Have I Been Wrong About Cheap Guitars?

[@buck7477]

I have 15 very expensive guitars and I love them yes but for some reason I get way more excited about Finding an old Squier or and old Ibanez Roadstar or a Japanese Knockoff and fixing it up.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I can relate. It's fun to make old guitars play like new again.

[@Malvo6820]

Thank you for the video review. I just purchased that beautiful guitar after watching. I like the look and the price. I'm gonna modify it once I get it. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Glad to be of help.

[@williamhoppe4500]

I really enjoyed this video. I have a couple of cheap guitars that I'm going to put new strings on. I hope the intonation on the Tele style one gets a bit closer. Lots of us poors enjoy your cheap guitar videos. Thanks

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Glad you find this useful. I sometimes feel like I'm spinning my wheels with the cheap guitars, but as long as people find value in the reviews I'm doing, I'll keep doing them.

[@jfrankcarr]

I've been very happy with the GearIT Tele Thinline style I got as a gift last Christmas. It needed a proper setup out of the box and the stock tuners were rather rough. The neck, with the rounded fret ends, is quite good, smooth and no uneven frets. However, I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner or for someone without at least rudimentary guitar tech skills. These guitars are highly variable in quality so it's luck of the draw if you get a good one or not.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I agree, it is kind of a crap shoot, which is unfortunate.

[@Alwaysonly1forme]

In another comment I mentioned that I picked up the Donner DST-152R package. The neck plate was not centered on the body, it was shifted about 1/8" to the right. I pulled the neck, screws are making full contact with the body and neck. The pocket fit is nice and snug. Question, for anyone, I thought about drilling another hole somewhere in the center of the plate and adding another screw but my concern would be hitting the truss rod cause I don't know the length. The guitar has a skunk stripe and really don't know if that's the length of the rod. Like I said the neck is solid maybe just a cosmetic issue. Bought it off Amazon but would have to exchange it through the company that shipped it and like some say it could be a crap shoot. I like everything else about this guitar it's really not bad.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

If all 4 screws are making contact and into the neck heel, I'd leave it alone. I think for this one, I will probably end up filling the existing holes and move the plate where it should be and re-drill it to fit the new neck. But that will be a lot of work and require some paint touch up, but I think I'm going to relic this one, so that shouldn't matter too much.

[@Alwaysonly1forme]

​@@JayceAllanGuitarWow, immediate response, I'm impressed. Thanks for your input, yeah I'm keeping it and again the neck to body fit is snug and tight. For me being a perfectionist is a blessing and a curse.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

No problem. I appreciate the comments.

[@randallhaney7909]

The amazing thing about the headstock damage? Is how it can be.. "A big huge ding right there" and "a little chip right outta the headstock" at the same exact time. Haven't even Felt the neck out yet. BUT. Now I must change out the neck for a certified Fender or a Mexican fender neck This neck has the smooth ball-end frets ..But I like the pointy ones Fender still uses LOL Whatever dude.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I never said "I must change the neck to a Fender". I said I was curious to see if one would fit the neck pocket. You also apparently didn't watch the part where I pulled the neck off, and the heel of the neck looked like it was cut my a four year old and the heel didn't even sit tight in the neck pocket. But please...explain to me again how the neck that came with it is acceptable, because, oh yeah, it has "ball end" frets. Excuse me, maybe I'll get you to write scripts for me, instead of just doing it on the fly, so I won't make tiny inconsistent statements like a ding is both huge and tiny so people like you won't rush to the comments to complain.

[@randallhaney7909]

@@JayceAllanGuitar LOL Calm Down bro ... Breathe deep It'll be okay.. Look it is just a comment from someone that doesn't matter (me) anyway Just ignore it.. You know what they say? "If it Don't Apply? Let it Fly .. LOL And dude I wasn't complaining. I was commenting on my take of your content. Like you.. I may have embellished a bit LOL.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I got nothin'.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

I recieved my Gearit and the last fret is 1 mm too long. Nuthin a little file couldn't fix👍 and considering it included : 20$ gigbag 30$ amp 10$ case candy, tuner, cable, string, Its a great deal. Heck if I buy a 3000$ guitar at Guitar center it still will need a nut height correction. I feel blessed to own it. The ceramic single coils are about 5k and pretty mediocre. The humbucker is really dark. This may be due to the choice of potentiometer on the volume. But I could still gig with this guitar. It is the perfect guitar for a 40 year veteran of the road who knows his place. I have made a livin' playing guitar but I am not Stochelo Rosenberg or Robben Ford. This is a great guitar for a guy who makes his livin' playing bars.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

