I've been playing guitar for 10+ years now and am getting more serious as I progress...

What I really want is a USED guitar... ideally an American Stratocaster.... my budget is a $500 absolute max, although I would much prefer to stick around the $350 range, once again used.

I've been playing the same First Act electric guitar and Starcaster acoustic for a long, long, time and think it's time to treat myself.

Besides craigslist/guitarcenter where are good reliable places to shop USED guitars?

I mostly play ska/reggae/classic rock with a bit of heavy riffs. My inspiring bands are Slightly Stoopid, RHCP, Sublime, Rebelution, Bad Rabbits, Jimi Hendrix, and Dispatch.... more too but those are ideally my playing styles... most heavily slightly stoopid-ish i guess you could say

any guitars with similarities to the american strat with a lesser price tag? thanks

A mexican strat change the pickups at one point, and its a lovely deal. I saw a few mexican standard strats (maple fretboard) go for ~$400.

Another brand you defo wanna look at is Tokai. I know it might sound, ehh idk bad?!? But they're really good & nice to play (ofc if you take good care of them, but that applies to every guitar heh)

PRS Santana hands down.. Sounds better than an American Strat and its 1/4 the price.. I think a new one lands around 500 bucks.

i highly doubt you'll be able to find a used american standard strat for 350-500. You'll have to increase your budget for one of those. I bought one about 2 years ago and it was worth every penny. It sounds absolutely amazing through my vox ac-15.

If you have a tight budget you'll be sacrificing quality. Regardless of what you purchase, check the joinery of the neck to the body if it's a bolt on, inspect the bridge as sometimes chrome plating can produce
inconsistent results.

The tuning pegs can sometimes not be adjusted properly prior to setting up so make sure they're working well before you purchase, hope it helps

If you're wanting an American Fender expect to pay around $800.00 for a used one -- $700.00 if you're lucky.

With that said, having worked on newer Fender guitars in the past, I can tell you that while they may assemble these guitars in the US, some of the parts are Mexican made. I have taken Mexican necks off of "American" Fenders before.

I would suggest looking at used Mexican Fender guitars -- telecaster or stratocaster, whichever you prefer -- and from there you can get it professionally setup (if you need) and it will be an enormous step up from what you have been using currently. You can find these guitars for around $250.00 - $350.00 depending where you look and they are great for the price.

Hey guys I know I posted this a while ago, but here's an update;

Looked around on craigslist and guitar center and almost purchased a late 1980's used American Strat that was Jimi White with a white plate for $450... Except the frets were shaved down and I didn't like the feel, and the setup was modified so it couldn't use a whammy bar... the body was also in very rough shape with chips in the finish and the body itself... was a great price and sounded great but I decided to pass on it

Ended up going with a used Korean Fender Strat Light Ash ( looks just like this: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/electric_guitars/fender/lite_ash_stratocaster ) for the same price, case included

Couldn't be happier, this guitar is amazing! Also got a MacBook Pro with a FastTrack (M-Audio version) and have been playing around with that! Getting Logic Pro X and a MIDI keyboard in the upcoming months to have even more fun!

currently looking to get a new acoustic as well... must be ce (cutaway and electronics)
i fell in love with the taylor guitars while playing a bunch at guitar center... found a 114ce on craigslist for $500, hopefully i can end up getting this

got the guitar :-)
included a taylor case as well!



this guitar sounds amazing! it resonates through the whole body and neck and its only the base model that taylor makes.
the cutout is very fun on acoustic as well. im very happy with my recent purchases. i also have a marshall mg30cfx amp
i wonder what i will end up buying next