I've been impressed with some of the latest NUX pedals... the DuoTime delay (as clear vibrant as my Eventide H9, although not as diverse... but I tend to only use a few basic settings anyway) and the Fireman Distortion (more clarity and punch than my Suhr Eclipse).

 

I find that, generally, you get what you pay for.
That said, I don't spend much time comparing what I have with cheaper alternatives.

 

I find that, generally, you get what you pay for.
...

Pretty much this. While there are brands where you will pay extra for the name on the headstock/faceplate, generally those brands have earned that premium.

There are also lesser known brands that represent good value, like any of the Godin brands. There have also been instances where early adopters of newly introduced products have gotten very good value - Takamine in the early eighties and the Classic Vibe series when it first came out come to mind. And yes, there is that one-in-million Jay Turser that plays like a $400 guitar. Sometimes you get lucky but most of the time a bargain ends up resulting in a second purchase down the road.

 

It sucks when you get an expensive piece of gear and it has some design flaw that makes it suck.

 

Like my Gibson DC Les w/ P-90’s (Evil Ex-GF) makes horrible static noises on the neck and my waaaay cheaper Squier Custom P-90 doesn’t? Yeah....

 

Most times I don't find cheaper versions or clones any better, could be as good but not better specially with pedals. With guitars, not really. YMMV

 

I have a 52 reissue Telecaster. I intended to add a FCS Nocaster along side it. I brought the Nocaster home and a week later it was gone. It was a really, really nice guitar it had all the features I love about my 52ri that runs half the price.

 

What is defined as cheap though?
Ive seen numerous Rig Rundowns on Premier Guitar where these famous musicians are using run of mill Boss pedals...

 

Gary Clark Jr immediately springs to mind. Not Boss pedals, but nothing terribly high end or exceedingly rare with the exception of a Zendrive, however that is known to be swapped out for a regular old Tube Screamer.

 

Comparing my much less expensive Brad Paisley tele to my Custom shop 52 they feel equal to me. I love the tone and feel of both. There are things I love equally about both.

 

When I was looking for an acoustic that I would be comfortable bringing to a civilized campfire jam, I tried everything under $1000. Went home with a Yamaha FG830 for $400. I could have spent $1000 and didn't need to.

 

Boss acoustic simulator doesn't sound as good because nobody reads the manual. The Acc sims in multi effects assume you're trying to make an electric sound like an acoustic, the Boss assumes a piezo pickup - trying to make it sound like a different acoustic.

 

Recently did a challenge on another forum to pick one guitar that doesn't get a lot of play and play only that guitar for a week. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Junior P90 that I picked up used a few years ago. I have it setup for slide. I'm a terrible slide player so it doesn't get played much. I put it back to standard tuning and only played that guitar for a week. I was amazed at what this guitar that cost me $150 could do. I could easily live with this guitar as my only guitar. I can play almost any genre with it. The neck is not quite 50's thick. It's a very nice neck to play. The guitar holds tune. The only time I had to tune it in a week was from a big temperature/humidity change. The plethora of tones available from one P90 pickup was amazing. I won't be selling my other guitars but this cheap bolt neck Epiphone is the equal of any of them.

 

Lots of the expensive gear is hype and brand name recognition. Not saying its 100% but lots of different branded instruments out there will give you the same quality range for a fraction of the price.

If the name on the headstock is more important to you, good for you.

 

I am a huge fan of the stuff that was coming out of Japan in the late 70's and early 80's. The Japanese were doing "custom shop" reproductions of classic Gibson and Fender guitars before that was even a thing. Handmade instruments that were done with meticulous attention to detail and were certainly better than anything that was coming out of Gibson and Fender factories at the time.

Tokai, Greco, Burny and JV fender guitars from that era are still relative bargains. The only limitation to these instruments are that the electronics are not on-par with their American counterparts (with the exception of JV fenders which had American pickups) These can be easily swapped with high end aftermarket. Bang for buck they are unbelievable!!!!

Just my 2 cents

 

Godin. And Traynor. If actual playing is your main thing.

If you gotta have some exact thing, for whatever reason, get yer wallet out...

 

I think it's the point of diminishing returns as well as the preference of the player. For instance, I've had a few Wizard amps. New they are $6000 plus but I paid $3300 or so! We're they $2500 better than the Modded JVM I bought for $800? Absolutely not. In fact, that all had a harshness I couldn't dial out and I just used the JVM. But, many LOVE Wizard amps. Preference!