@@rustyshackleford9557 awesome. Glad you got a good one. I’m ordering a new neck for this one just because.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@JayceAllanGuitar yep, I bet the builder ran out of frets and picked up a random one off the floor. But now I know the frets are definitely steel/alloy. Gearit is new to the biz. They sell cables and so there is NO final QC check. The OEM knows that and probably puts their apprentice workers on those. They utilize experienced workers where they know the importer will have a QC team. They are smart! I play music I don't like, for folks I don't care for in places that I can't stand. The Gearit is perfect for that. I have no rose colored glasses.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Definitely no love loss if it gets damaged.

[@Old_Geezer]

As you say, such things are squarely aimed at the beginner and all those issues are just about the last thing that a complete guitar novice needs or wants. If you can't do the work yourself and had to pay for all the work you've shown that this thing needs, you'll end up spending far more than the initial cost and still have a pretty low quality item so it represents the classic false economy. For someone who knows their way around a guitar, the challenge to make something like this somewhat playable might well be fun and/or a cheap way for someone who wants to learn how to work on a guitar without risking damage to a more costly instrument. For a beginner though, not really the best route in my humble opinion. Overall, if you're a parent whose kid shows an interest in learning guitar, this isn't the way to go, especially nowadays when there are plenty of relatively low cost options out there that are far less likely to come with serious issues built in. You've just got to spend a little more to save a lot in the long run so budgeting for a slightly higher start up cost makes far more sense. This type of "bargain" probably won't inspire your budding rock star to persevere either and will make the learning process far more of a chore and a whole lot less fun and at the outset, that's really important - learning guitar is hard which is even more reason that it also needs to be fun. This would be a depressing let down for the excited and enthusiastic first timer. A lot of companies offer "starter packs" that come with a cheap little 10 0r 15W solid state amp or, you could buy a new cheap guitar from a big established company (with reliable return/refund policies and customer service) and hunt locally for a used amplifier and you'd get a lot more bang for your buck - sometimes you'll even find people giving them away on local marketplace sites. When my son was starting out we found someone wanting to offload a no name S-Style with a genuine Dunlop Wah pedal and a very decent Hughes and Kettner amp to anyone willing to pick it up from them. The guitar went straight to a charity store but he still has the amp and the pedal to this day. I think we paid around £160 new ($200) for his first "grown up" guitar and his teacher did a quick setup on it for him - which really was just basic tweaks to set the action and intonation and fit some quality strings. It saw him through his first four grading exams and still remains one of his favourite instruments even though he has graduated to owning and playing several substantially more expensive models over the years. He won't part with his old "friend" even years later. Out of interest I just checked on the website of one of our national retailers and they currently have several of their own brand S type models available for as little as £76 (B stock) or £99 new - HSS, poplar body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard etc. so there are still very good deals out there that will be far more rewarding and much better value for those starting out, even on a very low budget.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

That's a good deal. Especially for a poplar body. Is that from Thomanns?

[@Old_Geezer]

@@JayceAllanGuitar No, that was Andertons actually - they have a range of their own budget guitars branded "Eastcoast" aimed at the price conscious and beginners. I've owned a couple of them - still have one of their single cut models hanging on the wall. However, Thomann, for your European audience at least, offer some unbeatable deals too. I own several Harley Benton models myself and have been more than happy with them all - not just "for the money" either. The TE-62 DB is probably my most played Tele copy and I think they retail at about £135 now. Lovely little guitar. We also have a couple of SC550 Plus Vintage models and one of their 335 copies as well as a bass- all good and all cheap. Resale value aside, they're a pretty solid bet. (The guitar my kid started on, just for information, was a Jet JS400).

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I reviewed a JET here a few months ago, great guitar. I've own a few Harley Bentons and was not disappointed with them. They were very nice.

