Do I Deserve a Good Guitar??!

[soliloquy]

Question -- For anyone who has had guitar lessons, actually. How much do they run? In my area it's about 80/hour (average). Which is insane, I think, but the cheapest I was able to find was 65/hour, and that's after haggling with the instructor. I still ended up skipping the offer. I always wished I had taken lessons, though.

by 'NJ' you mean you live in new jersey right...? 65-80 bucks for lesson that go for an hour? that {censored}ed. i know american economy is sodomized right now, but thats just tooooo much.

here in canada, you get 20 dollars(an average that goes from 18-25) for a half hour once a week. and these are done at good guitar stores. they almost always have a small side section for instructions and all...

i'm actually thinking of getting lessons myself. been doing random-nothing-ness for the last three years of playing. i think i deserve lessons!

[notcool]

I'm a remarkably mediocre player and in my (albeit twisted) mind I don't feel like a deserve a decent guitar until I can really play.

 

 

Yeah I feel the same way, but I'm content to use guitars in the $400 - $700 range. The only exception is my pedal steel, but there's no way I could find a decent instrument in that price range.

[shredtilurded]

A good guitar doesn't make a good player. As long as you enjoy it, buy whatever makes you happy and makes you want to practice.

 

 

And good guitars usually make good guitar players practice alot more

[metallica_00]

If you want it and you can afford it you should get it. It doesn't have anything to do with your playing. If the guitar will make you happy, that's all that matters.

 

I wouldn't (and haven't) bat an eye at dropping a lot of money on a single guitar. I play guitar every day - most of us here probably do. It is therapeutic, it is fun, it gives me somewhere to direct my energy, and it can provide entertainment for other people. Thinking about how often I use a guitar and how much I get out of it, even though I'm not a pro or even particularly good, I have no doubt that I deserve to treat myself to a great guitar.

[Brett Valentine]

Ultimately, who cares if you deserve it. Are you at the point where you are not satisfied with the tone and or the feel of the guitar? Does it feel like you are going to play it apart? Do you just feel like you've outgrown what the guitar can do?

Any or all of those are good reasons to get a better guitar. But post a lot of pictures!!

[Slave2TheAudio]

+100

+10000

[Klisk]

by 'NJ' you mean you live in new jersey right...? 65-80 bucks for lesson that go for an hour? that {censored}ed. i know american economy is sodomized right now, but thats just tooooo much. here in canada, you get 20 dollars(an average that goes from 18-25) for a half hour once a week. and these are done at good guitar stores. they almost always have a small side section for instructions and all... i'm actually thinking of getting lessons myself. been doing random-nothing-ness for the last three years of playing. i think i deserve lessons!

Yeah, New Jersey.

I wouldn't even hesitate to pay 20 dollars a week. That's definitely fair/reasonable/whatever.

But no kidding, I haven't found anyone willing to teach for less than 65. I've searched the googles. I've went to the bulletin boards at local music shops. I asked around.

The demand here is so high, that apparently, they can get away with pricing like that.

[soliloquy]

Yeah, New Jersey. I wouldn't even hesitate to pay 20 dollars a week. That's definitely fair/reasonable/whatever. But no kidding, I haven't found anyone willing to teach for less than 65. I've searched the googles. I've went to the bulletin boards at local music shops. I asked around. The demand here is so high, that apparently, they can get away with pricing like that.

go into all guitar stores and ask them. they may be of some help.

[dabbler]

We're all glad to hear you only have one dependent wife and I bet she's glad to hear it too!:poke:

LOL! Well, she is more glad now that the other 5 dependents (our children) are grown, even though 2 are still at home (but we are working on that).

[Tom LP]

Does anyone else feel this way or am I just neurotic? I'm a remarkably mediocre player and in my (albeit twisted) mind I don't feel like a deserve a decent guitar until I can really play. My guitar isn't a total POS but it's definitely a starter-outer (for the curious it's an LP style SX from Rondo). I know guys who decided they were going to become the next Steve Vai so they went out and spent over a thousand bucks on gear that now sits in the basement. They won't part with it because "they're going to learn to play it one day". I'm making due with less than $500 in gear (guitar, amp, multi-effects pedal) and some stuff I've acquired for free over the years (custom PA speakers, small mixer). Anybody else feel this way . . . anybody . . . Bueller . . . . ?

 

 

What do you consider a "good" guitar? Is you playing ability the yardstick you use to measure what you deserve? I'd say if you make an honest living, and getting what you desire is not creating a hardship for you or anyone else, then why not.

[scottgd]

Playing a bad guitar CAN hold you back. Do you deserve a better one? Sure, why not.

