The Golden Age of Budget Guitars

[bitraker]

I had the local GC acoustic room to myself this morning - I was completely blown away by the consistent quality of low-end guitars - there are some amazing deals for under $300.00 - I played an Alvarez for $190.00 that was equal or better in tone and build quality than many in the high-end room.

This truly is the Golden Age of budget guitars.

[Captaincranky]

Wow! Good thing you're a charter member. I'd be flamed off the site for blasphemy of that magnitude....

That having been said, you're 100% correct with that assessment.

Taking pride in your work, doesn't depend on the wages you receive for doing it. Sadly, I think being highly paid, can lead to apathy and an excess of self esteem.

Twenty years ago, a large percentage of instruments built in Asia were crap. The issue with them I most often saw was, the neck angles were set way too high, resulting in sky high, and unrepairable, actions.

Fast forward to today, Asia builds many multiples of the numbers of guitars built in the US. And, as they say, "practice makes perfect".

I get the biggest kick out of "Mexi-Taylors", versus, "USA Taylors". El Cajon CA, is about 20 miles from the Mexican border. As it turns out a majority of SoCal's population is of Hispanic heritage.

Bob Taylor has cleverly separated his lines into price categories, resolved by that border, which is an artificial, Geo-political contrivance. When in fact, there is very little of a cultural boundary in existence.

If we're going to use "Mexi-Taylors" as a label for MIM Taylors, perhaps we should label Bob's workers at El Cajon, "Mexi-Fornians".

As a template for competition with Asian imports, we in the US should look toward Godin Enterprises, and how they've managed to hold the line on cost, and still deliver a quality, mid priced product.

[GangstaPat]

Originally Posted by bitraker

I had the local GC acoustic room to myself this morning - I was completely blown away by the consistent quality of low-end guitars - there are some amazing deals for under $300.00 - I played an Alvarez for $190.00 that was equal or better in tone and build quality than many in the high-end room.

This truly is the Golden Age of budget guitars.

Agreed! You do not have to spend thousands to get a phenomenal instrument these days. I remember the time when a $50 to around $200 guitar was exactly that; a cheap guitar. This was a couple of decades ago. account for inflation and you can easily see that for the same money now you get a great guitar that is just "inexpensive"! Heck, I even wander into sub $200 guitars today that are really good. I find sub $200 used guitars that leave me scratching my head and wondering how you can get so much for so little!

[maxtheaxe]

Of course, many if not all of these guitars are made in China. However you may feel about the principles of such things, the fact is that these manufacturers are getting better and better with QC. I still see some little problems with a lot of these guitars, but rarely anything insurmountable.

Just like with many earlier Japanese guitars that were laughably bad in the beginning...once they got some traction and got some skilled people in the game, they began turning out world-class guitars.

I remember when I first started out on the guitar...you could either get pure crap, or Gibson/Martin/Fender, et al and nothing at all in between. Its a miracle I ever stuck with it, given the awful guitars I learned on.

[tdq]

I just got a Recording King, all solid parlor, RP-10, for $300. I bought it as I was going on a two week roadtrip. Had to do a couple of tweaks on purchase, but it's a great little guitar. I'm back now but it still gets a lot of play. More than my $2K OM....

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Captaincranky

I get the biggest kick out of "Mexi-Taylors", versus, "USA Taylors". El Cajon CA, is about 20 miles from the Mexican border

This issue WILL go away. It will someday be a non-issue.
Sad really. But the ones coming up behind us, they understand.
For now, this board will vote otherwise.
So sad.

[AmericanEagle]

Originally Posted by GangstaPat

Agreed! You do not have to spend thousands to get a phenomenal instrument these days.

so true

I've played a Yamaha FG700S (199 new)
that played and sounded very good

I just got a Brazos guitar, from the 1980's
made in Korea
I paid 36 dollars for it, and 14 for shipping

with new strings I just put on, it sounds very good!

