint point, it just becomes preference.

[Pom-Bear]

The action wouldnt exactly make it a better guitar tho..

since the action can easily be adjusted

The Best and Bad guitars is quite simple

The best guitar is what YOU like the most and feel most comfortable with

And the Bad Guitars is what YOU dont like

[M7S]

The action wouldnt exactly make it a better guitar tho..

since the action can easily be adjusted

I disagree with you on that.

Shawn Lane's Vigier for an example, can get way faster action than any other guitar, because of the construction of the neck, Squier's can't handle fast action at all.

I speak out of experience, I actually own the Shawn Lane master sig.

[Pom-Bear]

Well wouldnt that go under the construction category like the other person said instead of action?

[Alive]

I disagree with you on that.

Shawn Lane's Vigier for an example, can get way faster action than any other guitar, because of the construction of the neck, Squier's can't handle fast action at all.

I speak out of experience, I actually own the Shawn Lane master sig.

What the hell is faster action?

[mutant!]

To expand a little on Akeh's post...

Hardware
Different makes of hardware - tailpieces, tuners, bridges, and so forth - are made of different materials, such as steel, brass, and graphite. Different materials, whilst yielding differing sounds, also come in varying levels of manufacture. Good tuners will have little "play" (ie not feel as loose as cheap tuners), gears that rotate uniformly and smoothly, and possibly special features such as string locking mechanisms.

Construction
There are many different methods for constructing guitars. One common difference is the way the neck is attached to the body. Bolt-on necks are cheaper, easier to replace, and have a brighter sound; set (glued-in) necks have better sustain; and through-necks have even better sustain but are near-impossible to replace, and cost a fortune.

Pickups
Pickups can differ from each other like night from day - a change of pickups is one of the quickest ways to totally transform your guitar's sound. Differing pups use varying magnet types, number of coil windings, and wiring configurations, the more expensive ones usually producing minimal noise and more sustain.

Woods
Whilst different wood species come at different costs, there is also such a thing as a "good" piece of spalted maple and a "bad" one. Higher-quality woods will sustain longer, produce richer tone, and look better (usually).

Quality Control (for most companies)
Without being racist, the guys who do the quality control in Mexico are paid less than those in Japan. They have to make sure everything fits together right, the guitar works 100%, and that it looks new. If they don't do their job properly, you get inconsistencies between guitars.

Electronics
The quality of the wiring and potentiometers (also called pots, the volume and tone knobs) and switches makes a difference to your guitar's sound and operation. Poor pots will sound at full power until they're turned right down to 3 or 4, and then suddenly cut out completely. Bad pots can also negatively affect your sound.

:thumb:

[FENDERGROUND]

The action wouldnt exactly make it a better guitar tho..

since the action can easily be adjusted

The Best and Bad guitars is quite simple

The best guitar is what YOU like the most and feel most comfortable with

And the Bad Guitars is what YOU dont like

smart person lookat jimmy page and the dan electro...it was made by sears yet he liked it

Edit: however mutant's post explains what people commonly judge guitars on and what the prices are based on

[Mr. Badguy]

To expand a little on Akeh's post...
A whole lot've useful guitar info.

That post deserves some points. Give this man a drink! :chug:


I too am, sadly, a member of the squire club. While recently trying to upgrade, I received several defective Ibanez RG321 guitars from Musician's Friend, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a quality guitar in the 200-300 (maybe 400), price range?

[mutant!]

^ Cheers mate. :chug:

What kind of music do you play? The Ibanez GSA60 is the best value for money around. It really kicks the a$s of Squiers that are twice as expensive - it runs for about $180. However, it won't be worth the upgrade. If you're a Fender man, you can get a MIM Strat or Tele for $370. For Gibson-type stuff, the Agile LPs run about $300-$400. Otherwise, I'd save up if I were you.

[Mr. Badguy]

Well, I'm mostly into metal. Led Zeppelin to Children of Bodom (or something heavier). I like playing all sorts of genres, though.

How much should I save up to? I've got about 400 set aside for a rainy day, but I'm willing to hold off for a while. I'm not really familiar with the differences in guitar brands, so I'm not really partial to any sort've brand. I've heard that Gibson is pretty much king, though.

[Akeh]

Gibson's great if you've got the cash. For Metal I'd look into Ibanez, Jackson and ESP, they all seem popular around here.

[4yearpro?]

it's all about the quality

[mutant!]

Well, I'm mostly into metal. Led Zeppelin to Children of Bodom (or something heavier). I like playing all sorts of genres, though.

