The best guitar is the one you actually make music with ;)

For those who can't afford higher end guitars, you can take on some of the steps that are left out when producing inexpensive guitars, thereby drastically improving the playability of your instrument. And I'm not talking about modding the guitar which inevitably costs you money. This costs a bit, but only initially. Pick yourself up a fret rocker, fret levelling beam, and a couple fret end files. Then watch several videos from respected luthiers demonstrating how to do a fret dressing. I'm not suggesting you refret the guitar. Just clean up the frets and make certain they're level. It's amazing how much better you can make an inexpensive guitar feel by doing this (side-eye to my Firefly that required an afternoon of work but is now a joy to play). Then shape the guitar's tone to whatever you want with pedals. Great video, Kris. As always.

The best guitar is the one that makes you stop buying another guitar anymore .....

The most important thing about any guitar is: how does it feel to you. Is it comfortable? Is the weight ok? Neck profile? Assuming you have a bolt on neck everything else can be changed. You will play a guitar that's comfortable to you way more than one that is not. I have an Ibanez Gio that I changed pickups and tuners on that feels and plays great. I also have a 70's Les Paul that sounds awesome but is really uncomfortable to play so it sits in it's case under the bed. If you're playing in comfort and familiarity you will play more. And get better. My 2 cents.....

something i made good experience with: once i brought my old midrange ibanez (~1500usd modell) to a guitar-craftman. he worked it all over. i spend about 220usd. after that, it was just another guitar. of course you can't add the details and if you want upgrades, you pay for them additionally. but in this way, it's possible to get the body/neck adjustment close to perfection. i should have made this way earlier, and if it comes to smaller stuff i do everything myself. but when de frets/bridges are worn, it's just something i don't have the tools and the experience. after i experience what a good guitar maker can make out of my old guitar, i think many people can profit from just taking a little bit of money into their hand and hand it over to a professional. it may not pay off for really cheap modells, but for worn 1-2k modells, it's worth a try in my opinion. i felt in love again with my old lady after she got some love from a professional (don't do this with your actual lady !)

Thanx for this really substantial vid about the differences of low to mid prize to exclusive gear. I am a luthier myself building only customshop guitars and basses under my own brand USG fine instruments. Its all custommade, all individual from head to toe... My instruments start at about 2450 for an electric and 2750 for an acoustic. Why? Heres a closer look on my calculation: Normally i spend about 600-800€ on hardware/parts for a guitar. Sometimes its 1000+ depending mostly on the PUs or/and sometimes on the chosen tuners. (You can easily spend 350-450€ for highquality tuners for an acoustic model...) It needs (in my case) between 75 and 100 hrs to build a guitar (electric). 40% plus for an acoustic. When theres a lot of designwork or very special wood/material choices involved or maybe some weird finish demands it can easily go up to 200 - 250 hrs per instrument. So anyone can easyly calculate a minimum prizetag that has to be written for such an highly individual instrument. My customers get an one of a kind instrument, tailored to their wishes and needs in any detail. Thats great and lots of fun for both of us... but also gas its price that cannot compared to the massmarket. Are my instruments any better than the others? Well, USG instruments are build with passion and pride, and will be as close as possible to perfection in every detail... but mass production with a lot of cnc involved or at least production with skilled workers/luthiers delivers a consistant quality and very good overall instruments on a reasonable prize - btw way better than 50 - 60 years ago when quality control wasn‘t much in the focus. So to be honest: No. Its handmade, its individual, its all you ever wanted... but its still an instrument ment to be played and tailored to the customers needs. with pros and cons. Another player having different needs and different preferences may find it not suitable or not as good as my customer does who has also a personal connection to this specific instrument.

I just recently added a new Harley Benton Fusion II to my guitar collection, and it stands up to the best! My Les Paul Traditional with modded bridge valued just under 3k , Jackson Dinky valued at $1,200and my modded MiM Strat, are all fine tools for the job. The most impressive has been the Harley Benton with Seymour Duncan Trembucker! What a surprise for the quality of this instrument is second to none. So I believe if you have your guitars set up by a quality conscience luthier,the price just doesn't matter! Thanks for this video.... Rock on all my Brother & Sisters Play it Loud & Proud...!!!

The truth is: Crappy amp bad sound, good amp good sound doesn't matter what guitar you got with the exeption what type of pickup Single, hum etc.

There are some guitar maintenance skills that are very valuable for every player to learn. Like fret leveling, recrowning, edge bevelling/rounding. And some simple mechanical things like changing tuners. Or some simple electrical things like changing PU or custom wiring options. Buying a "cheap" guitar to practice on is a great option. I would hate to be learning on a $3000 instrument. One of my best guitars started life as a Squier Affinity. Lots of fret sprout initially, bad action, bad tuners. But with a little work, it felt like the best guitar I had ever played. So I upgraded the tuners, PU, took the high gloss shine off the back of the neck, added a series switching option. This happened over a couple of years, and the upgrades in total cost way more than the original guitar cost. But it ended up being an awesome guitar, and I learned a ton along the way. And keep in mind that, even if your $3000 guitar has wonderful set up and fret ends when you buy it, wood shrinks and necks bend, frets wear .... sooner or later that $3000 guitar is going to need the same sort of work I had to do on my new Squier. But now I have the tools and skills to approach that with confidence.

There was a video interview with Trevor Wilkinson very informative on this subject , I own a Vintage Brand guitar love it, 3 P 90'S on a Strat , it's the player that makes the guitar sing, but I spoken with many Guitar Techs who had expensive high end Fenders and Gibsons that needed extensive setup, one thing about Vintage brands they use highly respected Wilkinson Hardware,

I have found a lot of satisfaction overall in finding the midrange in most products. I feel like you generally get what you pay for, but there are diminishing returns the higher you start to go in price. I am also pretty sure that at some stage I won’t be attuned to the subtle improvements that a real expert or professional is. So for me the Fender Mexican made Player series hit the right spot: a marked improvement over entry level that doesn’t break the bank.

I like my cheap guitars and upgrading them a little by myself. Mainly because I have a disease, luvalotaguitaritis, and don't have enough money to buy expensive ones. Also my playing ability doesn't justify buying high end guitars. Even the big name brand guitars I have are lower end models.

