this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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I'd take issue with the "only," but setting that aside: musical instruments. Guitars, for example. You can find perfectly serviceable guitars for cheap and they'll be playable with a decent setup, and you can obviously find deals. But in general, if you try your $100-$200 Fender acoustic guitar or mandolin and then go to a guitar shop and try out a high-end Martin, for example, there's a world of difference.
I've actually heard that a lot of beginners quit because no matter how hard they practice it sounds like trash and feels bad to play, and it's to do with the cheap guitar they got.
Yes, this is especially true when dealing with a cheaper guitar with high action (distance of the strings from the fretboard). Without a proper setup (which will generally try to get the strings as low/comfortable as possible), it can make the process really hard on your hands, especially with an acoustic. You're much more likely to quit if, in addition to slow beginner progress, it also literally hurts you to play it or the strings won't stay in tune properly, etc...
What are examples of decent acoustic guitars to look for used?
The only brand of acoustic I would buy blind is Yamaha. Great quality control, especially in the FG series. Anything else, play them first.
I don't know about that. I've run across some real turds from Yamaha over the years. That said, it's been about 20 years since I last played one and maybe they've upped their game. For my money Guild makes the best lower-priced guitars, though granted they're mostly more expensive than Yamahas.
I'm saying this mainly from bass perspective. But generally you have to get lucky in the cheap department to get decently good instrument. When you shift to like $500 range it gets better and for "normal use" $1000 is good enough (normal = not professional, just hobby player). Most things above $1500 are usually just waste of money to show off.
(All calculations including pre-owned prices.)
Another approach for electrics is to take a cheap body and swap out the electronics with something from a much nicer instrument, in addition to a proper setup. Far cheaper route and you'll end up with a $100-$200 guitar that sounds and feels like a $1,000+ guitar.
I got a super cheap electric guitar kit that I'm going to build (someday). Is there a good source for electric guitar electronics (pickups, etc.)? Or would you just recommend buying cheap used guitars and "stealing" the electronics?
I'm thinking that my electronics are super low quality so I'd like to upgrade.
Aside from ebay, Reverb will have a lot of pickup options, both new and used. For example, I bought a set of bass pickups out of an $850 Fender bass to put in my ~$100 Squier bass. I think I paid like $50-$80 for the pickups by themselves.
That used to be really true when I was a kid in the 79's, but not so much today. Back then, a quality guitar cost way more than the cheap stuff and the cheap stuff was rubbish.
Nowadays, with CNC machines everywhere, there are lots of modestly priced guitars that are very playable. The junk that we used to have to settle with back in the day only exists in the realm of "toy" instruments that almost aren't intended to be played.
Seriously, $300 can get you a very playable instrument, especially in electric guitars.
Guitars are definitely an anomaly in instruments just because of the economy of scale.
Then you have the other end of that spectrum like anything with the words "Contra Bass" attached to the front, where the acceptable ones start at $10k