New Guitar under $300 CAD [Archive] - GuitarsCanada.com

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Renvas

10-26-2007, 10:49 PM

LowWatt

10-26-2007, 10:57 PM

what style do you play? Whose sound are you after?

Budda

10-26-2007, 11:07 PM

jay turser LP, SG, strat, tele. :)

Renvas

10-26-2007, 11:08 PM

what style do you play? Whose sound are you after?

i think i play rock songs the most i guess a guitar that has a rocky grungish kind of feel?

LowWatt

10-27-2007, 12:03 AM

I absolutely love the new Squier Tele Thinlines and they are around that price new in Ontario. They do everything from roots rock to grunge easily.

garretrevels

10-27-2007, 12:17 AM

I think you should go vintage :)

get an old department store budget vintage guitar. (Harmony, Silvertone ect..)

thats my opinion anyway

noobcake

10-27-2007, 02:12 AM

I say get the Hamm, you probably won't find anything better for the price, unless you go used in which case there are many many more options open to you.

Renvas

10-27-2007, 02:17 AM

Hamm Guitars

10-27-2007, 11:10 AM

well im planning to buy online right now so i only have what i can find

i dont mind having a used guitar even though if its a bit worn out, as long as its worth my money and sounds better than a less expensive new guitar

Be careful buying online. I wouldn't recomend buying a guitar before you could actually play it and make sure that it feels right for you.

If you want to test drive and HLS II, e-mail me and I'll send one to you so you can try it.

Andy

Mooh

10-27-2007, 11:57 AM

The Godin Radiator, SD, Detour, and Exit 22 are great bang for the buck, and Canadian too. Any of them second hand might be just what you need, and maybe even under your price cap. Definately consider a used axe because lots of folks trade up then regret letting go of a great axe.

Peace, Mooh.

danbo

10-27-2007, 01:29 PM

Go to your local music store & ask about some "used" axes that you can noodle on.

Budda

10-27-2007, 03:18 PM

hunt around for a used epi LP or SG

GuitaristZ

10-27-2007, 05:02 PM

get the hamm that Hamm Guitars is offering you...I have one...it will beat any guitar out there for the price.

Maxer

10-27-2007, 06:44 PM

Ditto what Mooh said. I have both a Radiator and an Exit 22, both of which I got used via Craigslist. Great bargains and real players. Lots of people get restless and trade up for a costlier guitar, only to find (to thier chagrin) that they already had a great guitar and they let it go... if you can stand to buy used, there are definitely some solid deals to be had.

Perkinsfan

10-28-2007, 07:20 AM

I think test driving one of those Hamm guitars sounds cool.
I never heard of anyone making that kind of offer before.(nice job Andy!)
The reviews I hear of them are all pretty positive as well.

Locally we have a dealer who sells Johnson and Crafter guitars.
The Johnson strats go for $160 and have emg designed pickups in them.
They are good sounding/playing guitars for cheap but you have to pick thru them to find a nicely made one.
The Crafter electrics are pretty fair to middlin' guitars as well.
I bought one of their tele copies last year.
It needed a setup badly,but I'm into that so it wasn't a problem,and for $140
how could I go wrong?
Good luck in guitar shopping.
Eric

thecornman

10-28-2007, 10:38 AM

Used Godin is a good choice. They make great stuff for little money.

Robert1950

10-28-2007, 11:12 AM

Hey man, go for the test run. I don't see how you can turn that down.

Renvas

10-28-2007, 04:26 PM

Robert1950

10-28-2007, 04:54 PM

I believe the guy from Fret City is a member of this forum.

Maxer

10-28-2007, 05:46 PM

Those two fret city axes... they look quite nice and I've been jonesing for an SG standard type... I like neck binding on an SG - without that it looks naked to me. The one thing which throws me off and has me wondering is the fact that both the SG and LP types have bodies made of alder rather than mahogany. Totally different sound, I'm guessing. I could see an SG made of walnut maybe, but alder? Wow, that's odd.

Not to say that it isn't put together well or doesn't sound great. I'm actually very curious as to what these babies feel and sound like. Anyone with any direct experience on these J & D guitars?

acdc54_caddy62

10-28-2007, 11:33 PM

ive just been looking at these two

http://fretcity.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=260&category_id=57

http://fretcity.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=284&category_id=57

both of them for $315+ shipping
it seems like a good deal...

has anyone seen/read any reviews on these guitars, or tried them out first hand?

give some opinions on these two guitars please.

If you wanna go for a SG or LP you might aswell check out some new or used epiphone's. $299 for a epi SG G-400 vintage at musiciansfriend.com same price for some type of LP also.

But for a personal suggestion I would check out some of these Kramers on www.musicyo.com. Very nice guitars and in your budget also. Dual rail pickups, floyd rose tremolo. Great looking guitars!

