Daniel Aronowitz- Best Guitar Deals
The guitar world is filled with over priced gear that have been hyped up by trends and speculation. While you might be out of luck if you have your heart set on an original Klon or a Custom Shop Greeny that doesn’t break the bank, there are some incredible deals out there if you’re willing to look. Here are my top 4 guitar deals on the market right now:
Tokai Les Paul’s
Tokai is a Japanese manufacturer and in typical Japanese fashion their quality is both consistent and superb. The quality is consistent with today’s Gibson USA models, which is to say very high quality, and the models that they’ve produced over the years seem to be very consistent. You don’t have the off and on quality control issues that you typically find with Gibsons of different vintages. More importantly though, these guitars are a steal. You can find excellent examples for sale on reverb for under $1500, less than half the price of a new Gibson.
Kramer Guitars
If you’re looking for a guitar that can nail the sound of the 80’s, it doesn’t get more authentic than Kramer. Everyone from Eddie Van Halen to Joe Satriani played these guitars in the 80’s but they largely disappeared for the last 30 years… until now. Kramer relaunched their classic designs and have been selling them at bargain prices. Today, you can pick up a Beretta or ’84 for under $500 on Reverb. If you’re into 80’s shred, this kind of a deal is a no brainer.
Sire Guitars
Sire has been a big name is the world of bass for ages now, building instruments for likes of Marcus Miller. Transitioning into the world of guitars, Sire partnered with jazz legend Larry Carlton to make high end guitars at entry level prices. These guitars have all of the specs that modern players have come to expect from high-end boutique manufacturers: roasted maple necks, top notch fret work, elaborate maple tops, premium electronics, but they’re selling for less than $700. Seriously, look at this thing:
This guitar is listed on Reverb brand new for $614.55. Incredible. These guitars punch FAR above their price point. If you’re craving a Suhr or custom shop guitar but don’t have a spare kidney to sell, definitely check out Sire.
Carvin Guitars
You’ve probably seen Keisel guitars in the hands of virtuoso musicians like Frank Gambale, Jamie Robinson, and Greg Howe. They’re known for their top notch craftsmanship and playability. Well, Kiesel is actually a rebranding of Carvin. The company split into separate guitar and amp building companies in 2015 and rebranded its guitar business as Keisel in the process. For whatever reason, despite the fact that Keisel’s and Carvin’s are essentially the same guitars, they fetch wildly different prices on the secondary market. If you shop around on Reverb you can find Carvins for 50% of what their Kiesel counterparts are selling for. — Daniel Aronowitz
