Whats the best "inexpensive" (Under $500) guitar you've ever played?

Fender Blacktop - have had both the tele and now the strat. They might be up to $550 new, though...
 
G&L Tribute series guitars have to be some of the best bang for the buck guitars I can think of. I had a Legacy HB with the HSS configuration that was fantastic but my current ASAT Special is probably a better sounding guitar all around. I'm not sure what they retail for now but I paid $400 for the Legacy and $500 for the ASAT.
 
This strat...

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If we can go used, than the first guitar I ever bought, the Gibson B-25 I had. Paid $175 for it. Better action than alot of electrics.

The only new guitar I've had under $500 was the Dogpoo AL-3000 I had a couple of years ago. Played about as well as a decently set up Epiphone Les Paul.
 
New and under $500 limits me to just a couple of electrics and acoustics.

The best of them is the Zombie Fender Catalina which was something like $300 new.

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Lots of great choices at $500 and below, but the Jackson Adrian Smith model at $499 is a spectacularly great guitar. I have been fighting the urge to grab one since I played it at GC a while back, but I don't know how much longer I can ward off the temptation.

Everything about it is well above the price point.

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Fender Cyclone -- I paid $430 for mine.

I also paid $410 for a used Japanese Fender Mustang on the eBay a few years ago.
 
All but 2 of my guitars fit in this category. "Best" is going to depend on what I choose to play.

If I want a guitar to growl, then it my Epi Les Paul that I had upgraded to Classic 57 & 57 Plus pups.

If I want a guitar to have some chime, then I pick up the Stratocasters - I had always preferred the SSH Strat, but since I put Lace Sensor Gold pups in the SSS Strat it has moved to #1. I can see Lace Sensors in the SSH Strat in the not too distant future.

I do have to say that the Fender Classic Thinline Telecaster is growing on me, because it has such wonderful sustain and tone. Technically, it's not under $500, though. I just got an awesome deal that made it that way.
 
All but 2 of my guitars fit in this category. "Best" is going to depend on what I choose to play.

If I want a guitar to growl, then it my Epi Les Paul that I had upgraded to Classic 57 & 57 Plus pups.

If I want a guitar to have some chime, then I pick up the Stratocasters - I had always preferred the SSH Strat, but since I put Lace Sensor Gold pups in the SSS Strat it has moved to #1. I can see Lace Sensors in the SSH Strat in the not too distant future.

I do have to say that the Fender Classic Thinline Telecaster is growing on me, because it has such wonderful sustain and tone. Technically, it's not under $500, though. I just got an awesome deal that made it that way.
 
Two guitars come to mind. My Vox SDC33 is all around wonderful but I reach for my Schecter PT quite a bit. The PT feels and sounds great.
 
My Sterling by Musicman Silo 3. Bought it from MF at a Labor Day used gear sale. It was marked has having scratches and it turned out not to have a single scratch on it.
 
My Am Std Strat and my MIJ 69 Thinline Reissue were about $550 new when I bought it in the early 90s. In 1996 I got new ASAT Special that was $650, but would have also been about $550 had I not ordered one of the non-standard neck options (I got the 1 3/4" nut with 12" radius).

Anyway, these are over the price point you mentioned, but two only about 11%. They are why I have such a problem with modern guitar prices, specifically U.S.-made stuff. They two Fenders kill...as do all of my guitars (or why the heck would I have them?).
 
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