Wrestling is the best word I have come across to describe it . I don't like learners starting out on guitars that have bad setups . Learning the instrument is hard enough without making it a downright painful . With experience you can check out a reasonably made guitar and make something out of it without breaking the bank . My main axe is a Maton MS2000 DLX SD , beautiful piece of work , but at $4000 it would want to be . On the other hand , I have an Ibanez SA360 QM worth about $500 . Tried it out at the store , action was good , well put together and cosmetically gorgeous , single coils were good but the HB howled with even small amounts of gain . Got advice from Steve White , changed to a SD Pearly Gates , $150 and instant cure . My Epi ES 345 was a bit of a handful to keep in tune , so I was sitting around talking to a few buddies and one suggested trying a roller bridge to ease up on the Bigsby . Put on a Schaller , and again success . I am not saying you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear , but you have to start with something that is basically sound to start with . Otherwise you spend $ on garbage . Also remember it will probably only ever be valuable to you , it is never going to hold or increase in value like the classic Gibsons, Fenders , etc.