Members Tony Burns Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Im more in the belief that whats the most important thing is who built the guitar . i also believe the quality of wood , how its cut, dried, braced etc- add to the sound. But the maker is #1 I also feel that just buying a guitar on name alone is hit and Miss -Some Martins are mediocre some are sensational -this pretty much sums up my thoughts on all production guitars .Just because a Martin ( or other brand )is made of Brazilian Rosewood doesnt make it sound better than one made out of East Indian Rosewood - A recent purchase ( last winter ) of a small luthier made guitar ( my Colby Horton 12 fret Dread ) has a tone better than most guitars ive ever played at any price - This is not ment to be a rant for that particular guitar - What are your thoughts about what makes a great guitar ? is it age , the maker , the wood . or maybe the player ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Tony, I don't know what makes a great guitar sound good, but I know what makes a good guitar sound great. #1) the tone #2) the player All of my guitars have "the tone". I've still got a ways to go on "the player" part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poppytater Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Tone and playability....nothing else matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katopp Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 The bonding.If YOU don't bond with the guitar, it's useless, you will not pick it up as often as you should or could and in the end it will gather dust and rot away.I have had nice instruments that I just could not bond with, for reasons unbeknownst to me because everybody else was praising the guitar as easy to play and sounding like angels voices, but to me it still was "Meh!".I hav substandard instruments, though, that for some reason I bonded with and those I would not give away, sell or replace otherwise. My crappy old broken Ovation 12-stringer is such a case. It's beaten to death, cracked, glued, recracked and reglued, but I just can't describe why it still is the 12 I play most. Not, that it sounds better than my TW145-12/SC for instance, it doesn't, but ... there is something with that old Ovation that just has made me bond with it. The Tanglewood is a tool, the Ovation an instrument, if you get what I mean... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 The bonding, if you get what I mean... Oh, trust me Katopp...I get it! A couple of years ago when they were blowing out the Alvarez Masterworks guitars, I bought one of the MD-80s. All solid woods. Solid Englemann spruce over solid mahogany. Beautiful sounding and playing guitar that I got for $240 after discounts and it came with a very nice rigid foam Alvarez case too. Everybody I knew thought it was great. But I didn't. That guitar didn't do a thing for me. A year and a half later, nothing had changed and a guy offered me $400 for it. I sold it without batting an eye and have never missed it. I kept a couple of others that aren't nearly as good as that Alvarez, but for some reason I've bonded with them and they've got a home here as long as they live. A classic example of that would be my old 1981 Fender (for cryin' out loud) F-65, all-laminated D-28 clone that still gets me going every time I pick it up and play it. Don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know why. It just does! My other "keepers" are a Yamaha FG730S and a 10-year old Martin DM that I bought with the $400 I got for that Alvarez. The old Fender, the Yamaha and the Martin have found a permanent home here, but I've sold some others over the years that most people would've kept. I just didn't bond with them. So.....I don't understand why we bond with some and some we don't......but I know it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fastblueheeler Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Katopp's bonding post is kind of vague and technically unexplainable, no mention of woods and construction and so on but I agree with him 100%. I've had some really nice guitars I never "bonded" with so I got rid of them and kept some not so nice ones because I loved playing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 In terms of tone, the biggest factor is size. Next biggest is thickness of the top and bracing (which can't really be separated). The Q factor is next, which is mostly determined by wood species. In terms of bonding, a surprisingly big factor is how much the body vibrates when you play it. People love guitars that feel "alive." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 In terms of tone, the biggest factor is size. Next biggest is thickness of the top and bracing (which can't really be separated). The Q factor is next, which is mostly determined by wood species.In terms of bonding, a surprisingly big factor is how much the body vibrates when you play it. People love guitars that feel "alive." Mine are "alive".......they "speak" to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acousticdepot Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 The most important thing is "fit". Is the guitar a good fit. The best guitars bond and blend with the player so it is hard to tell where the player ends and the instrument begins. It won't be the same guitar for every player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Im more in the belief that whats the most important thing is who built the guitar . i also believe the quality of wood , how its cut, dried, braced etc- add to the sound. But the maker is #1I also feel that just buying a guitar on name alone is hit and Miss - Contradiction OP is contradicting...I quit reading after this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Burns Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Katopp's bonding post is kind of vague and technically unexplainable, no mention of woods and construction and so on but I agree with him 100%. I've had some really nice guitars I never "bonded" with so I got rid of them and kept some not so nice ones because I loved playing them. Funny, but now that i think of it -thats probably the reason i kept that old Yammie 12 string i bought new back in 1971 -its not a sensational guitar -but its the first guitar i ever bought new -i saved for that guitar like forever - It still makes me tingle when i play it -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C70man Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Im more in the belief that whats the most important thing is who built the guitar . i also believe the quality of wood , how its cut, dried, braced etc- add to the sound. But the maker is #1I also feel that just buying a guitar on name alone is hit and Miss -Some Martins are mediocre some are sensational -this pretty much sums up my thoughts on all production guitars .Just because a Martin ( or other brand )is made of Brazilian Rosewood doesnt make it sound better than one made out of East Indian Rosewood - A recent purchase ( last winter ) of a small luthier made guitar ( my Colby Horton 12 fret Dread ) has a tone better than most guitars ive ever played at any price - This is not ment to be a rant for that particular guitar - What are your thoughts about what makes a great guitar ? is it age , the maker , the wood . or maybe the player ? How it makes you feel....I've reduced the herd to 5 guitars...each one speaks to me differenty....Great is overused, I use it too, but it really only defines a moment in time, the music, the guitar, its player, and whoever is listening....seriously, its about the moment and everyone has them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FretFiend. Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 I've bought a few guitars, (fine guitars at that) and then later sold them, (at a considerable loss) because something about them just didn't move me. I now own a couple, of guitars that are special. One in particular, a fairly beat up battleaxe Martin D-28, I'll probably keep for the remainder of my life. Not the most expensive guitar. Not the fanciest guitar... but it speaks to me. No, actually it does much more that. It sings to me... like an angel! I bonded with it. Maybe I'm a snob, but I don't believe that a guitar with a lesser pedigree could have done that. Quality is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BLUtunes Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 All of the answers provided so far come from people who've been playing guitar long enough to develop certain preferences in guitars. But I've noticed that beginners have a different set of priorities. For beginners, I think the priorities are generally: 1) Does this look like the one that my favorite guitar hero plays? 2) What is the name on the headstock? Which guitar comes closest to meeting these other priorities within my limited budget of $300 or $400 or $500 or whatever?And, most important of all: 3) How cool would I look playing this guitar? These people will pick a crappy, Brand X guitar that looks vaguely like the one that their favorite guitar player was photographed with on such-and-such album over another instrument that might beat it by a mile in terms of tone and playability - every time. And I'm not by any means passing judgment on those amateurs who come here and are obviously obsessed with the above criteria. I'm sure that this is how most of us picked instruments before we started to develop more sophisticated tastes in our guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sologrrl Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 After the brand name (I am forced into middle of the road product due to funding, saving up for the right Larrivee!) I look at neck specifically and body fit. I'm a tall girl (6ft 1) and left handed to boot. So not only is my choices narrowed into usually 2-3 guitars but most of them are low end, slim bodied models that I never seem to get a good feel from. I like slim necks and big bodies. My Ibanez EW-20 was love at first strum. Aside from the fact that she's purty I like the slim design of the neck and she gets a really nice full warm tone unplugged AND plugged in. It was like an instant connection the minute I picked it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigald18 Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The most important thing in selecting a new guitar is obviously a matter of personal preference. Famous names don't impress me. I have a hog b & s git that I made for myself and it sounds better than any Martin D18 I've ever heard. I have an Alvarez F350 orchestra sized git with solid rosewood b & s that I think sounds better than any small famous maker git I've ever heard. Things that should be considered when buying a guitar:1. Your budget.2. The type of music you want to play.3. Your style of playing4. Quality of construction5. "Feel" of the guitar to you.6. How it sounds to YOU.7. Do you care about resale value?8. What motivates you to play.Like Opa John said, the skill of the player is a lot more important than the skill of the guitar.BigAl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 I really just care about playability. It's pretty rare for me to find an acoustic with a tone that I hate, but I can disagree with the neck before I hit the first note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The bonding.If YOU don't bond with the guitar, it's useless, you will not pick it up as often as you should or could and in the end it will gather dust and rot away.I have had nice instruments that I just could not bond with, for reasons unbeknownst to me because everybody else was praising the guitar as easy to play and sounding like angels voices, but to me it still was "Meh!".I hav substandard instruments, though, that for some reason I bonded with and those I would not give away, sell or replace otherwise. My crappy old broken Ovation 12-stringer is such a case. It's beaten to death, cracked, glued, recracked and reglued, but I just can't describe why it still is the 12 I play most. Not, that it sounds better than my TW145-12/SC for instance, it doesn't, but ... there is something with that old Ovation that just has made me bond with it. The Tanglewood is a tool, the Ovation an instrument, if you get what I mean... That's my story, too.I had a high end Taylor I couldnt bond with. Finally had to sell it years ago.Now I spend most of my time playing a $300 Epiphone, even though I have guitars costing 5X and even 10X as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Tone and playability....nothing else matters. YES, YES, and YES again ! For me . . . the unpluged tone (pref with NO electrics on board anyways) is by far theee most important to me, and then, the playability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarVlog Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 1. Your budget. I'm with BigAl on his number 1 item. A guitar you can't budget for is immediately outside of your selection criteria. Painful but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 These days I'll usually just build my own unless it's a great deal on a broken name brand vintage guitar I can repair and flip for a good profit. They all sound and play just like I like when I'm done with them anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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