Beginning? Buying? Broke? Not many of us can afford a £1,000 guitar - so what's on offer at a price we can all manage? 'IN TUNE' looks at six ways of spending Auntie's Christmas present money and tries to find the best means of playing 'economy class'.

As any experienced player will tell you, cheap guitars can be worse than useless. But it's the very players who need cheapies (especially beginners) who are often the least well skilled in deciding what's the right guitar for them.

IN TUNE'S team of out of work Spanish inquisitors ('Biggles - fetch the comfy guitar strap!') sampled six new guitars (ranging in price from £65 to £160) and tested them through the kind of amplification most budget-minded buyers would be likely to use (including a Custom Sound 30 watt Cub, and a Pro-Amp Demon).

In a future issue we hope to be able to look at a similar collection of low-cost basses, and we're also planning a 'buyer's guide to dog-handling' - a set of basic guidelines showing you how to pick out a good guitar.

For now though, with the season of low-cost guitar buying, when Christmas present money is being spent on multitudes of new instruments, we thought that some specific help was called for. After you with the thumb-screws, Claude...

CIMAR 2100

RRP £114 inc. VAT

Even if this guitar was mechanical rubbish (which it certainly isn't) then the quality of the finish alone would tempt you into a music shop to look at it. Closer up, it still looks nicely made and finished - a tribute to Ibanez's quality control people, because it is they who lurk behind the 'Cimar' brand name.

The 2100 looks suitably Strat-like, with a dense, deep red finish (on our sample), a white scratchplate and a maple neck with what appeared like an applied maple fingerboard.

Fitted with a simple Strat-style bridge, offering adjustable saddles for both string length (intonation) and individual string height, it was good to see the saddles 'tracked' - i.e., the penetrating screws riding in grooves in the baseplate to prevent saddle slipping.

The machines? Well, they weren't up to the standard of Ibanez's 'Velve-Tune' types, being a shade stiff and a bit erratic, but they'd do the business well enough and are of an acceptable quality for the price.

The rest of the hardware is equally straightforward, comprising three single coil pickups, single tone and volume controls and a 3-position selector switch. This latter obviously isn't as handy as the modern 5-way type but you can still easily get the 'in between' out-of-phase sound by lodging the selector between the first two settings.

The Omar's neck feels nice and slim and, has a fairly pronounced camber. Fretting is of the traditional thin gauge type, but there was very pronounced 'choking-off' of notes bent more than a couple of semitones, where the light strings, low action and neck camber conspired to deaden notes. A slightly higher action would probably be needed to counter this, which is a pity - but that's the way it often is with fingerboards bearing this type of profile.

Soundwise, the Cimar was very acceptably toppy in the 'bridge' position, delivered the -'in between' setting with no difficulty and swapped over to a middlier and then bassier tone of very authentic proportions as you selected each pickup.

Sound, finish, style and 'feel' were all high scoring features on the Cimar, although we'd have liked a bit more attention to the cutting of the nut slots. Nonetheless, this one's a good buy, either for the beginner or the advanced player who needs this general kind of guitar for just occasional use. A bit of individual setting-up could turn it from a good value guitar into a real winner. Recommended? - Yes.

CIMAR 2105

RRP £120 inc. VAT

Pay just a bit more and this time you get a Cimar with almost identical specifications and features to the 2100, but with the addition of a tremolo.

Similar comments to those we made about the 2100 apply to the 2105, except for the fact that this sample bore a rather nice rosewood fingerboard. Strangely (probably due to it having a slightly higher action), the 2105 didn't choke-off on extravagantly bent notes, which goes to show that our diagnosis of how to prevent this happening on the 2100 was almost certainly correct.

In almost every respect, the 2105 lives up to all the promise of the 2100 in terms of sound, feel, good finish - but not, regrettably, in its tremolo action which left quite a lot to be desired on your sample. What happens (and you'll sometime even find this on more expensive than most guitars mind you) was that, as the trem arm was released, the strings stayed at too high a pitch - and an irregular pitch at that. The cause of this was our old friend, the strings sticking in the nut slots - something which should have been sorted-out before despatch to us for review, as it's an easy problem to cure.

We didn't try the 'pencil lead trick' to ease the strings (which creaked and groaned in the slots as they tried to free themselves) and they may have required more than mere lubrication to free them adequately. The answer here would be to check an individual sample locally and to pay special attention to the trem action. A good dealer would have got this right before offering it, and it's equally likely that Omar's distributors (who have a good reputation for quality control, normally) would have sorted this out before they sent it to the retailer. Maybe we had a sample which just slipped through?

Assuming that your sample's trem did work satisfactorily, then the Cimar 2105 is, again, very well finished, sturdy, easy to play and has a good sound. Subject to that trem action we'd say that it, too, was a good buy at the price.

