Advice on buying a guitar

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  • ScottieP
    ScottieP Posts: 599
    This thread has been great for me too - just taken delivery of a first guitar for my 5 yr old son for Christmas and had been thinking about getting one too. Now have the Yamaha FG 700 MS as a strong contender and have seen it for about £140.

    Curious about Strats (wouldn't be buying one now though) - but how do you tell where they are made? e.g. Mexican strats - it doesn't seem to say on the Fender website - just curious. Thanks.

    ScottieP
    My cycling blog: http://girodilento.com/
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,715
    ScottieP wrote:
    This thread has been great for me too - just taken delivery of a first guitar for my 5 yr old son for Christmas and had been thinking about getting one too. Now have the Yamaha FG 700 MS as a strong contender and have seen it for about £140.

    Curious about Strats (wouldn't be buying one now though) - but how do you tell where they are made? e.g. Mexican strats - it doesn't seem to say on the Fender website - just curious. Thanks.

    ScottieP
    On Fenders, I'm pretty sure it says on the headstock sticker. Fender USA ones just have the Fender sticker, but I think MIJ and MIM guitars have a different sticker.
  • stfc1
    stfc1 Posts: 505
    ScottieP wrote:
    This thread has been great for me too - just taken delivery of a first guitar for my 5 yr old son for Christmas and had been thinking about getting one too. Now have the Yamaha FG 700 MS as a strong contender and have seen it for about £140.

    Curious about Strats (wouldn't be buying one now though) - but how do you tell where they are made? e.g. Mexican strats - it doesn't seem to say on the Fender website - just curious. Thanks.

    ScottieP

    Custom Shop, Artist Series, American Vintage, American Deluxe, American Standard, Classic Player and Highway One instruments are all made in USA, I think, while Standard, Deluxe and Road Worn models are made in Mexico. Fender Japan guitars tend not to get exported, although you will come across the odd one.

    Fender make so many versions of their guitars it gets very confusing, but the country of origin will be on there somewhere. Check the headstock, front and back, and the back of the neck just above where it joins the body. Anything pre-1981 or so will be US-made even though it might not say so because Fender only made guitars in the USA before then.

    Bored yet? I don't even think that answer is anywhere near comprehensive!
  • emjayjay
    emjayjay Posts: 39
    deswahriff wrote:
    ..emjayjay, I agree about the Blues Jr - I gigged mine for years, sometimes with an extension cab, mostly just mic'd up thru the pa. Its a cracking little amp and fine for home use as it still sounds good at low volume.

    It's not bad at low volumes, but I've got an attenuator for mine, that allows me to turn it up enough to get the valves working, without annoying the neighbours or breaking the house!
  • stratcat
    stratcat Posts: 160
    emjayjay wrote:
    deswahriff wrote:
    ..emjayjay, I agree about the Blues Jr - I gigged mine for years, sometimes with an extension cab, mostly just mic'd up thru the pa. Its a cracking little amp and fine for home use as it still sounds good at low volume.

    It's not bad at low volumes, but I've got an attenuator for mine, that allows me to turn it up enough to get the valves working, without annoying the neighbours or breaking the house!

    They are a nice lttle amp, deceptively loud for their rating and size. I use mine for jazz gigs and for playing in my rock band (sometimes I use my hot rod deluxe - now that is a loud amp!). Strat (with humbuckers) straight in to the front of the amp. No "talent box" pedals for me - the tones in the fingers lol :wink: :roll:
    Loud enough to be heard over the drums and with the humbuckers a nice overdriven sound, controlable with the volume pot (old school like!)
    A friend has a small blackstar combo that is nice, not as loud and more marshall sounding, but a good little combo all the same.

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