Best Buy - A Fretters Opinion and Buyers Guide

[just strum]

All of the post today got me thinking about just what is a good value out there? So, if you have something that you own, played or just plain heard good things about and it's a great "bang for the buck" let's heat about it.

It can be guitar, amp, pedal or just about any guitar related item.

Keep it to "new" items that you feel the store price provides a good value. Good value doesn't necessarily mean inexpensive, a $3,000 item can still be a good value.

Two guitars that I have own or have owned I feel are good values.

First is my Epi Dot ($400). I liked this guitar since the moment it arrived. It's a very easy playing guitar that has great tone. It performs well with different styles of music, but I love it for playing/practicing the blues. A friend of mine has a Gibson ES335 and it compares and performs very well when put up to the ES335. Like any other less expensive version, it doesn't out perform the more expensive guitar, but in my opinion the increase in price of the ES335 doesn't make up for the difference in price.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--EPIDOT

My other recommendation if you can find one, is the Ibanez ARC300 ($400). An LP style guitar with great tone and easy playablity. About 2 lbs lighter than a Epi or Gibson LP. I only played a few of the Epi's and Gibson's and again imho the cost of the ARC makes it a better value with no loss of performance.

http://www.guitar.com.au/guitars/electric/ibanez/eg_page_20071a09.html

[Rocket]

Best value for me this year, (so far,) was my Fender Acoustasonic SFX II amp... love it! Matt at Sweetwater price-matched MF AND discounted additional $75 because I'm a good customer.

Best for the wife this year, (so far,) was her Masterbilt EF-500RA. I agree... these are top notch acoustics.

[Ch0jin]

For me I have to mention my Maton MS2000DLX SD.

At around $3K they aint cheap, but you'd have to pay thousands more for a Les Paul Custom of similar quality. Build quality just smokes a lot of the factory made LP Standards I've seen in stores so I rate it against a LP custom. (and oooh those seymour duncans are sweet. soooo sweeet)

I guess that value probably works against you US guys though.....

My 2nd recommendation is home made pedals from kits. These days less than a $100 gets you a truly unique, one of a kind effect and as a bonus the ones I've made so far sound cool as hell! There really is nothing like someone checking out what fx ur using and seeing something you made yourself. They always look at you like your some kind of genius, which is nice for the old ego.

3rd is the Pocket Pod + Senheisser headphones. For around $300 I have a dimed marshall stack in my loungeroom ;)

[tot_Ou_tard]

I love my Godin Radiator.

It has a great variety of tones. Each one unique with a hint of classic. Great neck if you get along with a 12" radius. As SuperSwede would say, it has ridicculous spank at the bridge, but the neck is warm, woody, but with great single-coil clarity & a wonderful low-end. The low-output single-coil pups pups are a little single-coil Gretchy, a little Ric toastery, & a little Dano lipsticky. Or at least that's what I imagine them to be like.

The neck loves to be overdriven into blues with a semihollow sort of feel. I usually add some bridge for clarity as well. Great electric blues fingerstyle guitar. Add a compressor to the bridge for jangle or chicken-pickin'.

It has no selector switch you mix & match the two pups via two volume controls. I really like this, but then again I am a beginner & rarely do much in the way of pup changes on the fly.

The really nice thing is that it sounds like itself. It provides a cheap & easy way for me to sound like myself.

I plan to set it up in an open tuning for slide at some point. It'll sound fantastic.

I got it for $150 on eBay.

It's not for everyone, but then again. I'm not everyone ;).

[sunvalleylaw]

Everyone here knows I love my 60th Ann. MIM Strat, but that is just me, and I think it is a good deal. There are other good strats though. I still think it is a "Best Buy" though.

Of my gear, a clear "best buy" seems to be my Peavey Classic 30 tube amph. It is loud, sounds good, looks good, has two good channels, and for the type of amph that it is, I think one would be hard pressed to find a different one as good for the coin, especially a good used one like I purchased. I think the store price is a good value as well, compared to what else you can get in the price range.

[scgmhawk]

I am a bargain hunter, for sure, but I would have to say that I am really happy with my Vox AD50VT 212 that I got a few months back -- http://www.mattsmusic4u.com/browse.cfm/4,292.html. I paid $299 with free shipping from Zzounds.

[Spudman]

This is probably on the upper end of the dollar scale but I think my Musicman Luke guitar was a 'Best Buy.' What you get from Musicman with any of their guitars is a made in America well built machine that plays like a custom guitar at a fraction of the price.

Mine was under $1,300 new but the real deal is the Ball Family Reserve model. They do limited runs of their regular guitars with some added features. The flame tops are ridiculously beautiful-almost sinful. Then they put on a sweet birds-eye neck and ship it in a beautiful case for about half the price of a custom (over $2,000).

[just strum]

This is probably on the upper end of the dollar scale but ...

Best value come at all levels of the scale.

