re: Lesser known guitar brands: your recs

I have a Jay Turser semi-hollowbody that I paid somewhere between two and three bills for. It's not an ES-335 but for that price it isn't a bad guitar. It has a flame maple top and very nice scrollwork inlays on the fretboard. The pickups are the weak link but it wouldn't take much to replace them.

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Blue Ridge or a 1970s Takamine (pre-lawsuit) are amazing guitars.

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I found a BR-160 at a Guitar Center for $399. LOVE that thing. I've strummed new and vintage D-28 at many stores. It is definitely close enough for my dumbass!

Also, $399 vs $2899 it is a steal.

But I think GC may have made an error in their pricing? I can't find a BR 160 online for under $450.

I digress. Blueridge are great. They use Martin caliber materials and put them together in China. NOT saying it is a Martin, but again it is close enough.

I have a '82 Takamine Martin-copy that I absolutely love. It's a great sounding acoustic.

I've seen quite a few really fantastic musicians playing Babicz acoustics in the last 5 years or so. They're easy to recognize:

Speaking of old Takamine, they had a very short-lived series of solid bodies (circa '83-85) that were phenomenal guitars for the money then. GX was the prefix on them. The GX-100 was an undersized Explorer-like shape and the GX-200 was a set-neck strat/SG-like hybrid. The 200 is a little monster: Mahogany body and set mahogany neck, sculpted heel and a small, ultra-fast neck that is particularly nice for student and female players, or guys with small hands or who just like smaller contour necks. They can be hard to find due to the limited run and prices are all over the place, but they can be found in the $200-300 range if you shop patiently and they are worth every penny.

I'm pretty sure Takamine got a cease-and-desist warning from Gibson's lawyers during the run which effectively killed off Tak's experiment in the U.S. solidbody market. That C&D should also tell you something about the quality and value for the $$$.