[@Old_Geezer]

@@JayceAllanGuitar It's all relative I guess. There are a lot of sub £200 guitars that are genuinely very good nowadays, especially for hobbyists and bedroom players like me. I'm happy with guitars that don't require a mortgage to put in my not very competent hands - my boy gets the better stuff as he's already showing promise as a real musician 😁 I'd venture that the biggest jump in quality is achieved (generally) by going from that kind of price bracket to the £500 mark at which point you really notice the superior parts, manufacture, finish, sound, playability etc. Guitars like the Sire S7/T7 would be a good example, or even the PRS SE range - they are leagues ahead of most sub £2-250 guitars and the jump in quality is truly noticeable - you can actually see and feel what double your money is getting you. Then again, there will always be exceptions to any rule when it comes to such things. Once beyond that sort of price point you start to experience the good old law of diminishing returns where doubling your investment probably won't double the quality and subjectivity starts to play a greater role all round. In my experience, the Sire S7, for example, was a way better guitar than a MIM Fender Player series (not just on paper either) for a few hundred quid less - some of that may be subjective but overall I'd say it was objectively a better guitar and certainly better value. Then again some will no doubt scream "heresy" at such a statement and on the used market, the name on the headstock will certainly, probably, maybe, result in lesser depreciation should you ever decide to sell. Then again, allow for the fact that I've never owned a guitar that cost thousands and I never will.

[@rockerbuck967]

I think these are lures for older people to buy gifts for their kids or grand-kids, and know little about these things. Discerning players would know better, I'd hope, unless you're looking for a good platform for modding or getting into basic repairs. With QC, it's a gamble - you may a get gem, or a turd, depending on what mood the person is in that day.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

That seems to be true.

[@JoaquinGonzalez2014]

Wop, there it is!

[@kennyg63]

Jayce comparing this to the Squier Debut series assuming the Squier arrived playable(no intonation issues)and not factoring in the accessories is this a better choice? It sound like the neck is still an issue and needs replacing. Even if I payed a local tech $50 I still would 34:12 not have a Squier neck . Just curious what your thoughts are. I know how to change string and operate a screw driver. Just not sure I have the confidence to do an intonation and a full setup. Plus under warranty Fender will correct issues at the local service center . Also for some of us older bedroom players weight of the guitar can be an issue. Lol Thanks for sharing!😊

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Given what you said I would go with a Debut, or even a Donner or Harley Benton. The Debut is definitely a great guitar but I found the tone a little thin. I would definitely steer clear of these one off Chinese brands.

[@leighsayers2628]

You can't buy anything like that for that amount of money in Australia ..

[@rustyshackleford9557]

Hi Kenny, have you considered IYV? ( Inyen Vina) They produce many of the Harley Benton models and many guitars for Wolf, ESP/Ltd, Dillion and Mitchell. They are Vietnamese. They are a nice step up from most value guitars and available at a great price via Amazon. I have had great luck with Grote products also.

[@JayBirdGuitars]

sounds great!!

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Thanks!

[@alienfretboy]

The guitar might be cheap, but Stanley is high quality.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

@@alienfretboy he’s a better guitar player than I am! 😻

[@Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow]

those cheapos in my opinion are NOT designed for the professional musician or player I personally can't afford a cheapo guitar..

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Certainly. The quality is too inconsistent.

[@juanvaldez5422]

I agree . The only imports that stand up to professional scrutiny and use woukd be the Korean World Music made stuff .. but as we see , the price of those inevitably reached the price of US and Japanese made guitars

[@rustyshackleford9557]

​@@juanvaldez5422Folks should play what they want. I have made my living as a touring, session, workshop guitarist for 40+ years. For the last 4 or 5 years I have used a ,89$ Grote strat (33$ aftermarket Alnicos) and a 155$ Grote 335 thing for almost all my work. D$$*k that I am, ( and grumpy) I LOVE inviting some guy up to sit in with his booo-tique amp and 3 k guitar and slaughter him. Its better than winning a sporting clay event with a 500$ shotgun!. I have a few Gear Its. They required a full set up and so would literally every Gibson at my Guitar center. Folks are delusional and most couldn't even play a 4 hour bar gig.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

