Do More Expensive Guitars Sound Better?
Maybe you are asking yourself this question for various reasons but one of the reasons people ask this question is because some people believe that you get what you pay for. So the more expensive a guitar is the better it is going to sound. Some will be asking this question because they could be thinking “I want to play the guitar or want to get a better guitar but what if it costs a fortune to get a guitar that sounds any good?” because although your skills may not be high yet, who wants a guitar that sounds bad?
However the answer here is not the answer you might be thinking. Although it is true in a lot of situations that you get in fact get what you pay for, when it comes to buying guitars, this principle is not always true. Let me put it this way:
Does price indicate how good the guitar sounds? Up to a point
It is true that a guitar that costs £100 or dollars or whatever your currency is, is likely not going to be as good as a guitar that costs £300 and a guitar that costs £500 or over is likely to sound the best out of all of them but from there price is no longer a significant factor.
You can have a guitar that costs £500 that sounds better than a guitar that costs thousands. It is weird, crazy and somewhat outrageous in some way isn’t it? You wouldn’t think this would be the case with buying a guitar and the idea that you can spend less and get something better is pretty unusual.
So for those of you who was going to choose a guitar because it is more expensive, not so fast! You could be making a massive mistake. But what determines whether a guitar will sound good or not and what things should you look for?
The determining factor between a good and bad guitar is all about how it is setup
This is what causes a guitar to sound good and a bad setup is what causes a guitar to sound terrible. And just because a guitar is expensive, doesn’t mean that it is setup well! This is why price is not a factor on which guitar is better unless you are comparing a cheap Squier to a £500 guitar.
It is true that a guitar that costs £100 or dollars or whatever your currency is, is likely not going to be as good as a guitar that costs £300 and a guitar that costs £500 or over is likely to sound the best out of all of them but from there price is no longer a significant factor.
You can have a guitar that costs £500 that sounds better than a guitar that costs thousands. It is weird, crazy and somewhat outrageous in some way isn’t it? You wouldn’t think this would be the case with buying a guitar and the idea that you can spend less and get something better is pretty unusual.
So for those of you who was going to choose a guitar because it is more expensive, not so fast! You could be making a massive mistake. But what determines whether a guitar will sound good or not and what things should you look for?
The determining factor between a good and bad guitar is all about how it is setup
This is what causes a guitar to sound good and a bad setup is what causes a guitar to sound terrible. And just because a guitar is expensive, doesn’t mean that it is setup well! This is why price is not a factor on which guitar is better unless you are comparing a cheap Squier to a £500 guitar.
Because a guitar can be really expensive but the setup is really bad and there can be a guitar that is 50% of the price or less that is setup better. Therefore that guitar is way better! Usually the most expensive guitars are expensive because they either look really good (though some I don’t like the look of) or because the brand is famous.
Take a look at Gibson Les Paul guitars or any Gibson guitar, or Fender guitars or any brand that is famous. Now compare that to a brand which is not as famous or big. The difference is hundreds if not thousands isn’t it? But the cheaper guitar can sometimes be setup better since they may put more care into it if they can’t guarantee someone will buy based on the brand name.
I am not saying that big brands always have bad guitars or that expensive guitars are always setup bad. I am also not saying that less expensive guitars or less successful brands are always better. There are expensive guitar that are good and some that are horrible. There are cheaper guitars that are good and cheaper guitars that sound dreadful. Every brand has good or bad guitars. What I am saying is that you must test to see the setup of the guitar to see which guitar is the best.
Play through each guitar and look for things like:
- Any fret buzz? If so, is the action too low, is the truss rod too tight or does the guitar have bad fret levelling (this is NOT good as this can cause dead notes).
- Is there a lot of excessive pickup noise when you don’t play? If there is than the guitar is badly shielded .
- Does bends ring out or do bends cut off at some places? This is a pet peeve of mine.
- Does the guitar drop down when you don’t have your fretting hand holding the guitar? This will be harder to play if it does because the neck and body is unbalanced so you have to hold the guitar and play.
About the author: Jake Willmot has students taking guitar lessons in Exmouth with him and all of them are overcoming the frustrations they had before with their guitar playing. One of them was unsure about how to practice what they were given before by a previous teacher. With that teacher they just got pieces of paper but with Jake they learned how to get to the point where they can confidently play any time!
Take a look at Gibson Les Paul guitars or any Gibson guitar, or Fender guitars or any brand that is famous. Now compare that to a brand which is not as famous or big. The difference is hundreds if not thousands isn’t it? But the cheaper guitar can sometimes be setup better since they may put more care into it if they can’t guarantee someone will buy based on the brand name.
I am not saying that big brands always have bad guitars or that expensive guitars are always setup bad. I am also not saying that less expensive guitars or less successful brands are always better. There are expensive guitar that are good and some that are horrible. There are cheaper guitars that are good and cheaper guitars that sound dreadful. Every brand has good or bad guitars. What I am saying is that you must test to see the setup of the guitar to see which guitar is the best.
Play through each guitar and look for things like:
- Any fret buzz? If so, is the action too low, is the truss rod too tight or does the guitar have bad fret levelling (this is NOT good as this can cause dead notes).
- Is there a lot of excessive pickup noise when you don’t play? If there is than the guitar is badly shielded .
- Does bends ring out or do bends cut off at some places? This is a pet peeve of mine.
- Does the guitar drop down when you don’t have your fretting hand holding the guitar? This will be harder to play if it does because the neck and body is unbalanced so you have to hold the guitar and play.
About the author: Jake Willmot has students taking guitar lessons in Exmouth with him and all of them are overcoming the frustrations they had before with their guitar playing. One of them was unsure about how to practice what they were given before by a previous teacher. With that teacher they just got pieces of paper but with Jake they learned how to get to the point where they can confidently play any time!
