A nice guitar doesn't have to cost a lot. I dropped $90 on a pawn shop guitar that was nicer than some $500 dollar guitars. I cruised around with it in a soft case for about a year, the case was a piece of shit but it got the job done and i didn't really have any problems until it started exploding on me. I got caught in a rain storm trying to hop out of salt lake city, wrapped the guitar in some garbage bags and put it back in the case, it was good to go.