Anything over $500 is too much to spend on a guitar for most people
At the time I write this, there are a ton of guitars that are priced exactly at $399.99, which basically means $400. When you add in tax and shipping, that usually means you end up spending anywhere from $424 to $475. Being that Amazon has free shipping on an item this price, US buyers can grab a $399.99 for as little as $424. For dudes outside the US, cost goes up because of shipping but usually stays under the equivalent of $500 USD.
Unofficially, $400 is the cutoff limit for what most players are willing to spend on a guitar, because you have to allow for a $100 buffer to keep it under $500.
Fortunately, this does allow you to go into Fender-branded guitar territory. Most Modern Player Series guitars such as the HSH Stratocaster are priced at $399.99.
Yes, the Modern Player series from Fender is China-made. But it is Fender. I did own one of those Strats, and can honestly say that yes, it is a well-made, properly constructed series of guitars.
If you're going to spend over $500 for that American-made guitar, you might as well do it now
American-made guitars are not made any better than ones made in Mexico, Japan, Korea, Indonesia or even China at this point...
...but that doesn't take away the desire to own one.
Many players living in countries outside the USA would do almost anything even to touch a USA-made Fender or Gibson guitar, let alone play one.
And then there's me, a guy living in Tampa Bay Florida, who can waltz into a Guitar Center any day of the week and play US-made Fenders or Gibsons.
While I sometimes bash on American-made Fender and Gibson axes, I am very aware of how accessible US-made guitars are to me, simply because I live here.
On top of that, I live in an area where a lot of the super-good American guitars end up, as Tampa Bay does have several high-traffic guitar shops.
Basically what I'm saying is this: If you live somewhere where you absolutely cannot get to American-made guitars, the non-American stuff is just as good and you are not missing anything. Bear in mind this is coming from a guy who can access those high-cost American guitars any day of the week.
Now I know that no matter what I say here, a bunch of you are going to buy an American-made Fender or Gibson one day. It will happen.
I've gone through that phase where I had to have an American guitar and got one. Been there, done that. Will I ever buy American again? Doubtful. Right now at this point in my guitar playing life, I am all about the non-American guitars because I get more enjoyment out of them.
You will buy an American-made guitar just to do it because it feels like an accomplishment. You will put down a bunch of money (at least $1,200 USD or more) and buy that guitar...
...and then you'll probably never do it again. Not because of lack of build quality or anything like that. It's because you did it once and don't have to do it again, because let's face it, it's expensive.
If you have the money, get your American Strat (I suggest getting one in Jade Pearl Metallic with the maple board) or Gibson USA Les Paul (I suggest Honey Burst, which I think is the best burst Gibson does) or whatever it is from Fender or Gibson that you want.
And yeah, I'm saying Fender or Gibson. Those are the two brands you're willing to put big money into for an electric.
Buy it now, because the price is only going to go up as times goes on. Just buy the stupid thing and get it out of your system.
After you've spent your cash on that American guitar...
...you go back to under-$500 guitars and pretty much stay there.
Staying under $500 on the purchase of a new guitar is not being cheap. It's being smart.
Most guitar players eventually figure out that an American-made guitar is not an upgrade. It's just a more expensive guitar. But that doesn't mean you're not going to buy that American guitar. It's like I said, you will do it. It will happen.
Should you buy a used American guitar?
Not unless you are really, really sure the guitar is OK to buy.
There are two main reasons you shouldn't buy a used American Strat or Les Paul ordinarily.
First, most guys who bought these guitars new originally knew nothing about how to set one up correctly. They also don't know how to maintain a guitar correctly either. As such, they will mess it up. Whoever buys the guitar afterward is going to buy something that is messed up.
Second, it's basically impossible to know whether you're getting a 100% original USA guitar or not when buying used.
Do guys swap out the original pickups and put in cheap pieces of crap? Yes, and often. They do this so they can sell two things instead of one. The guitar is sold, then the pickups are parted out and sold separate for extra cash.
Do guys put American necks on Squier or non-Fender bodies? Yes, and often. And there's no real way to check the authenticity of a guitar body. Everyone pays attention to the neck.
