The Cheap Electric Guitars Prices Guide – Where to Buy A Cheap Electric Guitar at a Discounted Price and Find Musical Instruments That Aren’t Cheaply Made
This is a guide to buying cheap electric guitars that are quality made and not total junk. Let’s face it, I am a sucker for any bargain basement musical instrument, whether it is a closeout special from one of the online music instruments dealers, or some no name guitar brand that I just happen across on one of the many online auction sites.
I have bought quite a few discounted axes that played and sounded really good, but I have also got some that had major issues with either the construction, sound, or playability. For example, I bought a six string that had a great neck, decent sounding pickups, and looked really good. After a couple of months of steady playing, I noticed that the neck was coming away from the body.
When I took off the neck, I noticed that the bolts holding the guitar’s neck to the instrument’s body were stripped. Upon closer inspection, I could see that the body was made out of pressed wood (which is basically sawdust and glue which is molded into a shape… 
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I have also had others that had serious hardware and playability issues, such as frets placed so poorly on the fretboard that the edge of the neck felt like it could cut me, a bridge that was made out of plastic painted to look like metal, tuning pegs that had gaps in the teeth (these were inside sealed tuning pegs) and electronics that just quit on me or started giving me weird sounds when electrical current was turned on…
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
All in all, none of these were any big deal, as most of these axes did not cost me very much, and I was able to use some of the parts off of all of them.
My goal in this cheap electric guitar is to show you some things to look for when you want to purchase an affordable six string so that you can avoid some of the absolute junk that is out there… 
-Mac
Guide To Buying A Cheap Electric Guitar – A Quick Look
What to Look Out For in The Electric Guitar Body
What to Look For In a Good Guitar Neck
Getting Quality Electric Guitar Hardware: Bridge, Nuts, Frets, Tuners, etc.
How the Finish of Your Guitar Affects the Price
How to Save a Lot By Buying Your Axe Direct From a Distributor
Where to Buy Clearance, Closeout, and Discontinued Music Instruments
Cheap Gear, Amps, and Effects Pedals
What to Look Out For in The Guitar Body
Like I mentioned above, I have had a guitar made out of fiberboard that the bolts holding on the neck stripped out of. Some cheaply made electrical guitars make the bodies out of this type of material then hide it with thick paint. Some even go as far as laminating the body with a wood grain pattern so that it appears to be made of solid wood. This is especially true of some finished with a sunburst finish. Just make sure that it is made of solid wood.
But here is the thing… some of these guitar manufacturers that make cheap axes advertise that their instruments are made of solid wood, and actually they are, but made with several pieces glue together. Any guitar should have no more that three pieces of wood on the main part of the body, consisting of a center block and two wings, and most have just two blocks. (A carved, or quilted maple top is additional on top of the main body.)
I have seen cheap Explorer and Flying V shaped guitars that had 5 pieces of wood…
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
What to Look For In a Good Guitar Neck
The most important thing to make sure that your electric guitar neck has, no matter how cheap the price, is a truss rod. Without one, the neck will surely warp.
Even though guitars with truss rods bow due to climate conditions or how it is stored, it can easily be set straight with an adjustable truss rod. It can also be used to eliminate fret buzz and can be used to adjust the action on the neck.
One other thing about necks on some inexpensive guitars is that the frets are either not set properly, or not flush with the edges of the neck, which makes it uncomfortable to play. (I bought one like that the other day, and it was from a well know name brand, maybe that was why it was on clearance for 5o bucks… )
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
Getting Quality Electric Guitar Hardware: Bridge, Nuts, Frets, Tuners, etc.
The most important thing to look at on the hardware is the bridge and tuners. Although these may be painted black or have a gold or chrome look, they should be made of steel. I have had some that were made out of cheap metal alloys (known as pot metal) and even had one that was made of plastic which broke when I tried to adjust it.
The tuners should have a decent tuning ratio of at least 12 to 1, preferably 18 to 1 for easy tuning. The best nuts are made of graphite or bone, but on an el-cheapo you will most likely be looking at plastic, and that is ok.
