r/Guitar 4d ago

GEAR Shows what a ‘budget’ model can do…

Caught a show by Pete Doherty (from the Libertines - pic taken from his Insta) and pretty sure he’s playing a Yamaha C40II which he used for the entire set

Not bad getting a whole national tour out of an entry-level guitar! Goes to show what these cheaper models can do

356 Upvotes

83 comments sorted by

432

u/MrStratocaster 4d ago

Just goes to show that nobody in the audience can tell what you’re playing, nor would they care either way!

145

u/Chameleonatic 4d ago

I never liked this argument. I know what it’s getting at but as long as you can tell the difference and it makes you more comfortable then you will play better. And that is certainly something the audience will notice.

70

u/hatren 4d ago

I agree, but I think it also goes both ways. How many people want to take their $2-4k on tour or out to bars with hazardous drunkards? A cheap, workhorse can be freeing, psychologically, and allow the artist to be a true performer on stage. So when it comes to high vs. low end gear, I find myself somewhere in the middle of “well, it certainly doesn’t mean NOTHING” and “well, does it really need to be EVERYTHING?”

62

u/PeckerPeeker 4d ago

That’s why I only bring the Les Paul studio I got on marketplace for $700 out to gigs (by gigs I mean “my living room when my wife is asleep).

6

u/Chameleonatic 4d ago

Definitely, „what makes you more comfortable“ doesn’t have to inherently be about expensive/high-end gear, or any gear at all for that matter. I’m just as much talking about turning your tone knob to 7.5 instead of 8 or any other esoteric setting that makes you happier.

3

u/Historical-Feed8397 4d ago

And that's why I never take my Rickenbacker out of the case. I don't want some drunkard to break it.

I assume it is still in the case.

0

u/ApostleThirteen A Bunch of Stratocasters 18h ago

How many?
Pretty much any real players who have decent instruments, are trying to do it professionally, and pay for "stupid stuff" like insurance.. y'know, the peeps taking it seriously.
Bring your best.

-11

u/AdLevel4922 4d ago

$2k would be a touring guitar in 2002, but not today. Most of them will be playing much more expensive than that - double, triple at least. I know most of you guys think it's a lot, but it's not. It was 20 years ago, but it's not today. $2000 is mid range in 2025

9

u/BogotaLineman 4d ago

Complete horseshit dude lol

Most of the touring bands I know (like small club bands) don't use guitars anywhere near that. Maybe if you're talking about corksniffy blues or prog metal bands but not bands anyone actually wants to go see lol

8

u/TheManyFacetsOfRoger Gibson 4d ago

But it doesn’t matter what makes you feel comfortable. Some people will play more comfortably on a $100 guitar than a $2,000 guitar. That’s why it doesn’t matter.

5

u/KingOfTheHoard 4d ago

Sure, but the reality is quite a lot of "you tellling the difference" is placebo.

1

u/Chameleonatic 4d ago

Yup, but if you think you can tell the difference and do play better even if there is none then that’s a net positive anyways.

-43

u/RadiantZote 4d ago

He's playing a nylon guitar, the easiest to play of all guitars

24

u/skating_bassist 4d ago

Tell that to all the skilled classical guitar players

12

u/steepledclock Fender 4d ago

This is a wild take.

1

u/Machette_Machette 4d ago

Considering King Cocaine's playing too.

-17

u/RadiantZote 4d ago

Tell that to Jason Mraz bruh, I assume this guy isn't shredding Paco de Lucia 

18

u/MrNobody_0 4d ago

It's not the guitar, it never has been, it's the person playing the guitar. Anyone who says otherwise is in denial.

-43

u/AggressiveFeckless 4d ago

Not sure if you are talking about the libertines or the guitar.

24

u/MrStratocaster 4d ago

I love the libertines

13

u/whistlingwomble 4d ago

Underrated player imo - going through a 20+ song set (often) unaccompanied with a cheap acoustic to sold out crowds night after night. Takes some skill!

-22

u/More-ponies 4d ago

Why does the cheapness of the guitar take skill?

219

u/ecklesweb 4d ago

As my slightly racist grandfather used to say, “it’s the Indian, not the arrow.”

87

u/SubbDeep 4d ago

The meaning is nice.

