[deadtotheworld]

Went away for a couple of days and my missus spotted a drum kit in the window of this second hand shop, so we went in to see if they had guitars.
I couldnt resist a Squier Strat for £29!

I thought I would upgrade it and maybe do a home made Eddie Van Halen design on it - but when I oiled up the fretboard, gave the guitar a bit of a clean, peeled off the plastic off the pickguard and slapped on a new set of .009s, I plugged in and WOW!

Completely took me by surprise how great it sounded! A few slight adjustments later and I have decided to keep it as it is. Feels, sounds and plays nicer than my mates Fender Strat, which I totally wasnt expecting - I thought it was gonna play like ****! haha Especially after the quality of guitars I have been using recently.

In the past I have been out to pick up a Les Paul - after trying a whole bunch of Gibsons that I didnt like - then to compare I tried out a whole load of Epiphones, ESPs and a few of the cheaper PRSs with no luck, I finally stumbled upon an old Epiphone Gold Top which is absolutely to die for.

Anyone else found a hidden gem?

[Switch625]

It's a great feeling picking up a half decent guitar for cheap

I bought a Yamaha ERG 121 from here a while back for £30 posted, that was a bargain and played lovely once the neck was oiled, action was adjusted and had a new set of strings

[mickevh]

I once visited a mate and his flatmates strat was lying on the sofa. I'm not a big fan of strats but this one felt and sounded gorgeous. Apparently it was some old relic made in the mid fifties. He didn't want to sell it.