What strikes me about this thread is the sheer number of 'decent' low to mid-price guitars that are available now. Recently I've played Crafters, Corts, Seagulls (and their Canuck clones), Blueridge, Washburn, Ozark, low-end Martins and Epiphones. Views? The low end Martins looked nice, but you pay a premium for the name, and there are better guitars at that price. Factory setup on the four I played was uniformly atrocious. Seagulls et al are good, reliable axes with nice actions and enough volume for most situations. Can be a bit buzzy if driven hard though. I like their 12-strings a lot. Corts are nice, if a bit quiet. Washburns are not great for their cheapest stuff, but the mid-range models are good value and easy to play. The Ozark was a brass-bodied resonator, and it was just stunning for about £300. Tried five different Epiphones, all cheaper copies of full price Gibson models; all seemed very heavily built, and consequently a little lacking in bass response and volume. Crafters are terrific value, play well, good tone and volume, and excellent electrics in many of them too. Best low to mid-price guitar I've played lately? It's a guitar that only does one job, and that's playing Gypsy jazz; it's an incredibly faithful re-creation of a Selmer 'Modele Jazz', commissioned in limited numbers by a real enthusiast. Website; Manouche Guitars No financial interest, just blown away by the sheer quality of these things.
Tim from Bit on the Side