Let's face it, the difference between a guitar costing £300 and a guitar costing £100 may not always be £200 worth. It's possible to buy a guitar for less than £100, work a little on it, and end up with an instrument that's worth a great deal more in practical terms.

The vast majority of the electric guitars sold in this price bracket are copies of Fenders and Gibsons although they're not the cheap things they were a few years ago when the Japanese guitar invasion first started. Many of them are identical in construction to the originals but usually lack the finesse of the fittings and the electronic circuitry. There's some very fine acoustics in this price bracket. Once again, the market is dominated by the Japanese, but the buyer can be assured of a fine instrument for a reasonable price from all of the manufacturers listed here.

ARC

Arc of Camberley, Surrey, market Hagstrom, Dynelectron, Pearl and Dana guitars in the U.K.

Hagstrom are mostly over £100 by the time they reach the shops but the F100B bass sells for only £71.04. It's a single pick-up solid bass of unusual and interesting design and has an adjustable bridge, a slimline neck with a patented H—section truss rod, a ten stage volume control and mother of pearl position markers.

Several Hagstrom acoustics fall in the under £100 bracket. These include the HC—4 Spanish which has a back and sides in stippled mahogany, spruce top and a jacaranda fingerboard. Price is £46.55.

BOOSEY & HAWKES

As befits one of the U.K.'s oldest and most respected instrument wholesalers, Boosey and Hawkes market several ranges of guitars that have become household names with players in this country. The ranges include many instruments, classical, acoustic and electric, that are priced under £100.

The classics are primarily the Angelica, Di Giorgio, Takeharu and Vittoro ranges and many fine instruments are featured in these ranges. Only solid electric guitars are marketed by Boosey and Hawkes. These are both from the Angelica range. The 2873 is an SG copy with a heavy roll-action tremelo arm, two pickups and an adjustable neck. The guitar is £62.95 and is available in cherry red.

The 2874 Angelica electric is a Les Paul recording copy and is an unusual instrument for that reason. It has all the sophisticated tone controls of the original and the price is £75.

J.T. COPPOCK

J.T. Coppock can boast a wide range of guitars, although only a few of the instruments are in the under £100 bracket.

Antoria guitars have become one of the best known Japanese ranges and there are many fine instruments in the range which do not bear any relationship to the poor quality "copy" Imports seen gathering dust on dealers' wills.

A few high quality copy guitars sell for under £100 — the 2354 SG copy for instance. At £86.00 the guitar has a heavy roll action tremelo, a cherry red finish, detachable neck, individual chrome plated machine heads and is complete with case.

There's a white Telecaster copy available for £54. The guitar has a white pickguard, rosewood fingerboard and is mirror polished by hand.

Antoria also produces a violin bass. The guitar is a semi-acoustic with two pick-ups, volume and tone control. The top is arched with white purfled edges and the rosewood bridge is fully adjustable. The price is £51.00

CBS/ARBITER

CBS/Arbiter carry two major ranges of guitars that come within our price category — the Fender F range and the Arbiter guitars.

The guitars in the F range are all acoustics made under Fender control in Japan and offer an extremely high standard acoustic guitar but at a very moderate price. Typical of the range is the F65 which retails at £60.85 (see last month's guitar test). As we can testify, the guitar has a flat top of close grained spruce, sides and back of rosewood and a mahogany neck.

The Arbiter guitar comes in electric, acoustic and classical models. In the electric range, the E250 represents exceptionally good value for money at £24.30. This instrument has a single pick-up, volume and tone-control, adjustable neck, adjustable bridge and heavy chromed fittings. In the acoustic range, the J125 is a fancy western - style guitar with attractive pick guard, fixed bridge, deep ody and large position markers. Price is £45.36.

GUITAR TEST

Framus J156—2 bass guitar

Retail Price £92.

This is a fairly unusual solid bass guitar with a short scale neck and a percussive sound that would do even a Fender fanatic proud.

It's about the only original bass within our limit that's a "real instrument". Bass players will know what I mean by that, it's hard to explain, but the guitar does feel exceptionally good.

As you might imagine it's very fundamental, but I like it for that reason. The two plastic covered pick-ups don't look all that hot, but are really powerful and they're controlled via a tone control, a volume control and a toggle pick-up selector. The quality of the electrics is excellent and both the volume and tone controls work as they should. The jack socket's plastic — we would have preferred to see metal but generally, the fittings are of a very high standard.

The neck is particularly interesting. Made from solid beech — the best wood for transmitting bass resonances — the neck has been carefully shaped to reveal the fine longtitudinal grain lines and the end result is rather a spectacular neck.

For playing I would have preferred the fingerboard (rosewood) to have been wider (it's 1 7/8 in. at the 12th fret) just to ensure that really enthusiastic playing won't cause the bottom E string to slip over the edge.

