Recently I came across the very affordable Donner LP-124B on sale. Through a combination of the seller having an online sale, and the website I purchase through providing additional savings for being a valued customer, I could buy this guitar for under $120 (Australian dollars) including delivery. I couldn’t resist. Let’s see if it was worth it.
Before I get into my thoughts and opinions, let’s take a look at what the Donner LP-124B guitar’s specs include.
Donner LP-124B specs
- Solid basswood body
- Canadian maple neck (C shape profile)
- Laurel wood fretboard
- 2 x Donner signature humbucker pickups
- 3-way pickup switch
- Master volume and master tone controls
- 22 copper-nickel frets
- Chrome machine heads
The guitar that I purchased also came with a gig bag and guitar lead. Both were of a good quality—especially considering they came with a guitar that cost under $120. Keep in mind that at the time of writing this post, $120 Australian dollars equals approximately $80 USD. That is including delivery. Outstanding value.
I have made an unboxing video for this guitar that can be found on the Guitar Fascination YouTube channel. For convenience, it’s also embedded here. You’re welcome.
My honest opinion is that this guitar is seriously impressive. It’s lighter than something like a Gibson Les Paul, but it balances well when playing. The pickups are relatively quiet, but their sound quality is impressive. They are not noisy and I do not get any kind of static or feedback from them.
The guitar I purchased had no paint imperfections and no other quality control issues. I am impressed with the build quality of this guitar. All of my guitar’s frets were smooth with no fret sprout to be seen or felt. The action on my guitar was close to perfect and was certainly playable straight out of the box/case.
I have purchased other affordable guitars in my time and one thing I was pleased to discover with the Donner LP-124B was that the machine heads—or tuning pegs—were of a very decent quality. I’ve played the guitar a fair amount in the first couple of months of ownership and it has kept its tuning incredibly well.
If you were looking for a first guitar for yourself or a friend/family member, it will be hard to go past the Donner LP-124B.
It’s worth mentioning that the Donner LP-124 also has a sunburst version (LP-124S). People who know me, know that I would only go for a black model.
Apart from my unboxing video, I have also recorded a short track of metal riffs using the Donner LP-124B and in my opinion, it recorded incredibly well. Recording was easy as was the playing. It’s hard to fault this guitar and its build quality at such an affordable price. Video below for sound sample purposes.
As I write this post, the Donner LP-124 range appears to be currently unavailable, but hopefully the guitars will come back into availability. I have seen a few online elsewhere, but in the meantime, I recommend watching the Donner Amazon store in hope they bring the guitar back. I’m hoping they do.
In the meantime, here are some detailed photographs of my Donner LP-124B. I’m loving this guitar.
Hopefully this article has helped you learn more about this incfredibly affordable electric guitar. I sure do wish that guitars like this existed when I began my guitar fascination journey. If you’re interested in knowing more about me and my guitar fascination journey to date, I have a series of posts for that.
In the meantime, I’ll be waiting and watching to see if Donner re-releases some of their other affordable guitar options. Guitars like their DMT-100 with high output pickups and their DPJ-100 bass guitar. Those two guitars look awesome as well.
Thanks for reading.
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