So good your cat is headbanging at 0:27 🤘🏻

I like the fact that you respect an instrument regardless of it's being cheap or whatever

I'm convinced Maxx could make a plank of wood with rubber bands sound good

I think the prices get raised whenever you post a video about how good they are 🤷‍♂️🎸

There's an old poem called "The Touch of the Master's Hand" where an auctioneer is selling off this beat up old shit violin for a couple bucks, and everybody's laughing at it, but then this master violinist comes up out of the crowd and starts playing it and blows everybody away because it sounds so beautiful. That master musician is you, my friend.

0:27 ridiculus headbagging

Got one for my son. We are adding hot rails, splitting them, adding tone caps on push pull pots and making them independently switchable. It plays and sounds great and is making a fun little project. Thanks for the video!

Guitar sound: 80% guitarist 15% amp 5% guitar

Proof once again that it's not the guitar but the person playing it.

Sprung on this when Ebay was running a 15% off coupon so the guitar was shipped to my door for $42. I leveled, crowned, and polished the frets. Lemon oiled life into the fret board that was really dry upon arrival and lightly steel wooled it like Max said. I lightly sanded the neck and any rough patches and now it's super smooth and fast. Dropped in the standard Dragonfire single coils and replaced the really crappy plastic nut with a cheap $5.99 graphite one. I tried the trick where you loosen the neck screws a quarter turn and allow the string tension to pull the neck into the body as close as possible for sustain and then retighten and it seemed to really help. I keep shredding on this thing and saying "THIS SHOULDN'T SOUND SO GOOD." All in all I have 70 bucks and some elbow grease in it and I can't put it down.

Remember guys to always invest strongly on amps, pedals and all that stuff. This kind of guitars that are actually super cheap are great! However, a good amp and a good pedalboard set always makes a difference 🤘🏻 Nice video, man!!

Max is a magician. Whether it's $40 or 40 grand guitar, he makes them all sounds beautiful. It makes me strongly believe gear itself doesn't matter. It's the player that makes difference.

Hi Max - I just wanted to say thank you. As a person of "limited" means it is really quite refreshing to see an open and honest review of equipment that is in the price range of us mortals. I get that Knight, and TTK and others are reviewing what they like and can afford, but watching reviews of items WAY north of $800 or more is of no use to me, and you don't dog off brands like other youtubers out there. Thanks again from the 505!

Great review as always brother and of course your playing rocks as always . It's awesome that you find these deals and share them . As well as taking time out of your busy schedule !

When a real hero is holding it, every kind of weapon is deadly. Thx for this video. 👍🏻

I love your professionalism and demeanor. You do a great job on the reviews and it seems honest instead of bashing the items for not being a big brand name. I have an American Fender Strat that I paid $1400 for because I thought I had to have it. After seeing your videos I feel like I don't have to be embarrassed to buy something cheaper that is functional and I like. You don't always need a super great guitar. Sometimes a $50 one will do. Keep up the awesome reviews.

I just scored a 1999 Fender standard MIM strat for $45 because the dude thought the guitar was no longer able to work due to a missing nut.

Just bought one of these in translucent red, and I see nothing to complain about for the price. The overall finish of the body & neck is better than just functional...the guitar is pretty! Frets, as you said, are not sharp, but the ends could use some polishing I guess. A few more bucks and some setup effort will yield an "ax" that will definitely hold its own against much more expensive guitars. There are $8 Aliexpress humbucker pickups that can fit in the same openings as the single coil ones that come with the guitar and, while they are not locking units, the generic tuners work very smoothly. Even good "pots", if you wanted to swap them out, are also quite cheap. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this guitar, especially if one is willing to put a couple of hours of fine-tuning into it, and few dollars more. For, say, under $100 total, and that bit of labor, I think you would be hard-pressed to argue that the result is not as good as a $400 guitar. BTW, I often see comments that Basswood (American Linden) is soft and basswood is easily dinged. People make it sound like basswood is as soft as balsawood. That's ridiculous, It's not much softer than some mahogany, that people have no gripes about. That's not to say that it is a good tonewood for an acoustic guitar. But, for a solid body electric, I wouldn't complain. If you are rough enough that are dinging a guitar like this, you shouldn't be spending more money anyway!.

GLad I found your page. Really helpful stuff. I remember when I started playing 35-ish years ago, a cheap guitar was more or less nothing more than a poorly made, unplayable junk box. Things have come a long way for new players ( and old) to find something they like without taking out a mortgage or losing interest.

Thanks Max, I just bought 2 of them. I have loaded pickguards ready to go when I find deals like this!

