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What's the cheapest keeper guitar you have?

Eywadude said:
I learned on an all-mahogany Harmony H165
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Funny. I have a buddy that learned on the same instrument. I only found that out decades later when I found this one at the town dump. I had to glue a few parts back together and somebody spread what looks like a bad coat of finish on it.
It actually plays and sounds ok. Much better than it has a right to. Light years ahead of the Stella.
At least this was a 'real' guitar...so to speak.

I'm just showing it because of our conversation. Probably not a guitar I will keep forever.

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In the '80s I bought a Peavey T-60, what a boat anchor. Like all guitars I've moved on from I kinda missed it and later tried a lighter, less complicated T-15. Not great but kind of impressive for a budget level axe; having their own look and proprietary pickups, knobs, and beefy bridges. Some on eBay are around $300 and of course some dreamers are asking 2-3 times that.

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BillyTheKid said:
Funny. I have a buddy that learned on the same instrument. I only found that out decades later when I found this one at the town dump. I had to glue a few parts back together and somebody spread what looks like a bad coat of finish on it.
It actually plays and sounds ok. Much better than it has a right to. Light years ahead of the Stella.
At least this was a 'real' guitar...so to speak.

I'm just showing it because of our conversation. Probably not a guitar I will keep forever.

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Yeah, that's virtually identical to the one I learned to play on. By the script logo on the headstock, I can tell that's one made from roughly 1968-1971. But to be more specific, I believe 1968 was the last year for the bolted bridge, so yours is likely from 1969-'71.

Mine is from 1971, which had a dark brown rosette appliqué around the soundhole (shown below - again, not my pics), and is among some of the last Harmonys made in Chicago. Mine has nice mahogany grain, it's lightweight, has a nice, woody tone, and is a sound cannon. Unfortunately, like so many Harmonys, it requires a neck re-set to lower the action. To me, it'll be worth having it done, though. I don't know about your guitar, but the neck on mine is a handful, and I have decent-sized hands.

Sadly, too many people today are having these old Harmonys (and other catalogue guitars) converted to an X-braced top. I can understand if the guitar is a bit of a dud to begin with, but I'll take the sound of a good ladder-braced one over a converted X-braced one all day. To me, the mojo of these guitars is due to the ladder bracing they left the factory with. Not all are great-sounding, but when you find a good-sounding ladder-braced one, they can be amazing.

Also, you found your Harmony, so I'll qualify that. :)

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In the early 60s, Harmony has been the biggest American Guitar Manufacturer ever. They reputedly produced half of all the guitars available in USA in this era... (source : The Vintage Guitar Price Guide).

T
 
tubelectron said:
In the early 60s, Harmony has been the biggest American Guitar Manufacturer ever. They reputedly produced half of all the guitars available in USA in this era... (source : The Vintage Guitar Price Guide).

T
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Yep, and 1965 was the peak year for the most new guitars ever sold. The reason? That was the year after the Beatles made their U.S. debut.
 
My $100 short scale SX brand P bass... it is a fun little bass to play. I bought it for my daughter, but it lives in the music room which is also my office. I'm going to put a Geezer signature pick up in it.

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and my not so cheap now... but I've had this 1983 Ibanez RS315 for nearly 20 years... I think I paid $200 extra as an addition to the purchase of my Egnater Tweaker-40. It has SX brand tuners and a Carvin Holdsworth humbucker that I mailed back to the seller since I planned to make it a "Esquire in a shred suit". It has a GFS vintage wound Fatbody pickup.
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The Yamaha on the left is the cheapest that I paid for. The Gibson on the right was given to me by my sister. It's in rough condition. Her kids, when they were young treated it terribly.
They were going to toss it out but I saved it before they did! I had a new nut installed, the heel on the neck fixed. Some cracks in the body repaired and a new bridge made.

Not sure if it has any value. No markings on it anywhere.20251210_164535[1].jpg
 
gizzyman47 said:
The Yamaha on the left is the cheapest that I paid for. The Gibson on the right was given to me by my sister. It's in rough condition. Her kids, when they were young treated it terribly.
They were going to toss it out but I saved it before they did! I had a new nut installed, the heel on the neck fixed. Some cracks in the body repaired and a new bridge made.

Not sure if it has any value. No markings on it anywhere.View attachment 3651922
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How does that Gibson sound? Sometimes those have the best tone.

I had this old Hummingbird that was all beat up, but the tone was sweet! It disappeared with my ex-GF. :(
 
I found a beautiful c. 1925 Gretsch American all mahogany tenor guitar in the trash near my house one day. I imagine it had been stored in a non-climate controlled attic for decades, with the strings on it and tuned to tension. The top braces had fallen off the top and were laying inside the body. Without the support of the braces, the top cracked across the grain behind the bridge. It also had some cracks running with the grain. There were some cracks in the sides also. The neck dovetail was loose, and the neck was held on only because the fretboard extension was still adhering to the top. When I picked it up and held the neck, it was almost as if it communicated to me "let me sing again." I hung it on the wall to look at it while trying to find a luthier to take on the restoration. All the good ones refused the job, rightly stating that the cost of the repairs would far exceed the value of the guitar. I didn't care. I felt like I had an obligation to give that sweet little guitar a new life. I finally found a luthier willing to do the job. He seemed to have a good reputation and his website had lots of photos of meticulous work. He was closing his shop on LI and moving to VT, and needed some big jobs to tide him over while establishing his business in the new location. So we made a deal. Paid him half up front, told him no rush.

