Will you regret buying a Cheap Guitar? KYG Guitar Podcast 

It blows my mind you don't have "So...there ya go." merch. I'm in the market for a new visor.

I recently bought a Jackson JS32 King V, a $300 guitar. The only reason I bought it was because I have been interested in Vs lately and it had an ok setup. I played the guitar in the store and felt like it had some potential. The fret ends were sharp as hell(every single fret) and setup needed fine tuning, but for $300 bucks, why not give it a try. I bought it, fixed the fret ends and the setup in about 2 hours, and have been playing the crap out of it. For metal rhythms and heavy distortion, the pickups are great. The guitar intonates well and the fretwork is excellent since I polished the shit out of the fret after filing down the fret ends. It really is true what they say, playing a cheap guitar through a $3000 amp is going to make the guitar sound awesome. This is the first really cheap guitar I've bought is about 9 years and I've been playing for 10. What truly sets a guitar apart for me is neck shape and fret work. If I can buy a $300 guitar and with some work make the neck and frets feel like a to 2k-3k guitar, this is a total game changer. It's completely changing what I think about guitar values.

The new Gibson amps remind me of when I started playing in the late 80's. I had just started playing and loved Metallica, Satriani, Vai, and Eric Johnson. I saved up my money and got an Ibanez EX350 and Crate G40CXL. Just after that my friend brought over this big brown amp that his grandma found someone throwing out in the garbage. It had glowing glass things in the back and it was kinda cool, but new amp had "Distortion". This garbage amp also sent current through the strings sometimes and I didn't like that. So, my parents were having a garage sale and I decided to put it out there with a little sign "$10 needs repair." I got it for free so I though $10 was great (at the time for a 16-year-old, it was enough to buy a meal for my girlfriend and I). Within a few minutes of the garage sale starting, a man was walking through the garage and saw the amp and asked, "Does that say $10 or $100?" I should have picked up on it and said "$100!", but I didn't and the next thing I know I had $10 in my hand and that guy was out of there. I went to the store where I bought my Crate (with "distortion") and told my salesman the story. He asked me if I remembered the amp name. I said, "Yeah it was a...Gibson Falcon." He said, "A Falcon...you mean like this?" He reached down under the counter and pulled a slightly better conditioned version of the amp I just sold. I said "Yeah...that's the one." He said "Of all the amps here in the store that the owner could play or purchase, this is his all-time favorite. And you had one given to you for free...and you sold it for $10." I sold a Gibson Falcon for $10 so I could play a Crate.

Squier Standards are my go-to used line -- nice features for low price, great Alnico stock pickups, takes easily available Fender replacement parts, and have full thickness bodies for mods. And yes, try to get it from a place with good return policy, because any used instrument can have surprises for you.

Hamer guitars was founded in 1973 in Wilmette Illinois. Today they are owned by KMC Music. They also own Ampeg and Washburn guitars

Good show with a lot of interesting questions and comments. Thanks Phill 👍✌️

I found this episode especially interesting lots of gear to discuss and very interesting topics

I bought the PAL800 v4 after hearing it on your channel. It is currently in route from Venezuela....can't wait to try it in person.

Thanks for the discount on Tim’s masterclass. I signed up for it and I am really impressed. He is a great teacher!

Tremendous podcast as always.

Every time I think about getting a Core PRS for teaching (I mainly do jazz gigs). I look at my S2 594 with 57/08 pickups, which is a dream to play if you have to use it 6 to 7 hours straight in a session. And I think that a Core is going to have just as many dings, scratches and chips as the S2. I don't collect, I use my instruments on a daily basis and I don't think having a Core would make a difference. And yes I get comments from some of my collector students about the abuse regularly, but oh well.

I have an S2 594 and love it. It's the guitar I reach for the most. I changed out my pickups to Bare Knuckle Old Guard and they are great in that guitar. Thornbuckers would also be a great choice. Honestly, I think 95% of the players with SE or S2 594's would probably be happy with the Epiphone Probuckers which punch above their weight.