It's a fairly tight instrument to wear and it seems to provide an excellent answer for players who want a really percussive bass sound, without the playing problems of a full scale.

CLEARTONE

Cleartone wholesale the Melody, Miami, Klira, Guyatone, CMI and Hashimoto guitar ranges. In addition, the firm also sell one Tantarra instrument, the 4195, which is a classic acoustic selling at £18.28. Typical of the Miami range is the FT I. This is a low price, solid guitar with a single pick-up, volume and tone controls. The body is made from lauan wood and boasts a truss rod for the money. The fingerboard is made from rosewood and the metal bridge is completely adjustable.

Three solid guitars in the CMI range fall in the under £100 price bracket. The ST300 is a Stratocaster copy and is exact to the finest detail. The retail price is £64.42. The SG26 is an SG copy with two humbucking pick-ups, tone and volume controls, and a micro-matic type bridge. Price is £42.05. A bass version, the SG10B is also available at £41.06.

DAVOLI

Only a few of the Davoli Gherson guitars retail for under the £100 mark. The big point to remember with Ghersons is that they are supplied for an all in price which includes a hard case, strap and lead. We've reviewed two Ghersons in Soundcheck in this issue.

Just creeping in at £91.80 is the SG 6 string. This is a faithful copy of its namesake with all the expected features but the neck adjustment is at the foot of the neck.

The G2 bass sells for £97.20 and the Les Paul standard copy for £97.20.

F.C.N.

F, C & N offer a wide range of both classics and steel-strung acoustic models all in the Kimbara range. There's some extremely high quality guitars in the classic range which has a price run of £24.25 to £94.60. The cheapest guitar is the N.105 which is made with nato back and sides, with black ivorine binding to back and front edges. There's a mosaic inlay round the soundhole and a spruce front. Excellent value for money.

The steel strung guitars also start at just under £30. For £29.95 the Kimbara Folk offers an instrument with mahogany sides and back, spruce front and rosewood fingerboard. An interesting model in the range is the N.72 Jumbo U2 string. The guitar has a spruce front and all the necessary re-inforcement for a 12-string model. The price is £38.50.

F, C & N also market the well known Columbus range of electric guitars. These are mostly copies of famous American body styles and range from £39.95 to £49.20. The N.36 at £42.50 appears similar to the well known Gibson 335 semi-acoustic and offers tremelo arm, two pick-ups, volume and tone control and a fully adjustable neck.

FRAMUS

Trying to get a Framus guitar for under £100 isn't as easy as it was when Bill Wyman proudly proclaimed his loyalty to the model, but we managed to find at least one bass guitar that retails inside the limit (see our test in this section).

It's the J156—2 bass which has a beech neck and body, twin pick-ups and heavy duty machine heads. Price is £92.

Also under £100 is the J375 bass, the FS/74 solid six string and the 5/296 Texan 12 string.

HOHNER

There's a wide range of both steel and nylon strung acoustics marketed by Hohner. The cheapest classical style guitar is the Resonata range which retails for £17.75. This instrument features maple veneered sides and back, laminated spruce top and a rosewood bridge.

Steel strung acoustics are all Moridairas. Both standard and jumbo size instruments are available and a 12 string is available at £57.90.

All the electric guitars sold by Hohner fall in under the £100 price category. It's probably the widest range of guitars in this price bracket marketed in the U.K. and covers bass, semi-acoustic and solid instruments. Several instruments are outright copies of well-known body shapes, others are highly distinctive. Bottom of the range is a one-pickup (adjustable) solid model called the SPI. Even for £27.80 this instrument has facilities such as adjustable neck and bridge. A reasonably priced bass guitar is the SE2B. This model resembles the Burns guitars marketed a few years ago,

KEMBLE-YAMAHA

The Yamaha range of acoustic, semiacoustic and electric guitars are all marketed in this country by Kemble-Yamaha. In the classic range, eight models fall beneath the £100 ceiling. Among the most interesting of them is the G55 which retails for £32.80. The back and sides of the G55 are made with a spruce top and nato sides. This is a full sized classic with a minimum of decoration as befits the price. The fingerboard is made of bubinga - a Cheaper rosewood. The G120A is midway up the Yamaha Classic scale, retailing for £44.78. This model boasts mahogany back and sides, a spruce top, nato neck and a rosewood fingerboard.

The Yamaha folk range usually boasts eight models. The FG75 is the rock bottom of this range, retailing for £38.59. The FG160 Jumbo retails for £52.96 and has rightfully inherited the splendid reputation of the FG140. It has been improved, by the addition of better machines and a new style of neck.