[street music]

My Godin Detour that I bought on ebay at a very reasonable price-Brand New has to be right on the list with my FEnder Princeton 65 amp that I bought for $125.00, both of them are great and I couldn't imagine getting more for my buck in anything else and the enjoyment of the two together is just :bravo:

[markb]

I've played two Crafter acoustics in the last week and found them very, very well put together for very little money. Today I bought one, pics to follow in a new thread.

Apart from that I'd say the MIM Fender Classic Telecasters and the Blues Junior are my favourite "budget" things, I gigged this rig for over a year with no complaints and a lot of compliments.

[Jimi75]

Good bang for the buck....mmhhh...let me think.

a)Well, I guess my Danelectro FAB Overdrive is thing that I won't part with an that relates to your topic.

b)Of course my Line6 Toneport UX1. Very inexpensive but very effective. I love recording twice as much now that I got my Toneport.

c)My "Martin Scorsese presents the Blues" DVD set in a guitarshaped box. I got it for 1/3 of the original price and I watch it very often. 7h of Blues and BLues history. I learned a lot about the Blues and because of the fact that this influenced my playing and my attitude towards playing the Blues I have to metnion this set here.

[tot_Ou_tard]

I am a bargain hunter, for sure, but I would have to say that I am really happy with my Vox AD50VT 212 that I got a few months back -- http://www.mattsmusic4u.com/browse.cfm/4,292.html. I paid $299 with free shipping from Zzounds.
$299 for AD50VT 212.

Great deal!

[Lev]

Fender G-Dec Junior, simple portable modelling with knobs!!

[warren0728]

i still think the bad monkey is a good deal...and i agree with the mim teles....i love mine and got it for $300....

ww

[duhvoodooman]

I'm still grinning about that '97 MIK Squier Strat I picked up on eBay for $86 + shipping! :D :AOK: :D :AOK: :D

The Warehouse Guitar Speakers 12" Veteran 30 (Celestion Vintage 30 clone) that I bought last year for $45 ranks right up there, too. They're up to $65 now, and still a steal, IMO....

[sunvalleylaw]

i still think the bad monkey is a good deal...and i agree with the mim teles....i love mine and got it for $300....

ww

Agree on the Monkey. That tele will be a consideration when I get there.

[Spudman]

The Warehouse Guitar Speakers 12" Veteran 30 (Celestion Vintage 30 clone) that I bought last year for $45 ranks right up there, too. They're up to $65 now, and still a steal, IMO....

I have to agree but mine only cost $20. Even though I have yet to mount them in anything. :o

[duhvoodooman]

So you bought some of that first batch that was offered, eh? How many did you get? 2? 4? One for each guitar? ;)

[aeolian]

Several musical instruments I have I consider good deals.

I recently bought a used Ampeg BA115 bass amp for $150. It is in excellent condition.

My Godin ST-IV was under $500 with HSC. I don't think it is worth much more than I paid for it, but it is one of the best playing guitars I've ever played. For that reason alone it is a good deal.

http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/GODIN1.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/GODIN2.JPG

I got a good deal on this G&L US-made L-2000 bass with body binding. All others I have seen are several hundred dollars more.

http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/l2k4.jpg

My Heritage H535 is also a good deal. Again, all others I run across are several hundred dollars more.

http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/h5.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/h6.jpg

I have a couple more guitars that I consider to be good deals just because they are almost impossible to replace. They are both models that are getting scarce and therefore costly.

[Ch0jin]

Wow, reading ove rthis thread I really get the impression guitars are crazy expensive in Australia. All these great deals for a couple of hundred dollars!!

Then again I'm not a good shopper so maybe it's just me...

[tot_Ou_tard]

Yow! Nice Heritage Aeolian!

[just strum]

Yow! Nice Heritage Aeolian!

+1 and that bass is nice looking too.

[Gil Janus]

I have to recommend the Vox DA5 - 5W Combo Amp with Digitally Modeled Amp Styles, 11 Effects, and Battery Power (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DA5)

It sounds great, you get different amp styles, the effects work, and it's portable and works on batteries! It even has an amp power switch - .5w to 5w, and batteries last forever.

I've used mine all over the house, outside in the garden, on the deck - where ever one wants to play.

And it only costs $139.

Gil :cool:

[markb]

I have to recommend the Vox DA5 - 5W Combo Amp with Digitally Modeled Amp Styles, 11 Effects, and Battery Power (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DA5)

It sounds great, you get different amp styles, the effects work, and it's portable and works on batteries! It even has an amp power switch - .5w to 5w, and batteries last forever.

I've used mine all over the house, outside in the garden, on the deck - where ever one wants to play.

And it only costs $139.

Gil :cool:

Oh yeah, I forgot that one. The 21st century Champ. :AOK:

[Ch0jin]

Oh yeah, I forgot that one. The 21st century Champ. :AOK:

Wouldn't the 21'st century Champ be the new Champion 600? hehe just sayin ;)