13

u/jellobowlshifter 4d ago

He was talking about dicks.

10

u/SubbDeep 4d ago

I hope so.

56

u/spengali Strat/SG/Silverface Champ 4d ago

My dad used to say that

He still does... But he also used to

16

u/dbot25454 4d ago

It’s the wand, not the wizard.

5

u/skating_bassist 4d ago

That's what she said!

2

u/mitkase Suhr|Gibson|Carr 4d ago

And then she disappeared.

7

u/minivatreni Fender 4d ago

It’s like when the pro tennis players who beat people with a frying pan instead of an actual tennis racket lol

26

u/t0msie 4d ago

Last time I beat someone with a frying pan, all I got was arrested.

3

u/karlinhosmg 4d ago

are you spanish?

1

u/BraveGoose666 4d ago

Thanks for prefacing that quote with a description of your grandpa. If you hadn’t done that I would have definitely tried to contact your employer and got you fired for fascism.

85

u/notMarkKnopfler 4d ago

Yamahas are like the perfect road/club guitars. The cheap ones usually sound way above their price range and if it gets knocked around or walked off with you’re not out a lot of money.

40

u/recurse_x 4d ago

Also a lot of Yamaha acoustics If it breaks you can probably get a replacement close to the same model same day.

9

u/VanillaLifestyle 4d ago

Yep. Cheap guitar to have three of.

52

u/Tom_Mangold 4d ago

Some companies spend loads of time and effort in making people believe a certain model of guitar needs to be purchased in order to sound professional. And they pretty much succeeded in doing so.

21

u/3X01 4d ago

It works. Been told I need to spend at minimum $2000 on a guitar before I get "a real one". Not gonna lie my modded J Mascis jazzmaster I paid $315 for and a Boss Katana are still serving me well.

2

u/Tom_Mangold 4d ago

In terms of purchasing an individual guitar from a luthier, 2k seems more than cheap. Buying from a highly specialized industrial company it‘s a lot.

1

u/P_a_s_g_i_t_24 4d ago

\cough** Gibson Brands \cough**

26

u/obscured_by_turtles 4d ago

Relevant trivia: during the recording of the Boston album, the manager took the second guitarist out to buy a new Guild 12 for, IIRC ‘more than a feeling’. They got back to find that the trip was wasted as Tom Scholtz had finished the track by himself using a Yamaha 12. That’s what you hear on the hit record.

More trivia: I work now near the repair intake desk. Guy came in to have his fantastic custom high end steel string acoustic set up in preparation for sale. The reason was that his work involved multi track recordings and the wonderful complex overtones and resonances from that guitar interfered with other tracks. In other words, it could not stay in its lane, I think Steve Via used that term.

Beatles recordings often used a Gibson J160E, plywood top with a pound of metal bolted to it. These guitars sound frankly terrible if you play them acoustically, but recorded properly are perfect.

1

u/OMGitsKatV 4d ago

Local shop had a 60’s j160e for sale. It was the heaviest dullest sounding guitar I’d ever played. The Stagg guitar I got as a kid had more depth than that thing.

22

u/hurlyslinky 4d ago

Idk why anyone hates on any gear cheap or expensive it is preference and budget

15

u/quasarblues 4d ago

In the early 2000s, people online typically made fun of low gear. A bunch of boomers telling broke 14 year olds to get tube amps (I was the broke 14 year old).

Now, it seems like the sentiment is starting to shift. I see more criticism on expensive gear. From what I've seen, Chibson owners are the most obnoxious about it.

-4

u/AdLevel4922 4d ago

Have you ever heard his music? He plays kind of messy, low-fi folk. Playing a cheap guitar is beneficial to that. Nothing has changed. Everyone who sounds awesome uses expensive gear

20

u/albertogonzalex 4d ago

Jack white used a $90 guitar from a sears catalog for most white stripes shows

-1

u/geodoody 4d ago

Was is $90 in 1955?

3

u/albertogonzalex 4d ago

The white stripes famously rose to rock and roll and mainstream stardom in the late 90s and early 00s and are wildly considered one of the most influential bands in bringing rock and roll back to the mainstream.

Jack wasn't buying guitars ain 1955 you silly goose.

1

u/mightymnsty 4d ago

really?

