What matters to you when shopping for a guitar?

[Mikeo]

Charm can have it's limitations, but I'm good with that. Both my Gretsch guitars have Bigsbys.

[DeepEnd]

I like vibrato tailpieces... some add considerably to the overall vibe and sonic capabilities of the instrument. Imagine a Gretsch with no Bigsby... to me' date=' it just doesn't make much sense. . . .[/quote']

As the French say, vive la différence. There have, in fact, been Gretsch models without a Bigsby and I'd be fine with one of them, I'm simply not a trem fan. Largely, it comes from being foremost an acoustic guy and secondarily it comes from a desire for stable tuning.

[bluesmann]

That's on thing I forgot to mention is the tail piece. I like the hard tail bridges. I did like the 80's Kahler's floating vibrato's with a locking nut or tuners. Many complained but I loved them over a Floyd rose any day.

[bluesmann]

Theres a Gibson Moderne on ebay for 1500.00 now and others for 8 grand and up. What's the deal with them? They look kind of a V explorer kind of thing. 8 grand for that? If I really wanted one I'd ask Freeman if he's be interested in a custom build. Or find someone with the gift. That's the first I've heard of them. Was that a early model from the 50's and 60's? By the looks of it, it shouldn't

cost more than a good SG. I always wanted a good V with 59 duncans.

[Phil O'Keefe]

As the French say, vive la différence. There have, in fact, been Gretsch models without a Bigsby and I'd be fine with one of them, I'm simply not a trem fan. Largely, it comes from being foremost an acoustic guy and secondarily it comes from a desire for stable tuning.

 

You'll find few people as critical of bad tuning as I am. I have perfect pitch and I hate out of tune guitars; I have a reputation in the studio for telling people to tune up (and which string(s) to check), but if the guitar is really set up well, a trem shouldn't cause tuning issues unless it's worked heavily. My Gretsch wouldn't stay in tune very well at all when I first got it, then I had my buddy Dennis do a setup on it (including adjusting the Bigsby), and it's been stable as can be ever since.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Theres a Gibson Moderne on ebay for 1500.00 now and others for 8 grand and up. What's the deal with them? They look kind of a V explorer kind of thing. 8 grand for that? If I really wanted one I'd ask Freeman if he's be interested in a custom build. Or find someone with the gift. That's the first I've heard of them. Was that a early model from the 50's and 60's? By the looks of it, it shouldn't

cost more than a good SG. I always wanted a good V with 59 duncans.

 

There were three Gibson "outside the box" models designed around the same time - the Flying V, the Explorer and the Moderne. The first two went into production and although only a couple hundred were made in the late 50s, they were available to the public, and you can find them, as well as multiple reissues of them available today.

 

The Moderne is another story. They probably made a few prototypes, but none have ever been conclusively proven to still exist today, although a few fakes have tried to pass muster. A real deal '57-'58 Moderne is holy-grail stuff to a vintage guitar collector. Only a relative few recreations of that design have ever been made, so even those are scarce.

 

http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Designer/Gibson-USA/Moderne.aspx

 

 

[Mikeo]

One of the Gretsch guitars I have is a Power Jet with Gotoh locking tuners.

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/images/guitars/G6128TTVP/JT15113530/JT15113530-serial-xlarge.jpg

 

My other Gretsch is a Tennessee Rose, with Schaller tuners, but I believe the new one come with Schaller locking tuners. Locking or no lock seem to work fine for me, but I'm pretty gentle on the Bigsby. Just enough to taste.

[gardo]

As I give this more thought I realize that buying a guitar is almost a mystical experience. I was at GC a couple years ago with a pocket full of money and you know what happened next.,I had intended to by an Ibanez hollowbody,I even brought my favorite amp to try it out. It was a nice guitar but my buddy handed me a Strat to try just for the fun of it. I'd been a long time Strat hater but it sounded great it played just right ,it felt like it was made for me. Not my favorite color ,black on black, but not that bad either. After playing it and putting it back the only thing I could think of was that someone else might walk in and buy it .I had to have it,the connection was made,it was meant to be. This is what matters most but still governed by price

Logic has little to do with it

[wasgtrjones]

To be honest, for me, it starts with looks. If it's not something I would WANT to wear/play onstage, I'm not interested. There are so many ways to find great tone, that I'm not interested in a guitar I can't look at. Example: There are practically an infinite number of combinations and permutations of a Stratocaster. There is no reason whatsoever for me to pick up a hot-pink 80s style superstrat w/ graphics because that's not my style, and I'll never play it. It really doesn't matter how great it sounds, I can find another strat that sounds great.

 

Second to me is playability, does the guitar fit, and a very close third is the tone. Mostly the unplugged acoustic tone, because I have no problem with swapping pickups.

