Are Budget Guitars Worth It? 5 From My Collection
Lots of cheap guitars or one expensive guitar?
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Budget guitars have come on leaps and bounds in recent years. Is it worth splashing the cash, or making do with something cheaper? Here’s my experience.
5 Budget Guitars:
Key Information about Budget Guitars:
- New budget guitars can offer great playability and reliability, making them a great choice for first-time players.
- Sometimes, the tone is in the fingers. Players who have years of experience can make cheaper guitars sound good, so you don’t always have to chase the big-ticket items.
- A proper set-up can sometimes bring your budget guitar to life, highlighting great value for money.
My Personal Budget Guitars
Can you call anything budget in 2026? Everything is so expensive! We’re not here for a political debate; we’re here to talk guitars. Specifically, my budget guitars.
For context, I started playing guitar when I was 7 years old, and therefore, until I found my own source of income, all of my guitars were paid for by my parents. As a child and teenager, I didn’t care about the brand on the headstock; I just wanted something that looked cool.
However, as an adult, I thought I’d be able to splash the cash on vintage Les Pauls and custom Stratocasters. But life gets in the way. With a mortgage, cars, and bills to pay for, my budget for new guitars isn’t what I’d hoped for. Is this a bad thing? Can you still work as a professional musician and not use the best gear? Here are some of my axes to answer that question.
Squier Stratocaster
First up in our look into if budget guitars are worth getting hold of, we have the guitar that I’ve had the longest. I previosuly described this as the worst first guitar ever. With that said, I adore this instrument.
I believe that everyone should learn guitar on a Stratocaster-shaped object. It’s the shape that everyone associates with an electric guitar. I got this particular guitar in 2011, and have played it since. It used to have the typical white pickguard and white plastics, but in 2017 I put the chorme gold pickguard on it along with matching pickup covers and pots.
In 2011, the Bullet Strat was one of the cheapest ways to get into one of these guitars. Compared to what the company are producing now, this guitar plays, sounds and feels significantly nicer than a 2026 Squier Stratocaster. It’s important to note also that this guitar has only been visually modified; it came from the factory the way it is. Therefore, have we missed the golden era of good budget guitars?
Squier Telecaster
Christmas 2013 saw the arrival of this Telecaster. Players such as Rick Parfitt started to influence me, and I thought that The Beatles’ rooftop concert was the coolest thing ever, so a Tele had to be next.
This is actually a 2005 example, arguably making it a vintage guitar? Feel free to correct me. Visually, I’m responsible for the relicing on the body. I took a razor blade and a hair dryer to the body, and let the pickguard soak in a bath of coffee for a few days before setting it on fire around the edges.
This budget guitar looks as it plays. The bridge pickup is very weak, the frets only exist in my imagination, and the input jack is held on with electrical tape. Price-wise, these Affinity Telecasters cost *£205 in 2026. Adjusted for inflation, that means that this guitar would have been around £112 in 2005, which in today’s money is £373.
Having a cheaper guitar of this vintage means that it now has character. The frets have countless hours embedded into them. However, the overall playing experience reflects that of its price point.
Dare I say it, I don’t believe that the build quality of current instruments would match up to that of twenty years ago.
Epiphone Les Paul
Next up, my first premium guitar. This Blueberry Burst Les Paul came into my life three years ago after I’d sold my Gretsch G2622T. The Gretsch was a £600 guitar in 2018, but this budget £300 Epiphone is twice the guitar for half of the price.
In 2026, an Epiphone Les Paul with this kind of finish is not a budget guitar. These now command a near four-figure price tag. Luckily for me, this 2010 example had depreciated to a point where I could afford one with the fee from a gig.
In terms of whether budget guitars are worth it, you should 100% seek out a used premium guitar. Just because they don’t cost as much now doesn’t mean that they don’t play well. Sure, Thomann has some tremendous value guitars that I own and use a lot, but for £300, this Les Paul was a steal. The frets are tall, the pickups are powerful, and it blew that old Gretsch of mine out of the water.
Epiphone SG
Again, another guitar that I’ve spoken about on gearnews before. This was the guitar I never wanted. 6 months into ownership, and I love it more and more each day. Although it took some time and effort to get it to where it is.
For context, I paid £340 for this guitar earlier this year. Which was very little, considering that this is an Epiphone Inspired By Gibson SG with a Vibrola from 2022. It was missing a string, and the overall condition of the body was so bad to the extent that I thought it had a matte finish and aged hardware. Ouch.
Therefore, it took a lot of time and effort to strip the guitar down, clean and recondition everything to make it as presentable as it now is. If you know what you’re doing, a budget guitar can be well worth it. Otherwise, it’s sometimes best to walk away.
Harley Benton Twelve String
Concluding our look at whether budget guitars are worth buying, here’s my rather attractive Jumbo twelve-string acoustic. I purchased this guitar from *Thomann two years ago. How has it lasted?
· Source: George Loveridge
I bought this guitar to get into the idea of playing with 12 strings. Well, as it turns out, I really like it. I’ve gigged and recorded with this guitar on many occasions. Otherwise, it lives in its case sadly.
That’s just the point! It’s okay to cheap out on a certain style of guitar; think of it as an extended test drive. For the price point, this Harley Benton is actually rather good. Despite the paint finish being full of orange peel and the action being very high from the factory, I was impressed by the resonance and playability of this budget jumbo.
Conclusion
Budget guitars are generally worth it if you know where to look and are prepared to make them your own. Alternatively, if you’re on the fence about playing guitar, or playing a certain style of guitar, you can get hold of one for less by going budget. This way, you can decide what’s best for you before financially committing.
Videos
Further Information
- Playing a Festival for the 1st Time
- Outdoor Gigs: 5 Mistakes Players Should Avoid
- Epiphone SG: Buying The Guitar I Never Wanted
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2 responses to “Are Budget Guitars Worth It? 5 From My Collection”
‘Dare I say it, I don’t believe that the build quality of current instruments would match up to that of twenty years ago.‘. Hmm, I’ve heard nothing but comments that current Squiers are surprisingly well made, and punch way above their price points. So is this comment based on experience or just made glibly?
“Cheap” guitars of today are NOT compatible to their counterparts of even few decades ago. Manufacturing advances and CC machines mean that a mass produced instruments are very capable and consistent. That said I *feel* that once you have decided to actually play guitar over the long term (perhaps on a cheaper model ) jumping in and going for the midrange of what appeals to you is a GREAT move. $1- $3K (US) will get you something you vibe with, the fit and finish will feel nicer, and a case…. The instrument will play you. And that’s the joy. You will improve faster because the instrument lets you. I’m not advocating the multi thousand dollar custom shop collectors models. That’s a different market. But just jumping to a GOOD instrument is superior to time spent modding a lesser example. Unless that’s your bag of course. Don’t let me stop ya!