I’ve played guitar and bass for many years. Over this time I have played many guitars from every brand name you can imagine. Over this time one of the things I have found is that brand name and cost seem to have very little to do with a guitars quality. For example, I picked up a Fender American Made 40th Anniversary Stratocaster and absolutely hated it - I returned it 3 days later. Before I returned it, I decided to take a peak under the pickguard and to my horror I saw that it was bathtub routed! Yes, they gouged a swimming pool under that pickguard so it would fit any type of pickup imaginable and in doing so they removed so much wood it was like the guitar had no soul.

When I was returning it, I saw an old Cort Strat Copy they were asking $80 for. I played it for about 15 minutes and bought it. When I got home I did some basic setup. I replaced the strings and adjusted the action. Now let me tell you, this $80 guitar played circles around the American made Strat, not only that, it had much better tone!

A couple months back I stumbled upon a forum that was dedicated to a specific Fender Squire Guitar, The Modded ‘51. After seeing all the cool things people were doing with the modded ‘51 I decided to get one myself to check it out. These guitars were being blown out at a sales price of only $99 so I thought it would be something cheap enough for me to mod and try my hand at things I wouldn’t do on a more expensive guitar. I got it home and did my normal setup. I switched it to a set of 0.10’s, adjusted the action and gave it a try - it was incredible! This guitar has sweet Strat like tone and plays like a dream! Of course it is made by Fender Guitars, but its one of their cheaper models. This just goes to show you price does not make a great guitar. A great guitar can be found in any price range if you just take the time to look. Rocks