Here's the link: http://www.musicyo.com/brandland.asp?dept_id=1

scottomy

10-29-2007, 10:31 AM

Here's another vote for a Godin. I have an SD and it's a great platform....it even sounded great stock.

Beatles

10-29-2007, 10:54 AM

GuitaristZ

10-29-2007, 08:31 PM

I emailed the JD dudes, and asked if their guitars had lead paint hahaha

they dont.

Renvas

10-29-2007, 09:30 PM

k here are my choices right now...

get a guitar from

J&D
Hamm
or find a guitar on musiciansfriend.com thats under 300+(the expensive shipping)

1PUTTS

10-29-2007, 11:46 PM

k here are my choices right now...

get a guitar from

J&D
Hamm
or find a guitar on musiciansfriend.com thats under 300+(the expensive shipping)

I'm not sure how you can pass up the offer from Andy at Hamm. Seems like a great opportunity to me.

Maxer

10-30-2007, 09:14 AM

Agreed... killer offer and if you decide you like the guitar he ships, the prices are fantastic.

skydigger

10-30-2007, 01:00 PM

I'd go used myself.

However, if you want something new these guitars get pretty good reviews over at http://www.harmony-central.com

Check out the PRS copy (PS 900) part way down the page. Agile makes all kinds of copies (LP's, Sg's, epi's, strats, teles etc).

http://www.rondomusic.com/electricguitar-ss7.html

Maxer

10-30-2007, 01:23 PM

Hmmm... good point, Skydigger. Yeah, I'd forgotten about Rondo and their gear ... the Agile being one of their brands. Definitely some good QC happening there. Once in awhile you might see 'em pop up on Craigslist and I'm sure you could find a lot of options for them via eBay.

fretcity

10-31-2007, 02:09 PM

I emailed the JD dudes, and asked if their guitars had lead paint hahaha

they dont.

Guys I can't help but jump in and I hope this is helpful. There are some good Canadian Retailers here and I think we are all trying hard to keep your Business on this side of the Border (eg Fretcity / Hamm / JSD / ). I think all the products are good and have different characteristics. I can't slam any of them. You can't sell online and sell junk because word gets out fast online.

If you buy south of the Border be prepared for hidden fees. Duty, Brokerage fees etc that can easily add 50% to your purchase price. So keep this in mind.

BTW regarding our J&D product - it is built at the Yeou Chern factory, the same company that produces Epiphones for Gibson, also does OEM for Ibanez, Aria and Washburn. Its is a quality product and no lead (LOL). (Believe me we get that question a lot lately.) They are built to RoHS Standards for safety. Because of the OEM agreements and for legal reasons, some characterstics cannot be identical to a Gibson Les Paul, for example. And of course Yeou Chern wants to keep Gibson happy. So thats why the headstocks and some design elements have to be different. Regarding tonewoods, the J&D product does substitute Alder however in a side by side test with our test US Les Paul, the sound is very very close. Our customers are extremely satisfied with them and they are very capable and gigable instruments. The quality perception from Chinese products is rapidly changing, and product quality, materials, fit and finish is consistent and very high. If you want to see our product just visit any Epiphone dealer with MIC Epiphones and it will give you an idea of what you get with J&D.

Good luck with the search and Rock on Dudes !

:rockon:

Maxer

10-31-2007, 02:42 PM

Good post. Thanks for explaining that.... I agree, the Chinese rep is quickly shifting upward.

JSD's Guitar Shack

10-31-2007, 05:18 PM

There are some good Canadian Retailers here and I think we are all trying hard to keep your Business on this side of the Border (eg Fretcity / Hamm / JSD / ). I think all the products are good and have different characteristics. I can't slam any of them. You can't sell online and sell junk because word gets out fast online.

I second that....:smilie_flagge17:

skydigger

10-31-2007, 10:04 PM

not to destract from the mans thread, but I'm all for supporting
Canadian retailers. I only know about Rondo because I'm a lefty and I search eBay daily for lefty acoustics and electrics.

The only Canadian guitar companies I know of that I can respect is Eastwood, Godin and Larrivee for offering a few to several lefty models.

My last 2 guitars came from Southpaw Guitars in Texas. I'd love to buy from someone in Canada, but who's offering me more than 3 different guitars to choose from?

fretcity

11-03-2007, 01:03 PM

[QUOTE=skydigger;72161]not to destract from the mans thread, but I'm all for supporting Canadian retailers. I only know about Rondo because I'm a lefty and I search eBay daily for lefty acoustics and electrics.

I understand Skydigger, I feel bad we don't have any LH in stock at this time and will work on improving this. BTW I went over to Steves Music on Queen Street Toronto yesterday and out of a few hundred Guitars on Display I could only find 3 Lefties.