When I worked in the wine trade, there was a tale that was thrown around quite a lot. It was basically over the eternal question: "What makes a bottle of wine good?" The answer was, quite simply, "One you enjoy drinking". The same philosophy applies here I reckon...."One you enjoy playing". My lack of skill, &/or talent will always be the limiting factor of any guitar long before the price tag comes into play. Currently in my stable of instruments, the one I play the most is one of the cheapest, my Harley Benton TE-62DB which I absolutely love. If you asked me why, I probably couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer....it just makes me want to play, it feels right in my hands, resting on my leg, or hanging round my neck and it's my go to guitar whenever I'm trying to learn a new technique, a new riff or a new song - even when I've got "better" guitars, or guitars supposedly more suited to certain styles of music, or more expensive ones.....I invariably gravitate towards the little HB most of the time. Go figure. I know I've played better guitars, heck I own several that should be better and probably are...we just like what we like and most of it is entirely subjective. Bear in mind, I'm just a hobbyist and play only at home for my own enjoyment - I don't perform or play in a band, I wouldn't even refer to myself as a guitarist, which, in my head, seems way too bold a claim to make. My guitars therefore have a pretty easy life and I wouldn't know how some of the budget ones would hold up as tools in the hands of a working musician and don't really care - of the cheaper instruments I have bought and kept, the fact that I kept them is evidence enough of their quality and worth - to me at least. They don't have much resale value, obviously, compared to my handful of Fender or Gibson models, but any cheap guitars I have bought were purchased to play and try out - I've kept the best of them and offloaded quite a few more over time. Overall, I'd say I haven't lost a lot of money on them because I didn't spend a lot on them to begin with.

I LOVED this video Kris. Kudos dude, people need to hear this. I really wish more people would watch this. Sadly if I shared this to a few Facebook guitar groups I visit, it would get flooded by haters and trolls and snobs. That's too bad. I've played for 25+ years, and if it wasn't for Harley Benton Guitars, I wouldn't own most of the guitars I do, and I would NEVER be able to afford them if it wasn't for Harley Benton/Thomann. I do wish their shipping costs would go back down. $70 for a guitar or two kinda kills the appeal it once had, plus their prices keep going up and fewer models under $150-200 are being released, most new models are $300+. I guess I'm glad I got them while I could before they shot up in price. Pandemic didn't help either. I have however turned a good handful of people on to Harley Benton's, and they've actually purchased some, and of course they're happy. Seriously, I cannot easily put into works how much the Harley Benton brand and their Pricing of their Guitars has done for me. But yeah dude, well said, very well said. ALL of it. Thank YOU.

I've never had a name brand guitar or bass. I have a squier affinity tele, peavey 5 string bass and a g&l bass. They all play great if you set them up right

The best vintage guitars, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch etc... were products of being mass produced at as low as cost as possible, with very little consistency. Not every classic Gibson, or Fender is all that great. But the ones we remember and try to recreate were the "one in a million" guitars that can _only_ be produced under these less than ideal circumstances. Once CNC really took off, the most you could hope for was just mediocre. That extra deep carve, or that special shaped neck, because some worker was feeling sick, or still drunk, was gone. It's the same way with the pickups. With custom built guitars you still get that inconsistency of a hand shaped neck, which allows you to find your own "one in a million" treasure, much more easily. That being said, as long as there is a good QC at the end of the production line, you will be ok. And price and brand are NO indication of a good QC. I've seen some absolute garbage escape the Gibson, Fender, and Rickenbacker factories in disturbing numbers, given the price and reputation. And let's be really honest with ourselves for a moment... ...how much should something like a Telecaster really cost???

I will agree,but to a point. I have a 2009 Washburn WI64 that I purchased new for $399. Solid mahogany body and solid piece 1 piece mahogany neck. The stopbar and tom bridge were hideous,had saddle rattle and did not sustain well at all. I changed those to Tone Pros aluminum locking,changed the existing Grovers to Grover locking Rotogrips,and installed Stew-Mac alnico v PAF pickups,put in high grade vol and tone pots. Had my lutheir to lower the frets. It has low buzz free action,stays in tune and sounds incredible. Even though I have more in the guitar than the purchase price,I cherish it,I love it and will not sell it. My luthier offered to buy it,and have had other offers--$850 and $900. I will put that one up against anything else. It has a super slim neck;it just feels like a part of me.

My son and I usually buy used and we always go with the feel of the guitar first, Electronics even Hardware is not too big of a deal but if it feels good in the hand we can always upgrade components and the Resonance of the guitar is important as well 👍

The best guitar is the one that feels better in your hands. If having an expensive guitar motivates you to play more and to put your soul into the music, so go for it. If you don't care about brands and only about feel, just buy the guitar that makes you want playing everyday. I have a friend who is a professional guitar player and has lots of expensive guitars. But this year he bough an Affinity Telecaster and he loves it.

I am a guitar player myself. I don't like to hate on guitars at all. I just don't like paying more then I should on a good instrument.I only have 2 guitars and they both get lots of play. I have my DG-9 Fender acoustic guitar a friend and his family got me for Christmas in 2000. I also have my 1968 Squier Thin Line Telecaster I bought for $350.00 in 2009. I'm happy with what I got.Don't need no more. But here in the USA, we are facing a Covid crisis. So it makes no sense to me to buy more guitars when there isn't many places to play.So be thankful with what I got.

I wish I could afford an expensive guitar but for the moment I’m stuck at Harley benton prices. It’s ok for me though and I don’t hate on anyone.

The best guitar is the one that motivates you to keep playing and inspires your own guitar playing. Thanks for your thoughts and for the video!

I make over $100,000 grand a year and just bought a Epiphone Riviaria. I was looking for a guitar that had p90's and that one has them. I love it! My brother asked why I bought it since I could afford anything I wanted and I said because it sounds good and looks good.

