How good can a cheap guitar sound?

[paulp1960]

Lowering the action doesn't lessen the string tension at all. It will make the effort required to push the strings down to the frets less, but the tension in the strings is the same. Lowering the action (at both nut and saddle ends) can make the guitar sound more in tune.

In my experience of guitars most of them can benefit from a deeper cut nut, even quite expensive guitars.

[StrumFu]

With a guitar that is poorly setup it can be tough (especially for a beginner) to get it to sound good. From out of tune sharpness from high nut action to bussing from high frets. Also can be tough for a beginner that hasn't built hand strength up to even fret some chords when the nut action is too high, which would also make it sound horrible when trying to play. So a good setup can affect in a positive way what your guitar can sound like.

[Doug Michaels]

Yes, a cheap guitar can sound good. But how cheap? For example, Breedlove in Bend, Oregon has sale every year. They put on sale their demos, some one offs and other new guitars that they have hanging around. Last year I picked up a short scale 000, Spruce face, Rosewood back and sides, all wood with the LR Baggs Element installed. Beautiful guitar to look at. Even more beautiful to play and listen to. I played it there that day and immediately knew I had found a real gem. After one year of playing out professionally regularly I use it as my back up on many gigs. It has amazing tone, sounds clear and bright but with a big bottom due to the Rosewood. Oh, and I came with a hard shell case, a nice one. It is a better guitar than others I own that are well known for being great guitars. It cost me $650.00 at the sale!! I suggest you might look behind the scenes with the manufacturers and ask if they have similar sales or come to Bend and check out the Breedlove sale. Its well worth the trip. I also picked up an all Maple for $250....its all wood, no laminate.

[reholli]

Assuming it's well-built? It can sound as good as it's played...

[Captaincranky]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Lowering the action doesn't lessen the string tension at all. It will make the effort required to push the strings down to the frets less, but the tension in the strings is the same. Lowering the action (at both nut and saddle ends) can make the guitar sound more in tune.

Granted, it will improve the intonation.

Oh, I don't know though, isn't there at least some correlation between fretting effort and string tension? I'll answer my own question, if the intonation goes off when you fret the guitar, it's because the string pitch increases. If the string pitch increases, the tension increases as well. (This is because you're effectively bending the string, but only on the vertical axis).

So now, you have a semantic issue. If the action is as low as one might hope for, is the string tension normal, optimum, or simply meeting specification?

Originally Posted by paulp1960

In my experience of guitars most of them can benefit from a deeper cut nut, even quite expensive guitars.

Manufacturers aren't stupid. They know if you cut the nut slots too deep, the do-over is both expensive and time consuming. So, the consumer benefits from this, in that he or she, can bellyache about how tough the 1st fret F barre chord is....

[paulp1960]

Yes I agree Captaincranky - the string tension increases when the note is fretted and if the action is high that tension can be enough to make the note go sharp. The chords on a guitar sound more piano-like up and down the neck when the action is optimised at the saddle and nut.

[Atalkingsausage]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Yes I agree Captaincranky - the string tension increases when the note is fretted and if the action is high that tension can be enough to make the note go sharp. The chords on a guitar sound more piano-like up and down the neck when the action is optimised at the saddle and nut.

I've had this happen to me with lighter guage strings occasionally, as well. since they sometimes can bend down, and nearly touch the fretboard between frets. Another plus for .12's and .13's

[trek1500]

Originally Posted by Atalkingsausage

Ok so here goes my first post on this forum! I recently bought an Epiphone AJ220S which so far has been a really nice solid, beautiful guitar. It has a pretty darn good action, a beautiful sunburst finish, solid spruce top, and a really nice satin finished neck (which I never knew that I preferred until playing this guitar). The only Issue with this guitar is that the tone isn't quite there. Now yes, I know It's a low end instrument, and no I don't expect it to sound as good as the J45 it was modeled after. But I'm kind of interested to see how good I can make it. just for kicks, and also to learn how to work on my own guitars So far I have replaced the factory .12 guage strings with .13's which sort of helped with bass response. I also upgraded the saddle to bone which seemed to increase sustain, and note clarity. Now I'm wondering if there's anything more I can do to improve this thing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

I have 3 Taylors that weren't cheap but decided to get a nylon-stringed guitar and didn't want to spend over $350. Well I found one...an Ibanez which is listed in my signature and it's incredible sounding and beautiful to look at! Only $300 it has a Fishman on it and a tuner. Bargain, beautiful and the best value ever! I'm very impressed!

So it just goes to show you....you don't have to always go with the Martin & Taylors for a nice guitar. I've never had an Ibanez but I love this one!