Cheap does definitely not mean it's rubbish. It really is the guitarist's capabilities first and then the guitar. Someone said,
Guitarist 99%
Guitar 1%
Just look on YouTube and listen to very good guitarists play those cheap Squires and Yamahas and you will see what it is about. An excellent guitarist can produce great music from a basic guitar.
Having said that, and having had some experience with other instruments, I will say, that if you are a beginner and the guitar is not set up to its best capabilities by a competent guitar technician, you might end up not enjoying playing the guitar and there go your dreams of becoming a guitarist who can bring joy to the world of listeners, and joy to your heart.
Therefore, get a guitar that has some reputation behind e.g. it comes from a manufacturer of quality guitars such as Fender, Gibson, Yamaha ( always a reliable musical instrument manufacturer) and many others that are well known for their instruments.
Another thing to remember is not to get sucked into the upgrade business. I'm sure I read an article about it on here but I can't seem to find it anymore. It was about the value or lack thereof, of upgrading a guitar that is crap in so many ways, that you might as well buy a more expensive one by the time you've spend big dollars on all the upgrades necessary. Unless you want to do it for fun.
But a beginner ( and I am one ) should not be encouraged down that path of upgrading their 'cheap' guitar. They should be encouraged to firstly learn to play the guitar on a reliable instrument that will only need to be tuned and nothing else. There is no time to waste with anything else when your primary objective is to learn to play the guitar like the devil. Once you have that capability, no doubt you will be wanting to tweak this and that. That's the next level.
I'll step down from pontification and return to my guitar buying search :D
The accidental guitarist.
