How did you figure out what guitar is for you?

[K.platyops]

My tastes in guitars have changed over time. Right now, I'm into Ibanez hardtails. But who says there's only one or has to be one that's better for you? You can have two, three, or four that all give you something better than the other models you've tried. I still go back to Les Pauls and SG's.

[csm]

And even if you decide that your perfect guitar is (say) a Strat, Tele or Les Paul, you still have to find the RIGHT Strat, Tele or Les Paul. I must've had seven or eight Strats and three or four Teles before I found the ones I have now.

 

I still haven't found the perfect 335, and if I did find it I probably couldn't afford it.

[ilovemystrat]

i guess i like my les paul cuz i keep going back to it...

[atimoc]

Trial and error, going through different strat and tele variants, and eventually ending up with Ibanez RGs. I can't really justify buying any other models, to me these have the most comfortable bodies and necks (well the original Wizard anyway), and the sound palette is wide (I finally realized that you don't need a Tele to play country, Strat to play surf, V to play hair metal and RR to play black metal). I do want an Explorer and a hollowbody just for kicks, but that's just GAS talking.

[McHale]

Out of the 25+ guitars I have, only 3 feel like a part of me when I pick them up. 2 are acoustics and 1 is an electric. I have strats, teles, LPs, SG's, superstrats, 1 classical, 2 12 strings, and about 5 acoustics with odds and ends in between. They all have a distinct look. They all have a distinct sound. But only a few have that personal feeling when I pick them up. All three had that feeling immediately too. It didn't grow on me.

-Mc

[zepfan976]

Well the guitar for me is the guitar in my hands because at that point no other guitar matters

[Phishmonkey]

I played a jem and loved the neck, so I was set there. I like a lot of mids so when I found an Ibanez with close to a jem neck (slightly thinner), mahogany body, and tone zone in the bridge I knew I was home

[ilovemystrat]

i like them ibanez RGs (they feel great) but too pointy.

[Phishmonkey]

i like them ibanez RGs (they feel great) but too pointy.

 

 

Seems like a stupid reason not to get a guitar. Unless we're talking dean dimebags

[Help!I'maRock!]

"if you play a guitar and it says 'take me home', then that's the one for you" - FZ

 

as i've gotten older, i've gotten better at picking out guitars. you just have to play a lot of guitars of all kinds of different shapes and sizes.

[Microwave Walrus]

i knew i had to have a strat, because hendrix played them, and i love hendrix

i'm thinking about getting a HSS now

but i still know that i'd never play with a humbucker in the neck position

[jconway]

My main/go-to guitar is my Strat. I chose it after a year and a half of research, trying many guitars, and listening to my favorite players (researching their gear and finding out whose tone I liked best). I've basically been searching for the perfect guitar for me since I started playing. Although there are many other guitars I want, the Strat is my favorite. My strat is almost there. I think I want to put a Texas Special pup in the middle position and then I'll be set.

[Kevman]

I'm not sure I understand the question..

Which "guitar" is for me?

 

I just think that no 1 guitar can do everything I want it to. I'm not sure that any guitar can't do something that I like that my current crop won't provide so, I try everything and if it adds to the pallet and is justifyable I buy it.

 

Good luck finding 1 that does everything. Maybe a Variax? I am a fan of amp modeling but feel kinda wonky about guitar modeling.

[ilovemystrat]

My main/go-to guitar is my Strat. I chose it after a year and a half of research, trying many guitars, and listening to my favorite players (researching their gear and finding out whose tone I liked best). I've basically been searching for the perfect guitar for me since I started playing. Although there are many other guitars I want, the Strat is my favorite. My strat is almost there. I think I want to put a Texas Special pup in the middle position and then I'll be set.

 

 

i definitely love my strat, i haven

[jerry_picker]

cuz i have no frackin idea... i think my danelectro has come closest... my lp kinda disappoints me...

I have about 50 guitars, and rotate through them.
It's all good.

[metallica_00]

For me, it's about the whole rig. I love my G&L, most of my favorite players/tones are on single coil strats, so it makes sense. But take away my pedals and hook me up to a different amp and it wouldn't be right anymore. I'm pretty close to the tones I want these days - I could use a couple more guitars and amps for tonal variety though. But it's just been a constant evolution from humble beginnings, keeping the herd thin and staying a smaller collection with highish-end stuff to get my specific sound rather than a really broad collection of mediocre stuff.

[Doctor Morbius]

I'm still on the quest for the Holy Grail myself. Still though, I don't think there will be just one. Owning and playing guitars isn't like a Highlander movie.

[OsirisProtocol]

Well I've played and owned a number of guitars in the short time in which I have taken up the instrument. I've realized that I have various comfort zones with guitars. It takes a long time to find what is for you in a guitar. I was lucky enough to acquire the guitar of my dreams at a very very early stage in my playing. The most comfortable guitar that I have ever played and owned was a PRS Custom24. I loved that guitar but sold it to help out my family in a bind. Everything about that guitar was right to me. The neck most importantly was THE most comfortable neck I have ever played before and since then. It was weighted perfectly and built solidly from the strap button to the headstock. The time in which I had the guitar I was new to the tone world and I didn't realize exactly what I had. All I knew was that I was able to get a bunch of different sounds out of that guitar without doing to much to the amp itself. The guitars was perfect for me and I miss it dearly.

[leopardstar]

35 years of playing guitars, simple as that

[aenemated]

i always had an idea of the sound i wanted.

all the players i like the most play(ed) LP's through marshalls. so, that kind of set the ground work.

tried tons of different guitars and amps and combinations thereof over the years and was never totally satisfied till i finally sucked it up and bought a real LP and a real Marshall.

now, i couldn't be happier.

so, uh ... to answer your question, i tried a buncha {censored} and wasted a lot of time and money when i should have just gone out and got the 2 things i knew i wanted. i ended up there eventually.

[Roy Brooks]

I played a bunch of guitars.

[Knottyhed]

cuz i have no frackin idea... i think my danelectro has come closest... my lp kinda disappoints me...

 

 

Just play for a long time, play and own alot of guitars... some will be keepers, others won't, one will be *that* guitar.

[Verence]

The real question is how do you play all the guitars that MIGHT be "the right guitar"?

I desperately want to play a Mustang, a Jazzmaster, plus a couple of the less common Music Man guitars.

But how can I? None of the local guitar shops have them! The only possible way is to BUY them online, then SELL them again to fund the next one if it doesn't suit me.

Very inconvenient.

[Dewysoss]

I'm not sure...my Schecter Tempest Custom is my main guitar. There was always something I liked about the shape, and when I saw this one, I fell in love with it. Its a bit big, so it fits me well, though it could do with an unfinished neck. Its like a Les Paul, but lighter and more unique looking. According to my brother, when I'm on stage with it, it just fits me well. So it all comes down to what plays the best and looks.

[ArKay]

I like them all!