How To Buy An Electric Guitar For Under $200

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and buy a new, beginner electric guitar. Well, you are in luck because there are a ton of decent electrics under $200. The problem is deciding just which one to buy! But if you go in armed with a bit of knowledge and patience, you’ll find the right instrument.

These days, you can get an electric guitar cheaper than ever. Most of the under-$200 guitars are made in China, Korea and Indonesia. Guitars made in the US, Japan and Mexico are usually more expensive, and usually higher quality. That’s not to say the cheaper guitars are all poor quality instruments. It is surprising how much guitar you can get these days for under $200.

Buying a guitar is a two-step process: 1. Deciding which guitar you want. 2. Making sure the guitar is a “good” one.

Step one: This is the fun part. Go to your local music store and look around. Even if you can’t play, or only know a few chords, ask the clerk if you can sit down and strum each guitar. Just park yourself in the cheap electric corner and go to town. There are a few things I think about when deciding which guitar to buy. First, how does it feel when you hold it? I personally love the way the strat-style body feels. The Les Paul body type, on the other hand, is a little heavy and cumbersome for me, though the SG body is wonderful. When you find one that feels good to hold, then test the action. How hard is it to press the strings down when playing? Maybe the strings are too high off the fretboard, or they could be too low. Again, even if you are a beginner, you may be surprised to find one guitar that just feels right.

Step two: Once you’ve found the guitar that feels good, now you need to get a little bit technical and decide if the guitar is “a keeper”. Since we are buying a cheaper, mass-produced guitar, it’s logical that some of these guitars coming off the line will be dogs, and some will be gems, and most will fall somewhere in between. By “dog” I mean a guitar with an obvious flaw like a bowed neck, loose parts, etc. You can hold the end of the neck in your hands and sight down the edge of the fretboard and compare it to the high e string (which is a perfect line) to see if there is any bend in the neck.

If you know someone who plays guitar, invite them along to take a look at the guitar with you. Then play it to make sure it sounds OK and everything works. Plug it into an amp and test each pickup. If it’s a two pickup model, then switch to the pickup near the neck and play, then center, then rear. You shouldn’t hear any buzzing or humming. If you do hear any electrical noise ask the clerk or try a different guitar. Then play some chords and listen for strings buzzing against the frets. If you hear a little fret buzz ask the clerk about it. They can “set up” the guitar for you and adjust out fret buzz, and set the action (string height) where it’s comfortable for you.

Step two might be a bit daunting for a newbie guitarist–sort of like someone who can’t drive trying to pick out a car. Finding the right color is easy, it’s the test drive that’s a bit tricky.

Again, cheap guitars are not bad at all. You’ve just got to get the right one. A friend of mine bought a cheapy acoustic that was one of the richest sounding guitars I’ve ever played. He went to every guitar store in town and played all of the guitars in his price range. Most people get step one right, but totally miss step two.

What about buying from the internet? Well, with an established company like Fender or Gibson, I’d say go for it. Their quality is well known. But with cheapy, mass-produced guitars, buying from the local guitar store is paramount because you can check it out before you buy. You don’t want to get stuck with a guitar that won’t stay in tune or sounds crappy or both. You can avoid this headache buy actually holding the guitar and playing it before you buy. If you buy a cheap guitar online you are rolling the dice.

One more thing: on the first trip to the guitar store don’t bring any money. You want to make several trips to different stores and play as many guitars as you can. Again, even if you don’t play but one chord, then sit down and play that chord on every cheap electric in the place. Eventually you’ll get a good idea of what you like and don’t like. Then there’ll be less chance a month later of being disappointed in your purchase. It’s OK to fall in love, just play the field a bit before committing.

If the guitar passes the test in step two, and you’ve done your due diligence and checked out a few other stores, then you are ready to buy.

About the Author

Rand writes articles about GNU/Linux, interesting recipes, and guitars, just to name a few.  His sheet metal site, aluminumbendingbrake.com has a ton of great info about aluminum bending brakes and other sheet metal brake knowhow.

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