Cheap Electric Guitars: What to Look For

There are two kinds of people who buy cheap electric guitars, beginners learning to play guitar, and more experienced players that want a “beater” guitar, or something to tinker with. A test bed if you will. As an experienced player, you kind of know what to look for in a guitar, but as a beginner who’s never played before, you can’t really tell what’s a good guitar and what isn’t. Obviously on a cheap guitar corners have to be cut, but there are places where it’s ok to cut corners and places where it’s not so good. With the advent of computer controlled machines factories can now make quality guitars cheaper than ever. It was impossible to find a guitar under $100 15 years ago, but it’s possible today if you look. Let’s take a look at some of the important factors in buying an inexpensive guitar.

Guitar Tuners

First look at the tuners and neck. These are possibly the two most important factors in playability. If they tuners won’t stay in tune then everything else doesn’t matter. It’s ok if the tuners aren’t sealed, but check the action and see if they turn smoothly and that the guitar stays in tune.

Neck and Frets

Make sure the neck is relatively straight and that the guitar has a truss rod. If so, the neck can be adjusted. Make sure the frets are smooth and polished on the edges, run your hand up and down the neck, sometimes they can be a little rough. Check the bridge, if the action is really high, and the bridge saddles are at their lowest point, there’s not much you can do to lower it. You can check the nut slots too, sometimes they can be filed out to lower the action, most guitars come with high action from the factory, leaving it up to the player to tweak it to their preference.

You’re probably not going to find binding, or an awesome finish on a sub $100 guitar, which is ok, those things don’t affect playability. As long as the neck is good and the tuners stay in tune, then a cheap electric guitar can at least be made playable.