Shopping for an inexpensive Electric Guitar - Is it Worth It?
By: Steve Miller
Submitted: 2010-08-26 04:20:13 | Word Count: 731
A lot folks think low-cost guitars as low quality, poorly built guitar. In fact, some people will be intimidated by the fact that it was not a US built guitar. You may not even consider Chinese or Korean crafted electric guitars and may never buy a cheap guitar, until now.
Many high electric guitar manufacturers have already began selling their guitars in Korea, China and India to offer more inexpensive electric guitars for the common guitar player. Not everybody can afford a $1500+ Fender or Gibson guitars and there's a big market for low-cost electric guitars under $400.
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A majority of the Epiphone inexpensive electric guitar models which are owned by Gibson are now produced in Korea. Kramer, which is another company owned by Gibson makes a lot of their low-priced electric guitars in Korea as well. Fender bought Jackson some years ago, and now most of the Jackson instruments are produced in Korea and India. BC Rich inexpensive instruments and several Ibanez guitar models are made in Korea too.
The low cost of labor may also help the manufacturing of inexpensive guitar, but that alone cannot be the only reason for lowering electric guitar prices.
So, why are some guitars dirt cheap and other electric guitars are significantly pricey?
There are many elements determining a guitar value.
The first factor for making a guitar cheap or expensive is the actual electric guitar manufacturing process. Was the electric guitar hand-made or was it made in a automated modern electric guitar manufacturing facility? Hand-made electric guitars are typically more expensive, while the instruments coming out from an automated manufacturing facility are always cheaper because the automated manufacturing procedure doesn't require much physical labor such as guitar building, quality control factor which will determine a guitar price. Is the quality of the material used for building this instrument of the best quality? This can comprise of the woods used for the guitar neck and body, the paints and finishes. Less expensive guitars use economical woods like plywood for building the guitar's body, while more expensive instruments use better quality woods like alder, mahogany or rosewood.
The third factor for constructing a electric guitar expensive or cheap is the quality of electronics and hardware that go in the instrument. Cheap instruments usually have cheap bridge, tuners, and factory pickups. Expensive electric guitars are built with quality electronics and hardware. For example the price of a single Seymour Duncan pickup may be a much higher price than the stock electric guitar pickup crafted in Korea.
Cheap Guitars - Is it worth it to buy one?
It actually depends. Not everyone will bond with a cheap electric guitar. If you are expert guitar player and the instrument is your tool of trade, then you probably will not want to purchase a cheap guitar. However most cheap guitars these days have an extremely fine quality, professional players prefer hand-crafted instruments invented by specialized luthiers.
If you don't want to spend several thousands of dollars on a Gibson Les Paul, then you may want to have a look at less expensive guitars. Keep in mind that cheap electric guitars are no longer no-name instruments. You can still purchase Jackson, ESP, Ibanez, Fernandes, BC Rich, Squier, Epiphone, and many more well-known guitar brands for less than $200!
I bought a inexpensive guitar built in China by Fernandes for just $199. The instrument features a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo, a very great, fast neck and awesome sound. This axe puts the "cheap" and "quality" in one sentence. My inexpensive instrument is worth much more than what I paid for it, and it is actually as good quality than some US made Fenders I have played.
Would you rather buy the cheapest American made Fender Strat model for $500 or would you rather purchase a Chinese built Jackson, with Duncan Designed pickups, Floyd Rose tremolo and super-fast neck for $250? This conclusion of cheap / expensive electric guitar is all yours.
Author Resource:-
Steve is a passionate music lover and guitar player. Steve has been playing guitar for over 15 years. Find easy guitar songs for all levels. Looking for a cheap guitar? This resource will help you find the best Cheap Electric Guitars to buy.