As far as pickups, you will probably be looking at stock pickups, but if you can score one with Dimarzio, EMG, or Seymor Duncans, that is always a plus…
How the Finish of Your Guitar Affects the Price
One of the biggest factors determining the electric guitars price is the finish. You can find stripped down plain models of guitars that can cost much less that its dressed up version.
This is a pretty good example of how basically the same guitar model can differ in price after dressing it up with trapezoid fretboard inlays, 3 ply body and headstock binding, a flamed maple carved top, and covered pickups with antiqued pickup rings.
The plain one probably plays and sounds just as good, made by the same company.
The price difference is a few benjamins though…
When looking to save a lot of money on buying an electric guitar, you can make your money go a lot further by getting one of these plain jane models and get the same sound and playability…
Just something to keep in mind when looking for a bargain…
How to Save a Lot By Buying Your Axe Direct From a Distributor
One way you can save a lot of money on a cheap electric guitar is to purchase one directly from a distributor. They save you a lot on the cost because they do not have large expenses that traditional retailers have. They ship directly from their warehouses so they do not have to pay rent on a lot of stores or have to hire a lot of staff like music store owners have to.
My absolute favorite distributor to buy musical instruments from is Rondo Music.
They have their electric guitars and bass guitars specially made for them by skilled luthiers in factories in China and South Korea. They market them under their own brand names, Agile Guitars, SX Guitars, and Douglas Guitars. (These are the exact same factories that make many of the name brand instruments.)
They save you a lot of money because they do not have to do a lot of advertising or pay for product placement in shops. The quality is really outstanding. ( I know because I personally own a few and love them… )
Here are a few of my favorite Cheap Electric Guitars From Rondo:
Douglas Shadow CSB from Rondo Music ($119.95)
SX Hawk RN QMD RDS Electric Guitar from Rondo Music ($119.95)
Douglas WF-150 TA from Rondo Music ($129.95)
SX Hawk MN FT 3TS from Rondo Music ($129.95)
Douglas Spad Natural from Rondo Music ($149.95)
SX Liquid RN P90 Stop 3TS from Rondo Music ($139.95)
Douglas Octanis Black from Rondo Music ($129.95)
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
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Where to Buy Clearance, Closeout, and Discontinued Music Instruments
There are many online musical instrument and guitars sellers to choose from, including auction sites. I save a lot of money by looking for closeouts, discontinued models, and clearance. You can also find some great used guitars and b stock guitars that just have some slight imperfections on the finish for really cheap.
buying closeouts and discontinued guitars
Here are some of their best deals on cheap electric guitars: Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
Ibanez GRX20 Electric Guitar ($149.99)
Epiphone SG Special from ($169.99)
Fender Squire Infinity Fat Strat from ($179.99)
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
Cheap Gear, Amps, and Effects Pedals
Here are a Few Cheap Guitar Amplifiers and Effects pedals I like…
Line 6 Spider 15 Guitar Combo Amp from ($99.00)
This amp is just fun to play with, loaded with different amp sounds and several effects like delay(echo), reverb, flanger (that cool airplane taking off sound), and chorus (sounds like two guitars playing)
Fender G-Dec Combo Amp from ($149.99)
Another really fun amp with effects and all that cool stuff. This one also has a built in drum machine and bass tracks to jam with. One man band time…
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
Peavy VYPYR Modeling Combo Amp ($99.99)
This is also a well priced combo amp packed full of special guitar effects and amp modeling (which means it can be made to sound like several more expensive amplifiers, cool huh?)
Having A cool multi effects pedal just makes playing my guitar so much more fun… (especially if your like me I play with my pedals as much as I play the guitar… )
Check out all the great deals on electric guitars at Rondo Music!
Digitech RP55 Digital Effects Pedal from ($49.95)
This cheap little pedal is one of my favorite toys. It replicates amps, has all sorts of special effects, and an drum loopmachine… just loads of fun.
Line 6 POD Multi Effect Pedal Board from ($149.99)
This pedal unit does almost everything but play the guitar for you…
You can even connect it up to a computer and use it as a mini recording studio for your guitar.
