Do you really know what to look for in a good guitar?

[BoneNut]

 

I never understood all the hype around guitars. They're very simple devices. The difference between a very inexpensive one and a very expensive one these days has more to do with the economics of international trade than anything about the guitar. I can get a great sound even out of a cheap Chinese one. In the old days there was a huge difference but not any more. Just make sure the action and build quality is good and it sounds how you want it to. Done. It's like some carpenter spending all day at a Home Depot trying out all the different hammers for the "perfect feel" , "perfect balance" "perfect swing".... A bunch of carpenters arguing on some website about how hammers made in China can't compete with American hammers that are made in some old factory since 1855 for driving nails. Different alloys being analyzed. Some dude with a collection of hammers...a different one for each type of nail he's driving. With some antique ones he only uses on special occasions. Then there's this one guy who thinks that the more expensive the hammer is, the better it is. He's got one made from 18K gold. They only made 10 of them and it's got a letter of authenticity. Funny thing is that gold is kind of a soft metal so when you use the hammer it dents easily....but dents in a hammer have mojo. Some guys actually tie a hammer to a string and drag it around on the back of their car. It creates this artificial wear on the hammer, so that when they show up at a job site, they look like they are more experienced to impress clients. And then there was that one famous carpenter. Everybody wants a hammer just like he used his whole career...I think the factory that made it just came out of bankruptcy and now makes a reissue of that legendary tool. Somewhere in all that craziness I guess houses are still getting built.

 

 

Good post. Thanks!

[JTEES4]

I buy and sell all the time. I have bought new guitars online, no biggie. I can't evaluate a guitar properly until I set it up myself anyway. Then, if I don't like it, it simply gets returned. As far as used...I buy only at good prices. If I don't like it, I re-sell it usually for a profit or very close to what I paid for it. It's worked for me for years and I am actually a few thousand dollars ahead including all profit and losses (and costs). I run my hobby like a business....most hobbies cost money....mine has made me money.

[mediocreplayer]

I never understood all the hype around guitars. They're very simple devices. The difference between a very inexpensive one and a very expensive one these days has more to do with the economics of international trade than anything about the guitar. I can get a great sound even out of a cheap Chinese one. In the old days there was a huge difference but not any more. Just make sure the action and build quality is good and it sounds how you want it to. Done. It's like some carpenter spending all day at a Home Depot trying out all the different hammers for the "perfect feel" , "perfect balance" "perfect swing".... A bunch of carpenters arguing on some website about how hammers made in China can't compete with American hammers that are made in some old factory since 1855 for driving nails. Different alloys being analyzed. Some dude with a collection of hammers...a different one for each type of nail he's driving. With some antique ones he only uses on special occasions. Then there's this one guy who thinks that the more expensive the hammer is, the better it is. He's got one made from 18K gold. They only made 10 of them and it's got a letter of authenticity. Funny thing is that gold is kind of a soft metal so when you use the hammer it dents easily....but dents in a hammer have mojo. Some guys actually tie a hammer to a string and drag it around on the back of their car. It creates this artificial wear on the hammer, so that when they show up at a job site, they look like they are more experienced to impress clients. And then there was that one famous carpenter. Everybody wants a hammer just like he used his whole career...I think the factory that made it just came out of bankruptcy and now makes a reissue of that legendary tool. Somewhere in all that craziness I guess houses are still getting built.

 

 

Best post I have read on this site. Ever.

[caveman]

In my entire life I've only bought one guitar without playing it first and got lucky that time. I've also gassed big time and when I finally got to play the object of my desire, it felt foreign in my hands. The Epi' Joe Pass is the most recent example of this phenomenon.

[jtr654]

Only bought 5 guitars sight unseen 4 Schon's and one Larrivee RS4 from the 80's.

