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Well one caveat: at some point, you reach a level of expertise such that you can evaluate tools for yourself, and don't need rules of thumb like this. At that p

Well one caveat: at some point, you reach a level of expertise such that you can evaluate tools for yourself, and don't need rules of thumb like this. At that point a mid-grade tool might make sense. I do have some expertise in some of the areas you mentioned, and disagree with you: Musical instruments: if you're starting off on guitar, get a used Yamaha for $80 and spend as much money as you can on lessons. It's better to be a virtuoso with a Yamaha than to have a high-end Martin you can't play collecting dust in your attic. I have been given more than one expensive guitar because people heard me play and thought I'd get more out of the guitar than they were getting out of it. Bikes: I got a fixed-gear bike for $90 to use as a daily commuter. A month in, I was tired of getting flats, so I replaced the tires with Continental Gatorskins which cost more than the bike originally did. After that, the bike lasted me >5 years without modification, only occasional tune-ups. I got rid of the bike because I was bored with it, not because there was anything wrong with it, and paid $250 for a system that was functionally the same but looked a bit nicer--the only real upgrade was a Brooks Leather saddle. Tons of bike messengers are running similar systems far harder than I am. Both music and biking have somewhat snobby subcultures that will talk crap on cheap gear to justify their own lavish purchases, but ultimately nobody can say anything about what guitar you're playing when you bust out Paranoid Android or what bike you're riding when you zip past them. Skills beat gear every time.

klodolph 6y ago
$80 guitar and spending money on lessons—this goes against every piece of advice I’ve ever heard from a guitar teacher about buying your first guitar. That is, buy something good enough that it doesn’t make you miserable when you’re just starting out. A lot of $80 guitars are absolutely miserable, or will be miserable shortly after you take them home. > It's better to be a virtuoso with a Yamaha than to have a high-end Martin you can't play collecting dust in your attic. Yamaha guitars start around $160, and they’re fantastic beginner instruments. They’re also not the cheapest guitars you can get. The cheapest guitars you can get are around $80, have high action, don’t stay in tune, and my experience is that you have good odds of getting cut by the fret wire or seeing the neck warp at some point after you take the guitar home. That’s all I’m talking about—between “made as cheaply as possible” and “no expenses spared” there is this vast middle ground of “decent price/quality tradeoff”. I’m by no means an expert on guitars—but I do have a small guitar maintenance kit, and I help out friends or colleagues set up their guitars to make them a bit more comfortable and playable. I’ve seen too many “cheap as possible” guitars where my conclusion is that the guitar is unplayable and it’s just beyond my ability to make it playable.
- hanche 6y ago
  Totally agree. What’s more, if you discover that guitar playing isn’t for you, you can always sell it if it is a decent one. It may not cost you more in the end than if you bought a cheap one and threw it away or let it rot in the attic.
- kerkeslager 6y ago
  > $80 guitar and spending money on lessons—this goes against every piece of advice I’ve ever heard from a guitar teacher about buying your first guitar. Sure, if you're already taking lessons... > Yamaha guitars start around $160, and they’re fantastic beginner instruments. Yamaha guitars start around $160 new. If you go to a local guitar shop they almost always have playable used guitars in the <$100 range. Even Guitar Center will often have a Yamaha that's discounted because it was returned opened, or because it has a manufacturer blemish that doesn't affect play. Guitar shops will almost never sell an unusable guitar in my experience (this is not true of consignment stores, thrift shops, or pawn shops).
  - klodolph 6y ago
    Beginners aren’t in a position to figure out the difference between a usable $80 guitar and a barely playable $80 guitar. My experience with Guitar Center specifically is that at most stores, most of the cheap guitars on sale won’t be set up properly and some of them will be missing strings. Buying an $80 guitar from GC is a roll of the dice. If you know what you are doing you can buy a guitar for $60 or $40 on Craigslist. Doesn’t mean that you have good odds as a novice.
    - kerkeslager 6y ago
      Agreed on GC, I don't really point people to GC in general because there are so many good local music stores which are invested in their communities.
    - toast0 6y ago
      Don't worry so much about Guitar Center... I think the core advice of buying a cheap (used?) X at an X store instead of a cheap X at a general purpose store is pretty good. Your local bike store isn't going to sell the same low end bike shaped objects as a department store or even a chain sports store. Your local music shop is less likely to sell awful guitar shaped objects than Walmart. Etc.

klodolph 6y ago

$80 guitar and spending money on lessons—this goes against every piece of advice I’ve ever heard from a guitar teacher about buying your first guitar. That is, buy something good enough that it doesn’t make you miserable when you’re just starting out. A lot of $80 guitars are absolutely miserable, or will be miserable shortly after you take them home. > It's better to be a virtuoso with a Yamaha than to have a high-end Martin you can't play collecting dust in your attic. Yamaha guitars start around $160, and they’re fantastic beginner instruments. They’re also not the cheapest guitars you can get. The cheapest guitars you can get are around $80, have high action, don’t stay in tune, and my experience is that you have good odds of getting cut by the fret wire or seeing the neck warp at some point after you take the guitar home. That’s all I’m talking about—between “made as cheaply as possible” and “no expenses spared” there is this vast middle ground of “decent price/quality tradeoff”. I’m by no means an expert on guitars—but I do have a small guitar maintenance kit, and I help out friends or colleagues set up their guitars to make them a bit more comfortable and playable. I’ve seen too many “cheap as possible” guitars where my conclusion is that the guitar is unplayable and it’s just beyond my ability to make it playable.

hanche 6y ago
Totally agree. What’s more, if you discover that guitar playing isn’t for you, you can always sell it if it is a decent one. It may not cost you more in the end than if you bought a cheap one and threw it away or let it rot in the attic.
kerkeslager 6y ago
> $80 guitar and spending money on lessons—this goes against every piece of advice I’ve ever heard from a guitar teacher about buying your first guitar. Sure, if you're already taking lessons... > Yamaha guitars start around $160, and they’re fantastic beginner instruments. Yamaha guitars start around $160 new. If you go to a local guitar shop they almost always have playable used guitars in the <$100 range. Even Guitar Center will often have a Yamaha that's discounted because it was returned opened, or because it has a manufacturer blemish that doesn't affect play. Guitar shops will almost never sell an unusable guitar in my experience (this is not true of consignment stores, thrift shops, or pawn shops).
- klodolph 6y ago
  Beginners aren’t in a position to figure out the difference between a usable $80 guitar and a barely playable $80 guitar. My experience with Guitar Center specifically is that at most stores, most of the cheap guitars on sale won’t be set up properly and some of them will be missing strings. Buying an $80 guitar from GC is a roll of the dice. If you know what you are doing you can buy a guitar for $60 or $40 on Craigslist. Doesn’t mean that you have good odds as a novice.
  - kerkeslager 6y ago
    Agreed on GC, I don't really point people to GC in general because there are so many good local music stores which are invested in their communities.
  - toast0 6y ago
    Don't worry so much about Guitar Center... I think the core advice of buying a cheap (used?) X at an X store instead of a cheap X at a general purpose store is pretty good. Your local bike store isn't going to sell the same low end bike shaped objects as a department store or even a chain sports store. Your local music shop is less likely to sell awful guitar shaped objects than Walmart. Etc.