Purchased a $179 Censtar relec’d purple tele from Amazon in November 2023. Plays great. It’s been my go-to couch guitar for a few months now.

Definitely to each their own, but I absolutely LOVE the soft V neck on my strat. I bought my strat when I didn't know one strat from the next, It happened to have soft V and 7.25r. After a few years, I wanted to replace the neck with a roasted maple 9.5r and it was available with the soft V and I was so happy. I got the best of all worlds, the radius I wanted, roasted maple AND the soft V. It's the perfect strat to me now.

Measuring neck thickness with strings on. I put a small wood block between the D and G strings that just fits between the strings and sticks up above the strings a bit. Then I measure from the bottom of the neck to the top of the wood block with a caliper. Last step is to subtract the thickness of the wood block from your measurement and you have the neck thickness. Very fast and easy.

I used to be in the nervous type of playing out with others(guitar players)…but practicing and practicing led to more performing.. to where I’m at now for the past 20 years ..the only guitarist in a 3 piece..when you have the confidence in your playing and the people your playing with..you’ve found your niche!!

I have the S2 Thinline 594. I lowered the pickups below the pickup rings to get that darkness out of the sound. I like it now.

Never regret buying a cheaper guitar - there’s alway that chance of finding a gem; it just happened to me with a modded Tele, with Strat neck and superb hardware. Heavily relic’d and I love it much to my surprise. For those that don’t cut it (for you) you flip them, there’s never very much, if any, $$$ wasted

"Playing With Pain": Way to go, Philip!! 12" Radius is my "Default", too! I also use about every "Floyd" imaginable... and they do indeed ALL work well. Maybe long-term durability issues with some "Licensed" units (due to materials), but I haven't gotten there, yet. Good Amateurs practice 'til they get it right. Good Pros practice 'til they NEVER get it wrong! Where do "You" fit in? With a properly set up Pedalboard, a GOOD P/A can drive a "Stereo Rig" just FINE!!

Love the show! Watched your You Tube channel all along but first time listening here and catching up! Took me 347 episodes but here I am!! Lol

I use to clean my brothers guitar and fix electric stuff from him looking forward to learning to play saving to get my first guitar love your show

I love my 1965 Pleasant guitar that cost me $15 and included a 10 W Takt amp. I raised the action on it, and I’ve been using it as my favorite slide guitar for over 30 years.

You will only regret getting a cheaply made guitar, not a cheap guitar. I've bought a lot of cheap guitars that were well made and served me very well. Also, if you want certain specs and you buy a bargain model rather than paying a couple hundred more buckaroos with the appointments you prefer, you will regret it. I've been there. But for me, most guitars are mod platforms. I play strats, mostly but not exclusively Fender, and I mod them for different reasons. Also, I look at price and quality. My main guitar now is a Sonic Squier Strat HSS and I love it. I'll still be changing the bridge bucker. Everything else is o-okay at the moment.

Great show Phil, so you are human after all, even you have to fight with the Tech. Please can we have the scream back at the start of the show. PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE ❤❤.

I love my $150 Squier Mustang so much I’m thinking about buying a Warmoth neck for it. No regrets here, it’s a fun guitar that would become great with a decent neck. I’d love a more expensive, nicer Mustang, but I want the comfort carves that Fender seems unwilling to do on those.

If you buy the PRS McCarty, 594SE make sure to get a Plek job or fret leveling job and buy yourself a crowning file to fix the frets that will hang over the edges.

You can use a micrometer to measure neck thickness with the strings on.

Glad I never got rid of my old 80s 2203. Theres no replacing that feeling.

I bought the SE Paul’s guitar. And I’m obsessed with just opening the case and looking at it couple times a day even if I’m not playing. Totally turns me on

On PRS Core's vs SE's, its both for me. Core's are beautiful instruments I keep for their uniqueness mainly, like the indian rosewood neck ones, ore the 3xSoapbar models. Other than that, SE's everytime. They are so great and reliable. Just change the pickups to whatever you fancy, if that gives you the sound you are after. SE's quality is really great.