I have a 2012 Agile AL-3010SE it is my #1 LP and I bought it used for 350$US (Pre-Pandemic) which includes a Douglas premium HSC. It is 100% stock with an archtop maple-capped mahogany body with a mahogany set-neck with 13.7" radius ebony fretboard, abalone traps inlays, and 22 jumbo frets. The body, neck and headstock has cream binding while the body and neck are finished in blue burst over the flame maple top. Over the course of a decade in the Hawaiian sun, the transparent blue has faded to a teal green hue. The stock chrome A5 7.75/7.25κΩ humbuckers actually sounded better than a set of REAL nickel A2 8.2/7.3κΩ Pearly Gates. I know because I tried installing a set and ended up putting the lower output stockers back in. This guitar MSRPed for 325$US plus 100$US for the Douglas EGC-400LP hardshell case. Plus whatever the shipping would've been back then. Let's call it even 600$US shipped. At that price, it's a steal compared to how much a similarly appointed Gibson LP would've gone for. I think even an Epiphone wouldn't be able to compete price-wise even if it had a similar build available, which I think Epiphone don't have. Quality wise, I'm perfectly satisfied with it and have had people who had "Authentic" Gibsons (yes, I STILL remember that bullshit) say it compares favourably to them. One even offered to buy mine. Told him, Hell No! On the Strat side, I have a 1980s Stage CS-327 Strat Copy. Altho it has a plywood body, the bolt-on neck is a maple/maple that has some tiger striping visible in the glossy neck and fretboard. The guitar's arctic white and clear gloss has aged to a sandy cream and amber gloss, respectively. The white single ply pickguard has aged to a parchment tint. The white pickup covers has aged to a nice rich almost-golden cream, a sandy cream and a medium parchment colour on tge neck, middle and bridge, respectively. The knobs & switch tip also has similarly aged from white to a range of medium to light parchment colors. Unfortunately the trem bar has a tip that has aged to a golden cream but I've removed it because it has become brittle and started cracking with pieces breaking off. I still have the damaged tip in storage. The pups sounds good altho I had to sub out the obviously replaced ceramic bridge pup for a late-model Affinity HSS's neck pickup that looks very similar to the existing neck & middle 5.0κΩ pups but at 7.0κΩ. I may swap the pickups thenselves for a set of alnicos, but I will reuse the vintage covers. This guitar is my #1 traditional styled Strat (basically a Strat with pickguard mounted electronics). I absolutely LOVE how it Feels! It balances well, has a nice hefty weight (I prefer heavier guitars), the neck feels GREAT in the fretting hand and the body has good resonance when strummed. I have NO Idea how much this guitar MSRPed in the '80s, but I paid only 60$US for it. I think I only spent about another 100$ in this guitar in the form of another '80s Strat Copy to use as parts source to replace the missing rear cover, a damaged pup cover and missing switch tip. I also bought a brass plated Straplock which has tarnished to roughly match the sandy color of the guitar body! I'm figuring on spending at least another 50$US on a set of alnico pups and I reckon I oughter be finished with this guitar …aside the need for getting a proper hard shell case for this guitar!

Yes that's true. Expensive guitars are mostly expesive for a reason, but less famous makers will put the same effort into their guitars as a famous custom shop guitar because they have a reputation to build, while some famous brands may think they got the fame and that much effort is not needed anymore. So, the price to value relation is better in many cases with the less famous brands. Another thing is the prestige. If somebody asks you what guitar you play and you name a brand that nobody knows they might just roling their eyes if at all, while if you say you own a "what do i know guitar" then people will think ahhh ok nice. I would like to have one of those too.

I read the difference between an American Made Fender and a Mexican made Fender is about 90 miles lol. I got a Fender Telecaster made in Mexico and I think it is a fabulous guitar for 800 bucks or so. I cannot find a thing wrong with it. Stays in tune, feels great, plays great and sounds great. I also have an old cheap Peavey Matador I think that I blocked the tremelo on, because it stunk, but it is a good guitar I bought for 50 bucks off of someone. Weighs a ton though lol. And if it gets lost damaged or stolen, it is no big deal. I left a Gibson Les Paul at a friend's house once and he hocked for some blow. Some friend he was lol. My bad for leaving it out of my control.

Another option is to build your own custom using Warmouth parts. You get to pick the pickups you want and can build a really sweet guitar for not much money. I built a "T" style guitar with Warmouth body and neck. All other parts are Fender or Stewmac. I am impressed with the end product!

Can't beat the Tele, I have $4000, Gibson $3000 Gretsch guitars, and right now my main guitars are modified Squier Strat, Tele, [ those necks to me are perfect], Harley Benton Fusion II, CST 24, gigging, practicing everyday, case in point EVH Frankenstein, it come down to ability. Good guitar+ good effects+ good amp + ability to play = Hell Yeah Baby! even on a budget. Thanks Kris, you rock bro!

For me, playing guitar is a spiritual experience. We are all literally vibrations; that's why music moves us so deeply, & why resonance is one of the most important things in a guitar. You get resonance from high quality lumber, hardware, & craftsmanship. So when I decide to buy a guitar I use metrics that I feel are more conducive to a spiritual experience to make my decision. Is this purchase benefitting my community? Did the person who made this guitar, profit from their work, equal to the amount of energy they put into it? Is the wood this guitar is born from, harvested sustainably? When I ask those questions, factoring in superior resonance, playability & tone that a professional instrument lends it's owner; the only guitars that fit the bill, are higher-dollar guitars. But think about it... what's $1000-1800 anyway? Even if you could only save $50 a week, which damn near every gringo can; you'll have an amazing instrument that can be an heirloom if you like your kids, in only 2 1/2 months! Don't waste years of your life playing on a plank, when only a little discipline & patience (which you already have if you've learned to play), will land you a treasure for life.

My most expensive guitar is over $4k and cheapest around $550. The expensive one... PRS core 24 is built to perfection and has a flame top that is stunning. My cheapest guitar is a Squire classic vibe 50s telecaster. I may have gotten lucky because my CV is perfect also.... but I'm very picky to make sure everything is in order when I buy any guitar. I think they both sound incredible. I can't say one sounds better than the other just different. I can obviously tell that for asterisks the PRS is in a league above almost any guitar... but the CV is no slouch...it sounds, feels and plays stellar. It may not have a fancy top or nitro finish...or locking tuners... but it's still a great guitar. I have eight other guitars that are fairly expensive too. I do find that overall the more expensive guitar the better quality... but things are changing where I see some mid priced guitars that are quite exceptional. But at the end of the day if you don't care about asterisks you can certainly find a few exceptional sounding and playing guitars for very cheap these days... with quality parts, pickups, etc. The CV is one of them, PRS SE silver sky is another... sterling cutlass, PRS SE 245 and Zach Wilde... and Chris Robertson are some others that if you are lucky and find the right one can be a quality instrument.