If you're going to buy American, buy brand new. Don't do scratch-and-dent, don't do used. Go new 100% all the way.
Yes, it's expensive. But it's the only guaranteed way to get a USA-made guitar that is 100% USA-made in every way.
You can go used if you want, but just be really careful about it.
If you can't afford the full price of a new USA model, the solution is simple. DON'T BUY IT. Get a Squier or Epiphone instead for cheap now (or the China-made Modern Player Fender I noted above), then save up and get your USA model later.
Or just say screw it, get the lower-end Fender Modern Player, gut the electronics, put in a prewired pick guard with a traditional S/S/S pickup configuration and you've got your "premium" Strat for under 500 bucks. Since it's only the Fender logo that matters anyway, who cares?
7 reasons why every metal player should own a Telecaster
Metal players typically get suckered in to buying a lot of worthless crap, and it takes them a good long while before they stop doing that and buy stuff they can actually use.
Every metal player needs a cheap Telecaster. Specifically, the Squier Affinity Telecaster with the maple fretboard, a guitar that at the time I write this is under $200 new.
Why the Tele and not the Strat? I'll talk more about that in a moment.
These are the 7 reasons why every metalhead needs a cheap Telecaster.
1. Brighter pickups
Metalheads are used to "hot"-output muddy sounding humbuckers, and those are awful for songwriting because the only thing those pickups can do well are power chords and soloing.
The Tele is the exact opposite. It's a super-bright, super-twangy sound. The advantage to that is that chords ring out much better to where you can actually hear all the strings properly, similar to an acoustic but in electric form.
2. Easier to chord on
"Metal" guitars typically have ridiculously flat fretboards with ridiculously large frets on ridiculously thin necks. Great for power chords and soloing, but awful for chording.
The Tele is, again, the exact opposite. Much rounder, chunkier neck, rounder fretboard, smaller frets. You can chord on a Tele all day and not feel any fret hand strain at all, whereas on the "metal" guitar you will feel finger and wrist pain after a while. And no, the pain doesn't happen due to age of the player. Even a 16-year-old will feel the pain because chording on a super-flat/super-thin neck just isn't a natural hand position.
3. Nearly maintenance-free
After setup, a Telecaster with a maple fretboard requires almost no maintenance at all.
Cleaning the guitar is as easy as it gets, because maple fretboards don't hold in dirt like rosewood boards do. Why? No open wood grain, and the maple board is sealed (if it weren't, it would literally turn green from your finger gunk).
If the volume pot, tone pot or pickup selector gets "scratchy", a few quick sprays with plastic-safe contact cleaner fixes that up quick.
How to clean the nut from time to time? Dental floss. Yes, that really works. Use floss on the nut slots just as if you were flossing your teeth for every few string changes.
What other maintenance is there? None. No vibrato system to adjust. No height adjustment necessary because the string saddles stay put. Unless you subject the guitar to extreme temperature changes, no truss rod adjustment is necessary since the neck is a single hard piece of maple all the way through.
4. The ultimate "bang" guitar
Something the Telecaster can withstand that not many other guitars can is that you can bang on the strings really, really hard and the guitar can handle it just fine.
It is not easy to snap a string on a Telecaster. Not impossible, but not easy either. You would have to want to snap a string to do it.
Am I saying a Telecaster can handle string banging better than any "metal" guitar? Yes. You can wail on a Tele all you want, slam the strings hard and the Telecaster can totally handle it with ease.
5. Best solo tone you'll ever have
Once you start noodling around on a Telecaster, it's most likely true your favorite sound will be the front pickup, as in the "neck" pickup.
When distortion is applied, you'll hear things out of that front pickup that your "metal" guitar simply can't do. Why? Brighter pickup. Having that extra treble on top will sound great.
Metalheads only have 3 problems with soloing on a Telecaster, all of which can be cured very easily.
Problem 1: The pickup isn't "hot" enough. More gain isn't the solution. Compression is. Problem solved.
Problem 2: The pickup is "too trebly". Turn the tone control down. Yeah, that knob you never use. Use it. Problem solved.
Problem 3: Buzz noise from the single-coil. Gate it. Problem solved.