I have a Martin 000-28EC, Fender Custom Shop Clapton Strat, Gibson ES-339 and a Epi Elite SJ-200. Does my playing deserve these guitars? Hell no. Do I enjoy playing them every time I pick one up? Hell yes.

Quality guitars make you want to pick them up and play.

[elsupermanny14]

not to be a dick, but what is your point? if you want a guitar buy one, if you can't then you can't. that's life. I have had one working guitar or the past 5 years and currently only have one amp, one overdrive pedal, and wah. I consider myself pretty good but playing abilities but I can't afford another guitar and i'm not complaining about it. so again...what is your point?

if you're learning on a cheap guitar, then good learn away and upgrade later. if you're good and can't afford another guitar welcome to my world, but i have managed and so will you.

[Guitin Better]

not to be a dick, but what is your point?

Too late . . .

If you read my first post and didn't get the point I don't think I can help you. Everyone else here seems to get it.

Yes, I make a comfortable living but, with 2 kids in college and one in private high school, discretionary spending is closely scrutinized in my house. I'm certain that I'll feel differently when my spending situation changes but for now it's hard to justify the expense of a new guitar when I'm not sure I'll get the bang for the buck.

Yes, I have a cheap guitar but I play ALL the time and I don't think it's holding me back . I've never played a seriously good guitar but the ones I've picked up at GC don't feel significantly better to me. It may be that awkward "this isn't my guitar" feeling you get like when you drive a different car. It may be a great car but it isn't familiar feeling like your own car.

I haven't had lessons but have been pretty successful at "teaching myself" and learning from friends who play better than me. I've been at for about 3 years. I guess it's a bit of a mid-life crisis for me. Something I've always wanted to do.

[Musicscotty]

Too late . . .

Calm down.

You've been provided with some very good advice/observations in this thread - including the post that you just flamed.

Yes, I have a cheap guitar but I play ALL the time and I don't think it's holding me back

This seems to be a little at odds with your OP?

If you're happy with the SX and don't think it's holding you back, then stick with it.

[Guitin Better]

Calm down. You've been provided with some very good advice/observations in this thread - including the post that you just flamed.

 

 

Well . . . I didn't think I was flaming the guy. If someone says "I don't mean to be a dick", then does something dick-like, I think I have the right to point it out. I'm really quite calm and I agree 100% that I've gotten some great feedback on my OP.

 

If the dick above feels flamed then I apologize.

[Stspider]

This is a complicated issue..

First of all we need to decide who is a good guitar player and who isn't, then we need to decide in which category you fall, and then which kind of guitar is the most appropriate to you.

It's going to take a couple of decades, so in the meantime, go buyin' whatever the {censored} you want buddy!



Seriously, this kind of stuff is annoying only when some spoiled 13-years-old kid that can't play {censored} has his parents buy him a 59 reissue murphy les paul, as their third guitar.

[elsupermanny14]

Well . . . I didn't think I was flaming the guy. If someone says "I don't mean to be a dick", then does something dick-like, I think I have the right to point it out. I'm really quite calm and I agree 100% that I've gotten some great feedback on my OP. If the dick above feels flamed then I apologize.

 

 

I don't feel flammed lol. When you say "i don't mean to be a dick" it's going to sound harsh and your probably going to get a harsh reply back it's kool. I just don't see the point in "deserving" a guitar. either you want it or you don't. No one deserves having like 50 guitars, but they want to have it.

 

If you feel like you're current guitar is holding you back then go out and get a new one or a used one that is better. Period. I understand money is tight, like I said, I've been playing the same one guitar for 5 years now. Paying for college didn't allow me to put any funds towards a guitar, but that's life, you deal with it if you can't afford it. If you can then, make it happen.

[fatdaddyoh]

Buy the Guitar please!
I completely understand your problem. Even when money is OK you've got to at least show lip service to the family unit coming before personal desires. There are always legit reasons to not spend unnecessarily, and that will never not be the case, never, not unless you are very lucky. The fact that your asking the question is proof it's in your mind. If you can buy it do it, you can either sell the present guitar or resell he new one for at least some of the cost.
Now about me:
Just over a year ago I was punched in the head and knock to the ground. I'll spare the details but I now have permanent brain damage, and other physical and psychological scars. Through months of hospital etc, as a incentive, my wife promised if any spare money came our way I'd finally get a decent pro quality guitar. Now At 45 I've been pensioned off from work with a very, very modest pension and a small one-of payment, just enough to maybe buy a basic American strat or something on the better side of mid-priced. Problem is that now that it's life as usual (as best as it can be), the only way I'm getting another guitar is going to be to fight for all this 'spare' monies to be taken away from stuff like house repairs. I have used the "promise is a promise" argument and had some kind of Pyrrhic victory but do I really want a new guitar if it's a permanent object of resent. I want it, I want it bad ...but I don't want it a way that going to cause any kind of guilt or resent - which takes us back to the start of this post. How guilty are you going to be having a guitar you "don't deserve"? - Tell who ever you need to tell you had to do it for a man with brain damage and I take the "blame". So again, buy it.