[cratz2]

I never understood all the hype around guitars. They're very simple devices. The difference between a very inexpensive one and a very expensive one these days has more to do with the economics of international trade than anything about the guitar. I can get a great sound even out of a cheap Chinese one. In the old days there was a huge difference but not any more. Just make sure the action and build quality is good and it sounds how you want it to. Done. It's like some carpenter spending all day at a Home Depot trying out all the different hammers for the "perfect feel" , "perfect balance" "perfect swing".... A bunch of carpenters arguing on some website about how hammers made in China can't compete with American hammers that are made in some old factory since 1855 for driving nails. Different alloys being analyzed. Some dude with a collection of hammers...a different one for each type of nail he's driving. With some antique ones he only uses on special occasions. Then there's this one guy who thinks that the more expensive the hammer is, the better it is. He's got one made from 18K gold. They only made 10 of them and it's got a letter of authenticity. Funny thing is that gold is kind of a soft metal so when you use the hammer it dents easily....but dents in a hammer have mojo. Some guys actually tie a hammer to a string and drag it around on the back of their car. It creates this artificial wear on the hammer, so that when they show up at a job site, they look like they are more experienced to impress clients. And then there was that one famous carpenter. Everybody wants a hammer just like he used his whole career...I think the factory that made it just came out of bankruptcy and now makes a reissue of that legendary tool. Somewhere in all that craziness I guess houses are still getting built.

 

I see what you are saying, but my dad was a high end, custom wood-worker and I'm a contractor and I think I own about 40 hammers including several very task-specific ones from Germany.

 

[dcooper830]

I know what I like in guitars. I like low action and a straight neck.

 

I'm not worried about buying online sight unseen. I've done it many times and if it plays like crap, I work on it till it plays great.

 

I know how to do set ups and basic fretwork so it's no big deal.

 

As far as tone..... I've never come across an electric guitar I didn't like the sound of.

 

Although......... my MIM Tele was too muddy sounding...... so I installed some different pickups and now it's awesome.

[Bbreaker]

If it don't sound good unplugged, no buy.

[roners5]

I have different responses for acoustic vs electric guitars:

 

electric- I have no prob buying online, sight-unseen. My PRS std 22 is one of my best playing guitars that I bought off ebay. In general, since the amp + pickups basically makes up > 90% of the final sound, I don't necessarily think you can really judge tone- maybe one feels better to you than the other but that could also be due to setup preferences, etc. And anyway if one guitar is a bit brighter than the other, turn presence down on the amp and voila!

 

with acoustic- I will absolutely not buy one without playing it with at least 2-3 other guitars available for reference as well. For some reason, the same model guitar from the same company can sound vastly different from the next- I wouldn't feel comfortable buying one without comparison. FWIW I've really gotten into vintage acoustics- I thought it was all bull{censored} until I started playing them and I played a 68 hummingbird. holy {censored} that thing was so balanced and mellowed- the top end was beautiful and made all the new martins/taylors/gibsons that were 3K sound harsh and terrible. On the other hand, I've played vintage gibson acoustics that just didn't have it- weren't well balanced or just lacked a wow factor

[roners5]

In 35 years of playing, I've only tried two or three guitars that I thought had the magic right in the shop. The rest, to me, are like seeds that I hope will grow into something worthwhile.

 

I agree 100% - you'd be searching for a LONG time to find "the one(s)" and maybe you want a particular model guitar that you're not used to so you don't really know how to compare them properly. Most are manageable, well built guitars- some you bond with, others not. It's really tough to tell from an hour or so of playing whether your tastes will change down the road.