I got my Gearit in and the last fret is almost a mm. too long. They DO seem to be a very hard alloy. Other than that it is great. Mediocre ceramic singlecoil pickups and a seriously dark muddy humbucker but this thang is still a total value. It was 70$... It included a rechargeable amp that is branded "Gearit" but is identical in sound, volume, weight to my 30$ Joyo. It included a nice 20$ gig bag It also included a tuner that works fine. That's another 5 bucks! And it includes a cable that slightly better than most freebies. So... Amp:. 30$ Gig bag. 20$ Tuner. 5$ Cable strings strap. 5$ __________________ 60$ Guitar: 10$ !!! SHIPPING: FREE It is the perfect guitar for a 40 year veteran of the road who knows his abilities and limits. I dont have a Grammy 🤔 Folks buy guitars like they think they are Roben Ford but they couldn't actually strum Happy Birthday in C# unless they had the chord diagram. Great axe. I am blessed to own it.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

There are not many folks on the planet who are professional guitarists. I hope I am not snarky but decades ago I worked in several guitar shops and not only did I very rarely sell to a professional, heck! I very rarely sold a guitar to a person who could play. Ask a guitar owner to strum Happy Birthday in C#....heck!, tell em it is a I, V, I, IV even, chances are unless you draw em some little pictures and dots they can't even do something that simple. I wish folks would simply be honest to themselves in regard to their needs and abilities and then perhaps learn some basic music terminology. I hate to call it theory. But memorizing licks and chord shapes won't get a guy very far. This GearIt is totally built well enough for me to go out and play a four hour bar gig without any problems.

[@robertclarkguitar]

Wonder if these are blem factory seconds bought and forced to work and sold cheap?

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Could be, or even returns. Because for a while the GearIT guitars were sold out, now they have more. That seems to happen with Firefly too.

[@robertclarkguitar]

@@JayceAllanGuitar oh true. Indeed.

[@randallhaney7909]

P.S. if you're worried about prefect intonation? You must hate acoustic guitars? not many have saddle adjustments, gasp!! LOL.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

🤣On electrics, I try to get it as close as possible, because it seems more noticeable. I have never had to adjust an acoustic guitar.

[@brandonjackson5865]

Pop that neck off and put the headstock on a belt sander and make it look like a Kramer Beak or a Suhr or something along those lines, it’s an ugly headstock but there’s enough meat to work it into a more attractive shape, if it’s straight and the fretwork isn’t terrible. You would probably have to work over a fender certified neck over as well, nut fitting, adjusting and fret level and polishing.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I would if this neck actually fit the pocket. You should see the heel end of the neck (midway through the video I remove the neck). There's about an 1/8" gap between the end of the heel and the inside of the neck pocket.

[@brandonjackson5865]

@@JayceAllanGuitar yeah I saw that , that was pretty ugly could cause intonation problems also.

[@barrygoodson4952]

The little amp is way more impressive than the guitar !

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I couldn't agree more!

[@robertclarkguitar]

@@barrygoodson4952 lol. Buy the accessories and get the guitar return new* free. 😆

[@SearchingForTone]

QC is so out of whack, with these cheapos. I think some of these reviewers that say they are the best ever are usually given ones not off the factory shelf

[@CKS64]

Bought 2 of these one had ding in headstock also. But for the price who cares. Company has horrible customer service so it is basically useless.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I did get if from Amazon so could return it if I cared. The body is worth it I think. And I’m shocked how good the pickups sound.

[@CKS64]

@@JayceAllanGuitar They are well worth what the sale price was.

[@Scrimjer]

Orange cat doing Orange cat things

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

He runs the house! 🤣

[@jimc3678]

Someone gave me a Glarry; (stratocaster style). It makes sound, but it feels verry cheap. I think Squire is the best starter. (new or used). I'm gonna do a practice paint job, then get rid of it.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I haven’t heard very good things about Glarry.

[@methatlovescats3602]

He has a cute face

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

He's a charmer!

[@erwocoolis9451]

Cheap guitars are good for youtubers. Low cost, high revenue, cause the world is full of poor people, which guarantees klicks. The used market is overflowing with "beloved" first guitars, that are just a few weeks old, that their owners want to give into "caring hands" at prices just very little below what they paid. All those are shattered guitar dreams of poor people, who just realized that they bought shit, who are hoping to get heir money back, and who are just about to experience the next big problem with cheap guitars: resale value.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I half agree. As far as guaranteeing clicks, I don't know. I know some pretty huge channels that won't even review cheap gear and they get plenty of clicks. Plus, there's cheap and there's REALLY CHEAP. I mean, I have bought some gear that many players would consider cheap that has served me very well. Problem is, finding some of that gear can be like navigating a mine field. Also, I haven't had any trouble selling my cheap gear either. I make sure to reveal any and all issues, I think many people buy them for parts. Lastly, used is always a great option, especially if you want name brand gear. I have bought lots of gear from Goodwill auctions that had the tags and plastic still on the pickguard. I think people buy guitars, play them once and then donate them. I at least try to present these cheapies in the proper light. I don't get gear sent to me, so I try to tell it like I see it. I don't always get it right.