I bought this guitar on your recommendation. $49 bucks +tax/ shipping = $54. I got it in 2 days. Unbranded. Looks great. Plays great. I'm totally blown away. Like stated in the video the strings are a little high and the pick ups are weak but this is a playable instrument right out of the box. It was even pretty close to in tune though a half step down. It's light weight (which is good) and feels sturdy enough. No screws falling out or loose parts. It doesn't look or feel "slap together". Up until now my idea of a $49 guitar was something you'd get from a supermarket. The quality at this price point is ridiculous. Will this replace an American Strat? No. But for the price of a decent pre-wired pick guard and some locking tuners you'll have a playable/giggable guitar.

A good player can make ANYTHING sound awesome ... Thanks for inspiration bro !!!

Everyone wants to do reviews on big dollar guitars. I'm glad you review more affordable models. For that you have a new subscriber. Thanks for helping out the beginners like myself. I can only hope that someday I can make these cheaper guitars sound as good as you do.

SWEET playing at about 5:15.....WOW!. Such great tone!!

I got to say I ordered this guitar after Max did the video in 2018. I wanted to check it out so I ordered one. I got to says it's probably one of Max's best picks for a low end guitar. It actually plays pretty nice, the blue finish is excellent and looks beautiful up close. This is a great guitar for someone starting out on guitar where you don't want to sink a bunch of money into it until you know that you want to play guitar. Great instrument for learning! Mine was invoiced at $49.50 delivered within the USA and that included freight. Pretty much unheard of in terms of guitar deals. 100% as represented in this video. I love it. I call it my weekender. I can pack it with me anywhere I go and practice without worrying about it even if it were to get run over by a bus. I mean what are you out? A pizza dinner for 4? Although that would be tragic because I love it for practice and learning. Great Value and sounds great with a Spark Amp! If you can find one, grab it! As always, Max does some of the greatest reviews on guitar! Mark Held (former Purchasing Manager at Fender Scottdale)

I checked out several of these on Ebay. Get a good look at the bridges on several of them. A bunch of them have the saddle plate skewed, so the individual saddles are pointing every which way but straight. The prices are up a little bit, but not much considering the import tariffs. Great review Max!!!! Thanks!!!!

I recently discovered your videos and love them. You don't talk down to your viewers by telling them they shouldn't buy inexpensive guitars, the only way you can sound good is if you drop over $1000 on a guitar, etc. I subscribed and look forward to seeing the things you do in the future, as well as checking out your older ones. I have the Blackstar ID Core V2 Stereo 20, and would love to see you do a video on how you setup to record your guitars using an audio interface to your pc. Amp settings, software, etc. Keep up the great videos!

There's something special about you I have to mention because you make every budget guitar play like beast

Stayin up late Max? Great video as always!

Oh yeah! I laughed at first when I saw this video. I bought THREE of these guitars few months ago to practice setups, painting, and fret leveling. They do actually play and sound pretty good for $50!! These are definitely great throw away guitars. One thing to note is they are super lightweight. But I kind of like it, they feel like a toy. Also on one of them the action was super high but Frets were okay. Another one the action was perfect with super Sharp frets. So it's hit or miss. I recommend the white color if you can find them. Easier to paint the body if you want to have some fun with it! 😁 After setting these up properly and polishing the Frets and fret ends they play really amazing. Yeah one thing you could do is drop in some upgraded pickups for a better sound, and maybe a steel block to give it some weight. Make great Wall hangings or a guitar to take on vacation! Thanks for the review! -JP

First two sold out sold out. Tried the red one and it worked. Thanks Max of all the links I have followed they are always sold out so I was glad when I got this one. I'm going to give it to a guy who plays guitar at or church yet doesn't have a guitar super stoked he will love it

Great playing. Good to see you know the value of these things and you're not snobbish like some other reviewers.

This is my new favorite channel now

My wife and I just ordered the red one. Thanks for the heads up on this deal Guitar MAX, wish me luck lol

Thanks alot for these reviews man. Great way to see the guitar in action before buying. You got another sub. 😎

I've had one for a while now. Modded it, love it

+1 for Harley Benton. You know I've spent 4 times the money and got less guitar so this is a great value. One of the skills I think we all struggle with is guitar maintenance and this is a great way to expand those skills. 50 bucks on the guitar, some 0000 steel wool, a set of pickups, bridge and tuners..you would learn a lot about guitars .... It would pay for itself year after year

Haha !!!! I just bought it ... But I bought the "sunset" and it's "unbranded" ..!! Both my choice ... But price went up to 49.00$ .. with all the case , trem bar ect. I also own and use Blackstar I Core 10 and for my jeep ,Blackstar fly3 battery powered .. I have and own 10's of thousands of dollars in guitars alone and do almost all my own work so looking forward to "working this axe Over" thanx for the link ..!!! Lol

Always enjoy your reviews, Max.👍

Love your t shirt. Oh and your playing is awesome.