 

I've only been playing for 13 years and have been to guitar center and numerous other music shops like 1000 times and I've only found 1 guitar that was "THE ONE" (that hummingbird I mentioned)........... and I let it go ... it's kind of pathetic but I think about it every time I go into a guitar store :cry: come back to me :cry:

[fretmonster]

Buying online is certainly a crapshoot, but I've never been one of those guys that orders the flavor of the week guitar just because it's on sale. Certainly I'd prefer to play in person before I buy, and at this point having built my collection, will buy in no other way. But in the early days, after I got back into this thing about eight years ago I did buy quite a bit on Ebay, Musicgoround and Gbase as there were choices I couldn't get locally. Sure I got burned a time or two (not really for what I paid), but overall I've been extremely lucky with my decisions. I do think you make your own luck to a great extent and the fact that I stayed primarily with Hamer USA and Washburn USA had a lot to do with that. I honestly feel as though their consistency is much better than Fender or Gibson - these I would only buy in person.

[larry50]

 

If it don't sound good unplugged, no buy.

 

 

+1. That's number one for me. If it sounds dead unplugged, you can expect more of the same plugged in. If it has great acoustic tone unplugged, and the wood is vibrating against your body, you set that one aside to try and take it from there. I can overlook a lot of cosmetic boo-boos for great natural tone. You can really tell when you have a good one. The eyebrows go right up. If the neck is not fatally thin for me, I'm in.

 

I tried a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom against a new 2010 Les Paul Standard at my local Sam Ash the other day. Unplugged, the Les Paul Custom sounded alive and resonant. Single notes sustained. The Les Paul Standard sounded dead, single notes clunked. You can imagine the difference plugged in. I think the Les Paul Standard was chambered, but the unplugged acoustic differences between the two were dramatic, and that difference was immediately noticeable amplified. The Les Paul Standard sounded good. The Les Paul Custom just blew it away.

[soundcreation]

 

+1. That's number one for me. If it sounds dead unplugged, you can expect more of the same plugged in. If it has great acoustic tone unplugged, and the wood is vibrating against your body, you set that one aside to try and take it from there. I can overlook a lot of cosmetic boo-boos for great natural tone. You can really tell when you have a good one. The eyebrows go right up. If the neck is not fatally thin for me, I'm in. I tried a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom against a new 2010 Les Paul Standard at my local Sam Ash the other day. Unplugged, the Les Paul Custom sounded alive and resonant. Single notes sustained. The Les Paul Standard sounded dead, single notes clunked. You can imagine the difference plugged in . I think the Les Paul Standard was chambered, but the unplugged acoustic differences between the two were dramatic, and that difference was immediately noticeable amplified. The Les Paul Standard sounded good. The Les Paul Custom just blew it away.

 

 

there are a lot here who can't imagine that at all. let alone believe it. (I of course wouldn't be one of those people). None of that makes any difference to any of those people. All guitars sound exactly the same. The only difference is the pickups. You always only ever hear the pickups and never anything else.

 

These people of course ALWAYS put their money where their mouths are and play Epiphone special II's or the lowest possible plywood guitars guitars they possibly can. They never own mid range stuff like mexican strats or agile les pauls because heck...who needs all that fancy crap...right guys?

[larry50]

 

there are a lot here who can't imagine that at all. let alone believe it. (I of course wouldn't be one of those people). None of that makes any difference to any of those people. All guitars sound exactly the same. The only difference is the pickups. You always only ever hear the pickups and never anything else. These people of course ALWAYS put their money where their mouths are and play Epiphone special II's or the lowest possible plywood guitars guitars they possibly can. They never own mid range stuff like mexican strats or agile les pauls because heck...who needs all that fancy crap...right guys?

 

 

Now and then you find a lower range model or MIM Strat (I've never played an Agile) that have good acoustic tone as well. Usually, when you plug them in, they sound pretty good. But with the upper range models, when Jupiter has aligned with Mars and the Earth is in the Seventh Sun, and that acoustic tone just rings, it really doesn't matter who made it. They use superior wood and build quality and it shows in the unplugged acoustic tones and characteristics. But some clearly stand out from the others. I must have played 30 Strats before I found my new American Standard. It was immediately noticeably much better than any I had previously played. The unplugged acoustic tone was warm and rich at the same time, with a commanding bass and sparkly trebles, sounding damn near to a semi-hollow body. The whole body was resonating and vibrating. Plugged into a Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue (which my main go to amp) it sounds like it was sent from the Lord himself.