Got two Harley Bentons. Strat-Style and Tele-Style. Out of the box they looked awesone. I modded them, that's my hobby. New strings, new locking tuners etc. Polished and oiled the fretboard, adjusted them and so on. Now they are also playable amazing. The feeling in our fingers are doing another important job! So lets play with cheap, mid price range or expensive guitars! However, feel food by playing music and the audience will give applause😊👍Thanx for this vid! Kurt

Fantastic overview of the fundamental differences between entry level, mid-tier, and top level custom shop and boutique built guitars (along with heavily upgraded entry- and mid-level instruments). The one spoiler I'll add is what this video lacks: hate/shade for any of the above. Highly recommended!

Great take on a difficult topic! Bottom line is, when you are happy with your guitar(s) and it inspires you to play...it's the right one! :)

Really enjoyed the intro

Words of the wise, this is very true. I used to play >1000 USD guitars, then financial decision hit me and I sold them and switch to 200-300 USD custom guitars, some are custom made (so it was the cost for building). Fret works and finish is what really spoke to me, with good fret levelling, I can manage to have a near-perfect setup (low as possible yet maintain note ringing well). I refret and redo the fret dressing to a guitar tech, and now my T style and S style guitar plays amazing. This would lead you to comfort and how often you would want to touch the guitar. Wood is also important in term of resonance and helping pickup get a decent amount of vibration, but at 200-300 USD I trust those manufacturers you already get a useful although not fancy guitar wood. No neck warp, no weird wood that don't sing and ring well. This ensure you get a decent amount of resonance even unplugged, and it can help with feeling satisfied about your guitar is ringing enough bells and whistles. Aside from build and craftmanship, is below: Electronic wise, there are many decent pickups out there, study and select the right numbers of caps, resistors, pots, etc for your needs (have a chat with someone in a forum or friends nearby, peek at their expensive guitars), and you're good to have the sound you might needed. No recipe for this, although there are some 'standard' or 'generic' schematics which you could use as starting guidelines. Then finally, have yourself a good, original set of strings, not using cheap or fake ones, to ensure your voicing comes out nicely. Guitar strings is like vocal chords of a vocalist. You'll need it in decency to make sure what you heard is what you can play and want to play. No dead strings, no weak sounding string, with a set of original string. PS: you could start locally with that 200-300 USD price range, bought a midrange one at 400-600 USD, or have a well known builder to have the body/neck ready for you (and it could get you to the 900-1000 USD range).

One of my favourite live bands uses only Squier and Epiphone guitars. They sound great! I did see them use a Roland Jazz-Chorus and a Fender Showman, so they don't seem to cheap out on amps.

I've got a mid price tele and two second hand guitars. What I love to do is upgrade my two cheap ones. It's another way to have a good sound.

This biggest tip for me is to try the guitar first. As you said, there are going to be hits and misses when it comes to that price point. That said there's plenty of reason to buy a cheap guitar even for advanced players. If you get a good base you can upgrade the guitar to your liking and make it play however you want. I think the 300 to 400 dollar range is the sweet spot. Below that there are a couple of models like the Kramer baretta and Jackson js22 that are usually good upgrade platforms. Great vid.

And the music you make will be done on the neck / fretboard . The most important part of a guitar is the part you actually play on . The rest holds everything together . Pick ups are the voice . I'm amazed at the quality necks and fretboards being made today , in mass production overseas shops ! Those people love their jobs and do the best work they can everyday taking pride . With strict quality control being important to them . I own a couple Fender Squires made in Indonesia that traveled all the way here in just a cardboard box , arriving in absolute perfect condition , perfectly set-up , play like butter , no sharp frets , ultra smooth neck , no flaws anywhere , etc .... amazing . I also own more expensive American made ones . So I have a baseline for comparison . Dudes , pots caps switches and knobs are VERY cheap replacements , and only just because you think you need to change them when you really dont . 30 bucks of little parts should not raise the price by 1 or 2 K on a exact SAME guitar build . A lemon is a lemon no matter where and or who built it . But a good guitar is what it is . It takes an experienced player less than 30 seconds with playing a guitar to know how good or bad a guitar is . Just me and my 30+ years opinion with playing guitars . Interesting well done video . Tks !

That was one of the *best* unbiased guitar videos I've ever seen and I couldn't agree more. Rock on brother. 👍🏻

Expensive guitars are -- in theory -- "good" right out of the box, whereas cheap ones may need to be worked on and upgraded in parts/electronics. However, there's something to be said about "personality" of the instrument which, in my experience, is rarely directly proportional to market price.

Point of diminishing returns can happen pretty quickly in the guitar world depending on what youre getting. Mid range guitars are often the most cost effective but also have the worst resale. Guitars above a grand usually hold value pretty well.

I bought a Blade Tele in 1992 vor 2200DM/1100 Euro, which was very expensive at this time. I am still playing it as my main guitar, so I spent around 39 Euro per year. My Blade turned out to be cheap guitar.

I have an Eastman E486B which has top quality components and is hand built by luthiers - here’s the kicker the workshop is in Beijing!! I paid just over £1300 for a ES335 type guitar which is the same quality as a Gibson custom shop. I’ve played their Les Paul 59 re-creation which again has top quality components and is hand built by luthiers. In terms of quality it’s well up there with the Gibson 59 re-issue BUT the Eastman comes in at £1600 or £1900 if you want the aged version. Both are superb instruments, none are budget guitars they are mid range in price but top class in quality. You can get quality for reasonable money but you have to be prepared to have a different name on the headstock. If you can accept that you can, as I did, save several hundred pounds. I looked at the base level Gibson ES335 with P90s which I wanted, at a cost of £3500 - I saved over £1000!!! The best guitar? the one you pick up and can’t put down!

Not to fanboy on PRS, but the video of them unloading a huge truck full of wood, then picking through the whole thing, selecting maybe 10-20% of the wood and reloading it back up and send the rest down the road. That has to cost a crazy amount of money. I’m sure to train a guy to do that, he tends to be well paid, which adds a ridiculous amount to the price. Just the initial QC is so over the top and that costs crazy amounts of money to the final product. Great video as always brother. Much love from Tulsa.