6. The realization that anything above the 20th fret is a waste
Most "metal" guitars have 24 frets on them, which gives each string 3 octaves. On the 1 string in standard tuning, an open string played is E, a 12th fret note held is E in one octave higher, and a 24th fret note held is E in two octaves higher.
A traditional Telecaster only has 21 frets on it. Some have 22, but most only have 21. On the 1 string in standard tuning, the highest note possible is a third-octave C#.
Metalhead players get fooled into the belief that if an electric guitar doesn't have 24 frets on it, it must be worthless.
Wrong.
Most of the time you will never play anything above the 20th fret.
When chording, you are always behind the 12th fret. When soloing, you are usually between the 5th and 18th fret, and very infrequently play on the 19th and 20th frets.
There's a reason why the frets after the 18th on your "metal" guitar are dark and grimy compared to the others. They're never played. Now you know why the heel side of a neck is called the "dusty end". It's because nobody ever plays there.
All metal players (or at least the smart ones) eventually realize that 24-fret guitars are a novelty at best.
This realization happens once a metalhead buys a cheap Telecaster. Once you whiz around on a Tele guitar and hear the sweet tone of that front pickup, the "metal" guitar seems like a joke in comparison.
The reason a Tele "sings" as well as it does when playing the front pickup is largely due to its positioning. If the Tele were a 24-fret, the front pickup would have to be pushed back and it would ruin the sweet sound that pickup has.
And yes, this is the fundamental reason why front pickups on 24-fret guitars sound like crap. With a 24-fret neck, the front pickup must be pushed back to accommodate for the extra frets. The front pickup never sounds right when pushed back like that, and results in a not-exactly-front/not-exactly-mid front pickup tone.
The "solution" by the guitar makers who churn out 24-fret neck guitars is to slap a high-output humbucker in the front position and hope the player doesn't notice how awful it sounds. Either that, or the front pickup position is moved so that it's literally butting right against the neck.
An example of the front pickup "slammed against the neck" are the Schecter Jeff Loomis models.
That guitar is a 24-fret, and when you look at it, notice how the front pickup is almost touching the neck. It had to be designed that way just to get the guitar sounding somewhat okay.
Because of that "requirement" to have 24 frets on a "metal guitar", the front pickup had to be shoved back and then butted directly against the neck.
If the neck were 22 or 21-fret, there could be proper pickup spacing. But not here. It's "metal", so it has to have 24 frets and the front pickup slammed against the neck.
7. The "most metal" guitar is the one you feel most comfortable with
Any guitar labeled as "metal" isn't comfortable to play because the neck is super-flat both on the back and the front; this ultimately leads to finger and wrist pain because your hands were simply not designed to go into positions that thin/flat necks force you to do.
Some metalhead players not knowing any better will do that "work through the pain" thing. Dumb. Really dumb. All you end up with by doing that is damaged hands that will force you to give up the guitar.
Smarter metal players use guitars that are comfortable. That comfortable guitar is the Telecaster.
A Tele is simple, easy, comfortable, has a better neck pickup for soloing and the neck is better for your hands.
Why the Tele and not the Strat? Because to a metalhead, the vibrato system on a Strat is worthless. And since it's so difficult to find a "hardtail" Strat for cheap with a Fender-style neck on it, it's better to just skip it completely and get the Tele instead. In addition, most metalhead players are used to a two-pickup layout, which the Tele has.
Remember: ANY guitar can be made to "sound metal". Ultimately, a "metal sound" is nothing but tons of gain and a muddy sounding pickup. Yes, really. On a Tele in the back position (which you know as "bridge position"), just turn the tone control down to mud it out, compress it to compensate for the lower pickup output, and gate it to kill the buzz as I noted above. It's not rocket science.
On a final note, if you gotta-gotta have that humbucker in a Tele, go Fender. Why? Because Squier doesn't have any models with a humbucker in the back and a single in the front. Specifically, the Modern Player Tele Plus gets the job done. It's an HSS configuration, 5-position, 22-fret and does have that sweet front single and a ballsy humbucker in the back. There's also a toggle switch on it to switch from single-to-humbucker and vice versa for the back pickup. The guitar routinely receives great reviews because yeah, it's really good.
