Page 1 of 2
Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbuckers?
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 11:50 am
by Chankgeez
My search for a cheap hollowbody guitar w/ humbuckers is going nowhere fast.
I'm open to suggestions for any cheap guitar with nice enough sounding humbuckers.
please/thank you

Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:15 pm
by friendship
Some of the discontinued Yamahas, like the AES series, came stock with Dimarzios. I borrowed an AES820 for a while and it was a solid ass guitar. I remember emailing Dimarzio to try to find out what pickups they used because I liked the way they sounded.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:46 pm
by Chankgeez
Thanks for the recommendation, friendship. With a quick search on Reverb & eBay, I couldn't find any AES820s for sale.

I'll keep an eye out though. There're a few cheaper Yahamas up, but the pickin's still pretty slim.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:59 pm
by friendship
They pop up every now and again. I did a search with a wildcard to catch the other models and there are a few others on Reverb:
https://reverb.com/marketplace/electric ... aha+aes%2A
Breakdown of the models and what pickups are up in them guts:
AES920 - MIJ, Duncan 59s, fancy
AES820 -custom Dimarzios
AES720 - custom Dimarzios
AES620 - Duncan JB in bridge, Yamaha neck
AES500 - Yamaha pickups
I'm also looking for a cheap humbuckery guitar so I'll add stuff as I find good ones.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:25 pm
by Chankgeez
Very helpful, thank you.
Yeah, I'd already found & added those AES500s to my wish list.

Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:14 pm
by friendship
I've never played a G&L but I've heard they're exceptional.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/ ... ductDetail
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:33 pm
by waltdogg
With a good setup, the Gibson 498T and 490R are great pickups and come in just about every lower end solid body Gibson. Shiet if you still wanted a hollowbody you could just buy a set of Gibbys or any bucker you want and put em in the body of your choice. Might be a bit pricier than you intended but you'd probably be a lot happier.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 7:04 pm
by Chuckchuck
What do you consider cheap? Try Rondo or GFS/Xaviere. Rondo's stuff is alright with a little modification. I've never owned Xaviere.
I like Epiphone guitars but they're in mid-range--pricing.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 7:26 pm
by gnomethrone
Don't the g&l tributes have the same pickups as the usa ones? Whatever they are they're nice.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 7:33 pm
by Chankgeez
Chuckchuck wrote:What do you consider cheap?

I was thinking somewhere in the range of $150 to $300, but it really depends on the guitar.
Yeah, those G&Ls are nice. That one that friendship posted (at $469) is a little more than I was looking to spend though. I'm sure if I searched, I could find one used for less.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 8:44 pm
by Chuckchuck
gnomethrone wrote:Don't the g&l tributes have the same pickups as the usa ones? Whatever they are they're nice.
Not sure but I had a semi hollow tele style tribute w/ humbucker at the neck. It was muddy & the bridge pickup was borderline ice-pick. Good looking guitar but I wasn't in love so I gave it away.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:15 pm
by friendship
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:51 pm
by Chankgeez
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 2:33 pm
by Jero
Chuckchuck wrote:What do you consider cheap? Try Rondo or GFS/Xaviere. Rondo's stuff is alright with a little modification. I've never owned Xaviere.
I like Epiphone guitars but they're in mid-range--pricing.
I have been using an Xaviere for several years now, but it has p90's, so I can't help there.
The pickups in my Squier Jag hh sound good to me (though I have low exp points with buckers), which was at the bottom of your price range. I'm in the process of figuring out what to do with mine. It needs a setup and the bridge replaced.
Re: Which cheap guitars have decent sounding stock humbucker
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 2:44 pm
by gnomethrone
I had an Xavier sg copy for awhile. Sounded good but it was super light weight which led to really bad neck dive. Like really bad. I would try another in a different style body tho.