If a guitar is cheap, then generally, the parts used to make it are going to be cheaper, which usually means they’re of a lesser standard. Firstly, the wood used will probably be cheaper and more readily available – it might even be made up of a few parts, whereas more expensive guitars have bodies made up of one or two pieces.
The pickups aren’t usually quite as good either. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a cheap guitar with terrible pickups, as long as you’re looking at something from a reputable brand. But on more expensive guitars, you’ll find that the pickups tend to be more dynamic, responsive and have a wider frequency range. The added nuance you get with more expensive pickups is slight, but more experienced ears and hands can usually tell the difference. That said, all our picks of the best cheap guitars have decent pickups.
More expensive guitars will more often than not feature better hardware too. This all helps the guitar play and stay in tune better, as well as keep everything in place where it should be. Quality hardware can also improve how the guitar feels to play, so all in all it’s quite important. That’s not to say that all budget instruments have bad hardware. Sure it won’t be quite as premium, but the best cheap electric guitars will be kitted out with hardware that does the job for years to come, to make it a reliable workhorse.