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I have a Rogue sitar-guitar, the one with the sympathetic strings. Got it a decade ago. Great instrument. No fret issues, the neck is very good, all the components are as one would expect on the original Coral instrument (which was also not the highest budget item in its time).
buying a "cheapie" and expecting it to play wonderfully right out of the box might be asking too much (depending on your definition of "cheap" and the actual brand involved), but if you're looking for budget stuff: just know that good-to-great setups are your friend!
also: many here don't mess with their instruments (they consult luthiers/techs) and/or they expect a new instrument to play well from the git --- no matter the money they paid for it. i'd advise those folks to avoid the cheapies. OTOH, any of the cheapies i've purchased would be great for:
- converting to fretless (remove the frets or replace the fretted neck).
- players who also like to tinker (setups, mods, upgrades, yada).
- players on a budget (even if you have to rely on others to do the setup work).
i've puchased the following cheap EBs, and all of the final versions of these axes are competitive or better than axes costing 20-30 times as much (historically, i mostly played pricey custom-built axes of the FSO type):
- kapok brand
- glarry brand (and glarry unbranded)
- rogue brand (TBH: i'm still working on this fretless, but it promises to be a great player!)
i think the HB axes look like winners, too, but i haven't owned any, and they're a little more expensive than the stuff i've purchased for parts 'building'. but HB has a lot of style options --- an advantage if you're not the FSO type.
monoprice has a sale on guitars and basses right now = $105-$112 USD + free shipping gets an ax that looks to be competitive with the version II glarrys --- maybe they're better (!? --- i have no experience with these):
cheapies aren't for everyone, expect some fiddling/tinkering, and more than anything: knowing what you have to have when all is said and done is key to any instrument purchase, no matter the price! good luck!
I have a couple HB Les Paul Juniors, Johnny Thunders style, and they compare to my Tokai knock-off. Which is funny, as 30-some years ago Tokai was the cheapo alternative, but they were so well made that they now are high $ and sought after.
Did IYV move from Vietnam ?
They built for ESP back in the 90's then picked up the Peavey Grind contract , also did work for Washburn.
I, for one, do my own set-ups anyway, every player should learn to do that; it saves money and you bond with the instrument that way. That being said, these kinds of instruments are a modder’s dream, you can learn on the job. Every buyer should expect to upgrade something, that’s why they’re so cheap. Even if you just put in a new, better bridge or tuners, not even messing with the electronics(if that’s too daunting), you’ve improved the instrument. Plus, if you experiment and something goes wrong, fewer tears are shed.buying a "cheapie" and expecting it to play wonderfully right out of the box might be asking too much (depending on your definition of "cheap" and the actual brand involved), but if you're looking for budget stuff: just know that good-to-great setups are your friend!
also: many here don't mess with their instruments (they consult luthiers/techs) and/or they expect a new instrument to play well from the git --- no matter the money they paid for it. i'd advise those folks to avoid the cheapies. OTOH, any of the cheapies i've purchased would be great for:
- converting to fretless (remove the frets or replace the fretted neck).
- players who also like to tinker (setups, mods, upgrades, yada).
- players on a budget (even if you have to rely on others to do the setup work).
i've puchased the following cheap EBs, and all of the final versions of these axes are competitive or better than axes costing 20-30 times as much (historically, i mostly played pricey custom-built axes of the FSO type):
- kapok brand
- glarry brand (and glarry unbranded)
- rogue brand (TBH: i'm still working on this fretless, but it promises to be a great player!)
i think the HB axes look like winners, too, but i haven't owned any, and they're a little more expensive than the stuff i've purchased for parts 'building'. but HB has a lot of style options --- an advantage if you're not the FSO type.
monoprice has a sale on guitars and basses right now = $105-$112 USD + free shipping gets an ax that looks to be competitive with the version II glarrys --- maybe they're better (!? --- i have no experience with these):
View attachment 4426780 View attachment 4426782 View attachment 4426783 View attachment 4426784
cheapies aren't for everyone, expect some fiddling/tinkering, and more than anything: knowing what you have to have when all is said and done is key to any instrument purchase, no matter the price! good luck!