It's all about the pickups and amp. Get yourself a guitar you're comfortable with and that's what counts. If anything, a more expensive guitar will have a better neck and have the bottom horn routed out to get easier access to the upper frets. But you can get a cheap guitar, upgrade all the electronics and neck, if you want, if possible, take a dremel and route out the bottom horn for your hand to get better access to those upper frets and there you go.

My theory about guitars---they all make music. And we are better off for that. Well there's a rose in a fisted glove And the eagle flies with the dove And if you can't be with the one you love honey Love the one you're with Stephen Stills Right on.

Hmm, and that Harley Fusion 2 HH are still in the house - Must be good as you said one year back, then. 😎

The guitar that's worth buying is the one you as a player bond with the most. Then that's when the price tags or journeys just sort of seem to matter less (to an extent) because you know you have a keeper.

in the early 2000's when we started seeing higher quality cheap guitars I had a whole stable of fiddle I bought through the 80's and 90's.. Always afraid to damage them at gigs etc.. So I actually started with my "cheap" guitar collection looking for expendable stage gear.. I drop or damage a $2500 LP I'm gonna cry.. I drop or damage a $350 harleybenton , bad cat, or firefly lp , Im gonna be bummed , but it wont take a chunk out of my retirement fund to replace it...

Both guitars sounded exactly the same to me. It's the amp that'll change your tone. I learned that when i plugged my crappy Yamaha when I first started into my friends rack mount and it sounded bad ass. Then i realized you need a decent guitar 700-1000 and a good amp. It's better to have even a $400 guitar and have a good tube amp. A good guitar player will make anything sound like them.

It's the old 80:20 rule which loosely applies to most human activities. You can get 80% of your ideal result with 20% of the effort, resources, time etc (eg. mass production); it then takes the remaining 80% effort, resources, time etc, to get the final 20% of your ideal result (eg. custom shop/high end). The 80:20 rule plus factor in much more expensive bits and labour and we're getting there.

I am not a guitar player but i believe if you are planning to buy one, try to get access to as many as possible and play them to find the ONE that you like and fits your style of playing.

I don't share your conclusions. Luthiers and "HQ factory production" has no relation at all to me. I would happilly pay a luthier a high premium for an artesanal work, but that doesn't make reasonable the prices they're charging for the factory in line produced top tier guitars. That only comes from a factorization of the pricing (make diferent tiers so every one pay the max they're willing to pay). High quality control doesn't justify doubling the prices. I must say, none the less, that for most of the people the market is much better than 30 years ago, when you could have the top guitars for half what they cost today, but you have to expend the equivalent to 600 € for a barely playable guitar. Anyway, its always nice to hear the thoughts of the people with deep knowledge of the industry. Great video (loved your custom made guitar sound)!

I bought my first gutar in 1980 for £100. It was a Kay Tulip, and by every measure today, it was a total piece of garbage! I am AMAZED at the quality you can get for less than that these days (taking inflation into account) A Harley Benton strat copy is ten times the guitar my old Kay was! Trust me, this really is a golden era for guitars and guitar players! (oh, and my next guitar is likely to be a Schecter Nick Johnston signiture - I'm a strat man all the way but sadly fender don't make what I want in that price bracket - no slam on fender, it just is what it is)

I have LOTS of guitars, some expensive and some not - I bought them based on my interest in the instrument, not the cost. My two main gigging guitars are my Fender American Original 50s Telecaster (about £1500.00) and my Harley Benton TE52 (£120.00). Both are great!

Gibson is obvious exception to this rule..They made expensive guitars with premium materials but QC sucks..I can tell you as owner of 2 Gibson Les Pauls..And I tried dozen of Standards, Customs, Classic in shops. Each and every have some anomaly..Ridge on neck or body binding, poorly scraped neck binding and finished nibs etc...I also found that studio faded models without all that premium stuff(binding,hi gloss etc).. are built more consistent and is better chance to find 'perfect' example...

If you are buying for quality, then around the $2000 range is the limit. Guitars don't just keep getting better the more expensive they're. Gibson and Fender keep talking about how their guitars are made exactly the same as 1969, while South Korean companies keeps advancing their manufacturing.

Yes, you can definitely get away with buying a mid grade guitar and play a gig and nobody will know because you might have very good skills. My deal is that l have been playing for four decade's. Spent countless hours practicing. That's why I like higher end guitar. I don't have money to burn, it just gets to a point where you have so much of your own time invested you want to have a very good nice quality guitar because you deserve to. Yes you can get away with a cheaper model. There's nothing at all wrong with that, but in my very humble opinion if you put years and years literally decades of learning and playing a high end guitar seems to inspire you to the next level. And l believe that's what everbody that plays want's , the next level. Just my stupid opinion. Rock on and cheers.

I had a wal custom bass , bought it in 1991 for £1200 worth crazy money now , sounded nice - ish , horrible uncomfortable neck , super heavy, neck reacted to temperature changes all the time, nightmare bass - looked nice though

Would never argue against the feel and looks of a custom made guitar or an expensive brand. But (If I understood correctly) the argument against cheap guitars produced by assembly line production. I would argue that that what's make well defined quality every time. Naturally if you pay more the potentiometers might be better and so on. But The reason we have fantastic quality and price is mass production (For the most of us)

As a machinist I must say that hand built means nothing to me, I think components will have most impact on quality. Manauell work take alot of time, while machines are fast and extremely accurate. But of course machining needs to be combined with luthier skills. I sent my premium Jem for PLEKING and the results were great, but the price were higher compared to a ordinary freth dressing. Maybe its possible to make it as good by hand, but is it possible to have 0.01 mm precision by hand?

Yep, bought one of those cheapo Harley Benton DC Fat guitars. Now my Les Paul has been hanging on the wall so long it is going on Reverb. As Gabriel says, you gotta play it. Find a guitar with a straight neck, plenty of room to adjust the truss rod. Set it up so it is EASY to play... go forth and slay dragons! If you get rich, pick up a Fender or Gibson to keep your snot nosed friends happy.

