Best sub £500 junior?

lovestrat74 · September 2023

Have a hankering for a junior, so what are your thoughts on the budget models out there? Must not have a thin neck.

rossi · September 2023

PRS SE one corina soapbar ...?

lovestrat74 · September 2023

rossi said:

PRS SE one corina soapbar ...?

Wide fat neck profile?

RaymondLin · September 2023

lovestrat74 said:

rossi said:

PRS SE one corina soapbar ...?

Wide fat neck profile?

https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/en-gb/products/prs-se-one-sunburst-1301477

Neck Thickness (IN):

1st - 0.83" 12th - 0.94"

RaymondLin · September 2023

You can get it under £500, but will need to wire in a tone pot. No routing required, just a hole in the pickguard. I have a spare one if you don't want to drill out the original should you get the guitar.

guitargeek62 · September 2023

Harley-Benton DC Junior FAT - seriously.

I bought one off of Roberty a while back and it’s superb. I got it to try out a few things ahead of my Crimson build, and now I’m pondering if I should sell it at all as it really is a great little guitar to have around and I’m not sure the potential sale value is more than my enjoyment of it!

roberty · September 2023

guitargeek62 said:

Harley-Benton DC Junior FAT - seriously.

I bought one off of Roberty a while back and it’s superb. I got it to try out a few things ahead of my Crimson build, and now I’m pondering if I should sell it at all as it really is a great little guitar to have around and I’m not sure the potential sale value is more than my enjoyment of it!

This ^^ I sold it because I have a Gibson USA LP Special in the same colour and it was superfluous. If I'm honest the neck profile on the HB was a bit nicer. You will have change left over for upgrades

PAL · September 2023

Epiphone Les Paul Junior for about £380.

NelsonP · September 2023

Gibson les paul dc junior 2019 second hand

Creed_Clicks · September 2023

You can get the Epis second hand for well under your budget. What about the Vintage brand? I've played some cracking bass and LP copies from them, but never tried their junior models.

lovestrat74 · September 2023

NelsonP said:

Gibson les paul dc junior 2019 second hand

Not for sub 500 surely?

lovestrat74 · September 2023

roberty said:

guitargeek62 said:

Harley-Benton DC Junior FAT - seriously.

I bought one off of Roberty a while back and it’s superb. I got it to try out a few things ahead of my Crimson build, and now I’m pondering if I should sell it at all as it really is a great little guitar to have around and I’m not sure the potential sale value is more than my enjoyment of it!

This ^^ I sold it because I have a Gibson USA LP Special in the same colour and it was superfluous. If I'm honest the neck profile on the HB was a bit nicer. You will have change left over for upgrades

Yes these do temp me but I wonder how FAT the neck is. Slim side of fat me thinks..

RaymondLin · September 2023

lovestrat74 said:

NelsonP said:

Gibson les paul dc junior 2019 second hand

Not for sub 500 surely?

The Tribute with the maple neck?

JD50 · September 2023

Gordon Smith GS1 off eBay?

Jonathangus · September 2023

stufisher · September 2023

Agree with @guitargeek62 and @roberty ; about the HB DC Junior ... amazingly good VFM. I haven't actually modded mine at all as I think it sounds/plays very well.

If you acquired one and it didn't suit then I'm sure you'd know soon enough and could return it without hassle or just move it on easily enough. I think they are well liked.

Good luck with your selection.

Tat2dstesh · September 2023

Sub £500 Harley Benton DC.. Like someone said for the money it is crazy how nice they are, fingerboard is rolled, the tuners are Wilkinson so stable, bridge is adjustable and decent, alpha pots and good wiring.
The only thing I changed on mine was the p90 and put a shim on it to raise it as it seemed a bit far away. I might upgrade the bridge one day and the tuners to full metal rather than plastic as I've never had much luck with the plastic button tuners when out gigging but to be honest its on par with some of the mid price guitars I have had recently.

Tat2dstesh · September 2023

RaymondLin said:

lovestrat74 said:

NelsonP said:

Gibson les paul dc junior 2019 second hand

Not for sub 500 surely?

The Tribute with the maple neck?

These now go for silly "rare" money at £700 to 800 on marketplace.. Why I do not know as GG and others were selling them for £400 and Amazon had a blitz on them if I remember.

