The cheapest electric guitar on Amazon
Another trip into the realm of the ridiculous, but this time with guitars that anyone can afford.
All of what I'll mention here are absolute beginner instruments. These are throwaway guitars. They are new, but all are priced ridiculously low just to get them sold and out the door. Don't expect fantastic guitars here. What you're buying is cheap and that's the selling point.
Starting with the guitar seen above is the Rise by Sawtooth ST-RISE-ST-BLK-KIT-1. What you get with this is the guitar along with a beginner's kit of a little amp, picks, gig bag and such. No, you cannot purchase the guitar separate from the kit, but then again this thing is so cheap it really doesn't matter. At the time I write this, it's under $60 new and that includes shipping.
What's good about the guitar? It's simple. One pickup, one volume knob, one control knob. It's a hardtail so there is no whammy bar to lose. All the tuners are on top of the headstock, making it easier to tune. It's black, which is an easy finish to clean and keep looking nice (assuming the guitar ever gets cleaned.)
Peavey Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rockmaster
I consider this a step up from the Rise because of the body shape and graphics. Kids who like TMNT will obviously like the guitar, but this is actually a fun guitar for adults too. Bring this guitar to a practice session or gig and yeah, people will be laughing at it - but that's the whole point. The guitar is fun and entertaining to look at. And yes, it is a full size guitar (as are all the guitars mentioned here.)
Like the Rise, it has a single pickup, one volume control, one tone control, no whammy bar. I actually like the fact the headstock is painted black.
To note, there are several Rockmaster guitars, many of them themed. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the cheapest of the lot.
Here are a few of the other Rockmasters available. Still cheap, but more expensive than the TMNT:
- Star Wars
- The Walking Dead Riot
- The Walking Dead Michonne/Zombie
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 3 Flying War
- The Simpsons
There are more Rockmasters besides that, but you get the idea. Simple fun guitars with wild graphics. Any of these would work well with a punk band or if you just want something fun and different for cheap.
This guitar is actually a "full Strat" with 3 single-coil pickups and a tremolo system. It's not a bad looking guitar in sunburst and it works just like any other Strat you've ever played.
There is one advantage buying the Sawtooth Strat over a Squier Strat. It does have 22 frets while a Squier Bullet Strat has 21. This means you have a 3rd octave D where you can bend a note to a 3rd octave E, and some guitar players consider that important.
The Amazon listing states the guitar has 21 frets, but look at the neck in the photo above. It's 22.
Said very honestly, the Sawtooth does look slightly better than a Bullet Strat because of the painted black headstock.
Good guitar? I've no idea. But it's cheap.
Rich's pick
Personally, if I were in the market for one of these, I'd get one of the Rockmaster guitars and start posting videos to YouTube of me playing the instrument just for the fun factor.
As an adult guitar player, fun is what dictates which cheap guitar to buy. You get the one that puts the biggest smile on your face, which is why the Rockmaster is the best of the 3 here. It's a lot of fun for under 100 bucks.
Published 2018 May 21
