Xmas is much better once the shopping is finished.

[magbastard]

I'm done with my Xmas shopping with 5 days to go. The spirit of giving has completed its cycle! Let the season of receiving commence!

I've dropped a few hints to the family about this, which is only $300. I'll probably wind up buying it myself, but I'm accepting donations to the cause.

Every dollar counts, yo.

In other news, I reinstalled

Comments

Guitarishness

[averykess]

I've been trying to find a starter guitar that will be of decent enough quality that I won't outgrow it too quickly. I looked at the Chinese made junk that Fender is selling through Target -- the Starcaster -- but it was crap.

The neck looked/felt like unfinished wood that had only been sanded down to knock off the rougher stuff. The neck did not shine in the light. There wasn't a drop of vanish/poly/wax/whatever on the neck at all except on the headstock and only on the label area. The fret wires were about 1/32" too long on both sides of the neck, every single one. It looked like they hadn't been filed down at all. I want to shred, but not my fingers. I'm sure I could have grated cheese on them. The strings it came with had more in common with a cable saw than a musical instrument.

Granted, it was only $200 with an micro amp, and some other stuff, but I would think that Fender wouldn't put their name on junk. I was wrong. I contacted fender about it and they told me to take it to an authorized Fender repair shop. They failed to grasp the fact that I was calling to say the quality was ass and that they should look in to that.

I got a bass back in the 80s from Montgomery Wards that Fender was making under the Harmony label when nobody knew it was Fender. It was an incredible deal.

Any suggestions on a cheap (sub $200) guitar for noodling around on that won't sever fingers?

Re: Guitarishness

[magbastard]

I usually shop Music123 for my guitars. At a brief glance, I found these two Epiphones:

LP Special II $149, free shipping
SG Special $149, free shipping

There were also a couple of bronze series BC Rich guitars under $200 -- I haven't ever played a bronze series, but I imagine that they'd be pretty good low-priced guitars. I can vouch for Epiphones, though -- they're arguably the best guitars I've ever owned.

They have several options in the $99 range, but I'd stay away from them. The prevalent brands at the bottom of the sort by price option were Fullerton and Squier; I've never heard of the former, and the latter are usually plywood bodies with necks that bow so badly you'd think they were harps. I'd stick to the Epiphones, personally.

If you need amp/effects/anything else, let me know what you're looking for, or just shop around on Music123. They're my preferred vendor for pretty much everything (I typically go try stuff out at Guitar Center then buy online).