My PRS DGT SE gold top just arrived after 7 months backorder... except for 1 or 2 sharp frets, its perfect.. Worth twice the price honestly...

Hahaha! I love the "Free Ribs and Crab Meat" bit!

I have a 2003 Les Paul Standard which is swiss cheese weight relieved and it is a very comfortable weight.

As far as the guy commenting on selling his amps and going for the ax fx. I will tell you during the pandemic i bought my dream amp, a triple rec with the matching overzised cab. It cost me 2600.00 brand new for the head then, now the price is up to 3300.00 for the same head!!! Amp modeling stuff is great but i would definitely keep my amps. I already lived thru this once back when line 6 first came out. HOLD ON TO YOUR AMPS.

all 3 of my 60s fenders 2 jags and 1 mustang have warmoth necks with 12 inch radius finger boards.

Hey Phil, I’m obviously not watching this live here but I’m totally with you regarding the $1,000.00 Gibson pups 🤣 The amps though, I watched a video on Alamo music’s channel and they only had the smaller amp but it sounded pretty damn good to me? I figure if I ever actually purchased it though it would have to be the larger one with the tremolo and larger wattage though for only 300 more ( which did seem kinda cheaper than I’d have expected too ). I guess I really need to hear one in person one of these days and play through one though 🤙

A pro-player is a player who makes their living with their instrument. I've made very little money on my many decades of playing. As much as I'd love to call myself a pro, or even an ex-pro, I never was. A lot of players can play at a pro-level, but what separates the wheat from the chaff is consistently making a living with your instrument and building up a roster of artists you've worked with. RU-vid is full of pretender-pros who make their living selling gear or lesson videos and get endorsements, which I find absurd. It's misleading for young guitar players. One of the only people worth listening to is Tim Pierce who has a very strong rep as a pro, both touring and studio, for decades. Tim knows his stuff and he's done the job. Don't waste time with all the demo pimps out there. Tim is the real deal.

48:40 Talking about coated strings, specifically Elixirs, only the wound ones are coated, the unwound ones are actually stainless steel, so they could potentially do even more damage to nickel frets.

Regarding buying less expensive guitars: since 2020 I have bought a PRS SE Standard, G&L Tribute ASAT Classic semi-hollow, and a slightly used Fender Player Strat. Total spent is under $2K. Each one is wonderful guitar that I enjoy playing with no upgrades needed.

Epiphone Sheraton in the mid 90’s were MINT !!

My les Paul is the chambered style, and it sounds better than any non relieved body i have, including my heritage standard.

FR Special is ok but plan on replacing it at some point. They wear out given the cheaper grade metal. Then very hard to keep in tune. Buying a guitar with a FR 1000 is a better investment.

I saw the Pumkins play reverend and Yamahas that are chambered they sounded just as great as the lps they played

Regarding 'Will you regret buying a cheaper guitar?' . As with most material objects the rule of diminishing returns applies. If your expectations exceed the realities then you might regret your purchase. If however the cheaper guitar gives you acceptable playing performance for the price you paid, you'll probably have no regrets. Would I like a custom shop guitar? Sure would. Would it make me a better player? Probably not. I might well regret going for an expensive option. The only saving grace would be the resale value, unless of course you've been foolish enough to mod it. I personally like to go for the used guitars that nobody wants and try to make them into something playable. Infinitely more challenging but also satisfying.

The 594 is my favorite guitar ever, and the reasons are exactly the reasons why you don't like it. Love how easy it is to handle the strings. Shows how guitars are so personal preference :)

I thank Phil McKnight for buying all the light guitars, so I can have all the heavy ones. "Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable." In all seriousness though. Les Pauls neck dive if they're too light. I prefer weight on my shoulder over weight on my fretting hand.

