polara Posted July 12, 2005 Posted July 12, 2005 I bought something odd Friday. I was just outta surgery the day before and myabe it was the painkillers, but I wanted something PLEASANT to happen to me. With my brother and my sister-in-law, I dropped into a tiny music store in Brevard, NC. Nice selection of high-end guitars, very acoustic oriented shop. Also a bunch of cheap instruments that actually played well, like Cort and Blue Ridge. Everything was in tune and set up well, which is a good sign to me.Anyway, I picked up a rather attractive little Johnson guitar. I had thought of them, if I had thought of them at all, as being a sticker pasted on beginner Chinese junk guitars made of plywood. But this one... well, it felt good! Hmm. Nice, balanced sound. I start inspecting it and sure it says Made in China, but look here. Solid spruce top. Solid mahogany sides and back. Real MOP snowflake fretboard inlays, inlaid logo, and it has maple binding around the body and headstock. Rosewood veneer over the headstock. Gold Grover tuners. And the rosette appears to be real abalone and nicely done.It seems that Johnson, a couple years back, made some "Summit Series" guitars as an attempt to break out of their low-price, low-quality territory. They don't list 'em on the website now so maybe no one bought them. But I got this one, almost unplayed, for $295. And if you ignore the name on the headstock, it's a doggone fine guitar.Any other overlooked bargains out there? I've thought of a few.• Used Hamer USA guitars, obviously• Godins• Those Fenders made in the 1980s in Japan under another name... what were they? Really cool!• Seagull acoustics• Laney amps• Aria Pro II basses from the 80s. Though those seem to be getting expensive.More?
BadgerDave Posted July 12, 2005 Posted July 12, 2005 Used Jerry Jones guitars.These are essentially reproductions of old Danelectro designs, but made to much tighter tolerances. They're somewhat pricy new, but I've picked up a couple used ones in excellent shape for around $400 w/hsc.
serial Posted July 12, 2005 Posted July 12, 2005 They've started to get a bit pricier, but the Tokai Strats from the 80s were a steal then. That was the first used guitar that I sold for twice what I paid for it new, despite ten plus years of wear. The 80s Fender Japan stuff was similarly inexpensive and quite good. Again, I sold most of the stuff I had from that line for more than I paid new. I was never afraid to beat on these because they were "cheap" guitars, but they were well made.
lonote049 Posted July 12, 2005 Posted July 12, 2005 Reverend gear gets my nod. They are inexpensive new and they are absolute steals used. I got my Rumblefish XL bass for $350 used; they sold for about $800 new (they no longer make basses). Their guitars run about $900 new. These are American made instruments with high quality components and assembled with excellent attention to detail. I have never played a bad one!
Monacosis Posted July 12, 2005 Posted July 12, 2005 Hagstrom. Look for older ones as they have just started making reissues. There are several different models from straty Hag IIIs to 335ish Vikings and LPish Swedes. Super quality guitars and they look and sound great. Beware: thin necks. My lefty Hagstrom III has an ibanez-thin neck that is too small for me, but the guitar is way too cool to get rid of. mike
silentman Posted July 12, 2005 Posted July 12, 2005 Dillion - particularly the first generation Les Paul knockoffs they did before Gibson came down on em. They were a dead on copy. I played a p90 goldtop several years ago that was the best knock-off I've ever played less than $350 new
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