If you're a novice (or a well meaning parent), it's difficult to know the difference between a functional instrument and a 'toy' version, and it's easy to end up with something that's barely functional that causes you to discount the entire sport/instrument as "not for me."

This happened to me with skating. $35 Wal-Mart board, 2x as thick and heavy, junk bearings and wheels. When I stood on it and it barely rolled, I decided skating wasn't my thing.

So I suppose the lesson is: if you're serious, have someone who knows what a guitar is supposed to feel and play like if you're going to pick one up used. I've bought a 30$ electric that I still own and play, and a $100 one that was total junk because I hadn't handled enough guitars at the time to know better.

Ugh, no! I love a good bargain guitar myself, but I can also tell what's a diamond in the rough, versus what's just bad. I can tell what repairs are needed, etc. A lot of cheap guitars are unplayable, and can never be made to play well and sound good, no matter how much effort you put into them. Just because usable cheap guitars exist does not mean that all, or even many cheap guitars are usable.

> A lot of cheap guitars are unplayable

I don't think that's true for a beginner who can't really tell the difference, and I think that's also a discouraging sentence for people who are wondering if they should try learning guitar.

Data point: I bought a used mandolin on craigslist for my first instrument; it had such a high action that it was literally unplayable unless you were a robot with clamps for hands, but I didn't know know that because I was a newbie.

> I don't think that's true for a beginner who can't really tell the difference

Yup. My first (and only!) guitar is an Ibanez Gio. I paid $55 for it and a practice amp. The amp sounded like garbage, but piped through a $100 Peavey Vyper or through Rocksmith and it sounds pretty good.

But I'm an extreme noob. I imagine an experienced player could pick up on all the shitty sounds it produces. The only time I ever notice it sounding bad is when the strings need replacing and the pitch of a note wobbles all over the place and they go out of tune in 15 minutes of playing.

Not sure that's great advice for someone who doesn't know how to play. Sure you can get a decent guitar for that price, but if you don't know how to play it, it's hard to tell. I would wager at least 60% of those guitars in that price range need to be sent to a tech to be set-up so that a beginner doesn't get frustrated.

My $90 Ephiphone Les Paul Jr. is still one of my favorite guitars (and I have a Gibson Les Paul Jr.).