If you’re a guitar player then you know 10 or 15 years ago, you couldn’t have found a cheap guitar for under $100, and if you did, it would’ve been a complete piece of junk. These days though, there are a decent number of makers making guitars in that price range, even some of the big makers like Fender and Gibson. They’re not a pro-level guitar, but they’re pretty good, definitely playable, although not always right out of the box.
So how is it done? Computer controlled machinery mostly. Once the machine is set up to cut a neck or guitar body, it can churn out millions of them, all the same, without human intervention. Some of these cheap electric guitars have been outsourced to China, but there are still lots of them made in the U.S. that are decent quality and affordable. Of course corners have to be cut somewhere, and it’s usually on factors that don’t affect playability, like finish work, quality of wood, etc. You won’t usually find binding on a below $100 electric guitar although there are some. You’ll probably find some finish drips and runs, or spots that weren’t sanded out as well as they could.
You might also find the guitar isn’t set up as well as it could be which is typical right from the factory, even on more expensive electric guitars. If you’re a tinkerer there are also some things you can fix, like the action adjustment, maybe polishing the frets, etc. Fret work is something that is done by hand, and therefor more time consuming and expensive. There’s only so much a machine can do, it can install and level frets, but crowning and smoothing the ends still takes some human intervention. You should play more than one guitar, because even though necks and bodies, pickups etc might be identically made in the factory, differences in materials can cause variation among guitars. You’re not going to find an awesome guitar for under $200 but if you look you can find a good one.
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