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Silvertone - their LB11/Revolver bass is a great P-clone and easily modded if there's anything you want to change. Their CNC machine is dialed in on the bodies and necks.
agreed, 100%!
yeah, lest we not forget! some folks expect a $100 ax to play like their $2k cousins out of the box --- ain't gonna happen!
exactly!
for me i'd rather mess with electronics.. got a knack for it.. but anything with the wood scares me. i have a tendency to always mess up wood when i try to work with it or alter screw holes or shapes or anything. took woodworking class in high school and darn near failed.. but electronics class passed with flying colors even though i skipped it half the time :X . tuners, bridge, etc.. i'm getting someone else to alter those for me . pickups/preamp/wiring? no prob
Monoprice Indio Telecaster on sale for 79 bucks with a nice gig bag. Ordered it on a Monday afternoon and it was on my porch Wednesday morning.
Setup was very close to perfect, nice neck, no sharp fret ends and it sounds like a Tele. Not sure what the fretboard is made of, though. I sanded off the fugly logo and reshaped the pointy tip on the headstock.
These get pretty good reviews on the Telecaster forums. Good enough for me as I can't really play guitar.
Setup was very close to perfect, nice neck, no sharp fret ends and it sounds like a Tele. Not sure what the fretboard is made of, though. I sanded off the fugly logo and reshaped the pointy tip on the headstock.
These get pretty good reviews on the Telecaster forums. Good enough for me as I can't really play guitar.
It's getting tougher to find the peaveys... unfortunately people have figured out that they're pretty good instruments. The good news... I was grabbing every $100-200 peavey I could find... Now I'll have to pull the trigger someday soon and part with a couple of the duplicates.
Having owned basses from $200AUD to $2,500 I think the sweet spot is mid priced stuff like Sire.
Honesty they're so close to high end basses... amazing value.
Even my LTD Fretless which cost around $800AUD feels almost as good as a $2000+ instrument.
Honesty they're so close to high end basses... amazing value.
Even my LTD Fretless which cost around $800AUD feels almost as good as a $2000+ instrument.
I seem to recall that Cort makes instruments for better known brands, but also makes Cort-branded instruments.
In my recent quest for lower-end values, Cort seemed the one I would go with.
In my recent quest for lower-end values, Cort seemed the one I would go with.
My first two basses were Cort. A p bass and am action 5. The p bass took abuse far beyond reason and always sounded great and I've never had a bass that has had such a stable neck or stayed in tune so well.
The action 5 is a "one that got away" type story. I was young and didn't know you could swap pick ups and that was the only weak part of that bass. To this day it was one of the best looking and playing basses I've ever touched. Traded it for a Oscar Schmidt hollow body which I've also since traded off. Any price on those two was 149 for the p bass, 20 years ago and 189 for. The fiver like 18 years ago. No idea where they stand today
BTW, whatever you go with, if you order on-line I suggest checking reviews re: quality-control.
I don’t have a Cort, but got the sense their quality-control was pretty good. I considered a Squier Affinity-series recently, but was worried about quality control.
I do my own setups, but would not want to shim the neck or do fret-filing.
I don’t have a Cort, but got the sense their quality-control was pretty good. I considered a Squier Affinity-series recently, but was worried about quality control.
I do my own setups, but would not want to shim the neck or do fret-filing.
JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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Harley BentonSee title. I've noticed around the community here that there are a lot of Glarry fans. I learned that people like Glarry because not only are they inexpensive and lightweight, they are good for modifications.
So what are some other decent or good cheap brands? I learned here that Squier products are good nowadays but no longer cheap (in my opinion as I can't afford boutique instruments). Are there any other "secret" cheap brands out there such as Glarry that people like for whatever reasons?
I noticed sometimes people order foreign-made instruments from luthiers, dealers, or brands I have never heard of. I saw some interesting bass guitars on a foreign website which had videos showing how the instruments sounded (and they sounded pretty nice).
my bad.. I just checked my IYV IJZ-300, and it is indeed made in Vietnam.
Thanks for the correction.. my mind is not my own these days.
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