Didn't hear from him for over a year, during which time I saw on his website how his business was picking up. I wasn't concerned, because I understood he was going to work on it only when he had several uninterrupted hours to focus on it at a time. I was looking forward to seeing the restoration documented on his site, as he had done for many other guitars over the years.

Finally I got a call that the guitar was done, and could he charge the card for the other half, and he'd ship the guitar the next day. I agreed, but there was a brief delay in shipping because he wanted to make some final tweaks. He was also going to France within days.

The guitar arrived, sloppily packed but well protected. But to say I was disappointed in the work would be a gross understatement. I'm not a luthier, but to me removing the neck would have been a piece of cake compared to a normal neck removal. It was already almost off. I would've taken off the back or the top to much more easily cleat the cracks and re-glue the braces rather than having to work through the small soundhole. But what do I know. When he glued the neck back on, he didn't bother to wipe up the excess glue and there's hardened glue drops running down from the neck joint. He didn't properly adjust the neck angle, so instead of a reasonably tall bone saddle (the original bone saddle was cracked) he stuck a piece of fret wire in the bridge with groove cut to locate the strings. The bridge (floating) doesn't sit flush against the top with gaps on the sides. Some of the braces are loose. Some of the side cracks, while cleated, can be opened slightly by pressing on the wood. He couldn't even be bothered to fit the heel cap on without a huge gap.

This all transpired about 10 years ago and I'm still disgusted with the "luthier," and even more disgusted with myself for failing at this job the universe had entrusted me with. I was so disgusted that I never even contacted the guy, never wanting to have anything else to do with him. I certainly wouldn't allow him to work on the guitar again.

Despite the unhappy ending, and the bad feelings I get whenever I look at that guitar, I still will never part with it. Maybe someday I'll find a way to do right by the little thing.Full.JPGGretsch3.JPG1765424441146.png
 
I got a Terada 70's acoustic at a thrift shop for $20. It is a Martin D-18 knock off from Japan, and was probably the same guitar sold under different names (Aria, Penco, etc). Basic Martin shape headstock and one of those screw height adjustable bridges. The action is amazingly playable all the way up, no neck movement over the years. Sound is ok - about what anyone would expect, but for the cheap factor and playability, I have kept this one for years.
 
Eywadude said:
Hey everyone,

I was just wondering: what is the cheapest keeper guitar you own? Whether bought new, used, traded or found. And not just "a keeper for now," but a TRUE keeper you'll never sell or otherwise part with. Before we get started, though, I'll define "cheap" as anything $300 or under (or similar equivalent in your currency).

While I have some guitars in waiting that were acquired very cheaply and/or were even found (which I believe I have shared in other posts in the "Let's See All Them Axes" thread), they are still in project form, so until finished and potentially confirmed as being true keepers, I won't count those.

So, for my own submission, I'll start off with my Squier '51 (pictured below) that I bought new in 2004 for $219. As I have stated in the past, it's arguably my most favourite guitar I have ever owned. Over the 21+ years I have owned it, it has been a great friend, and every time I pick it up it never ceases to put a big grin on my face.

So, what cheap keepers do you have? It can be either electric or acoustic. And awwww, heck. Since I'm feeling generous, I'll even extend this question to all you low-down (frequency) bass players, too. :p Feel free to share pics and stories as well! Let's see those keeper cheapies, freebies, garage sale and flea market finds! :)

Cheers.

EDITED IN:

It seems my initial question could cause some confusion, so allow me to set some criteria for the thread. The main criteria would be:

- By a "cheap" guitar, I meant cheaply-built guitars in general. Guitars that originally would have sold as a more budget instrument, and at a more budget price - i.e. guitars that are inherently more on the budget end of the spectrum that you either bought, traded for, built yourself, resurected, or found. Whether new or used.

- It must be a guitar or bass that you would never sell or otherwise part with.

- The $300 maximum price of acquisition should be within the realm of reason. Let's say $300 or less that you spent on acquiring it within the last 30 years (of the date of your post). Beyond that, inflation begins to take it too far away from the intended spirit of the thread. I'm sure grandpa bought an original 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard for under $300 brand new back in the day that you inherited, but sorry, that doesn't count. lol

- The $300 price of acquisition should try to include any parts you may have put into it. I'm okay with a little wiggle room here within reason, but like, no $50 guitar you then put $1,000+ into it. lol The spirit of the thread is to keep it roughly around the $300-ish mark.

- Found guitars are part of the criteria, but guitars that are given to you, or inherited, are not. In the case of found guitars, it must be something that was coincidental in your finding it.

I'm sure there could be other criteria, but let's not get too far into the weeds here. lol Just generally more budget-minded guitars and bases that fall into the criteria above.

Thanks for your consideration. I'll be looking forward to seeing whatcha' got! :)

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My "cheapest" in terms of relative quality that's still in my possession is my circa 1966 Teisco (solid -- but not a Del Rey ... I forget the model name) electric guitar.

However, the "cheapest" in terms of dollars paid that I still have is my 1962 Fender Stratocaster, purchased for me by my paternal grandmother (from Johnnie Laws via Hubert Sumlin) for ~ $75-85.
 
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