In the semi-acoustic range, the SA30 at £84.43 is a popular model with amateurs and professionals — Sonja Kristina among them. It boasts a maple body and neck, with a rosewood fingerboard. Yamaha's solid guitars are, with one exception, outside our £100 limit. That exception is the SG30, which boasts a double cut-away, two humbuckers, a mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard and hand rubbed finish. This guitar is highly recommended by professionals.

ROSETTI

Rosetti market several guitar ranges with models which retail for under £100 — of special importance is the Epiphone range which is Gibson made and approved. Other ranges include Tatfa, Kiso-Suzuki, Landola, Eros, Kyoto and Geisha.

The Epiphone incorporates Western guitars, Classics, semi-acoustics and solids. Prices range from just over £50 to over £100.

Interestingly these guitars have their own body styles and don't follow the common practice of guitars in this price bracket by copying body styles from Gibson and Fender. The only near comparison is the EA250 semi-acoustic which looks like the Gibson 335. A particularly nice buy is the Epiphone FT135 (see review in last month's I.M.) This guitar is quite small (body length is 19 in.) but produces a considerable amount of sound. It has a laminated spruce top veneered mahogany sides and back, and a rosewood fingerboard. The Epiphone ET275 has an unusual solid body styling. It has two pick-ups and a built-in tremelo arm. Controls for volume and tone are incorporated as usual and a toggle switch is supplied for pick-up selection.

ROSE-MORRIS

Rose-Morris have several models in the famous Shaftesbury range which sell for less than £100 and they also sell the Avon and Top Twenty ranges which have retail prices below our limit.

In the Shaftesbury range, the 3417 (at £73.62) is an excellent copy of a Stratocaster. The guitar has all the usual facilities and controls you would expect on this model and in addition has a maple neck and a fully adjustable truss rod. The body is finished in a pdiyester coated sunburst. All fittings are heavily chromed.

The Avon range represents particularly good value for money. The 304 is an SG-styled solid with a detachable neck, cambered rosewood fingerboard, two pick-ups and a selector switch. The price is £41.18. Also in the Avon range is the 3407 bass. This is a long scale base with a design based on the Precision bass and additional features include a rosewood fingerboard, two pick-ups and heavy duty machine heads. Price is £55.91.

For £28.88, the two Pick-Up Top Twenty Six String (1970) has to represent really good value for money. This is a solid two pickup guitar that's finished in black and red polyester. The pick-ups have individually adjustable pole-pieces and selector switched. The 1971 is the partner to the 1970. It's a flat-top with one pick up, volume and tone control and it retails for £43.55.

GUITAR TEST

Saxon 825

Ret. Price £62.75.

Despite the "jumbo" tag, the Saxon 825 does not belong to that unwieldy monster breed which is so difficult to play. It is a jumbo in that it's larger than the average steel-strung acoustic, but it's comfortable to play and still produces more volume than most acoustics.

The choice of woods in the instrument is fairly conventional. Selected spruce for the sound board, 1/8 in. thick nato neck (maximum thickness 7/8 in.) Rosewood fingerboard ¾ in. wide at first fret, 2 in wide at the 12th, solid jacaranda sides and back with a maple inset for decoration on the back. The bridge is solid rosewood 6 5/16 in. wide by 5/16 in. thick. The head is veneered with jacaranda and the neck is one piece nato.

The neck had 20 frets although the last five are virtually unplayable and they're well fitted and smooth (with the exception of one fret which was a fraction rough). The bridge piece and nut are plastic as are the retaining pegs and the scratch plate is also in black plastic.

There are mother-of-pearl type position markers on seven frets, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, twelfth, fifteenth and seventeenth, and these are repeated in black dots along the side of the fingerboard.

Most people like the sound of the guitar when they were offered it to try but they didn't like the play action very much. As supplied, the lowest action obtainable was particularly low, but of course, lowering it to electric standards would reduce the volume. At the 12th fret on the 6th string, the action was 3/16 in. from the fingerboard, the first string 1/8 in. from the fingerboard. The strings supplied with the guitar were particularly stiff and unyielding and a change of string to a medium gauge acoustic string made the world of difference on the instrument

JOHN HORNBY SKEWES

John Hornby Skewes market several ranges of guitars that retail for under £100, as well as a wide range of amps and effects units (see our review of the Roland effects pedals in 'In Brief').

The Plama range is aimed at the student and amateur player and as such represents excellent value for money. The range starts at £7 and the most expensive guitar is £15.

Tareda guitars are very well known and there are 11 guitars in the range starting at £37 and rising to just over our £105 limit. The guitars include classic, folk and western models.

Equally well known are the Kasuga ranges of acoustic and electrics. The electrics fall outside the scope of this survey but the acoustics start at £45 andrise to £106. The range is made of 24 different instruments including classics, folk and western models.

Zenta solids are based on well known American body styles and the price range is £30-£100.