Deadman · September 2023

These Artists are meant to be decent, never tried one though:

https://www.artistguitars.co.uk/products/artist-ap58j-tv-yellow-electric-guitar-tv-yellow-w-17850

NelsonP · September 2023

RaymondLin said:

lovestrat74 said:

NelsonP said:

Gibson les paul dc junior 2019 second hand

Not for sub 500 surely?

The Tribute with the maple neck?

Yeah, here's one that went at £550....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305117706814?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=bDG8ve5WQB2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=kv4pn8IMTga&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

And another under £500
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325802323623?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=fFZofqJLTOS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=kv4pn8IMTga&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

USA made Gibson, what's not to like? I used to have one and it was really good. Purists will moan about the maple neck (perhaps better as less prone to breakage) and big scratchplate (fine on a tele deluxe?), but let them stick to the £5k Murphy labs.

Creed_Clicks · September 2023

Tokai TJ54 CH is another one

Tat2dstesh · September 2023

NelsonP said:

RaymondLin said:

lovestrat74 said:

NelsonP said:

Gibson les paul dc junior 2019 second hand

Not for sub 500 surely?

The Tribute with the maple neck?

Yeah, here's one that went at £550....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305117706814?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=bDG8ve5WQB2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=kv4pn8IMTga&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

And another under £500
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325802323623?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=fFZofqJLTOS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=kv4pn8IMTga&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

USA made Gibson, what's not to like? I used to have one and it was really good. Purists will moan about the maple neck (perhaps better as less prone to breakage) and big scratchplate (fine on a tele deluxe?), but let them stick to the £5k Murphy labs.

Those are bargin finds.
Most stupid places are selling for this
https://reverb.com/uk/shop/curly-music
Most I've seen on Market place recently have been in the £700 range and reverb usually slightly above.

CavemanGrogg · September 2023

rossi said:

PRS SE one corina soapbar ...?

That would have been my first suggestion if the OP is determined to avoid Gibson, however having just sold mine for over £500 each, which is something I thought I'd never do - these where the PRS guitars I thought that I'd keep and couldn't bring myself to sell, I'd actually suggest a JHS Vintage Jr clone over the PRS SE One, though the JHS Vintage SG Jr clone - I think it was called the V6 icon, is a much much better Jr clone so much so it upset Gibson though good luck finding anybody willing to part with theirs for anything other than silly money I sure as hell won't.

Though in all honesty if the OP is in no rush, I'd hold out for a real Gibson Jr, they can be regularly found for around the £500 mark and less, even brand new.

lovestrat74 · September 2023

Never seen a non-tribute Gibson Jr for £500 in the last couple of years... What about the Epi Billie Joe? Anyone tried it?

CavemanGrogg · September 2023

lovestrat74 said:

Never seen a non-tribute Gibson Jr for £500 in the last couple of years... What about the Epi Billie Joe? Anyone tried it?

I actually have a few of them, and honestly don't think they are worth the ''up charge'' from the bog standard Epiphone Les Paul Junior, not to mention they have slim tapered necks, which is something I really don't like, where as the bog standard Epiphone Les Paul Junior has a 50's profile neck rather than the slim taper neck profile

TTony · September 2023

Mr GSP has provided a fair few LP Jr models to people here.

£500 if you're lucky enough to find one going s/h.

And much better quality / VFM than anything with a G logo on it. His necks ard usually fairly meaty too.

CavemanGrogg · September 2023

TTony said:

Mr GSP has provided a fair few LP Jr models to people here.

£500 if you're lucky enough to find one going s/h.

And much better quality / VFM than anything with a G logo on it. His necks ard usually fairly meaty too.

Isn't there one of his Juniors in the classifieds? From memory it was basically a Les Paul, maple cap and everything, except with the Junior single P90 and control layout.

victorludorum · September 2023

Bottom of the range '90s Dearmond. 1 pickup, big neck, well made. If you want to refinish it, getting the lacquer off takes a bit of time though, but then I seem to remember you have a bit of recent experience on that front...

grungebob · September 2023

PRS se One?

Philly_Q · September 2023

I've got a couple of MIJ Epiphone Juniors, with the proper Gibson headstock shape. They're really good (although the necks could be chunkier, for my taste) and only cost about £350 each when I bought them. They were made for a short time around 2006, I think. No idea what they'd cost now if you could find one.

stimpsonslostson · September 2023

Don't go Vintage if you want a thick neck. Every one of their guitars I've played had a very slim neck.
They were otherwise excellent, but definitely skinny.

I'm tempted by a HB Fat Jr too.

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Best sub £500 junior?

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