Best electric guitar for less than $1000

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Ynarlina
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Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Ynarlina » Mon Nov 11, 2019 10:50 pm

Hi community.
I am madly saving for a new electric guitar. Which is not easy with 2 kids under 2 years. Say $900
Play rock, to easy rock to metal....so I need a guitar that can do it all. lol dont we all
So wanted to get peoples ideas about what is out there. I have always loved the telecaster. I read this article bestelectricguitars.reviews/best-electric-guitars-under-1000 but probably need to hear other peolpes opinion. Not in a band, so really personal stuff maybe a muck around with a friend is the most I would do.
Look forward to some ideas.
Thanks.
Last edited by Ynarlina on Thu Nov 14, 2019 11:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Steadyriot.
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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Steadyriot. » Tue Nov 12, 2019 12:24 am

You need to give us a little more detail than that!

Do you like single coils? Humbuckers?
Short scale (24") medium scale (24,75") or 'fender scale' (25,5")?
Do you want a solid body? Hollow? Semi hollow?

What guitar tones are you after? Any examples?

What amp are you using? A lot of the sounds you make come from the amp too.

There is no 'best' guitar; just more or less suitable for your playing.

Also: do you want new or used? A 1500 dollar guitar new could run you a 1000 on the used market..
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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Ceylon » Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:25 am

If you're into Telecasters, chances are you could pick up a pretty good one second hand for 900$, American made or a nicer Japanese or Mexican, and perhaps even with some money to spare (whether for upgrades or life in general).
It'll do rock as is, and legend has it Telecasters are the secret studio guitar of a lot of metalheads who like the hard bridge pickup sound, so it'd probably do that. You can get them with humbuckers in the neck and also get a single coil-sized humbucker for the bridge if you end up wanting that.

Or you might want to check out the Classic Player Jazzmaster. Hot single coils, full Fender scale, vibrato over a Tune-O-Matic and an increased neck angle for more stability and sustain. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find one of those for ~600$, and if need be you can get some Jazzmaster-shaped humbuckers from a bunch of companies (such as Rose Pickups) if the single coils don't rock enough for you.

All my guitars were cheaper than 900$ and they're all pretty good, so at this price point, and especially if you're willing to go second hand, you can get a really good instrument.
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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Kent » Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:49 am

Stratocaster or Telecaster for minimal fuss and lots of versatility.

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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:59 am

Yeah, an American Standard Telecaster can be gotten for as little as $650 if you look, and that's kind of a no-brainer guitar for any guitarist to have (I have one).

Here's one now- but you can find them all day long. Not only are they great guitars, but I would think that any guitar player would want to have a Telecaster in the lineup so it's not like it would become obsolete once your budget improves.

Get it for cheap enough, and you can invest in some better pickups at the same time (there's room for improvement there).
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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by MKR » Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:26 am

yeah i would echo stratocaster or telecaster. Probably stratocaster a bit more as you can get tele type sounds and a bit more + it has a trem.

Can't really go wrong with either.

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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Jaguar018 » Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:33 am

Based on my personal preferences, I'd say go with a Strat, but if you prefer Telecasters, and just sorta wanted some other people to agree with you, get one of those.

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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by eggwheat » Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:57 am

Ynarlina wrote:
Mon Nov 11, 2019 10:50 pm
Hi community.
I am madly saving for a new electric guitar. Which is not easy with 2 kids under 2 years. Say $900
Play rock, to easy rock to metal....so I need a guitar that can do it all. lol dont we all
So wanted to get peoples ideas about what is out there. I have always loved the telecaster. But probably need to hear other peolpes opinion. Not in a band, so really personal stuff maybe a muck around with a friend is the most I would do.
Look forward to some ideas.
Thanks a lot.

I would look for a sub $1000 80's Yamaha SG1000, incredible quality..and you have humbuckers which suit metal better(thicker, more gain)..and they have coil tap switches(pull pot) which turns them into single coil pickups like on a Strat/tele etc

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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by Beltone » Tue Nov 12, 2019 6:00 pm

If you like Teles and want to cover tones to metal, check out some Squier options too. Fender seems to experiment more with hotter pickups and less traditional configurations in the Squier line. You might find a suitable treat for way less than 1000 that will keep you happy until the kids are older.

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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by marqueemoon » Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:39 pm

Another vote for Tele for all the reasons mentioned. I’ve owned more Teles than any other style of guitar over the years, from cheap to fancy. All have been great in their way.

I recommend buying used through a reputable shop. You’ll pay a bit of a premium, but if this is going to be your one and only you want a chance to give it a proper test and and maybe take it home and live with it a bit vs. giving a handful of cash to someone in a Starbucks parking lot.

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Re: Best electric guitar for less than $1000

Post by jakeisjake » Wed Nov 13, 2019 10:17 am

I say this a lot...

But if I had to sell all of my guitars and only keep one...I'd probably keep my Gretsch 5120. It does everything...sounds great, looks great, plays great...

stellar guitars.
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