[Dio]

I feel TS's pain. I'd buy a 'better' guitar tho. Currently playing my indonesian ibanez for over 5 years, but I haven't reached the point yet where I say: ok I really deserve a better guitar. But screw this, when I get the money, I'm probably gonna buy an expensive, quality instrument. Why? Because this one just doesn't stay in tune and it makes me rage
Also I can't rely on it in when playing in a band.
But I will still (relatively) suck.

[JrMaFia]

THis thread is making me want a les paul more and more and more. I just started playing been playing for 3-4 months but i have always wanted a les paul. I play 3-4 hours a day plus study and watch and listen to music another 1-2 hours a day.

[Guitin Better]

I don't feel flammed lol. When you say "i don't mean to be a dick" it's going to sound harsh and your probably going to get a harsh reply back it's kool. I just don't see the point in "deserving" a guitar. either you want it or you don't. No one deserves having like 50 guitars, but they want to have it. If you feel like you're current guitar is holding you back then go out and get a new one or a used one that is better. Period. I understand money is tight, like I said, I've been playing the same one guitar for 5 years now. Paying for college didn't allow me to put any funds towards a guitar, but that's life, you deal with it if you can't afford it. If you can then, make it happen.

Yeah, I think we're kinda on the same page. "Deserve" probably was the wrong word to use but it played to the neuroses I was talking about. I guess the real question was "can someone who plays with remarkable mediocrity really tell the difference between my SX and a $700 guitar".

To be totally honest, the whole point is completely moot because of the aforementioned tuitions luming over me. It will be quite a while before I have the funds to put into a good guitar. But if I practice really hard, maybe by then I'll "deserve" one

[Electric Monk]

I forgot about the people that buy guitars that gather dust, saying they'll learn to play one day. That sure makes me feel OK about owning some quality gear.

 

Granted, right now I think it's ridiculous for me to own a '56 Goltop Reissue LP or something, but opinions of people my age vary. I know one guy in a band who's an absolutely fantastic player, I have no doubt in my mind that he deserves a LP Standard and marshall stack cause he'd do it justice. And yet he firmly believes people only really need one guitar, maybe two if you want an electric and an acoustic. Which I was shocked by, since I'm always wondering if someday I'll get this one or that one.

Yet someone else I know, also my age, has a '58 reissue VOS Les Paul. Over $2,000, right? And he's just kinda-okay at playing, about my level. So that makes me feel just dandy about owning a couple of american fenders. I got a good deal on the strat anyway.

[elsupermanny14]

When I was reading through all the replies I noticed not too many people gave specific guitars to look for that are great and cheap. In all honesty, if money is tight, but you can spare a few dollars go for a used MIM Strat. They are highly underrated guitars. MIM makes a lot of gems that are great to play, far better then the SX. Granted it's no American Delux Strat but easily rivals the HWY1 Strats for a fraction of the price.

I live in the Bay Area and here MIM Strats go on craiglist for $200 flat all the time. I've played an MIM Strat for about 7 years now, the same one, and that guitar still feels great. The guitar that I play, plays much better then any HWY1.
Anyways look for an MIM Telecaster or MIM Stratocaster. A lot of people on here have their opinions but ask a guitar tech, a lot of them will agree that the MIMs are legit guitars that need more credit then they are given.

Trust me, they feel like great guitars, and they play like great guitars! The only issue is the pickups, they are a little thin. But you can get that taken care of for cheap. Used MIM $200, a good set of GFS pickups start at $54 I think. You'll have a guitar that feels like a $600 dollar guitar for under $300. Believe me the MIMs are great. I wouldn't recommend you something that I hadn't been using or so long. The Strat will probably always be one of main guitars for the rest of my life. And in all honesty, the pickups that come in MIM are not that bad, it's just that GFS makes great pickups for cheap, that you're hard pressed now to upgrade them.

Anyways, sorry about being a dick earlier. But please consider the MIM guitars. They are solid, legit, and dependable instruments that can be had for real cheap on craigslist!

[Selbstmord]

I don't really have a particularly good guitar, but I think you, as anyone, deserve the guitar you need to be able to wholeheartedly use your potential, definitely.

[Guitin Better]

Anyways, sorry about being a dick earlier. But please consider the MIM guitars. They are solid, legit, and dependable instruments that can be had for real cheap on craigslist!

 

 

Sorry I called you a dick. Clearly you're not. I've played some MIM Strats and they are nice.