My se cu24 had a lousy imput jack, poor tuning stability, and sounded very sterile when clean. I'd be willing to give another chance. However the core prs guitars are so sweet 🤘

I chew my frets up… ive been getting better for having a lighter touch but still. I just use regular ernie balls. I will say the frets on old japanese ibanez seem to last longer and the sub zero or whatever frets on the newer ones do seem a bit more durable than standard nickel. Havent had anything with stainless yet though

Whenever i buy a budget guitar, even if I'm happy with it, i end up returning it within the month and invest in the more expensive guitar. It always happens.

I finally pulled a trigger on my first US made guitar. A used Music Man Majesty Petrucci signature guitar and cannot wait for it to arrive. After complaining that the used guitar prices in the UK hadn't dropped and were sky high, all of a sudden there was one legit guitar on eBay that didn't totally bust the budget. My missus disagrees of course but at the price I know for a fact that I can get at least the money back if I don't love it and quite possibly a profit too if that was to happen. The difference between getting a brand new Sterling Majesty and a used but mint condition US made one was 650 gbp which in my mind made it a no brainer. Not that my current Sterling is bad in any way but it was a lot easier to justify an Ernie Ball Majesty compared to the Indonesian counterpart. Do I expect to all of a sudden have a different guitar sound? No. But nice things are....nice :-) And anything that can incentify you to practice even more than you do is worth every penny in my book.

I’m not sure you can call an epiphone Sheraton 2 an entry level guitar, it was my first electric purchased 2009. Only electric I play besides a tele since those two don’t cross over very well. To me it feels like a perfect instrument. But maybe. That’s the 14 years years of playing it.

IMO, the value to price ratio is sweetest in the $600 - $1000 range. There are some outliers though. Like the Squier Classic Vibe for $450-ish. Also, ribs and crab won’t talk me out of a visit to Kiesel…but since I’m not going to Kiesel, I will gladly settle for the food.

1st and 2nd fret on my stainless steel are getting very slight divots after 5 years. It happens!

I want. How do you feel about gretches as far as variance between price points. Seems to be three or four different levels. I watch this. Hoping you might touch on that subject. Is it worth it to pony up the dough to get a Japanese made model?

Bought two cheap guitars,a chibson cherry burst standard LP with a one piece body and one piece neck, and a Angus Young SG with lightening bolt inlays,also a chibson, I have zero regrets,not only do they look play and feel amazing,I only paid $220 each, even the pickups rock,boy has china stepped up their game,I will paint over the logo, and enjoy the best budget guitar you can get for the money,I don't see these guitars falling apart like the haters claim,nor will it hurt the American guitar market, which can't compete with the quality control coming out of china,and just because I don't want to wait to save up for the Gibson version of these guitars,doesn't mean that I don't want a real one someday,until then I'll play my tribute chibbys.

True. My 1st electric was an Epi Genesis Custom, $300 in 1979 = $1300 today, alotta money for a 15lb crappy guitar....

I've had a lot of pedals go out on me. My VOX Satriani Time Machine started completely cutting my signal to the amp. My PRS Mary Cries the same, with loud static pops and then it kills signal on and off. I had the Steve Vai Ibanez .... can't remember the name, but it was the dual pedal with overdrive and distortion, just stop working. Same with the Electro Harmonix Metal Muff... would start popping sound off. Same with an Algal Bloom (catalin bread or some other botique builder). So... I'm now hesitant to buy pedals that I'm not sure won't be around to replace in the future.

The 5 k customs shop guitar really is nicer it’s a feel thing especially if you like the feel of an old guitar