I bought one of these as my first guitar and played the hell out of the thing. My only complaint is the cheap fretwire wore out quick when I got into bending. But, for the money I'd recommend it to anyone. If you like it, you'll end up with more guitars. If not, you're only out $50.

Oh man, your cat stole the show before the review even started! LOL Here's an idea, make a tshirt of that Head Banging Cat and I can bet it sells out in a week.

It is amazing to me at how you can pick up any guitar no matter what the price and play them like a pro. You are talented ,Thanks

Holy cow! Thank you so much Max. I ordered the cherry burst for 49. free shipping. It actually showed up today, and it's a one piece body, one piece maple neck. The pups are rather vintage sounding, and not muddy at all. The pots don't work well, and the fret ends are kind of prickley. Over all though it's amazing. So thanks again. Keep up the great work.

since when does Vincent from pulp fiction do guitar reviews

They're still out there. What a deal LOL

I did the same thing, i got a $100 Ibanez GSX 20 FB. Plays well and stays in tune. I've had it 2 weeks and still it's in tune. My babie however is my 1979 Martin E-18 electric guitar. Good video

Thank you for your reviews! Very informative, and the kitty is cool!

Please review a budget headless guitar

Picked up a Made in Indonesia Squire Stratocaster (not Affinity) for $45

Good deal. Thanks for the explaination. It souds great when you are playing on it.

I have one of these in a nice dark green but can still see the wood grain underneath the paint, black pick guard and pickups n knobs, and I love it. I also have a real fender jazz master, fender black paisley telecaster a fender top hat dobro and others, but yea I got one of these and an Amoon Jazz Bass in blue with red tortoiseshell pickguard, Love em!!!

+25 for Hail Sagan, +50 for tuxedo kitty

I feel bad for the people who have to make these guitars ☹️

Thanks for including the amp info... always wonder that every time I head your stuff .. maybe some cheap amp comparisons would be good as well :)

Hi Max, big thanks for the content, it's fun watching your demos. I actually got this in the mail today, and even better, it cost me $40 (had an ebay coupon!). I've had a cheap starcaster acoustic for awhile (surprisingly decent) but haven't had electrics since I sold off my epi les paul and strat years ago to fund some photo gear (another expensive hobby!). Looking forward to using this with something like amplitube and mess around with different sounds.

How about some of the new Harley Benton guitars.

Seems to make NO diiference which guitar you play, Max. I CANNOT tell the difference in sound between a more expensive guitar and this cheap one: it's all great sounding. You either get a good model from amoungst the stock and/or your talent is adjusted to make the poor guitar sound as fantastic as the more expensive guitar WELL DONE!.

When ordering an Ammoon on Amazon for a partscaster, I got one of these instead. There were no issues at all with the frets. Mine were even in height, well polished, and there were no sharp ends. I did replace the entire pickguard assembly with an Aliexpress hotrails setup, and I plan on adding some Wilkinson tuners. I may also add some roller string trees. Also, the routing is for an HHH setup, but very sloppy. It's not a bad guitar for the price, but I wouldn't spend much more on it.

Great review as always.

I would love to hear your professional opinion on the Harley Benton guitars. They have Gibson, Fender, PRS styles and more exotic type things such as fan frets and 7 and 8 strings. I have heard many good things about the quality of these guitars but would really love to hear your take. Be Well

Just imagine how much this would be in 1960 dollars.

Cool cat dude! He, or she look like they like the music you're playing? Thanks as always Max, for the insightful reveiws!

Max, bought one of the Glarry guitars for just the reason you said about the frets and neck, to practice working on fret ends and polishing etc. The pickups are horrible, but re-sold it after I worked it over and is one of the nicest $50 guitars out there.

Hi. Could you please say "You're tearing me apart, Lisa!"

i've never see john trovolta playing guitar before..

Just received and setup the Blackstar Amp. My daughter was so impressed with the guitar with this amp that she went on EBay and bought the guitar right away. Thank you for the review. The price and quality of this guitar is simply amazing even with an amp for under $100.

