cheap vs expensive

“Hey, I am a student!”

“Its gonna take time to learn the instrument anyways.”

“Oh! 20,000 rupees? For one guitar?”

“Well, playing guitar is my hobby, I don’t want to invest that kind of money in it!” etc. Are the first few questions that pop up in our minds when we find out that economical equipments look expensive because at times the price tag looks much bigger than the future with that instrument! And then we go ahead and buy the cheap ones.

Well, that seems ok in the beginning until the pain kicks in. In 5 to 6 months the tone starts wearing off, in an year or so the fret board stars to bend, the cheap metal frets starts damaging and tearing your finger tips, a lot of strength is needed to play simple pieces (especially barred chords) and eventually, playing guitar becomes a chore and not something that you love to do.

At that particular stage you have 3 options-

A)Drop the dream of becoming a guitarist

B)Mend your equipment.

C)Or, buy an economical guitar

Option A- Dropping the dream! It’s a no-no! I don’t even want to talk about it.

Option B- If it’s a minor tweak; yea why not? But if it’s something related with fret board; that’s what I want to talk about. You see; the brands that are able to provide low cost goods can do so because they use inferior raw material, inexpensive craftsmanship and in general- a cheap job. So, let’s say you see bend in the fret board. You go to the local guitar shop only to find out that the spare parts and labor work costs you as equal to the new cheap guitar. So what are you going to do now? Mend the old one or buy a new one?

Option C- After some months of experience, you will eventually find out that budget guitar is the best option because it plays well and definitely softer, and the tone is crisp and bright. Plus the lifespan of that instrument is really long; you can see and feel the better craftsmanship considering its look and playability when compared with the low cost ones.

So, why to go in all that hassle of trying and testing something that you are not sure will work? Why waste money there? So, it is recommended that you invest in a guitar within the range of 10,000 rupees to 20,000 rupees and of course the higher you go the better you get. As a beginner the Ideal guitar can be Fender CD 60 or Ibanez PF15ECE. It lasts longer, looks and plays better. ​

The best motto is; Buy once-buy the best.