Baloney Balderdash
New member
Curious to how many people uses a relatively cheap guitar as their main, perhaps even one that is considered to be a budget guitar, and actually really likes it.
So please respond, preferably including pictures and an explanation as to why you bought it and why you like it.
And I should probably add that upgrades and mods doesn't disqualifies you for fitting into this category, as far as I am concerned.
As for me personally it is mainly a question of my budget having been rather tight for many years by now, I guess paired with me genrally being really bad at saving up what little I could spare..
But other than that I don't really mind all that much as I actually think it is perfectly possible to find cheap budget instruments that are also truely great instruments, even with the fact that quality in that price class generally being really inconsistent.
The only thing that I in most cases really have felt a need to update was the pickups, which in my opinion as the rule are pretty crappy on these types of instruments, and which in my opinion makes a much bigger difference tone wise than what a lot of people usually seem to be willing to give them credit for.
And it's not really because I have never known better either, as I actually have owned a couple of, if not high end guitars and basses, then at least some in the sort of upper mid price category.
As it is currently my main bass is a 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, that I upgraded with a pair of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups (though I ponder of getting a Nordstrand The Power Blade P pickup and just disconnect the J pickup all together instead), and my main and only electric guitar is an Epiphone SG Special from 2012, that I just recently upgraded with a pair of IronGear Blues Engine neck + Dirty Torque bridge pickups.
And to be perfectly honest I don't really miss my higher end instruments much, well except for one particular, I suppose, based on it's price from new, and what this now discontinued model and brand generally goes for used, actually relatively high end, bass (Jerry Jones Longhorn), and one particular, I guess originally sort of mid price class, but also out of production, guitar (Westbury Standard), that I was stupid enough to part with, that are the two best instruments. not only that I've ever owned, but that I have ever even laid my hands on, as far as I am concerned.
Though that cheap budget Epiphone guitar and Ibanez bass are still definitely among my absolute favorites out of all the instruments I ever owned, and I was lucky that both of them were as good as perfect from factory, with even the fretwork being close enough to perfect that I could get the string action of them exactly as low I prefer it to be without any fret buzz whatsoever.
Sure if I had happened to have more money I'd likely would not have bothered with them and automatically would have gone for something more expensive, but honestly I genuinely feel like I didn't really miss out on all that much, and am actually quite satisfied with both how they play in my hands and how they sound to my ears.
Here's my Epiphone SG Special, with quite a few visual mods and a pair of IronGear Blues Engine neck + Dirty Torque bridge pickups installed:
And here's my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, with some visual mods and pair of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed (the blemish on the body near the neck caused by a haphazardly attempt from my side on drilling a cavity for an extra neck pickup, which I then after having failed miserably filled up with filler and then added some layers of paint and varnish
So please respond, preferably including pictures and an explanation as to why you bought it and why you like it.
And I should probably add that upgrades and mods doesn't disqualifies you for fitting into this category, as far as I am concerned.
As for me personally it is mainly a question of my budget having been rather tight for many years by now, I guess paired with me genrally being really bad at saving up what little I could spare..
But other than that I don't really mind all that much as I actually think it is perfectly possible to find cheap budget instruments that are also truely great instruments, even with the fact that quality in that price class generally being really inconsistent.
The only thing that I in most cases really have felt a need to update was the pickups, which in my opinion as the rule are pretty crappy on these types of instruments, and which in my opinion makes a much bigger difference tone wise than what a lot of people usually seem to be willing to give them credit for.
And it's not really because I have never known better either, as I actually have owned a couple of, if not high end guitars and basses, then at least some in the sort of upper mid price category.
As it is currently my main bass is a 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, that I upgraded with a pair of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups (though I ponder of getting a Nordstrand The Power Blade P pickup and just disconnect the J pickup all together instead), and my main and only electric guitar is an Epiphone SG Special from 2012, that I just recently upgraded with a pair of IronGear Blues Engine neck + Dirty Torque bridge pickups.
And to be perfectly honest I don't really miss my higher end instruments much, well except for one particular, I suppose, based on it's price from new, and what this now discontinued model and brand generally goes for used, actually relatively high end, bass (Jerry Jones Longhorn), and one particular, I guess originally sort of mid price class, but also out of production, guitar (Westbury Standard), that I was stupid enough to part with, that are the two best instruments. not only that I've ever owned, but that I have ever even laid my hands on, as far as I am concerned.
Though that cheap budget Epiphone guitar and Ibanez bass are still definitely among my absolute favorites out of all the instruments I ever owned, and I was lucky that both of them were as good as perfect from factory, with even the fretwork being close enough to perfect that I could get the string action of them exactly as low I prefer it to be without any fret buzz whatsoever.
Sure if I had happened to have more money I'd likely would not have bothered with them and automatically would have gone for something more expensive, but honestly I genuinely feel like I didn't really miss out on all that much, and am actually quite satisfied with both how they play in my hands and how they sound to my ears.
Here's my Epiphone SG Special, with quite a few visual mods and a pair of IronGear Blues Engine neck + Dirty Torque bridge pickups installed:
And here's my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, with some visual mods and pair of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed (the blemish on the body near the neck caused by a haphazardly attempt from my side on drilling a cavity for an extra neck pickup, which I then after having failed miserably filled up with filler and then added some layers of paint and varnish
