Favorite "cheap"guitar?

[hexabuzz]

Ok, so what's your favorite "cheap" guitar?

What I mean is, what's the guitar that has no business being as good as it is for what you paid for it, and that you can't seem to put down, and manages to put some of your more expensive axes to shame?

One of my guilty pleasure is a PRS SE Soapbar. This thing is about as stripped down as it gets, but it just feels GOOD to play, and the P90's really scream. They're discontinued, but pretty easy to find, especially the Soapbar II's which are double cutaway.

www.prsguitars.com/sesoapbar/index.html

My other favorite is a G&L Tribute ASAT Special Deluxe Carved top. Yes it's just a flame veneer, but the carve really sets it apart, and the fit and finish are impeccable. For some reason, I really dig the 9" radius - Not something I'd want on every guitar, but it just seems to suit this one, and the kind of stuff you'd be playing on a Tele.

www.glguitars.com/instruments/TributeSeries/guitars/ASAT_Special_Deluxe_Carved_Top/index.asp

I think another reason that I like it so much is that I got a ridiculous deal on it. To this day, I still think the dealer gave me a wrong price - He said he wanted to clear it out of stock, and these things new are $699, and I got it for $395... Would I pay $699 for it? Probably not, but it's worth WAY more than what I paid for it.

So what are some of your favorites?

[Infinite Ego]

I bought a vintage danelectro convertible plus original case all in near mint condition for $50....played it for a week and sold it for a handsome profit. That was my favorite cheap guitar ;-)

[mirth]

I have a rondomusic SX bass that I got for 89 dollars. It's a pj bass. I put about an hour into setting it up and it sounds great. Can't believe its so good. Better than any fender Mexican bass I've ever played, sounds a lot better. Very resonant. I have no problem gigging with that bass.

[Infinite Ego]

Ooo, I forgot my $10 acoustic I bought at Music Go Round. I recorded all those third bridge acoustic things with it. Man, I got a lot of milage out of that thing.

[chrissh]

A Stella acoustic from the '60s, $50 about ten years ago in a local pawn shop. Solid birch, I believe. Action so high I can hang a hammock under the strings at night, intonation resembles a Martian dialect, but it sounds amazing. Unfortunately, I changed the strings last year; it sounded much better when they were 50 years old.

I had another '60s import electric Decca, till the neck bowed beyond hope in the '90s. I have lots of 4-track recordings of that thing that I'll salvage. One unpotted hyper-microphonic pickup, the ground may have been tuned to shortwave, generous with feedback and clangs.

My first electric was a similar guitar, a very used 'Global' from Betty's Collectibles. She also sold ornamental candles, incense and decorative ninja weapons to middle-schoolers and grandmothers. That was probably a sign.

[aliensporebomb]

Well, the 12-string Samick I traded an unplayable banjo for was a good deal. The 6-string Rogue bass is surprisingly good for what it is (I still remember Kate saying "did they ship you the wrong one?").

I am digging the roland ready strat which was a trade for the other strat - they actually wired the bridge pickup to the tone control so the bridge pickup is usable which is more than I can say for most strats that don't have the bridge pickup wired to a tone control. That wasn't really "cheap" and I'd have to spend a lot more today to replace it but....

[oppedisano]

Speaking of cheap guitars.....

Some of you might know about the $100 Guitar Project. The concept originated from Nick Didkovsky and Charles O'Meara and the guitar has traveled around the world for almost two years now. I had it for a week back in Jan-Feb 2011. Got it from Elliot Sharp and handed it off to Ron Anderson. You can read more about it and hear some excerpts here:

www.100dollarguitar.com/

The project is wrapping up and a 2CD will be released later this year on Bridge Records. Some pretty cool players involved: Henry Kaiser, Fred Frith, Nels Cline, Mike Keneally, Rhys Chatham, etc...

www.facebook.com/groups/100dollarguitar/

[bear]

Got a Fernandes strat copy for $80 in a CL deal. Not a cool Japanese one, I don't think, but it's got a weight to the sound. Still need to figure out how to trick it out, probably putting big, funky pickups in the swimming pool route.

[brucestevens]

My First Act Paul Westerberg that I made fretless still is fun.

I have an Epiphone acoustic I traded a $40 electric guitar for in college - still playing it.

[ck1]

My Franken-tele with the Carvin neck that I bought off of eBay for $200 is definitely my favorite cheap instrument. I gig with that thing all the time. The GFS Barden knock-off in the neck position might be the best sounding "single" I've ever played (maybe because it's not really a single coil). Great, great guitar.