I got so fed up trying to find “the one” that I built my own super strat with Les Paul sound and 12” radius neck.

The quality gap is closing though. What you can buy now for 300 to 500 is ridiculously good and then there are the premium brands that aren't always that great. I just went to the music store thinking I was going to grab a gibson lpj for a beater, experimentation guitar so I picked one up and there was a gap down a long portion of the fret board. The next one buzzed like crazy. I've got a gibson es 137 that sounds awesome but it's not perfect either, one of the sides by the single cut was cut on an angle and there is a crooked gap between the wood and the binding. I also have a Corona California strat that had so much clearcoat on the frets that i had to tape off the maple fretboard and slice the clear down the fret with an olfa blade and polish them all afterwards, so bad that some of the fret crown was clearcoat and removing it was almost a bad idea. I didnt end up buying a Gibson lpj the other day but a friend sold me a cheap epi SG for 80 bucks. It was almost new and everything was perfect on it(only thing I didnt like was the bolt on neck). Not a painted guitar, exposed grain, stain grade so less room for error. Going to swap out all the electronics when work slows down, cut a bone nut for some heavier strings and cut a reverse batwing pickguard for it out of some veneer maybe copper or something.

Really really good explanation and big picture of the guitar industry!!! Nowadays a lot of cheap guitars are good, I played a bunch of cheap/mid-range 90' that were not so good(to be kind) !!!! Quality overall is better year after year for the cheaper ones, it's harder for the big names to keep up. There is more competition than ever and for occasional players, student and consumers in general it's an awesome opportunity. Keep up your good work!

It's interesting if you look from a developing country's perspectives. Here a Gibson costs almost a full year income. So we're used to deal with Budget Instruments. And there are good ones in the R$1500 - R$2500. (Still more than the minimum wage here)... And we got some good stuff. My main guitar is on repair, so I'm playing all my gigs with a budget Tagima strat. Such a good strat.. I'm considering buying their Jazzmaster TW61 model... Such a fine guitar...

the great thing nowadays, is the fact I can afford a small collection of guitars due to the incredible leap in quality of the cheaper guitar from Asia. that's where the affordable stuff excels (Harley Benton being best example). it give people with not a lot of disposable income a lot of variety and good production quality.. as for the higher end stuff, I will never hate on it for the simple reason I would love to own a custom shop Les Paul and hopefully one day I will be able to afford it.. But if not then that's ok as I have a few guitars that I love playing!!

I once dreamed about ultra-expensive strat. But after playing a while on cheap guitars and checking out expensive ones in shops I decided to buy the best Squier Classic Vibe model and modify it as I want to. So I bought it, sanded the neck for this satin feel, changed electrics and pickups and (for me) it feels now as good as any guitar out there which is 4 x the price but I appreciate it more.

Thanks Kris for this great video! I have some more expensive and more mid-range. You hit the mark exactly correct, we can modify some parts on the least expensive to make it shine in glory. My strange story is that I love my Yamaha Pacifica's just as much as my Gibson's and Fender's. I do not know why, but I do! ! Did I tell you how much I enjoyed this video? LOL

Kris, have you looked at the 10S guitars? They are a very small custom guitar builder in Beijing, China. They are using real materials (real mother of pearl, real ebony wood fretboards, real maple tops, and real mahogany bodies and necks) and are [supposedly] hand-built by guitar luthiers. I first heard about them a few weeks ago, but they've been in business since around 2017. I have Gibsons, Epiphone's, Fenders, Ibanez, Jackson, etc... But I was intrigued by the reviews I saw online, and how people were pulling them apart to check build quality and were showing long neck tenons, real materials, pretty high-quality craftsmanship and fit and finish...But at a VERY attractive price point. I checked them out, and ended up pulling the trigger on one a few days ago, so I haven't gotten it yet. But I figured it was worth the investment if it has good bones... I can always upgrade the tuners and hardware and toss in a Seymour Duncan and some switchcraft jacks and CTS pots if it's not up to par. I got this one. reverb.com/item/26861216-10s-gf-goldtop-relic-single-humbucker-electric-guitar-vintage-antique Like you said, quality is not always indicative of price, especially when cheaper labor countries are brought into play, like China, Indonesia, Korea, etc... Since you are also a Les Paul guy with Gibsons and Epiphones, I would love to see a review on one, and how you feel it compares to both. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. 🤘🏻

Harley benton, esp, ltd, fender, squire, prs, gibson are all made on cnc machines in a factory on a assembly line with one person stacking up bodys another stacking necks, one glueing or screwing, one putting in frets one dressing, one watching a machine cut nuts. All your buying for that money really is a brand name. I build guitars, the highest end pots are $10, pickups run more but you can get really good sounding ones for under a $100, $ 200 for some duncans, american top end fenders wood cost maybe $50 a guitar probably more like $5 cuz they buy in bulk. Ash, alder, maple are cheap and even on their nice tops its a veneer

I have an Epiphone Sheraton, and man... Let me tell you. It's my favourite guitar. It does everything perfectly from Django Reinhardt to Queens of the Stone Age and between.

Sometimes a guy can save a few bucks by finding out who the manufacturer of an instrument is. Many of the Harley Benton models especially the Les Pauli-sh ones are built by Inyen Vina ( IYV) in Vietnam. IYV builds some models for ESP / Ltd, Dillion and Mitchell also and often it is cheaper to buy the same/similar model with an IYV logo. Folks sometimes forget how much it costs to advertise/ promote a guitar line and those expenses are included in that final retail price.

Damn, I can spend all day listening to that Les Paul and that Tele. They sound amazing and your playing is brilliant, congrats!

Research before you buy a cheapo guitar. Quality will very drastically. Something like the Kramer focus VT-211s is really well built. Then be prepared to do a lot of learning and a lot of work and yes, you can make a cheap electric sound just as good as a thousand guitar at a fraction of the price, with the help of some used parts on reverb. Only downside is, that's your guitar forever no matter what you do the price will not raise all that much regardless of what electronics you put into it. But I do this as a hobby and yes you can do it, and it's so much more fun customizing your very own guitar rather then just going into the store and grabbing one.

We are living in the "golden age" of affordable guitars with manufacturing standards at an all-time high, so it should not be too difficult to find a good one, especially at the mid-price range.

