Should I sell all my cheap guitars to buy an expensive one?
If your guitar is a cheap Chinese thing (not that a Chinese instrument can't be good) that is frustrating to play and look at, then a pickup swap will NOT do anything for you. You said one is always going out of tune... so what would a pickup swap accomplish? It's like if your car has really poor A/C, and you try to fix it by changing the tires.. A pickup swap is really only justifiable when you love the look and feel of a guitar, and want a different sound. You're gonna want a new instrument.Instead of focusing on a guitar brand you want, just go to a store and try all of them in your price range. Don't look at the headstock. And don't be afraid to look at used! Find one you like, I mean one you REALLY like, and plays great and looks good, whether it's at the top or bottom of your price range. If you can't find one, move your price range up. Save money, sell stuff, make it happen. If you settle for a cheap guitar that you don't really care for, you're gonna end up replacing it soon enough anyways, and therefore spending more money in the long run. Just make sure you really like what you're buying. You should be excited and inspired by it to work harder and progress further as a guitarist.Also, it's really up to you whether or not to sell your old guitars. It's likely that you won't get much for them, but if you're not going to be even touching them if you get a new one.. might as well get what you can for them.Lastly, remember, even a $2,000 guitar will sound terrible through a crappy amp! Make sure you leave room in your budget for a decent beginning amp. But that's a whole discussion on it's own. Good luck!P.S. It'd be best to try to avoid pawn shops if you're not exactly sure how to thoroughly inspect a guitar before buying. There's a large chance that you're going to end up overpaying for a guitar that has flaws that you won't notice until it's too late.
What makes expensive guitars expensive?
Like some of the others said. It has to do with the products used to make the guitar, where the guitar is made, who it was made by and how much hand craftsmanship went into it. So lets take just Gibson electrics for instance. Obviously a Gibson Custom Shop will have some better and more expensive components, but also it will be a better grade of wood. A Gibson USA model may use the same type of wood, but Gibson carefully goes through all of the wood they buy and the best pieces are reserved for the most expensive guitars like the signature models and collectors choice models. Then the next best wood will go to the other Custom Shop models, then the next grade down will go to the higher end Gibson USA models, etc. Also a Gibson Custom Shop guitar will have far more hand craftsmanship than a Gibson USA model so that drives up the cost of production. When someone says you are paying for the name on the headstock there is a little truth to that. This is because a big company like Gibson has lots of overhead. A huge manufacturing facility, a huge corporate HQ, a huge marketing team, research and development team and the list goes on. So yes, you will always pay a little more for a name brand instrument. Not because they are ripping you off, but because of their overhead. This is because they are a huge company, but remember, they had to be doing something right to get that huge in the first place. So here is a good example. I have a handmade Telecaster copy that was built by a luthier in a one man shop with very little overhead. He can sell these guitars for roughly $1700. To get a Fender of equal quality you would need to spend $4000 or more. So by cutting overhead you can build the same guitar for less. But, it would be much harder for me to sell this guitar than to sell a Fender Custom Shop because few people have heard of this brand. Also the country a guitar is built in makes a huge difference. The cost of labor in the US is far higher than in China or Korea. Some might play a PRS SE and feel it plays and sounds as good as a USA PRS, and they may be correct. But the SE can be made much cheaper in Asia due to labor rates. The USA model will have better wood and components, but that doesn't always translate into a better sounding guitar.
Would you buy an expensive guitar or an expensive amp?
perhaps, if i was a professional musician, and the tone was that important to my finished product.as it is, I am an amateur (loosely, from the Latin, one who does something out of LOVE) and I play for shut-ins, for praise gatherings, and acoustic hymns for Catholic masses. My guitars are moderately expensive (over $1000 for my Taylor acoustic, and my 1970 JBass that I bought 45 years ago would be worth much more than that.)My point is I get a remarkable tone and emotion from both instruments, while playing live, and have an excellent recorded sound for both on CDs. I feel I am fulfilling my calling with these instruments. IMHO, there is no need to spend double or triple that amount for a top shelf instruments given my circumstances.
Should I buy this guitar?
