THE LOSS FOUNDATION BLOG

personalized expeditions in music from a musician who doesn't matter

Food for Appalachian thought

Posted by r on February 15, 2012

Prices in USD, based on new instruments widely available ca. 2012 in the United States only.
“Viable” means the bottom level of available instruments that most existing players of the instrument seem to consider actually acceptable for a beginner’s use, based on real input from existing players, general forum responses to the very common “What guitar / banjo / mandolin should I start with” threads, and other such input around the Internet. 
Viable “starter” Intermediate Pro-grade
Electric guitar 130-150 300-450 1000-2500+
Acoustic guitar 150-250 300-800 1000-3000+
Electronic keyboard 75-300 400-500 700-1500+
Dobro 400-700 800-1000 1500-3500+
Banjo 400-700 1000+ 1500-9000+
Mandolin 500-700 1000+ 2000-9000+
Kind of ironic how comparatively expensive it is to be a poor-redneck “traditionalist” these days.

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