One thing one should be aware of when comparing guitars is bias in familiarity. If you already own the guitar you are very familiar to it because of the time put in. For example I own a Schecter S1 Elite which I bought because it FELT good and SOUNDED good to my ear. Years ago I got to play a Joan Jett (love me some Joan) signature Gibson. Now, loved the look and the sound was pretty good, but because it didn't have my brand or guage of strings, or my set up (I'm a rhythm guy, look up rhythm guitar setups) it just didn't have that edge or familiar feel. Now since it was twice as much as what I bought for my Schecter and my Schecter looked, felt and sounded better, well I passed on the Gibson. I ended up coming home and appreciating my Schecter even more. I will point out that both are essentially stock. Also I played the Gibson on an amp that was not mine. Now, if I had both side by side through one of my amps, I think it would be the same outcome but I think I might appreciate the Gibson more. Now two big places to spend time and money are: 1. A really good amp. 2. A professional set-up. These two will bring out the best in the gear you have and the guitars you want. Is my Partscaster Tele in my pic as good as a Custom Shop Fender? No. Will it give the Custom Shop a run for it's money? Hell yeah! Will it complement a Custom or high end guitar? Oh yeah it will! What do I have in that guitar financially? More or less around $800ish but spread out over more than a decade. The Ibanez Artcore in my pic is around $550ish and I played it up against a Gretsch White Falcon (same amp and cable). Did I hear a $2800 difference? Nope. But my familiarity with the Ibanez and the fact that I set it up as something that I wanted to weigh greatly in my choice. Now lets say you like a particular song...was that song recorded on a $2500 guitar or a $100 guitar? Honestly you don't know. Cheap gear makes its way to the studio all the time. I personally prefer mid level guitars because I can customize them for an affordable price and I have no fear of digging in and playing to best of my ability. Now compare that to a new Gretsch 6120 through a vintage Fender amp and you will see that nerves of dinging up the guitar or something happening to the amp will definitely eat up mental bandwidth and keep you (or in this case, me) from playing my best. Buy gear based on happiness. Does a used $275 Epiphone Les Paul make you happier than a $1300 Fender Stratocaster? Is your tone obtained by sleeper gear? Will owning a 1976 Les Paul Custom bring you to the door step of perfection? Go for that then. Buy what you find is sexy and what helps you to play your best...that's the best gear for you regardless of price or brand.😎👍✨ I will tell you one last thing. I typically do not hear or feel a huge difference when I A/B my Epiphone AJ guitar to any Gibson J45 I have played. I have a bone nut and saddle, an LR Baggs I-Beam pickup with Gibson rosewood bridge pins. I have $375ish in that guitar and it absolutely complements the Gibson in sound and tone. I will say that I do FEEL a difference of my 25.5 inch scale to the 24.75 scale. That's pretty much it. I still prefer my Epiphone because I get more out of myself as a player vs the Gibson.

When it comes to Fender or Gibson, and a few other brands the more a guitar is like the classic original model the more money they charge you for it REGARDLESS of what it costs them to make it. It is entirely possible that an expensive reissue guitar costs the company less money to make than a more standard current model. I call this nostalgia tax. If it's important to you, you pay for it, if it isn't you won't. Often times guitars built "exactly like they built em' in 1959" end up ignoring improvements in materials and design that have been made in the many years since. I guess every guitar person has to decide, "Am I a player or a collector".

Really great to see someone trying to give some education to the market.. Really important indeed..

Bottom line: On AVG, Chinese make 1/4th of the AVG American. Bentley would cost $800-1k+ if it were built in Corona or Kalamazoo.

I don’t trust Gibson at all to deliver a guitar worth anything near the price. Judging just from all the demos Greg Koch did, CS Fenders used to be a crapshoot regarding how they end up sounding, but I think they have a better handle on it now. Still, wood can do unexpected things regarding damping. Notice the bass bloom of the EX guitar. From several other demo comparisons and my own experience, I’m convinced that’s from the extra “springy” body mass behind the bridge. I made a ~⅓ lb decorative Copper piece for a custom build with a lightweight Limba “Jagcaster” body. I tried placing it at different spots behind the bridge and mounted it to the spot that gave the guitar just a tad fuller bass bloom and sustain. It’s subtle, but just “feels” better. I also chisel out the center of the neck pocket on bolt-ons to increase coupling force/rigidity and reduce surface area damping. It makes an audible difference electrically. Again, better bass and sustain with a less nasal character from less upper-mid damping.

That said about wood, I bought the HB cabronita equivalent and totally lucked out with an awesome beautiful light one that blew the floor model away. Had a HB tele, the cheapest one for 79€ that had a flamed maple fingerboard and a body that was so well matched it looked like one piece from front and back, but of course that one had to be a boat anchor. I would have never sold it otherwise.

We live in age of superb guitars whether cheap or expensive. My first electric was a Colombo Les Paul copy which was absolute crap! Haha!

Great commentary on the subject, Kris. After owning guitars all across the spectrum, I too have settled on a 50s tele reissue. Looks almost exactly like yours lol. It’s not custom shop, but you can tell it had a very high standard of production. Made in Corona late 90s. $1250 new, $850 used in 2003. It plays and sounds best out of my two LP Studios, Am Strat, 70s SG p90s, 80s LP jr. I bought a used LPJ to get an “affordable “ goldtop. and someone had put an epiphone LP set of pickups n electronics in it. 🙄. But obviously it worked for them. I changed it back to LP studio specs. Sounds good and plays pretty well, but it’s absolutely clear it was a much lower production standard than a LP standard or even a normal LP studio model. I’ve tweaked and touched it up and got it to my liking, but it will never quite be as good as the real thing. But that’s ok, I didn’t want to shell out the $, and it basically does what I want while looking badass. 😂 Rock on....

guitar setup and pickups are more important than expensive custom guitars and player skills. That said, if one has the cash and wants a nicer guitar, no shame in buying one if one can avoid debt.

That "one" guitar will come at different prices. It might be from the brand's custom shop, a vintage one that has seen the road, a cheap one that someone gave to you or something that you made as a project. Personally, I love the big brands such as fender and gibson but I find myself enjoying my Jay Turser strat and my Tele project.