My parents gave me an electric guitar and amp for Christmas when I was about 12, Strat style, with a weird whammy bar set up.Never had a guitar before that. I was playing the Ventures Wipe Out, Walk Don’t Run , Walk the line ,etc, in no time. Don’t recall the make but it was awesome. Didn’t stay in tune for proper chords , but I was all over the power chords and blues riffs,( Smoke on the Water etc.) I eventually took it apart and brought the body to wood shop in school, and added about an inch in thickness to it, ( as it seemed pretty thin) then I painted it black and put different thicknesses of yellow pinstripes on it resembling Eddy Van Hales signature axe. Man that thing sounded and looked amazing. After a while I wanted to upgrade, thinking I could get something that would take things to the next level,( stays in tune, better quality pickups , etc.) I traded it in for a “Mann” Les Paul style guitar. It was a great guitar, ( I think Mann guitars are now worth something), but after a week I realized this new guitar was no better than the one I traded in ,and I’d made a big mistake. I went back to the guitar shop hoping they still had my guitar, but no they sold it, The dealer said it was a really amazing sounding and looking guitar and they sold it the same day I traded it in. I still regret that to this day. It was a really,really cheap guitar, probably a used Sears Special,. But I would pay $$$$$$$$ to have it back. Also, if you are a good musician, you can make a one string tub with a mop handle neck sound good. So, if your an aspiring guitar hero, buy a cheap piece of crap and see what you can do with it. If you can make a cheap ass guitar sound good, then move on. Keep in mind acoustic is a whole other monster.

Carl Sagan is my hero.

5:40 Are you playing the yousician ad

Thank you for bringing this gem to us man, this feels too good to be true! Can you please tell us about how "durable" it feels?

Hey, man! Love your videos. You requested suggestions and I think it would be nice to see a review on the Harley Benton SC series, maybe a 500

For anyone curious, the seller "yallstore" does respond quickly to a customer concern. After sending them a picture of my damaged guitar they offered to refund $8 (lol) rather than the hassle of return/exchange. I said fine, I'll look at it as a project guitar to refinish or maybe relic. I would still recommend these as there's fun to be had with them for very little cost.

If they can make a guitar for $15 then $40-$50 is about right . Fender Stratocasters are made for $75.00 the rest is “ Marketing “

Thanks for the heads up. I grabbed one off eBay. And as you pointed out, surprisingly nice for less than $50.

That is cool being that cheap and functioning that well. It gives beginning guitar players a chance to afford something. And a lot of times a person may be interested in playing but can't afford something. That's just awesome.

Could I add Diamond Guitars? They aren’t dirt cheap, but they look amazing for the price.

I like to buy a cheap Tele.. you have an idea about. Thanks. Nice video..

Look at that cat feeling the music 0:26

A little late to the video but i just ordered and I'm really excited. It's expected to arrive by Friday and I can't wait!

0:28 I see a cat rocker

Theres still a 49$ one on there ...Damn I wish 45 years ago they had deals like that

Ive seen alot of your videos now and Im convinced that your guitar skills make most of those cheap guitars sound alot better than they really are

0:26 its so good that the cat is headbanging

$46??? Okay if your the Rockafellers. I shelled out $31.50 for my 2002 China Strat. Still making payments on it.

More cat in your videos please!

I love that you use an ID Core Amp! Could you please make a vid about dialing one in to get close to your demo sounds? Keep rocking!

i love my Blackstar idcore very versatile amp and it is as said great for recording. Great playing and also thank you for the review i am looking to get a project guitar and this looks like it will work just fine.

Do a video, and the price just rose. $49.89, but still a steal.

I wanna hear you run that cheap guitar through the every day man's amp lol. Plug it into 40 watt Line 6 or something and let's hear it then. I mean we all know that the right amp can make the nastiest sounding guitar sound good. I am actually gonna run over to ebay and look at a couple of those myself. I look for cheap guitars that I can customize then resell for a profit, hmm $50 a pop? I can customize those all day long lol. Great video..Oh and at first I thought your cat there at the 22 second mark was just some bobble head thing until it started to clean itself! lol

Mate that was very intresting to me as I am somewhat a collector of cheap guitars. It is great to see someone giving back to music in this way. Although I can't play so well as you our message is the same. You don't need to spend too dollars to get great sound. please keep up the good work. your pal Helcat in Australia.

Gorgeous finish

It's not that amazing that they can build it at that pricepoint. Guitar business is a huge ripoff, especially electrical guitar. There's hardly any engineering to it. Stuff like pickups, knobs, it's all super simple stuff. It's just that idiots are willing to pay way more. Sure if you buy a real brand guitar, the quality will be higher, but even that 1000$ electric guitar, does not really cost more than about 100$ to produce.

FENDER doesn't even use rosewood for fretboards anymore...!

gorgeous finish

I enjoyed this and it’s cool to know someone can buy a guitar at that price , i remember when the stella was the guitar that we poor people got fie our first and mine was unplayable

A guitar for someone who may not totally commit to guitar ???

I like that explorer you have in the background man😊👍🏾

Love your reviews, playing, chops, professionalism and honesty. You get -5 for saying "these ones" though. Lol. Keep the reviews coming. Glad I subscribed.

might pick one of these up and try to relic it because i really like that look