[@Old_Geezer]

Those ads - so true 🤣 Well said.

[@MartinBlasick]

That’s a glass half empty perspective. More guitars for all I say

[@juanvaldez5422]

Used is almost all I purchase from … a recently got a 2008 lmtd run CU24 10 top for 2k . And traded into a 2004 PRS Core CU22 . I’m not paying new prices . It doesn’t make sense

[@rustyshackleford9557]

As with most stuff whether a gym membership, a new garden project or an excercise machine, most folks just wont discipline themselves, study and stick to it. All of us, no matter our level of proficiency, need encouragement and a REAL teacher.

[@markdeloria20]

Fretboard is "supposewood"

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

That’s a good one! 😂

[@BobHolland1949]

Probably made from old shipping pallet vintage wood.

[@wallofrock6725]

Hardened cardboard

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Martin Guitars uses Richlite which is basically what you describe.

[@hotcakesman]

Stanley!

[@danrunnoft6642]

Gearit has some of the worst QC of any budget guitar that I've ever purchased. I've never seen another guitar where they finish the neck before shaping the butt end of it.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I was pretty shocked by this. Ordering a new neck today.

[@methatlovescats3602]

Don't like that sound

[@michaelschuerman8826]

Nope

[@nellayema2455]

Yikes! That neck to body fit is atrocious. Stanley's a cool cat! I had a cat for 14 years. He was fun, but he did tear stuff up from time to time.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

That’s what cats do! 😎

[@richardj6593]

Jayce.. I am telling you the best guitars under 500 bucks and in the 300 range is the new Hils America guitars. Myself and now 3 friends have them and all of us have multiple guitars in the 2k and 3k range and these guitars are WAY above the price in terms of quality. Their headless was reviewed by THE Know Your Gear Podcast and it got a great review at 499 dollars. However, Hils has several guitars like the Essence and Talent guitar in the low 300s. They have stainless frets, roasted maple necks, mahogany bodies and excellent pickups. If you want to bring a low price high quality guitar for review, you won't be disappointed. Love your channel btw.. just joined this week.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Thanks for the tip. I haven't heard of them, will check it out. Thanks for tuning in.

[@richardj6593]

@JayceAllanGuitar Like I told another channel. If you don't think that guitar is great for the price, I will donate 100 bucks to your channel to help pay for it. I bought my brother one this week and bought one for a good friend as both wanted a good guitar but did not have the funds. I should add that I have 3 high end PRS guitars, a Les Paul Standard and two fender ultras so I know good quality. This guitar is not a 3k prs but it is worth twice to three times what they are charging for it.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

@@richardj6593 just looking over their website. Nice looking gear. Never been a fan of headless guitars but their LP, Tele and Strats look great. The headstock design is a bit odd though. Good prices.

[@ThermaL-ty7bw]

haven't had a guitar that stays in tune , i'm at 5 guitars now , all cheap , none of them stay in tune buy a descent guitar , stop wasting your time

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

I guess it depends on what type of guitar buyer you are. If you like to tinker and mod, than these guitars are perfect for that. If you're strictly a player or even a collector that plays, you'd be better off buying established brands with a good return policy and great customer service.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

Maybe I can help. #1 if its a bolt on, make sure the neck screws are tight. #2 make sure you have the proper number of wraps at the post and the ferule nuts at the post are tight. #3 stretch those strings. Literally grab a string at around fret #12 and lift that guitar off the bench. That is only about 7 lbs of stretch. Repeat on each string. This helps snug up the wraps and seat the ball end in the tailpiece. Lastly make sure your nut height is correct. Rarely will a new guitar, even a 3000$ one have a properly cut nut. If that nut action is too high, the string will be stretched sharp as it is pressed down to the fret. Here is a easy test: Tune Now depress the big E at fret one to produce an F. If it is sharp then most likely the nut height is so high, the stretch down to the fret is making those fretted notes a bit sharp. This will be really noticeable with open chords. I hope that helps.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

That is helpful, thank you.