[AmericanEagle]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

This issue WILL go away. It will someday be a non-issue.
Sad really. But the ones coming up behind us, they understand.
For now, this board will vote otherwise.
So sad.

my Taylor was made in Mexico
great build quality

[Captaincranky]

Originally Posted by maxtheaxe

...[ ]....Just like with many earlier Japanese guitars that were laughably bad in the beginning...once they got some traction and got some skilled people in the game, they began turning out world-class guitars...[ ]...

As a point of fact, once upon a time, "made in Japan", was a cruel joke regardless of the product involved.

Japanese workers, in the same way as American workers, advanced their cause drawing ever higher wages.

Their dominance in the electronics industry is legendary. However, going back as far as four decades ago, their companies were no longer able to produce their full lines on the Japanese mainland.

You would see something like a flagship audio receiver with, "Made in Japan", proudly stamped on the box. When you got to the 20 watt a side promo piece, it's box would say, "Made in Singapore", or elsewhere.

The Japanese can no longer afford to have their full line guitar product made at home either. So, Ibanez acoustics now come mostly from either China or Indonesia.

These chains of events are typical of an "industrial revolution", no matter where the geographical location may be.

Everybody busts their hump for low wages, as the shift from agrarian to industrial society takes place.

But keep in mind, China is the last potential massive labor pool on the planet. Where's next in the search for affordable instruments...?

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by bitraker

I had the local GC acoustic room to myself this morning - I was completely blown away by the consistent quality of low-end guitars - there are some amazing deals for under $300.00 - I played an Alvarez for $190.00 that was equal or better in tone and build quality than many in the high-end room.

This truly is the Golden Age of budget guitars.

The quality of the factory setup on Alvarez guitars seems very good and has been consistent on the past few models I've played. Their build quality isn't too shabby either. I was surprised how quickly the cedar top on my AG opened up... Moving up a notch in the $500-$1000 range Yamaha is now including hard cases with their L series. The L series also feature torrefied tops. Street price $600-$800.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Captaincranky

As a point of fact, once upon a time, "made in Japan", was a cruel joke regardless of the product involved.

You must be going back quite a long way, surely, at least as far as guitars were concerned. I was 16 back in '75, a time when Yamaha acoustics were definitely displayed with pride by some lucky boys at my school. Kay was regarded as cheap, but Yamaha equaled classy, at least it did in England.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by bitraker

I had the local GC acoustic room to myself this morning - I was completely blown away by the consistent quality of low-end guitars - there are some amazing deals for under $300.00 - I played an Alvarez for $190.00 that was equal or better in tone and build quality than many in the high-end room.

This truly is the Golden Age of budget guitars.

I have to agree 100%. Last year I looked in to some entry level guitars for a friend and there were plenty of decent options in his $200 to $300 budget.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Got to say...I love my Mexi-Martin.

[Captaincranky]

Originally Posted by ewalling

You must be going back quite a long way, surely, at least as far as guitars were concerned. I was 16 back in '75, a time when Yamaha acoustics were definitely displayed with pride by some lucky boys at my school. Kay was regarded as cheap, but Yamaha equaled classy, at least it did in England.

Yeah, I'm digging way, way back, into the mid 50's. As a child. I remember sitting in my grandparents living room, listening to them cruelly belittle the little styrene toys and whatnot coming out if Japan at the time.

Everything was cheaply, and shoddily made copies of US made product. Ya gotta give them a ton of credit, they caught quick, and in a big, big way.

I sure you know that today's FG-700s aren't coming out of Japan.

Here, take the tour of the Yamaha factory in China:

[grim83]

Agreed. My main guitar is a 400 dollar all solid recording king. I've played it against quite a few Martin's, Gibson's, Taylor's, and a few small shop builds. You have to climb to near 10x the price before I started noticing improvements with any regularity. I also have to admit I hand picked this one as the best of quite a few. Also to make the most fair comparison I prefer it to the Martin d18 it is based on as the sound is more gruff like that of a good ol j45 while stiff carrying some of the Martinesque traits I like.