Mornats
Hobbyist
I'm talking electric basses rather than guitars but the principal is the same. There are three basic levels of basses for me and they typically match the Fender range. At the bottom there's the Squiers, then the Mexican made Fenders, then the USA made Fenders. Prices are around £350 / £650 / £1800 I think. I own a Squier VM jazz (£240 when I bought it) a Mexican P bass (£514 back in 2015) and a Yamaha (we, can't actually remember the cost). Anyway, when I bought the Squier and the MIM Fender I compared them both against the USA models to see if saving up and going for the "proper" version was worth it. To be honest, none of the USA ones matched up the cheaper ones.The USA Fender P bass was lighter and felt a little easier to wear as a result but there was maybe £150-200 difference in quality but not over £1000 difference. I actually preferred the Squier jazz over the USA jazz I compared it against. I was actually a little disappointed that I had no justification to splash out and treat myself.
I think one key difference is that the shop I bought them in had a member of staff who loved setting up basses correctly so he set up all the ones that came in. That setup pushed the quality of the cheaper basses so much closer to that of the expensive ones.
So my recommendation would be to try and find a guitar that you just gel with and love playing and if it's a cheap one, pay an expert for a good setup. It'll save you hundreds.
I think one key difference is that the shop I bought them in had a member of staff who loved setting up basses correctly so he set up all the ones that came in. That setup pushed the quality of the cheaper basses so much closer to that of the expensive ones.
So my recommendation would be to try and find a guitar that you just gel with and love playing and if it's a cheap one, pay an expert for a good setup. It'll save you hundreds.