From Leo: Learn to set up your own guitar, level the fret boards and dress and polish the frets. If you can make the neck feel great, you are 1/2 way there. You have to pay a LOT for that attention to detail on a higher shelf guitar. Don't automatically throw away the Potentiometers , switches and pickups. Work with them a little while before you spend the extra money. They may be better than you think. If they fail, of course replace them with better grade parts

In electric guitars I dont really think more expensive guitars sound 10x better than a cheap one...But they can feel 10x better and just easier to play on....In acoustic guitars I do find more expensive ones to actually sound better

The biggest difference in my mind sits in the neck. A premium Pro Stage guitar for 2000 bucks and up and you will get a neck that is so much more in every point, the truss is thicker and made dead accurat while on those budgets it is just a flimsy rim made of cheap metal and the woodwork is a total mess, yeahh no one will look in there! Well I have and it is no wonder why cheap guitar are hard to set, some of them will never come to an rest, be reliable. Still I prefer $200 guitars either that or $2000, in between there are murky waters.

LTD are the best guitars for the price. The USA versions are like $5000 and a 1000 deluxe series for $700 used and like $1200 new. Even though they just jacked the price up on a lot of things. I bought my stuff at a good time.

Best buy from a shop so you can try it out. Very hard thing to do for beginners though. Very intimidating. Easy to feel you are being railroaded into buying something.

To me it comes down to the following: Low prices guitars and Basses are incredibly well crafted nowadays. You get so many sound and playability for i.e. 300 euros. Stunning! When it comes to quality materials and hardware the medium priced guitars are just killer. You pay I.e. 1,000 euros and get an absolutely professional instrument in every possible way. then there are the custom shop guitars for 3,000 euros or more. As you said the main benefit is not pure quality, sound, or hardware. The main Benefit relates to the production process and simple perfection. You buy a modern day full-blown prs or other custom shop and you get a just plain perfect instrument. With stunning woods, finishes, materials, and build by an actual luthier in a first world country. To me and many other this has its value. And then there is all the mojo stuff. Relic, vintage, rates, and so on. From here on the prices increase massively and you pay 5k, 7k or even above 10k. Mainly for stuff has primarily emotional or asthetic value to it. This kind of instrument also serves its purpose. But this ist just for a specific niche of customers. Not for the masses anymore.

I bought a chapman ml2 and it is amazing. Just what I needed. Also got a fender tele modern player made in china and it is so much fun to play. American made is over rated and beyond over priced. I think the 500 range is perfect for a guitar that shouldn't need any modifications. Should just sound and feel great.

Very well said! Many people confuse "expensive" with "overpriced". If you have a luthier working on a guitar and giving attention in details for hours and days you don't say the guitar is "overpriced", it's like an insult! Many people say that when it's more expensive that they can afford, they just say "overpriced". Some of them want the same features half the price but that's not possible for the reasons you mention in this video!

Really like your channel. You discussed a lot of questions/doubts/debates we have, as we progress from a beginner to a more advanced player.

Hi I’ve been playing for two years I own a Korean PRS Tremonti and a Mexican Tele honestly both of these guitars put a smile on my face every time I pick them up 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't care what brand it is. I have money, I just don't want to blow a wad on a guitar I'm basically just going to noodle on. I don't play live any more, it's just for self enjoyment. I have a Mexican Strat, LTD EC-256, SE Santana, Epiphone Traditional Pro, Hamer Sunburst Flattop, Mitchell MS400, and a US Jackson RR (I got it cheap). In the past I owned a '78 BC Rich Eagle Deluxe (expensive for the day), Gibson Les Paul Studio Standard (wish I had IT back), two Gibson Les Paul Standards, Gibson Explorer, '82 US Hamer Special, and two US Fender Strats. Out of ALL those the Mitchell MS400, Mexi Strat, EC-256, '82 Hamer, and the Studio Standard have been the best ones I have ever picked up FEEL wise. The EC-256 has some "detail and finish" flaws, the Mexi Strat had the neck pocket routed a little to deep (1mm flat shim fix). With the EC-256 I was like "you can't see this shit unless it's in your lap or on the strap" so who CARES?? The Mexi Strat I got stupid cheap from a pawn shop. They thought the neck had crapped. Nope, homemade maple shim and job done, never even had to adjust the truss rod. The Mitchell MS400 is my favorite guitar ever. I GENUINELY love the guitar. No lie. I played 4 of them at various GC stores and they were ALL good feeling. Mail ordered mine used and wasn't disappointed. I love the thing. Upgrades? Sure if I played live I might do some small stuff (pots ect). Of course a fret polish on ALL of the above guitars occurred. Nut was re-cut on the Studio Standard. SUPER CHEAP guitars can surprise you as well. I still fondly remember a Series10 Strat, Alpha II Les Paul copy, Vantage flying V, and a Lotus copy of the Washburn Falcon. Both the Lotus and Vantage were my first "cheap guitar eye openers" even though I didn't realize it at the time. The Lotus was amazing and I bought it used for a whopping $25 back in '82. I swapped it because it wasn't "brand name". Stupid. I'd trade a few "brand names" today to have it back. The Vantage was heavy as fuck (plywood) but also heavy as fuck SOUND wise. I liked it way better than my Explorer lol. A quality "low cost" (and quiet low watt) noodling amp however is FAR harder to come by, especially if your noodling ranges from Lightnin' Hopkins to Rick Derringer and Children of Bodom.

Let's be fair, more than half of guitar value, is the sound, I'd say 3/4. I really don't care about upgrades. Chassis might be different, but if you build LP spec on Telecaster, this will sound as LP, not much different from original one. What I really care about - how good original low end guitars pickups are. I saw manufacturers who produce their own pickups, someone put popular brand pickups. Brand ones are also out of focus. To shed the light, you could take original low end guitar with original manufacturer's pickups and compare with original models, this really shows the difference. Yes, maybe growing older, people need high quality handmade beaver teeth marks vintage simulations, polished fretboard, golden furniture, not sure what else, but it is all about luxury, and it build up to 99% of the price. I guess you could start from comparing cheapest Harley Benton Telecasters and Original Fender Telecaster

The hands are what make the final sound. My guitar in other hands sometimes doesn't sound good, but in some other hands it has sounded unrecognizable beautiful.