The difference between a 2-color and 3-color sunburst guitar finish
Sunburst is a guitar color finish option that's been available for a very long time; it's always been popular because it has a woody/furniture look to it.
It's called a sunburst because the middle of the body is supposed to be gold (as in "sun like") in color where the burst starts, then towards the ends of the body the color fades to a much darker color or all the way to black, which is where the burst ends.
There are many different kinds of bursts out there, but the two most popular are 2-color sunburst, commonly called "Two Tone Sunburst" or 2TSB for short, and 3-color sunburst, commonly called "Three Tone Sunburst" or 3TSB for short.
An example of a 2TSB is the "Brown Sunburst" option on the Mexico-made Fender Standard Stratocaster.
An example of a 3TSB is the "3-Color Sunburst" option on the Fender American Standard Stratocaster.
Examine both, and you can see there is a distinct color difference between the two.
What's the third color of a 3TSB? Red.
A 2TSB is either natural/brown/black or just brown/black.
A 3TSB is either natural/red/brown/black or red/brown/black.
Which has the more vintage look to it?
This is where things get interesting.
2TSB is always the more vintage-looking of the two, mainly for the reason the beginning of the burst is brighter. The start of the burst is more gold in color and from that you can see more wood grain.
This is evidenced by the fact the Fender American Vintage '56 Stratocaster in sunburst is in fact a 2TSB.
Is the '56 burst exactly the same as the Mexico-made Standard? No. There are three main differences between a Mexico-made 2TSB and the American Vintage Series. Subtle, but noticeable.
The first thing is that the Vintage starts going to black sooner than the Standard, and that the fade is longer. You can see this on the top horn most as there is more of a pronounced "point" compared to the Standard.
The second thing is that more careful attention is given to body wood selection with the Vintage over the Standard. True, both the Vintage and Standard use alder bodies. But the wood grain on the Vintage will be straighter. And yes this does make the Vintage look better because your eye isn't drawn away from the burst by "odd" wood grain lines.
The third thing is the coating. The Standard has a polyester coat, while the Vintage has lacquer. Lacquer can be made to gloss so much that it almost looks like liquid. You can do that with polyester also, but it will lose that liquid-like shine quickly. What Fender does with the Vintage is "flash" coat the lacquer on; I assume they purposely apply a thin coat so it breaks down quicker as certain players want it to chip, crack and peel for that "well played" look early on in the guitar's life.
Does this mean the '56 has a better finish? No. It just means it's different compared to the Standard. The Vintage '56 will shine more at first, but also will chip, crack and peel first as well. The worst that will happen to the Standard is that it just won't shine as much over time.
3TSB is something many players consider "too modern" (on Fender style guitars)
3TSB is not the classic sunburst look that so many players are familiar with, and will always be seen as a modern color option. This is not to say 3TSB is bad, because it isn't. It looks really nice, actually. And when you want a burst with a modern look, it totally works.
Fender's American Standard Stratocaster has very few vintage-style color options. In fact, out of every color option available right now, only two exist that could be considered vintage-style, that being Olympic White and Black. Every other color is modern.
Color was incidentally one of the main reasons why I bought a new Squier Bullet Strat in Arctic White back in 2010. That color has a banana yellow-ish look to it that just looks cool.
But anyway, if I had to choose between the sunbursts of American Standard and the Standard Stratocaster, I'd go with the Standard. I just think it looks better because there's much more gold in the middle.
On a final note:
What's the best low-budget guitar that has the best burst for its price point?
Dean ZX in Trans Brazilaburst, no question.
This guitar technically has a 3TSB as you can see the red in it. And you'll be amazed at how inexpensive the guitar is.
You can't beat the Dean ZX when it comes to getting a look-at-me guitar for the cheapest possible price. Because of the larger Explorer-style shape, it takes to a burst even with the red in it very nicely. That, and it looks way more expensive than it actually is.
How does it play or sound? I have no idea, but I can take some good guesses.