SELMER

The Saxon and Selmer ranges of guitars are marketed by Selmer & Co. The Saxon acoustics are a large range, incorporating classics and steel strung guitars. The classics range from £19.50 to £48.00. The most expensive instrument, the Saxon 816 classic offers, (unusually) a cedar top, with sides and back in rosewood. The fingerboard is of ebony.

Hofner guitars did a lot of pioneering work in the guitar market in the U.K. and dominated the market during the late fifties and early sixties. There's still a wide range of both acoustic and electric guitars which sell well and the majority of these can be had for under £100.

The Saxon electrics have American body styles and both guitars retail for £55. 830 is a Les Paul copy with two pick-ups and the usual controls, mother of pearl position markers and a micro adjust bridge. The 831 is an SG copy with heavy duty tremelo built in. Machine heads are nickel plated and there is a micro adjusted bridge.

The Yamaha range has become one of the best known ranges of acoustic guitars in the U.K. It's true to say that Yamaha spearheaded the invasion by Japanese-made acoustics and the range is now very comprehensive and offers models from £38.95 to £172.08. The lowest price model is the FG75 flattop and there are four models in this folk range. The main range is the jumbo flattop range which has eight models including two 12 string guitars. The jumbo range starts at £52.96.

SUMMERFIELD BROS.

Perhaps the widest range of copy guitars available in Britain is marketed by Summerfield Brothers.

The principal range is Ibanez, and in this range almost every type of instrument is offered. Some of the copies are of such a high standard that they're way above our upper limit of £100 in price, and it's almost an insult to describe them as copies, since they produce their own highly individual and attractive tones.

Creeping in under our limit are many fine instruments but space does not allow us to mention more than a few of these.

An interesting looking guitar is the 647-12 from the Ibanez Concord Range. This is a 12-string instrument with a lute-shaped head. The guitar has an overall length of 43 in. The instrument has a spruce top, mahogany back and sides and a rosewood fingerboard. Ibanez thoughtfully manufacture a wide range of left-handed instruments.

Perhaps the most interesting instrument from Summerfield is the Gypsy. This guitar is a reproduction of Django Reinhart's famous instrument. It retails for £98.26. The design features a unique single-cutaway and the fingerboard has a hangover extension that protrudes over the soundhole. The guitar is supplied complete with hard shell case.

TOP GEAR

The excellent range of Hondo acoustic guitars is distributed in the U.K. by Top Gear. The range is all acoustic and incorporates both classic and steel-strung models. The cheapest full-size instrument is the CG-150 Student Concert Size Classic which retails for £15.89.

The H-155 is the most popular Dreadnaught guitar in the range. It retails for £29.28 and has a close-grain spruce top and a nato back. The neck joins the body at the 14th fret on this model.

The H320 is top of the Classic concert range. |t retails for £30.13 and features spruce top, rosewood back and sides and a head with a mosaic inlay.

W.M.I. LTD.

WMI Limited are well known for their range of promotionally priced Kay guitars, ranging from £6.95 retail to £68.00 for a 12-string jumbo with a plush lined hard shell case which bears the Kay logo in bright colours.

The best selling items are the student size classic guitar model KC 265 which is used throughout the country by schools and recommended by music teachers as the ideal beginners classic guitar.

Its features include:- standard classical size finger board with 4" deep body steel reinforced neck finished in dark mahogony back and sides — recommended retail price is £11.95.

GUITAR TEST

Columbus 6 str. elec. Sunburst.

Ret. Price £47.95.

The most important thing to remember when evaluating this instrument is the price. It's a fantastically cheap Les Paul copy and is probably the best value for money on the British market. Having said that, it's only fair to say that the guitar lends itself to criticism, none of it individually serious, but it adds up to a conclusion that to offer the guitar at this price the Japanese factory are foregoing all but the most elemental quality control. This is most definitely a guitar to choose, but it's necessary to bear in mind that if you want to compare it to the original, some home trimming and customising will be necessary.

The body and neck are made from mahogany although the body is shaped from two separate pieces, having a separate tone board and base. Astonishingly for the money, the fingerboard is rosewood, the machine's individual and the frets' nickel silver.

The philosophy behind the building and design of the electrics seems somewhat ambivalent. The pick-ups are quite exceptional, with both a powerful and clear output with good string separation characteristics. The tone and volume circuitry on the other hand could be improved. There's unnecessary lengths of wiring trailing around the electrics compartment and the choice of pots for tone controls isn't too hot.

Use of the tone control dramatically affects volume as well as tone. Because of rather over-enthusiastic soldering we weren't able to establish the value of the pots used for either tone or volume, so a little further investigation would be necessary before deciding on suitable replacements.

Detail is good. The machine heads are extremely positive and the instrument is very easy to tune — always a tell-tale point on a guitar.