 

Finally, the last consideration is value. Which for me is a combination of resale value and current value compared to the market. I don't really buy guitars as investments, but will consider whether I think I could re-sell a guitar and not lose money on it. I've bought guitars that I didn't think I could ever sell again, but $120 for a guitar I knew I could take out and play 3 sets with is still a bargain.

[Phil O'Keefe]

As I give this more thought I realize that buying a guitar is almost a mystical experience. I was at GC a couple years ago with a pocket full of money and you know what happened next.,I had intended to by an Ibanez hollowbody,I even brought my favorite amp to try it out. It was a nice guitar but my buddy handed me a Strat to try just for the fun of it. I'd been a long time Strat hater but it sounded great it played just right ,it felt like it was made for me. Not my favorite color ,black on black, but not that bad either. After playing it and putting it back the only thing I could think of was that someone else might walk in and buy it .I had to have it,the connection was made,it was meant to be. This is what matters most but still governed by price

Logic has little to do with it

 

 

 

Sometimes something just feels right. When it does, go with it!

[Freeman Keller]

I was thinking about this thread while sitting on the couch last night, noodling around on my little parlor. When I built that guitar I agonized over every detail - it is a beautiful piece of Madagascar rosewood, has lots of inlay (kind of a girly guitar). It has a couple of flaws in the finish - you would never see them but I do, The small size fits my lap perfectly, fretboard is just the right length and feel. I love to show it off to people - most of the time the reaction is something like "wow!"

 

But as I played it I realized I couldn't see any of that - the only thing that mattered was how great it sounds.

[WRGKMC]

In the end for me its all playability and tone.

 

I have guitars with fantastic tone but the necks may be a bit fatter and I loose my ability to dance my fingers up and down the fret board at my best speed.

 

Then the tone of the instrument. The notes must be articulate and actually talk when playing leads and full sounding chords.

 

Electronically I like a wide range of tones from the pickups but I also like simplicity.

 

One Phil mentioned too is remaining in tune. I bend my notes allot, and the neck and whammy if it has one needs to return to proper pitch. If the strings fail buy more then a few cents I cant tolerate it. I need to be able to play leads for long periods recording and never have an issue retuning.

 

I do have several guitars that do this well too. Much of it is simply the build quality. Its like my Rickenbacker. I bought it used 25 years ago and I've never once had to touch the truss rods. My Paul is the same way. Its neck is remained the same since the day I bought it and only normal fret wear from heavy playing has been an issue.

[stingxnj]

First things first, it needs to look good - not just the guitar itself, but how it looks against me and it must not clash with my garb in any way. I cannot play any instrument, no matter how nice, if it cheapens my aura or gives me the appearance of a rube. Once that has been put aside, the reset is per usual - great playability, tone, feel. Fernando Lamas said it best "it's better to look good than to feel good."

[WRGKMC]

^^ Sounds a bit vain the way you explain it but I suppose everyone does that to some extent. They narrow down the choices based on looks.

 

I see it a bit differently.

 

I had a book some 40 odd years ago that explained the history of the instrument and its shape is based on the figure of a woman. The instrument then becomes a woman wrapped around your neck instead not a necklace that adorns you looks. The instrument becomes a living entity and it becomes a matter of pride wearing it instead of vanity. You can throw in having mutual respect there too if you want. You treat it right and it treats you right.

 

As you and your instrument age, you learn what's on the inside is what makes the bond last and the outside is superficial in comparison. Having both is also fine but what's going to allow you to bond to the instrument and create great music goes beyond what's skin deep.

[Bucksstudent]

Ever consider that he may be joking?

[Ancient Mariner]

I realised when I posted on here that it's YEARS since my last NGD.

 

Really tempted by a $100 encore SG on a special from Amazon, but it's been a really high cash-burn month: refitted kitchen & doors and had to replace my smartphone too, plus the washing machine just went wrong. And I've got a couple of pedals coming from China (oops).

[Marko]

Playability for me is in the neck feel and wide enough string spacing at the nut to play my cowboy chords with my fat fingers.

 

Looks/shape are kinda right there with playability, and it’s not a problem finding both.

 

Build quality, I don’t worry much about as even budget guitars are pretty well built. Just a good setup is needed.

 

Weight, I don’t remember a guitar that was uncomfortably heavy (I’m used to basses, so) and I’m strictly hollow/semi hollow guitars now it’s not an issue.

 

Resale I don’t worry about because I won’t be spending a whole lot on it anyways.

 

Name brand not important, even though for some reason it is for bass, not sure what that’s about.

 

Materials, don’t care so much, don’t believe in the “tone wood” thing.