Fender Squier Acoustic Guitar Bundle Price: $149.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 3-5 business days. (Wednesday, Oct 12 to Monday, Oct 17) + transit Condition: New
The problem with low-cost instruments is you can’t give specifics because the quality varies so much from instrument to instrument. That’s why you need to play them. You can absolutely find decent acoustic guitars under $250, way better options then when I bought my first acoustic 22 years ago. Frankly, I’m amazed at the quality of some entry-level guitars today. You can also find junk in that price range. The quality control isn’t all that good, so you should play before you buy. It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s actually safer to buy a high-end instrument online because they have better quality controls, but even then I’d want to play it first. Also, don’t fall into the trap of “you get all this great stuff with it”. Spend all your budget on the best instrument you can buy, and then ask for a tuner, strap, strings, etc. as stocking stuffers.
Don’t buy it. If you’re even thinking about this, you don’t already play. The case is almost half the cost. Go to a local shop and find something used for the same price or slightly more that’s already setup and might even have some solid woods. Been playing 25 years and always caution against these all in one bundles for beginners.
Someone comes up with this argument every time a Squier or similar guitar comes up for sale.
This conventional wisdom/advice is about 10 years old and obsolete.
Patriotic or nostalgic arguments aside, CNC capabilities and quality control on these Chinese-made guitars has made them among the most fabulous bargains available, and at Woot discounts are a no-brainer for someone who wants a starter acoustic guitar.
There is really no comparison to the “beginner” guitars of the days remembered by those who say you shouldn’t buy one. These are well-constructed, hugely playable, better-than-decent-sounding instruments easily equivalent to guitars costing 3x as much a decade ago.
Of course if you are going to be recording, or performing professionally, you want to think about that extra bit of intonation and better sound quality you can get from a US-made guitar (and even then you will want to look at the higher model ranges to get significant improvement over a Squier).
But if you are that level of a player, you already knew that. If you are a student, casual player on a budget, or want a guitar to knock around the campfire or dorm room, this is the one you want.
You can’t know that without playing it. My issue with the cheapest guitars (like this one) isn’t that they sound terrible or are unplayable. It’s that the tuners are garbage, so keeping them in tune is difficult.
Nothing will turn off a a new, wannabe guitar player faster than a guitar that’s constantly slipping out of tune.
(There’s also the issue of cheap plastic bridge pins snapping off the first time you try to change the strings, but at least that can be remedied with a $2 pack of new bridge pins.)
If this was a fender squire electric I would be all in. The cheap electric guitar of today is just as an expensive one. just put in better pickups and it’s suddenly a $2000 dollar guitar.
But when it comes to acoustics you still get what you pay for because the wood in an acoustic and the craftsmanship does affect the sound…it doesn’t in an electric, which depends on the electronics and that it
If this was a fender squire electric I would be all in. The cheap electric guitar of today is just as an expensive one. just put in better pickups and it’s suddenly a $2000 dollar guitar.
But when it comes to acoustics you still get what you pay for because the wood in an acoustic and the craftsmanship does affect the sound…it doesn’t in an electric, which depends on the electronics and that it
This appears to be a very nice quality guitar and package at less money than what you’d expect to pay for the guitar alone. probably out of fear of electrocution the Wooters made this electronics optional. So go buy a cheap little amp and guitar mic or use that amp you already have after you learn how to play the thing.