The ZX is a 24.75-inch scale, meaning it probably plays like a Gibson. It has a Tune-O-Matic bridge, and that's easy to set up. No vibrato, so no need to worry about that. The tuning machines are listed as Grover, so they don't need to be upgraded.
If the guitar sounded terrible, that's fine because the electronics are simple so it's easy to pop in a set of replacement humbuckers. I'd personally put a cheap chrome-cover set in it, keep the white pickup rings, and that would complement the bridge and V-shape tailpiece very nicely.
In other words, you can get yourself a seriously good looking burst axe with the ZX for dirt cheap. It's the easiest and cheapest way to get a show-off guitar.
the truth about guitar strings
Most of what guitar players know about guitar strings are "facts" that are either partially true or not true at all.
Here are a few of them.
"All guitar strings are made by one company"
FALSE. There are several string manufacturers that exist, all with different manufacturing facilities in different parts of the world.
My preferred string, Dunlop in DEN0942 size, is made in Benecia, California.
D'Addario strings such as their 10-46 size are made in Queens, New York as far as I'm aware.
La Bella strings like the EL-L are made in Newburgh, New York (same US state as D'Addario, but a totally different town in a totally different factory that's almost 2 hours away). Side note: La Bella to this day does make one of the best super-thick "Jazz Medium" 13-56 sets with a wound G, the EL-JM.
Some companies do "farm out" strings to other manufacturers. If you don't want farmed out strings, stick to string companies that start with D. As in D'Addario, DR, Dunlop and Dean Markley. For whatever reason, "D" string companies make their own stuff. Usually.
"Thicker strings mean better tone"
FALSE. The best tone you will ever get out of a string is whatever your hands feel most comfortable playing. For some that means thin strings. For others it means thick.
The classic example of where guitar players get sucked into the thick-string thing for the wrong reason is believing that using super-thick strings like Stevie Ray Vaughan did will give them the "ultimate" Strat tone. Nope. Remember, Vaughan's largest influence was Hendrix. And Hendrix used super-light strings. SRV-style Strat tone is absolutely not just the strings and never has been.
Getting "that sound" out of a Strat or any other guitar isn't dependent on string thickness at all but rather on playing technique. If for example you install super-thick strings on a Strat but play lightly, you will never sound like SRV because he banged strings really, really hard.
In other words, use a string your fingers feel comfortable with and not because [insert famous guitar player here] does.
"Thicker strings stay in tune better"
FALSE. Properly stretched strings on a guitar that are played by someone who actually knows what he's doing do not go out of tune that often no matter what the thickness is.
"All strings sound the same when played"
TRUE, if you play nothing but metal.
FALSE, if you play anything else.
When you crank up distortion on a guitar, you will hear zero difference between thinner and thicker string sets.
Now of course, metalhead players will say "I can hear a difference!" Wrong. You can feel a difference because you're the one playing the guitar. But there will be no difference at all as to the sound heard coming out of the amp. You may say there's "more sustain", but that's never heard because nothing you play has any note or chord held longer than 5 seconds at the most.
Want to know why I can get Strats to "sound metal" so easily? It's because I know how to wield a distortion effect properly. I can make any electric guitar get big metal crunch. You could hand me a Gretsch G6120 hollow body and I'll make it sound like the most badass metal axe you've ever heard. How? By knowing how to shape a metal sound.
Could you do the same with any electric? Of course you could. All it takes is experimentation and finding the right effect and EQ settings.
For just about every other style of music, strings made by different manufacturers will sound very different from each other depending on the kind of string it is.
"Some strings 'break in' faster than others"
TRUE. It's a big reason I use Dunlop DEN0942 strings to begin with.
How quickly a string breaks in (meaning the time it takes before it's properly stretched) isn't so much dependent on the player as it is what the string is made out of, its core type and core-to-wrap ratio.
I can say with 100% certainty that Dunlop DEN series strings do break in faster. Much faster than D'Addario XL series.
In fact, just about anything breaks in faster than a D'Addario XL. I believe this is because the stiffness of the XL in combination with its specific core-to-wrap ratio works against it during the break-in period.