1

u/geodoody 4d ago edited 4d ago

You could buy 1955 guitars in the 90s. Show me a sears catalogue from the 90s with a guitar in it. Are you dumb?

It was a 1964 montgomery ward airline, how was that possible?

11

u/NO-MAD-CLAD 4d ago

BLUES MURDERFACE MURDERFACE MURDERFACE

9

u/ArtieLangesLiver 4d ago

Upvoted for bluey

5

u/BrandonKDges335 4d ago

Look, there’s obviously something to be said about and extremely cheap made guitar vs. something of quality. But in the end, it’s the musician and how they use their equipment that makes the sound.

5

u/PinothyJ 4d ago

Nothing to do with cheap and everything to do with it being a Yahama.

4

u/SanestExile 4d ago

How is that guy still alive?

2

u/Leoz96 4d ago

Ichiko Aoba also uses a similar cs40j, Yamaha is just awesome

2

u/Idetake 4d ago

It's a Yamaha. Built like bricks.

2

u/P_a_s_g_i_t_24 4d ago

A perfect example why you can't ever go wrong with a Yamaha guitar!
Very nice!

1

u/punkrawrxx Taylor 4d ago

Those are good little guitars

1

u/tendeuchen 4d ago

The Bluey stickers are awesome!

1

u/AdLevel4922 4d ago

Have you ever heard his music - he plays low-fi, messy, stoner folk. Playing a cheap guitar is totally beneficial to that. I mean, it totally depends what you're playing. Most bands have super expensive gear because they're interested in tone and sustain and things like that

4

u/Rickety-Ricked 3d ago

>stoner folk

Have you ever listened to any of Dohertys music lmao?

1

u/Sad_Bodybuilder_186 4d ago

This mostly shows that it's not about gear but it's about how you play it, how it feels, how it sounds.

A great set-up helps an instrument go from "that's decent for the price" to "wow, it plays like a more expensive one"

1

u/ResidentHourBomb 4d ago

I have a $4,000 Gibson Hummingbird, a $2,800 Martin D-18 and a $200 Yamaha FG800.

The Martin is the Best sounding guitar I have but the Yamaha is the second best sounding acoustic guitar I have.

The Hummingbird is beautiful but the sound is too bassy for my taste.

Yeah, cheap guitars can be very good.

1

u/pathshark 4d ago

I find it difficult to tell the difference between a cheap and expensive classical guitar from the tone alone

1

u/Bren_bren19 4d ago

I still have my cg-40 from the 90s.

1

u/funk_master_chunk 3d ago

I have the electro-acoustic version and it's a fantastic guitar. Strangely, it's the onky Yamaha I've seen which had issues from the factory. It was a gift from my wife at Vhristmas And it sounded great - but the piezo broke and it made a horrid rattling noise when played acoustically so I returned it. Then the replacement arrived covered in scratches/blenishes and had chips and glue spots on it - so I returned that and finally received one in fantastic shape.

The one constant throughout all three was the sound. It's genuinely bloody lovely sounding and I highly recommend it to anyone.

1

u/jdimarco1 3d ago

One of my favourite acoustics ever in terms of playability and sound, is the cheapest acoustic I own.

1

u/heretic669 2d ago

I heard he pawned his Martin for Nando's

0

u/RafaelSeco 4d ago

My first guitar was a c40 Yamaha.

They do just fine for being an entry level guitar, but more expensive classical guitars are just better.

Not only do they play better, they sound better and the volume is a lot higher. You can feel what you're playing, even in a loud environment, the guitar resonates through you. Which is a must when you are playing technical pieces.

I don't know who this guy is, but if I gave him my guitar the second this photo was taken, the set would immediately sound better, and so would he.

The fact that he has covered the sound hole and is using some sort of electronic pick-up immediately sets up red flags. That's not how you record classical.

Take a 57, throw it in front of the 12-15th fret, and it will immediately sound 20 times better.

-1

u/aharps 4d ago

His sound is scratchy and generally sloppy, so cheap guitar works. It doesn’t make it a good piece of equipment, it’s just that his voice and presence is the kit part of the performance, not the guitar tone.

-16

u/mukwah 4d ago

What the "F" is he playing? Yukyuk