Looking for a good low cost strat style guitar

I don’t want to spend a lot of money. I play an acoustic now but I’m not very good - still learning. I have a Mesa Boogie amp.

Most places sell cheap Fenders which don’t look very good to me. I’ve heard Yamaha Pacificas are very good for the money. If anyone has any advice please let me know.

You should define “a lot of money”. I would go with any of the the Ibanez RG series guitars. Most of the body styles are the same with different options depending on cost. They can go anywhere from $150 to $1000. It just depends on things like neck styles, pickups, body material, and different style tremolos.

For starting out, I’d would say the RG170, but for a little better quality, I’d go with the RG370.

I mean around $250 max. I know that’s really low, but that’s my budget right now. I can always upgrade later with a new guitar or better pickups.

Aren’t Ibanez guitars geared more towards hard rock? That’s my impression. I’m more into REM, Weezer and bands like that.

Hey there, KPM. As far as strat bodies go, I’ve always liked the older Yamaha RGX series. I try to pick up the neck-thru models whenever I see one for sale. They’re very comfortable and are good for a wide variety of sounds. The tremelo bridges are very reliable and are hard to get out of tune, and they play great. There’s a white RGX 610 for sale on ebay right now … i think there’s a day or two left on the auction … and the price is about $100 if I remember correctly. Good luck

BTW, I wouldn’t worry about what a guitar is ‘geared’ for. Its all about what you find comfortable. You can play full on jazz on a BC Rich Warlock if that body style fits you best. Me, I’m a V man, they’re just what i find most comfortable to play and i can go from playing Metallica to Midsummers Daydream on 'em.

Thanks for the advice.

I don’t buy anything used without seeing it first so I don’t buy from Ebay. In fact I cannot understand at all why ebay is popular but that’s another topic. ( I just have no interest in buying stuff from other people except in rare cases. )

I have a Fender standard stratocaster that I bought for $320 new. I know that’s a little more than your stated limit, but I wanted to chime in since you mentioned cheaper fenders in your original post.

I’ve found it to be a quality guitar that’s very comfortable and easy to play. It sounds good to me, and its built well as far as I can tell. I’ve had it for several years and haven’t had any problems with it.

I also have an Ibanez (RX20, I think) with a strat-type body, but two humbucker pickups instead of the three singlecoils you find on a strat. The sound isn’t as clean in general as the strat, but its not bad by any means. I wouldn’t say its any less versatile than my strat in terms of the sound I can get out of it, so I wouldn’t rule Ibanez out as a “hard rock” guitar. I think that’s just the image the company projects. I paid about $200-220 for this guitar, if I remember correctly.

Also, Fender makes some even cheaper guitars that they sell as Squier strats. I’ve never played one of these, but I’ve heard they’re not very high-quality. I’m not sure if you were referring to these Squier strats or the Fender standard strats in your original post.

Hope this is helpful to you in some way!

Fender Mexistrats (standard Strats made in Mexico) used to be a really good deal.

From personal experience, I would tell you to wait, save a little more, and buy a decent guitar the first time. Whatever you get is going to sound like crap because, to be blunt and judging by your OP, you sound like crap.

However, if you buy a decent guitar now, you won’t have to upgrade in the future.