Members scuzzo Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 well my last guitar was a Jay Turser i bought new for 25 bucks.. and thats one of my favorite guitars... so.. no if i can get tones out of a old coffee tin with a rubber ban stretched across it... i would do that too.. a great guitar with a huge price tag is meant to sound special and better sound great... but if you can get a cheap silly guitar to sound very nice.. then thats reward in its self.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 well my last guitar was a Jay Turser i bought new for 25 bucks.. and thats one of my favorite guitars... so.. no if i can get tones out of a old coffee tin with a rubber ban stretched across it... i would do that too.. a great guitar with a huge price tag is meant to sound special and better sound great... but if you can get a cheap silly guitar to sound very nice.. then thats reward in its self.. I've never understood this way of thinking about guitars. To me, a guitar is a beautiful work of art that is meant to be appreciated for more than just the sounds it can produce. The woodworking and craftsmanship of a fine quality guitar mean as much, if not more, to me than the sound. Hell, you can plug just about any guitar into an amp and after enough gain, they all sound pretty much the same. Where is the appreciation for the guitar itself and how it feels in your hands? The act of playing guitar is more than just the sound coming out of the speaker. It's an intimate connection between your hands and a hunk of wood that comes alive when you play it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -TJ- Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 I always wanted nice gear when I was younger, just couldnt afford it. Now that I can, its not that my tastes are that different (price wise), its just that my wallet can actually accomodate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 For parts, I usually have avoided "cheap". Although I have bought a few things from GFS to be used on cheap guitars. But when it comes to guitars, I still run the gamut from guitars on sale for a low price of around 2 to 3 hundred up to my previous most expensive $4500 CS VOS '59RI LP. My last guitar was a Godin Session for $310 on sale and I'm just loving that guitar. I've tossed many a new more expensive guitar aside much quicker than that guitar. It's one of those "hard to put down" guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I love a guitar with character. Some kind of vibe that says it's fun to play. Maybe it has a history and it's trying to tell me it's story or the designer is sharing something fun with me. I don't know and maybe that's all in my head. But, I have found guitars like that at all price points. I've also been turned off quickly by many guitars at all price points. I think it's much easier to become disillusioned with expensive gear that doesn't surprise you as opposed to finding something special about something inexpensive that causes you to raise an eyebrow and smile. I do believe the average price of my collection has gone up along with the relative quality of the components and workmanship involved but my eye can still easily wander to something entry level bursting with character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 Yes and no..... The bottom end of what I would consider, now I've done the "own quite a few guitars" thing and zoned in on what I like, has risen in terms of price - I'm much better at telling what is worth it and what is false economy at that end. I think over time that happens to everyone and does lead us to be prepared to send a bit more on one or two you really will play a lot instead of owning lots for the sake of it. If I could impart one word of advice to anyone starting out on guitar, it is never, never fall for that "palette of sound" bull{censored}. If you like Strats and that's what you play best, better owning ten of those that all get played than ten guitars each of which is different, each of which adds to your range of available tones and sounds..... and only ever playing the Strat. On the other hand, now I'm older and could, with a little effort and saving, afford the expensive, high-end guitars that I once hankered after, I find I don't much want them. I've reached a point, I suppose, where I feel confident in knowing what are the limitations of the instrument and what are the limitations of me as a player... I'm also more confident in my own ability to choose what I consider to be best value. Sure, if money were no object I'd be buying custom Shop Fenders in all likelihood..... but it's not (and in any case it always seems just a little counter intuitive to me to spend thousands on something that is by its very design a utilitarian tool, designed for mass, cheap production - in that sense the Squier line is closer Leo's original vision than anything carrying the Fender brand made in the US today, or anywhere else for that matter). Yes, a US 52RI Tele can be "better" in some incremental degree than the CIJ equivalent. I can see the differences and appreciate them..... but I also am confident enough now that I can also decide it doesn't make the guitar twice as good and therefore worth twice the price. I guess I feel now that I have enough experience and knowledge that I can be comfortable choosing the guitar that suits me best, price being part of that calculation, without feeling the need of the "safety blanket" that is US production or whatever other brand you want to put on it. That said, this will naturally vary for anyone who has more to spend, or who plays for an audience other than their cats..... it's all situational. FWIW, I can well understand getting more of a kick out of seeing a guy make incredible music on a POS than on a multi-thousand dollar guitar, but at the end of the day when someone else is playing, it's just a tool and if the first thing I do is critique their equipment choice rather than enjoy their playing, there's something missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dabbler Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 I've never understood this way of thinking about guitars. To me, a guitar is a beautiful work of art that is meant to be appreciated for more than just the sounds it can produce. The woodworking and craftsmanship of a fine quality guitar mean as much, if not more, to me than the sound. Hell, you can plug just about any guitar into an amp and after enough gain, they all sound pretty much the same. Where is the appreciation for the guitar itself and how it feels in your hands? The act of playing guitar is more than just the sound coming out of the speaker. It's an intimate connection between your hands and a hunk of wood that comes alive when you play it. Different strokes for different folks. I like a beautiful guitar too, BUT I don't play a piece of art. At the beginning and end of every song, my guitar is a tool, no matter what it looks like, if I can get it to make the noise I want, that matters most. Maybe my persepective is a little colored by an experience I had back when I was only playing trumpet. A buddy and I was working with an old man who played violin (preparing to play in a friend's recital). My buddy (who also played violin) wasn't playing loud enough for the old guy and so he pulled out his violin to show him what he wanted. The violin looked like something you'd see in a pawn shop, I was not impressed... until he started to play. I'm guessing my mouth was on the floor, and old man took note, then he showed me... it was a stradivarius. Now this old man could have probably made a pawn shop violin sing too. But that experience made me stop worrying about looks... I stopped worrying about labels later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lonnie99 Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 My tastes have crept up a bit, but not that far really. My first guitar was a new Squier Standard HH Strat back in 01. I was nearly 40 at the time and got the bug bad at first. I bought about 5-6 guitars within the first few months, the first good one being a new Ibanez RG470. Since then I've been through over 300 because I love to buy/sell/trade. I still won't buy anything more expensive that a used MIM Fender for myself but I've flipped through a bunch of Gibsons and Carvins. If I had more disposable income I'd have a nice used LP Custom, but it's probably not in the cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlexMC Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 Authentic: Kinda nerdy/anal: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peskypesky Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 i like inexpensive gear. Squier, Agile, Douglas, SX, Ibanez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted October 5, 2011 Members Share Posted October 5, 2011 I played the same old 1980's Sigma acoustic for about 25 years and didn't know there was anything better. A couple of years ago I got a nice Alvarez acoustic-electric on clearance for $300. Then I started looking at Takamine's and other guitars in the $1,000 range and found none of them really did much for me. I actually like my Alvarez better. Then I played a few Martins and Taylors---now we're talking a whole different situation altogether! I'm going to skip the mid-range stuff and wait and get something really nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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