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  #1  
Old 05-16-2021, 09:37 AM
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rllink rllink is offline
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Default Buy it because it is cheap?

I went to a garage sale and they had a guitar sitting there. It was a Savannah. I had never heard of a Savannah guitar so I searched it quickly on my phone. Not a high dollar guitar it looks like, maybe a hundred twenty new, but the seller had a thirty dollar price tag on it. I was tempted, but my conscious was standing there beside asking me why I want to buy a cheap guitar when I have two more expensive ones at home. In the end I left it there. We went to the coffee shop and when we came back by on the way home it was gone. I think she is right, do I really need to buy a guitar just because it is cheap? I think if it had been there when we came back by I would have grabbed it.
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Old 05-16-2021, 09:43 AM
offkey offkey is offline
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You sound like me, but I think you got lucky.
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Old 05-16-2021, 09:50 AM
RXMoore RXMoore is offline
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Default Everyone needs a cheap guitar

We should all have at least one, just in case the impulse overtakes us to go outside during a thunderstorm and play "Hee Haw Honey." Just in case we have to travel cross-country in the back of a pickup truck. Just in case our practice space is invaded and we need something to fend off attackers. There's a number of situations that call for a cheap guitar, and in those cases, nothing else will do.
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Old 05-16-2021, 09:58 AM
Shishigashira Shishigashira is offline
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Someone here posted that cheap guitars are easy to accumulate and hard to get rid of. I think they were quite right, although that hasn't stopped me from grabbing a few 😉.
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Old 05-16-2021, 09:58 AM
Jim in TC Jim in TC is offline
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Probably all for the best, perhaps leaving it to someone who really needed a cheap one, yes?

My "yard sale" buy was a $10 (some decades of inflation ago) Silvertone archtop in blue and white. Purchased on a hot day in the summer and, by necessity, left in a hot car for a couple more, it came out no worse for the wear. It played fairly well and sounded kinda ok. Since I had better for my own use, I gave it a music teacher starting a guitar class, and it ultimately ended up with a musician whose first guitar was...a blue and white Silvertone.
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Old 05-16-2021, 10:32 AM
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KevinH KevinH is offline
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I've often thought about picking up a cheap guitar just to practice repairs on, or maybe as a challenge to see how playable I could make it. $30 would have been hard to resist.
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Old 05-16-2021, 10:42 AM
Lillis Lillis is offline
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I’ve made the mistake of buying a cheap guitar just because. Never really played it and gave it away. If I found one that really filled a niche then I would consider it again.
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Old 05-16-2021, 10:49 AM
guitararmy guitararmy is offline
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I think those are similar to the Rogue acoustics that MusiciansFriend sells, all laminate.
Considering that the MF ones go for around $60, it's probably not a killer deal.
I think I used to have one in pink...
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:00 AM
perttime perttime is offline
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I usually try not to buy things that I'll never use. A few good reasons to buy a cheap guitar have been mentioned. None really apply to me at the moment.
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:02 AM
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Rev Roy Rev Roy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinH View Post
I've often thought about picking up a cheap guitar just to practice repairs on, or maybe as a challenge to see how playable I could make it. $30 would have been hard to resist.
Yep, that would be my only interest, too. I wouldn’t buy it because its cheap; I’d buy it because it’s useful.
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:03 AM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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If it played half decent I may have purchased it if only to practice guitar maintenance things like a refret.
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:06 AM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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My weakness is more when a used quality instrument is going for a couple of hundred. It happened recently with an Ovation Balladeer Special in 'Great' condition from GC Used Online: $295 with a higher quality Ovation case. With tax and shipping, it came around $335.

I already knew that Balladeer Specials were solid, unfancy but quality guitars, and I do have a soft spot for nice Ovations. This one came as advertised and is an excellent alternative to my all-wooden acoustics. But would I have bought it if it had been priced higher, and did I really need another acoustic? No to the first question but not sure to the second. This is a shallow-bowl O, and it sounds great through both my Fishman acoustic amp and my JC-40. The neck is also rock solid and straight with a low action, and I'll feel no qualms about putting it in all sorts of altered tunings. So, maybe it did fill a certain niche or two.
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:13 AM
singlechange singlechange is offline
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About one year ago, I found an expensive used guitar for sale just listed that very morning and the seller, not knowing exactly what he had, priced it at 25% of the second hand market value. I decided to pass on it and, later that day, it sold to someone else. For about a day, I regretted not buying it, but after about a week I was glad I did not buy it because I would not have played it much anyway.
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:24 AM
buddyhu buddyhu is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shishigashira View Post
Someone here posted that cheap guitars are easy to accumulate and hard to get rid of. I think they were quite right, although that hasn't stopped me from grabbing a few 😉.
Yep.

Unless the guitar is something you want and that you are certain is a good value, best not to bring it home. Cheap guitars are like puppies and kittens...much better to say “no”, than to say “yes” and then change your mind.
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Old 05-16-2021, 11:34 AM
rstaight rstaight is offline
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I would have at least asked if I could it up and give it a try. I have a hard time passing by instruments with a low price tag. Just never know.

I don't have a problem with inexpensive instruments. Shoot, look at my signature. Those 2 Indiana's get played on a regular basis along with the Lotus.

They even get taken along to a jam once in awhile. Every guitar deserves to get played.
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