Hey Phil is always thanks for your video you know I don't think that I've missed one of your q&a's since I started watching you and I was trying to think it's got to be somewhere around 2016 so I've been watching you seven or eight years you were one of the first guitar channels that I found and stuck with and that was what got me to purchase my first guitar again after 28 years and I bought a used to Gibson SG my special special it's a 2005 special but it came with a wine red finish with some pretty sure I had to have been either special ordered or maybe it was a a run of guitars from the store because they didn't make specials and wine red gloss finish for anyway I wanted to comment on the stereo rig I'm running two weeks at once I have a switcher box so I'm running on one side a katana a katana version of I'm sorry a boss katana 100 version 1 with no upgrades no updates or anything I run it just like a regular ramp it's a lot easier for me because there's no screen orp well I found very interesting though I used the katana as wet and the two lamp is dry and again what I feel very interested in is it for example of using the delay it sounds like it's panning from right to left it's strange the effects actually stand stereo they pan and I don't know if it's cuz I'm in a small room or what but it actually gives affect with certain effects I'm just using a splitter you know an A and b splitter it's a pretty cool one I can run both amps at 1:00 so 1:00 a.m. will reach up individually my guitars it's just the the sound is just from the room of course it's not true stereo but it's cool that sounds pretty cool and again thanks for your video Phil always looking forward to the weekend to start off with my question and answer 2 hours of relaxing interesting and fun topics and questions and best of all I always learn something sincerely about the blind bedroom PS excuse typos misspelled words lack of punctuation etc I'm not a bad typer I'm not even illiterate although people tell me I am apparently it's just cuz I'm blind and my speech to text says its own unique take on the English language and how things😅

I was wondering how you feel Lollar's reproduction of the horseshoe magnet pickup that was in the classic Rickenbacker compares to the Gibson thousand dollar PAF set? I have nothing but love for Lollar pickups as a rule but they're both pickups I'm probably never going to buy.

Phil, my name is Phil too but why don't you have a video explaining the fender micro tilt system?

Hey I saw my amp in a side by side against a PRS 15 watt 1x12 combo tube amps both. It made me very happy that they were to me just about the same Amp, And I've never bougtht anything PRS becasue I'm not in love with the look of most of their stuff. I like the traditional look and cool looking new stuff . I like the strat PRS and The TImmy Pearse LP PRS. But the amp I have is the Egnator Tweeker 15 watt. And I don't know what happened but I asume out here in LA If Bruce is in bad health or he is getting away from the amp lifestyle but they dumped a bunch of that stuff on a Guitar Center on the Westside of LA... Westwood in fact. But I tried to tell everyone about it, But mine is actually a new amp no box no warentee BUt I got mine for $345 Tax included I had the head one but I like the combos so the guy at GC let me have the last one. BUt they had stacks of All different sized Egnators LIke now they still have a nice littel stack of the Tweeker 88 Head for $650. It kills me that guys walk by these grerat amps over to something not even close to these amps quality or features from $1300 to $3000. I'm just saying I don't think he sold what he thought he would and I think think the way Bruce works is like he isn't a manufacturer. IT's like the way I work I dont'own a companie I own a Job.. Meaning when I go on Vacation it doesn't continiue to opperate without my wonderfiul and all knowing Knowledge because I'm too controlling and it works for me but if I do things again I will highter people and run it like a corperation. Only because I don't want my Trophy wife to stuggle after she bumps me off I would hate to see her and the guy who hits me with my fork lift and kills me I would not want thejm to have to strugglel while they raise my child / children make it 4 or them at least. BUt what I'm saying is Bruce is probably not going to be making stuff anymore and that is just my guess and I even wondered if the PRS 15 WAtt was an Egnator design. or it may just be like the amp I have. But these amps Are twelve to fifteen hundred bucks any day of the month. And what is cool about Egnators and PRS They both like little switches that make things very adaptable . Bruce is Famus for haveing all these little switches everywhere. And I know when I saw all those little switches I couldn't help but think it was a case of most every other time I see these littel switches and I dont'think they are even connected to any thing. BUt with Bruce Every little switch changes the internal wiring of your amp to be exactly like the amp is describes like British or American etc. there is an entire diffetent circut and some of these bigger ones than the one I have are 2 channel amps master Volume and He invented the amps that first did the overdrive his first Mod took an GIbson GOldtone and Put it as the first sage of an amp that's main amp was a Marshall 200 watt I want to say super lead or am I am I making like a Puggle. "It's alive". Not Gene Wilder I see myself more as the Robot Chicken Mad Scientist. I do love Gene Wilder too ... That 's just how cool I think the BORG Chicken is. I'm going to name my Tweeker 15 Borg- Chicken. Thank You for that . I know no one is still reading unless you are old school cuz this is like an entire book for the Twitter Generation. What do you thing I was saying when I tried that platform ???? LOL I was cussing their As Is. lol

cant watch live anymore but im here lol.