The main reason XL strings are so stiff is because D'Addario uses a hexagonal core, commonly known as just hex core. This results in a stiffer string, so if you've ever said to yourself "D'Addario XLs sure are harder to bend", that's not your imagination. XLs are stiffer when tuned to pitch compared to other string types. If you install one brand of string on your guitar, and then put on the next set as D'Addario XLs in the exact same size, those strings will be stiffer and have more tension.
What makes the Dunlop DEN different? A proprietary core and a proprietary core-to-wrap ratio that's different than an XL. What core type does Dunlop use? They don't say what it is on their web site. Could be hex or could be round. I don't know, nor do I care to examine it. All I know is that the strings Dunlop makes are damned good and work for me.
However, I also like DR with its round core. Works nicely and breaks in quick. Dean Markley 1972 reissues are great also but they wear out real quick, snap often and rust way too easily which is why I stopped using those.
The only string I truly don't care for are Ernie Ball Super Slinkys. I play 9-42 sets so I tried the 2223 EB set. In fact, I've tried them several times over the years, and they never agreed with me. The wraps on the wound strings slip off my fingers way too easily and I snap the unwound strings easily also.
Yeah, I know, some guys swear by Ernie Ball strings. But they've never agreed with me.
Anyway, the point is yes, some strings made by certain companies do break in faster than others.
What's the best string for you?
The best string for you is whatever your hands feel most comfortable with.
Note that I didn't say "whatever sounds best to you". Sound is something you can shape using different guitars, different pickups, different effects, amplifier EQ settings and so on.
Feel is what counts first when it comes to strings first and always. If the string doesn't feel right, stop using them and try something else. Try everything until you find the one that your hands and fingers like best.
The next time you buy strings, try a different brand. Something you never would have thought of trying before. Maybe a pack of Rotosound Pure Nickels? Maybe a set of D'Addario Half Rounds, which is a winding type where you don't feel the string grooves as much which is easier on your fingers? Maybe a set of coated strings like Elixir Nanowebs (which are great strings no matter what you've heard otherwise)?
Eventually, you're going to come across the string that's "just right" for you. And yeah, that may mean you have to buy strings online to get them. Sometimes that's what it takes to get the stuff you really like.
Remember, no matter what the guitar is, how much you spent on it or how perfectly it's set up, if the strings don't agree with you, you'll hate playing it.
Discover the string you like best. Yeah, you may have to go through 5 different brands or more, and you may end up with a few sets that were a total waste of money. But that's fine. It's worth it to find "that string" that's perfect for your hands. Why? Because you'll enjoy playing a whole lot more.
i can only handle country music in short bursts
"Jerry's Breakdown" is the first song on the 1972 album Me and Chet. And yes, that album has one of the worst album covers ever, because when you think of Chet Atkins, you don't exactly envision him rowing a boat. Chet and Jerry, who played together often, would try to do "funny" things like that, but it just didn't work. But at least the music was good.
"Jerry's Breakdown" is what most guitar players find out about after they discover there's more than just metal shredding. That instrumental song is to country guitar guys what Satch Boogie from Surfing With The Alien is to metalheads.
I am very particular when it comes to country music, because I think most of it sucks. My preference for country is mainly stuff from the 1960s and 1970s. If it's something like Six Days on the Road or Christine's Tune (Devil in Disguise), yeah that's good. But if it's anything from the 1980s up to present, nope.
Do I personally know how to play Breakdown? No. There are plenty of guitar lessons on YouTube that will show you how to play it, and they all say the same thing. Once you learn how to do a fast banjo roll, the rest of the song really isn't that difficult. It sounds difficult because you're hearing a ridiculous amount of notes played, but it's the rolls that really make the song what it is. I may learn it one of these days.
Do I like Breakdown? Yes. Great song. However, I can only handle country music in short bursts.
Country is like metal in that I simply can't listen to nor play it all the time. If I did, I'd end up in a rut. You can end up in that everything-sounds-the-same trap with country just like you can with metal.
As a guitar player, I find it's best to have a good variety of styles to draw inspiration from. To play just one style is boring.
In other words, if you hear something totally outside of what you normally listen to and think it's good, it's good and you should learn it.