I really want to learn to play guitar and I've been looking at some less expensive guitars. I went to my local music store yesterday and tried out a Samick Greg Bennett ASDM acoustic guitar. It fit me pretty well (for being only 14) and it sounded pretty good! It was priced at $160. I was just wondering if it would be worth buying. I'm NOT looking to buy a expensive high end guitar so please dont tell me otherwise. I'm only a beginner, not looking for anything fancy or expensive (although I would like to get a Taylor some day!) and was just wondering if this guitar would be a good fit and if it would hold up through good care? Also, if you've had any experience with this guitar PLEASE feel free to give me a little review. :) Thanks in advance! Katie Also, heres the guitar I'm talking about: http://www.gregbennettguitars.com/asdm.html Another note: People have talked to me about Jasmine by Takamine. Yes, they are cheaper, but unfortunately my Guitar center did not have them and I don't feel like having to go on an hour and a half long car ride there and back to another Guitar Center to find something that I may not even like.
What is the advantage of a more expensive guitar capo?
I thought capos were only meant to clamp onto the guitar fretboard, and do nothing more than raise the pitch of the guitar. Wouldn't a regular, inexpensive capo do the job? I really can't see what more expensive capos can offer. Many people opt for them, and I don't have any idea why.
What is considered expensive for an acoustic guitar?
That's a subjective question. Expensive to you maybe pocket change to another guy. And even your idea of expensive can change with time and experience.That said, while there's a tendency toward 'you get what you pay for,' there are more than a few exceptions throwing water on that blanket statement, as it relates to acoustic guitars.True story: I was a week away from my debut at Sunday mass some 14 years ago when it occurred to me that the only acoustic I had in my stable was an old Alvarez 12 string with some issues. I didn't want to struggle with that in front of actual people.I recalled playing an Applause (Ovation's Epiphone, if you will) in a guitar store a few years earlier that was exquisitely set up. Thinking it's not likely a store would bother doing that kind of set up on a <$200 guitar, I made the assumption that the machines that were mass producing that model were simply well calibrated. So I bought one online for $150-ish, as I recall. Out of the box, it was the nicest playing guitar I had ever owned, or even played, for that matter! And, with the fancy leaf detail, it got a lot of compliments. In that light, anything over, maybe $200 was excessive and, therefore, expensive.I still own that Applause, but it's showing signs of age so, rather than spending hundreds rejuvenating a guitar for which I paid $150, I did a bit of research and decided to buy an Epiphone Century Archtop. On a whim, I had it PLEK'd by the dealer and am absolutely blown away by the looks, the tone, the playability, and everything else about it (except the electronics, but I'm working on that). I paid well under $1,000, including the case and PLEK, so my 'expensive' threshold is now $1,000, meaning that, in my mind, anything over that won't buy a better guitar.Obviously, ymmv. But anything that I'm happy with sets the bar for expensive. No doubt, that bar will continue to move as I add to my herd. That's just the nature of that beast.
How can a young teen afford expensive guitar gears?
All of the other answers are solid.Get a job. Kirk Hammett worked at a Burger King long enough to buy a Gibson Flying V, so can you. Grass needs cut this time of year, may as well get a good tan while you work!Try teaching some lessons; it's a RIDICULOUSLY good way to meet girls.Sell some stuff. Craigslist, yard sale, etc.This may seem like a big thing, but try to book a show! Partner up with a few other bands, and put on a show! Many venues will be happy to book an all ages night (Provided that they get a guaranteed amount of money, since they likely won't be selling any booze). It’ll give you insight into the realities of the music world like promoting, selling tickets, getting a sound engineer (the venue may have their own), building and rehearsing a set, etc. It’s a difficult undertaking, and you may need to ask your folks for help, and make no mistake, you may very well lose money, but your folks will respect the fuck out of your entrepreneurial spirit and your friends will forever remember the awesome party that you threw, believe me!Additionally, be conscious of what it is that you need: A Strat/Tele, Les Paul, and decent acoustic/electric, 5–6 good quality cables, pedalboard (with distortion, wah, tuner, and chorus/delay should suffice), and a decent 1x12 or 2x12 tube amp (Marshall, Vox, Mesa, or Fender) should get you ANY SOUND YOU WILL EVER NEED! (Trust me, you don't need a Mesa or Marshall half stack, they’re too fucking heavy and too fucking loud; wait until you are playing large venues.) If you buy used gear, you should be able to get everything here for under $1600 or so.Good luck! :)