WESTONE THUNDER I GUITAR

RRP £155 inc. VAT

Whereas the two Cimars (and many lower cost guitars) are single coil pickupped instruments modelled along Fender Strat lines, the Westone Thunder I (an 'own design' guitar) seeks to give you the best of both worlds, being fitted with two twin coil pickups, plus a coil tap, which enables you to select single coil operation when you desire.

Our sample came in a very handsome matt-finished light oak. Far be it from us to dictate personal taste but, if asked, we feel that matt wood finishes are, maybe, a bit dated now. Nevertheless, the bolt-on necked Westone sample we had was a beautifully made and finished guitar - if a bit cunning, because it looks like a straight-through neck type, on account of the body's wood stripes. Look carefully, though, and you can see the laminated sections and the bolted neck joint.

Matsumoku (the Japanese makers of Westones) are no slouches at the good value game, and they haven't stinted here. The machines on this model are of very high standard (Gotohs, we suspect) and are both ultra-smooth and accurate. Complementing them is a brass nut, thankfully well cut and finished, offering little or no resistance when the strings are tuned. The bridge, too, is solid brass, with individually adjustable saddles offering plenty of reach. More brass is found on the three controls (heavily knurled for easy grip) which govern volume and two tones. A small 'flick switch' gives you single/twin coil tappings and a plastic pickup selector lives up on the top bout.

Despite the oak look, the Thunder I's body is made of laminated ash, maple and walnut, the neck is maple (in several plys) with a rosewood fingerboard. Fretting on our model was medium/fat and the intonation was spot-on.

Playing the Westone was enjoyable - the neck being quite slim and fast, the frets, maybe, a bit high for some players' tastes, but accurately set and even in height, giving a good feel - especially on chords.

Soundwise, the Westone drive even a modest amp pretty early into distortion and has already sustain, good warm tone on twin coil with a useful 'clang' on the single coil setting. The Thunder I's quite an individualist and would be a nice guitar to own, almost regardless of what your main instrument was - certainly it's a fine buy at the price and impressed us very much.

CORT 'STAT'

RRP £119.95 inc. VAT

Cort guitars are made in Korea and the Cort 'Stat' (cheeky name - eh?) is one of their conventional models in among a range of headless instruments. Korean-made instruments are currently racing up in quality and value, so on the face of it the Stat could be an attractive proposition. Is it?

Looks, balance, feel, woodworking and finish on the Cort all look to be pretty good, although some of the hardware seems somewhat delicate. The machines on our sample, for example, were a bit featherweight (not as tough as those on the Cimar, for example) but they worked well enough, although only time will tell how they last.

The bridge and trem system are typical of a 'you-know-what' copy, and, again, although the bridge seems insubstantial it offers full adjustment and works well enough. In fact the trem action, although a bit on the stiff side, was rather nice in use, only the faintest sticking in the nut grooves being apparent - not really enough to worry about and certainly not irredeemable.

The sound from the three single coil pickups, handled by one volume, two tones and a full 5-way selector switch, was very convincing - again, showing that Korean makers are now getting it right. Output power was high-ish, and sound for sound against the Cimar, for example, it's not identical but is probably as good in its own way, with all the simul-Strat sounds present and easy to get. It plays well, with a nice medium-slim neck, accurate fretting and a reasonable quality build standard.

The Cort seems like good value to us, and would certainly suit a beginner very well. It's a bit less substantial than some copies, but it's pretty cheap and can be forgiven on those grounds. We'd rate it equal to most similar design and price guitars and reckon that the final choice in a shop would probably depend as much on how well individual samples of the Cort and its competitors compared rather than any basic design features. Worth looking out for.

YAMAHA SE200

RRP £160 inc. VAT

Yamahas aren't among the world's cheapest guitars, but they have a high quality reputation, so finding the new SE200 with a recommended price of just £160 (albeit making this the most expensive guitar in our feature) is both surprising and very good news. The SE series is Yamaha's challenge to the 'under £200' market, and comprises a range of single coil pickupped instruments, beginning with the SE200 (minus tremolo) through several more luxurious models (most with trems) until you begin to creep over the £250 mark. The SE200 is a handsome (if unremarkable-looking) 'you-know-what' style guitar; our sample being finished in gloss black, with simple hardware and three single coil pickups. Balance and feel are both good, although (no doubt as an economy measure) the back of the body isn't contoured (Strat-style) for comfort, as it is on most guitars of this type. Does this matter? Frankly, we're undecided as the SE200 seemed perfectly comfortable to us.

The assembly quality on this guitar was first rate, as had been the pre-delivery inspection. The chrome (sealed) machines were uniform and smooth in their action, and there were no problems with strings sticking in the nut when tuning-up.