*** ALERT one of the Lefties at Steves was a used Left Hand TOKAI Les Paul $549 a nice deal! They will ship too ! ***

Regards Rob

skydigger

11-03-2007, 09:18 PM

[QUOTE=skydigger;72161]

*** ALERT one of the Lefties at Steves was a used Left Hand TOKAI Les Paul $549 a nice deal! They will ship too ! ***

Regards Rob

Thanks for the heads up on the Tokai. I prefer to buy used guitars myself. I think i'll always be a bitter lefty. I love the guitar so much more than my talent it's sickening. Imagine going into a guitar shop and you are looking at all of these beautiful vintage instruments and you can't play because you aren't right-handed, it sucks big time.

Oh well. In my next lifetime I'll be sure and come back right-handed. Until then, I'll keep complaining to myself.

StankFloyd

11-04-2007, 09:12 PM

hi right now im planning to get a new guitar, im looking for a good guitar under $300 CAD preferably around 250.

right now one of my choices that im consider is Hamm HLS II which is around my price range, any guitars anyone can recommend for me to consider?

I just caught this ad on this site.. $275 w/ free shipping

http://fretcity.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=260&category_id=57

Maxer

11-04-2007, 09:36 PM

Price looks very good on that SG, although it appears to be at least two chunks of wood making up the body, possibly more. Makes it much more like a low-end Epiphone SG... the sharp, cowled shape is there, sure - but the real story perhaps lies underneath that slick glossy finish. Add to that the fact that the body is alder, not mahogany, and we're starting to get further away from that classic SG nature. So if you're more of a purist, it's probably not such a great draw.

However, the close-ups on the neck binding and general fit and finish look pretty good. And for that price, too... not bad, not bad at all. It looks like it would rival, even beat an Epiphone SG 400. Wonder how the pickups are.

Renvas

11-05-2007, 07:59 PM

here are my two final choices

Hamm Guitars-HLS II - $289+Gig Bag (with shipping???)

J&D Guitars GG1S -$275 with shipping

from the comments so far i seem to be leaning towards the HLS II

GuitaristZ

11-06-2007, 09:01 AM

perhaps you are leaning the right way eh?

;)

Renvas

11-07-2007, 12:06 AM

Ok. ill most likely be asking for a trial run for Hamm Guitars, by the end of this month. im pretty sure it will sound much better than my current guitar Pacifica 012 (yamaha) im really starting to think that my first purchased guitar was a mistake... i payed $295 for it.....

Renvas

11-15-2007, 08:27 PM

thanks for the comments everyone!

ive decided on getting the HLS II guitar from Hamm guitars. gota take advantage of the Christmas promotion going on now. it seems like a pretty good deal.

Greg Ellis

11-16-2007, 12:45 AM

Good idea.

I hope you'll share your thoughts here, once you've played it for a while?

Gawd, the trans blue finish on that model II is to die for!

Maxer

11-16-2007, 07:25 AM

Congratulations on settling on something! By all means, let us know what you think once you've gotten it and had a chance to test drive it for a spell.

GuitaristZ

11-26-2007, 09:25 PM

did ya get it yet? :wave:

Renvas

11-26-2007, 09:35 PM

from what andy has told me.. it getting shipped tomorow!!

CANT WAIT!!!

Hamm Guitars

11-26-2007, 11:46 PM

from what andy has told me.. it getting shipped tomorow!!

CANT WAIT!!!

It actually shipped out today, so you should have it either on tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday.

Andy

GuitaristZ

11-27-2007, 06:25 PM

niiiice! Tell us how you like it (love it) when you get it? :D

RIFF WRATH

11-28-2007, 10:27 AM

hey Renvas
got mine today...wow...Guitar Z has been promoting Hamm gits for quite a while...now I know why...you, my friend are going to be blown away
cheers
RIFF

GuitaristZ

11-29-2007, 09:16 AM

yeah :D They are pretty sweet guitars. :)

gearupmusic

12-02-2007, 05:08 PM

Hey:

Godin is a pretty good brand and the necks of the guitars are really nice. Also, you may wanna try Cort G250. It has a coil splitter. So you ca have humbucking sound and single coil sound in one guitar. It can save you some money to put into other stuff like a new effect pedal.

Rocco

01-11-2008, 11:58 AM

This is a sweet deal.
http://fretcity.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=268&category_id=50

david henman

01-11-2008, 01:04 PM

Godin is a pretty good brand and the necks of the guitars are really nice.

...godins are pretty much the best bang-for-buck guitars on the market. even the cheapest ones vastly superior to anything else in their price range.

but, they are not "hot" looking, and so they usually get passed over.

-dh