How much should I save up to? I've got about 400 set aside for a rainy day, but I'm willing to hold off for a while. I'm not really familiar with the differences in guitar brands, so I'm not really partial to any sort've brand. I've heard that Gibson is pretty much king, though.
I have three rules about upgrading:
1) Do your research. You must know exactly what you want.
2) Do not upgrade unless you feel your equipment (or lack of it) is holding you back.
3) Do not upgrade unless you have enough cash to buy exactly what you want. If you decide a Les Paul Supreme is precisely the guitar you want, don't just buy a Studio because you don't have enough money. Save up until you can afford what you really want.

So anyway, I'd suggest Gibson or PRS for you. Both do the versatility thing quite well. The PRSs might be a bit brighter than the LPs; they also weigh less. They also happen to cost a hell of a lot more. Here's a tip: browse sites such as guitargeek dot com. Find out what equipment produces the sounds you like the most. Make sure you know who makes guitars that sound the way you want to sound.

[Alive]

I have three rules about upgrading:
1) Do your research. You must know exactly what you want.
2) Do not upgrade unless you feel your equipment (or lack of it) is holding you back.
3) Do not upgrade unless you have enough cash to buy exactly what you want. If you decide a Les Paul Supreme is precisely the guitar you want, don't just buy a Studio because you don't have enough money. Save up until you can afford what you really want.



Hmmm, let me borrow this for the purpose of me geting a new amp:

1) Do your research. You must know exactly what you want.

I want a new amp, that is quite cheap becuase I'm not rich and I don't want an insanely expensive one that I might get bored of.

I also want lots of different tones as I play different kindds of music.

So I looked into lots of different amps, and the Roland Cube 60 (at the pretty imopressive price of £180) seems to be rated pretty well by everyone and sounds good in the demos.

2) Do not upgrade unless you feel your equipment (or lack of it) is holding you back.

At the moment I can get about three tones from my amp: Clean, Buzzy and heavyily fuzzy. This puts me off playing as I hate it, and it makes it harder to write stuff (although the real reason could be that I suck) as I can't really get it to sound like what I want to hear (or what any other songs by other people sound like).

3) Do not upgrade unless you have enough cash to buy exactly what you want.

Yeah, I got that covered.

The thing is, I don't know if I need 30 watts or 60 watts. It's available in both, but the 30 has one less amp model and is £30 cheaper.


So I still don't know which one to get :s

[Hep Kat]

I care mostly about playability and construction.

A good amp can make almost any guitar sound good.

[Mr. Badguy]

I care mostly about playability and construction.

A good amp can make almost any guitar sound good.

Wise words. Did wonders for my squier.


Well then, I suppose I'll just hold off and research guitars a bit more. Or, at worst, find a...job. *shudders*


And to Alive: Go for the 60 watt, man! I'm not exactly sure of what 30 pounds would transfer into dollars, but you're probably better off in the long run. Might as well pay more and get something that'll last, then pay a few bucks less and get something that'll just make you want to upgrade in a year or two. And, now that I think about it...

Exactly how often should you upgrade your gear?

[mutant!]

^ That you should decide for yourself. I have decided that I'm not going to buy any further equipment that I'm ever going to want to replace. Which is why I now own a Roland JC-80. I'm going to play that amp for the rest of my life, God bless its soul.

So yeah, I'd recommend you decide which guitar you want to play for the rest of your life, and then save up until you can buy it.

@Alive: I imagine you're going to want to upgrade to a "real" amp sometime, so I would say rather save money and get the 30, and then start saving up for a Mesa/Marshall/Vox/whatever.

[seerofgoodpeople]

i think you all are overlooking one thing. feeling controls how a guitar sounds more than anything. let me explain with a story
when i was starting out playing guitar a couple of years ago i went to guitar center and i immediatley went for the high end make you flat broke guitars and i thought they sounded great. but this guy next to me was playing a strat and it sounded sweeter than anything i'd ever heard. so when he left it i went over and noticed it was a squire and so i figured great squire played and it was nothing special. so the lesson is better hardware pickups and such affect the guitar but any most any guitar will sing like the next if you know how to touch it right.

[mutant!]

^ I think you're wrong. I've never bought a guitar based on feel. My Gibson feels like sh1t but sounds awesome. Believe what you will.

[seerofgoodpeople]

i think you misunderstand when i mean feeling i mean the ability to make what you play convey what you personally feel at the time of playing.like when listening to people like david gilmour you can feel what he's playing or stevie ray vaughan.but i also think how the guitar feels to you is a factor

[Mr. Badguy]

I was looking at a special edition Les Paul on Musician's Friend today. The price looked swell, it had great reviews, but the color...my god, the color!!

Yeah, I "feel" you, Seer. Hehe. I'm planning on taking a trip to a music store soon and just sitting down to play a few of 'em, get a feel for the different ones I like.