 

I have the same "meh" feeling about Friedman amps.

 

A Godin or Yamaha guitar through a Blues Driver and a kit-built tremolo into a Traynor amp is a beautiful sound with no gee whiz custom boutique factor at all
Some gear I'm a lot more willing to go econo on. I have a Behringer 12 channel board that I schlepp around for live event PA when I need to. I have never once wished I had a nicer name brand one for that job. And after trying some other options for D/A conversion and mic'ing acoustic instruments with simple setup I stumbled on an audio-technica AT2020USB mic at a thrift store for $30 and that thing sounds far better than some of the 'nicer' options I checked out so that's what I use. But I do avoid Behringer gear for guitar amps and pedals so I guess I'm not above a certain level of gear snootiness for other things.
j

 

In my experience the more expensive stuff is, no surprise, nicer and generally sounds better(from a bit to a lot better). We all have to make the choice of where we want to fall on the expense spectrum. I'm happiest in the $500-1500 range for guitars and amps; that's the best compromise for me.

 

I'm happiest in the $500-1500 range for guitars and amps; that's the best compromise for me.

Wow.. I never go over $20 !

 

I was wondering where steadly ended up. LOL

I still wonder why other people have so much invested in what we spend our money on. Why the need to justify their own choices (which I am fine with), thereby making our choices bad? Do they do this with good food, good wine, good cars, etc? And do they really know more about all of these things than the rest of us: do they have better hearing, better touch, better sense of taste, better sense of style? Are any of these in fact absolutes and not personal choices? Things that make me go: hmmmmm .........

Play what you love and love what you play. The rest is just bullshit.

 

What a strange rant on an otherwise harmless thread. Weird.

Im a huge fan of budget gear. Most of my excitement when it comes to gear isn’t about new and shiny, it’s about finding those old used gems that punch above their weight.

 

I've gotten hostile reactions from gear snobs, when they heard my less expensive gear had better tone that their expensive gear ..... Next night, I would bring out my Gibson's, Jackson's, Kramer's and other top brand gear , to rub it in.

 

Yes, there is something to be said for being able to actually play the gear you have. There are a lot of folks out there who have nice guitars but can't make them sound nice. I suspect that your "better" tone comes as much from practice as gear.

I also derive great pleasure from passing people with the latest fashionable gear on my 15+ year-old mountain bike.

 

I recently did this in a small way...after looking at a bunch of multi fx pedals to fill the utility slot on my board I decided to get a line 6 M5. I'm not saying it beats other pedals, but the number of big studio guys that are still using the M5/M9 in 2020 is staggering - especially considering the HX Effects has been available for a while now.

If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me!

 

Lots of artist started off and recorded with mail away and put together yourself instruments that I am certain was of lesser quality of my worst wall hangers...

 

I can make any price level of gear sound like ass and have fun doing it

I can afford to have some nice pieces of equipment and I do. I enjoy every minute of my very mediocre guitar playing.

 

You are speaking my language, sir. My talent is a little better than it was when I was in high school, but now I can afford to buy the stuff I wanted when I was in high school.

 

I've played very few telecasters that compare to the cheap parts-o-caster I have. My vox AC10 punches way above its weight.

 

A Peavey Bandit from the '80's is surprising good at a gig with full band.

 

Well, I do try to live within my means, meagre as they may be.

I'm often reminded of the gear expense issue when fishing. I rarely fish where there are crowds...or anyone for that matter...but when I do there's usually some guy who looks like they just stepped out of a BassPro or LLBean catalogue, spends more time fucking around with their gear than actually fishing, hasn't a clue about stream side etiquette, and brags way too much. I realize I look like some backward old-timer and I'm cool with that.

 

I'm having a hard time believing that people actually get judged on their gear choices- to the point of getting "hostile reactions from gear snobs" in some cases. If any of that is true, I'd suggest hanging with some different people.

 

Lots of people judging, apparently. And there's judgement going both ways.

People judging others for using inexpensive gear but also people judging others for buying and using expensive gear. In either case, I don't know why people have to be so concerned. I'm more concerned about how they sound and how they play, i.e. how they use their gear - and I've seen both, guys who sound great on lower end stuff and guys who sound atrocious with really good gear. Their expendable cash is irrelevant to me - that is just incidental details.