Xotic SL Drive is a nice simple Marshal pedal

Unless you are buying some expensive exclusive collector kind of guitar or gear, or Vintage, mod the guitar and make it your own, this is partially why people all sound the same, I don't think there is a musician that was ever famous for playing an off the shelf/rack guitar unless it had unusual unique qualities versus others. Signatures and Custom shops are supposed to be non-compromise versions of something specific because in reality guitar manufacturers have to cheap out somewhere in an off the shelf product to make marketing and Pricing make sense, so its kind of expected that you will alter the instrument that essentially comes to you as a blank slate.

Just because most gear is good, and little is bad stuff, doesn’t mean it is easy to pick the gear that is best for you Because it is personal I have played guitars that were well made, sounded great, etc. but there was something that didn’t do it for me. Sometimes I could pinpoint, sometimes not. Yes it’s a good or better guitar, but not for me. But another guitar is, and I bond with it instantly, or at least quickly.

Bison should do a headless Lp modern. I would buy it in a second

I owned a BOSS Analog Delay pedal from the early 1980s that had a potentiometer break. I brought it to a guitar shop and they had an electronics repair person off site. They called him and he said that he could fix it. It cost about $20 for a new pot. This was before the pots were mounted to a circuit board. I later sold it for $200 on ebay. That is about what I paid for it in 1983. It sold for more because it was made in Japan.

Don't be weary. Means yer tired. Be wary. Means yer cautious....

doubt the guy will ever see this, but the dragon 2 prs usa pickups were amazing and i am sad i let them go, but my friend has them in the se i sold him cheap.

Oh, yes!!

RE: handwired vs. PCB amps: For me it's not about the sound necessarily (I am just not that good). It's about buying for life as an investment. PCB based amps are extremely difficult to repair, especially in the day and age of forced obsolescence. Once that PCB is end of life, if it burns up, the amp is basically useless unless you have a master technician.

Good question. I have cheap guitars and i don’t regret buying them. I also have some expensive guitars and I don’t regret buying them either. I see each guitar as a different entity and I don’t look at the headstock, i look at the shape, looks, colors, electronics etc. it’s ok to buy either cheap or expensive guitars but what i have noticed and it irks me is, a lot of people who buy the expensive brands buy them to be posers, as if they gained some sort of status. That kind of mentality has put me off from buying expensive guitars. Never say never but if i buy another pricey guitar it will be a rare case and a must have for me, otherwise I’ll stick with the less expensive ones. I mean if I had the option to go to an ice cream shop and get me a delicious $12 sundae complete with all the trimmings or i could go to serendipity’s and buy their $1000 sundae. Now, would i pay that mulch to get it? Of course not. A sundae is a sundae and tho the $1k sundae would be the best thing ever, it’s still not worth $1k to me.

Put the Willhelm scream back in!

Gibson amps: do they have USA circuit boards or are they imported?

In most cases I surtenly had. I got my box of Shame there are six affordable guitars (two oversea Squiers) tossed in that box. Shame on those makers and shame on me. Those guitars they got such an battery of faults and flaws that from my point of view they are not worth working on. As an exampel my cheap 140 bucks LP gold top knock off showed as promising so I worked on it and it turned out to be as very good I love it but hey it took me many hours and that I also needed some quality parts, quality will cost, 200 bucks on top that was. So only one of seven affordables made it thru I can take it is kind of a fun but seriously one will be better off by putting money on a expensive one made by an big maker a big Brand.