The SE200's bridge is a bit primitive for the price - a fully adjustable Strat-style unit, but with no saddle 'tracking'. It does the job well enough) however.

The three pickups are pretty standard-looking too, and are wired to a single volume control, a tone pot and a 5-way adjuster. This is a bit unusual in feel as it doesn't have any radius to its operation - the sliding mechanism operating in a straight line. Again, it works well, though. Playability on our SE200 was a definite plus. The medium/slim neck bears a rosewood-like fingerboard (a peculiarly grained piece of wood, which we wouldn't like to guess at the nature of) which is barely cambered at all. This is becoming a popular feature currently, done to prevent choking-off when low actions and light strings are used. It works! The frets were of a medium gauge and uniformly accurate in height; the overall action being both fast and comfortable.

The SE200's sound really impressed us. One copy is much like another in looks - it's the feel, build quality and sound which differ, and (scoring well on the first two) the Yamaha excelled tonally. It has a wide range and comes across appreciably more 'authentic' than most copies. In fact it easily competes with guitars way into the next price category.

The Yamaha SE200's cost may put it out of court for an absolute beginner but it would make a fine second instrument and is more than good enough for wealthier players wanting a spare. A fine guitar, the Yamaha is well worth the bit extra if you can afford it. To our ears it had the best sound of all the 'single coil' guitars on test. You gets what you pays for, of course.

SATELLITE 9B

RRP £65 inc. VAT

Yes, £65 is a joke price to pay for a guitar - but the Satellite sample we were loaned was no laughing matter - in the nicest possible way!

Trying to guess what ultra-cheap guitars are made of is a mug's game - let's just call it 'tree wood' shall we, and leave it at that? Nonetheless, this sturdy little instrument with its bolt-on neck has a fairly dense body, with a fingerboard made of what a Korean would, no doubt, call 'rosewood' (and we'd reply 'oh yeah?' to).

Looks on the Satellite aren't it's strong point - open classical-type machines look foul - but what do you say when they are as tight and finely geared as these were? Damn it, they actually work as accurately as those on guitars costing twice the price, so who are we to quibble about appearances?

Our sample (finished in a red/black sunburst effect) was really quite a well made instrument. The intonation was spot-on (notwithstanding the copy of the old and not lamented Gibson 'wraparound' bridge tailpiece), and both the action and the string gauge were fine. Yes, possibly you will doubt our motives for saying this, but the Satellite played really comfortably, too. The frets were even and accurate, the accuracy extending to the nut slotting. The bridge might Round the bridge/bar and loop under to lock, the staggering of the 'saddles' (for accuracy of intonation) being achieved by permanent castings in the bridge itself. It may look funny, but it works!

The pickup (a twin coil type) is controlled by single volume and tone pots, and we can't even criticise the sound it delivers; in fact the output overdrove our test tranny combo with ease, and came across very pleasingly. Sustain was remarkable for the price and the tone wasn't at all bad, either.

If such positive findings about a £65 guitar surprise you, they shocked us. We were expecting a heap of junk, but if we had to make some sort of award for 'silly/good value for money' the Satellite would win hands down. It's no beauty, we'll give you that, it feels very small, but it plays really well, sounds good and could well represent today's best value on the guitar market for a beginner. All we can say is that we wish we'd started with Satellites instead of the monstrosities which were around back in the 1840s!

CONCLUSIONS

The obvious factor to emerge from our tests is that (the Satellite honourably excepted) you do very much tend to get what you pay for with guitars, as with most things. The cheaper guitars on trial, the Cimars and the Cort, are good buys for those whose resources can stretch no further, although we were concerned by the Cimar's nut-slot problems, and would advise you to check individual samples for this feature. Possibly our Cimars weren't 100 per cent checked-out before they were despatched, but, as we can only speak about what we find, it's a point to watch.

The Cort is a bit 'cheap and cheerful' in some respects, but it works, and sounds pretty good - again, bearing in mind the price. Assuming that quality control is watched carefully by the importers (and we've no reason to assume that it won't be) then these could also be very sensible purchases. The Westone and the Yamaha were very different guitars, but both showed that you can sometimes gain a lot by spending just a little more. This would apply to the Cimars, too, of course, as the Ibanez range itself comes into consideration for not so much more cash and contains some excellent value for money. So different are the Westone and the Yamaha, however, that a choice between the two would depend on which style of guitar you preferred - both are well made and have excellent sounds.

The best news is that none of our samples was a rotten apple - which goes to show how much you can get these days for around £150/60 or below. Happy hunting!

More details on CIMAR from Summerfields, (Contact Details). SATELLITE and WESTONE from FCN Music, (Contact Details). CORT from Rosetti & Co. Ltd., (Contact Details), and YAMAHA from Yamaha Musical Instruments, (Contact Details).