İ regreted buying three harley bentons. Tele hb35 and lp

To Slightly disagree with you on the 1k vs 5k guitars. There is a pretty significant difference IMHO when you get to bench-made brands like Collings, Benedetto, Castedosa. The trick is assigning a value for the differences.

McCarty 594 SE Thinline is an amazing SG, or better

If it sounds good and feels good, its a good amp. Price be dammed

I regret buying my 800 euros gretsch made um China, the guitar is good but have some defects, the usual. But for this price and with some more money i would get some better quality. That's why i play Ibanez Prestige and i am very happy.

no money to the dealer for a warranty card but the PIA doesn't come back and have me looking through years of receipts so they can prove warranty

@31:00 but why pickups? If you're in the market of some 59 les paul merch why not buy a replica? Why a separate set of pickups? Who buys pickups besides musicians trying to upgrade the sound of their instrument?

here's an off-topic crazy question for everybody. Are affordable wireless systems now more reliable than patch cords? I don't really care about wireless, but maybe we're at the point where buying a $150 system is more economical than continuously needing to replace patch cords.

Adam Audio gives you 3 years warranty on their monitors but if you fill in the online warranty form they extend it to 5 years 41:28

12" is the master radius.

When I started playing guitar in the 1970's, there was no way to find a good cheap guitar (acoustic, but probably electric also). Today it's possible to find cheap guitars (maybe on sale) below $300 that are stunningly good and rival very expensive guitars. Technology etc. has made this possible in many things including autos, electronics, and healthcare.

Tell us about that ROLLING VOLUME pedal

Can those of us that are already signed up Tim with join the hang out too?

selling all the amps to get an axe fx is a mistake. keep the amps, buy the modeller on credit and make a decision during the return window.

I prefer the Fender Princeton 64 HW over the Gibson Falcon 20. So in my opinion the Falcon is overpriced.

I don't think it's legal for a company to not honor their warranty for not filling out their card. Hamer originated in the Chicago area, then when Kaman bought them, they moved to CT. Fender bought Kaman and killed Hamer in 2012. The name is now owned by some other company and there were some Indonesian copies of a few models, but nothing from them in a few years.

Spark vs. Gorilla? At this point, the gorilla has actually been used in alot more recordings...gibson using more weight relieved designs? Some designs couldn't bear that change without neckdive becoming a foregone conclusion

The crazy thing is that, inflation adjusted, the gorilla amp cost drastically more than the spark

Speaking of how guitars were either good or cheap trash in the old days, I remember in the mid 80s the cheapest guitar you could buy new in a guitar shop cost $200. And this would be some no name ugly guitar. I dont know about the quality as I never bought one. But I checked on a online inflation converter and $200 in the mid 80s would be $500 now. So basically there were no cheap electric guitars back then.

I think you misunderstood the statement about most ppl thinking they're pros when in reality they just play in the bedroom. I don't think he meant that they overestimate their skills- he means they buy gear as if they're pros and not just someone playing in the bedroom. I hear ppl say this often- and I don't understand it- tbh I think it's just sour ppl who can't afford what they want so they get angry at the ppl who can. Because I know they swear they wouldn't buy the stuff even if they had the money- but that's a lie, and we all know it. Give them the cash and watch'em go- their shirt tail won't touch their back before they have a nice, expensive guitar on the counter to pay for- and some new pedals. Most likely the same pedals they've been insisting are too expensive and sound no better than a Chinese clone. And by a week later they're a huge gear snob. You can laugh- and I am being silly- but I swear I've seen this happen more than once. Guitar is about having fun guys- whatever is the most fun- that's what you should do- imo. If that means being a gear snob- be the snobbiest gear snob you can be man. If it means buying the cheapest used clones you can find- do that. Pointing out to someone that they wasted their money makes zero sense- we all wasted our money- no one needs a guitar at any price. It's purely luxury item for having fun.

The secret ingredient in Gibson’s $1000 pickups is litigation

know your pickup case

I've never heard anyone say "I wish I would have bought the cheaper version."

4000 dollars is the answer