 

Yeah, acoustic tone is first for me, or back on the wall it goes, whoever is on the headstock.

[docjeffrey]

I think that there really is something to be said for guitars that are made from really high quality components with a lot of attention to detail in the fit and finish. Personally, I don't care who makes them or where they come from, if they are good, who cares. The new Korean Rick Vito Reverend is an amazing instrument--a benchmark that US makers are going to have trouble matching in terms of materials and build quality.

 

There are lots of guitars made from high grade materials with great fit and finish that sound pretty average too. I own a few of those.

 

You cannot compare guitars to cars or hammers--they aren't the same and the metaphor quickly breaks down. Guitars are made to perform extremely complex operations. There are a lot more components and a lot more goes into making one. It's absurd to compare the two.

 

Buying a guitar is a complex process that involves advanced cognitive skills (if it's done right). It involves understanding a great deal of knowledge and the ability to compare, contrast, synthesize and evaluate. Don't sell yourself short if you are able to tell the difference between two guitars of the exact same make and model. Most people can't.

 

Eventually, if you stick with playing the guitar (emphasis on playing) you learn what you like and you start to get better at finding guitars that suit your preferences.

 

Or, like me, you just keep buying stuff and eventually you get lucky on a couple of them. Knowledge and skill be damned.

 

[Steadfastly]

It all depends on how much you're going to spend and how much is a lot of money for each individual. For some, $100.00 is a lot and for some, a few grand or more is not a lot.

 

For me, once I got over $1000.00, I would want to have one in my hands first or be able to return it. The only exception would be if it was a custom or one I was going to mod anyway.

[PrawnHeed]

I kind of go along with the hammer analogy, but would take it further and say that if guitars were just tools for making music, I don't think they'd still be made. If one were to ignore all the history and body of music associated with guitars and now invent an instrument for making music, I doubt if one would come up with something as clumsy as an electric guitar. On the other hand, if one was trying to come up with any easy way to hold 2 bits of wood together, a nail and hammer would make a lot of sense.

 

In other words, a good guitar is not going to be a guitar at all.

[Doctor49]

If it don't sound good unplugged, no buy.

 

 

this, in a nutshell.

[LaXu]

 

If it don't sound good unplugged, no buy.

 

 

Unless there is a soundproofed room where you shop, I find it really hard to evaluate the acoustic sound of an electric guitar in a store. There's air conditioning, street noise etc making it difficult. I do agree otherwise, I would never buy an acoustic online. With electrics it's safer because for one they're usually easier to sell if they don't work out. Good sound is really in the ear of the beholder though. Some like 'em brighter, some like 'em bassy and others look for that perfect balance.

 

When I check out a guitar in a store I can easily tell if it has any production flaws and if they're fixable or not. Evaluating sound is harder because they rarely have the same amp and cab you've got plus the difference in the room, your current mood (tired from work? having a good day?) etc can change our perception.

 

Hell, sometimes it's even about just getting the exact model and color you've been drooling at for some time. For example I recently got a pair of Loake shoes online and they're definitely not the most comfortable shoes I own (will get better with use), but boy do they look great. I think the difference between buying in a store and buying online is that online you are drawn to how something looks whereas in the store you're evaluating if it works for your needs and fits to your idea of good sound.

 

I've bought most of my guitars used online. Some have been sold because they just didn't fit my needs, many have been kept.

[metallica_00]

I think the unplugged argument is true, but kind of silly at the same time. Because I usually play my electric through an amp, I test them through an amp as well. It might be a good approach if you are buying a guitar knowing you are going to have to upgrade pickups and other components and are trying to find the best "blank slate" to work with, but my goal is always to find a guitar that I really dig as it is. Which means evaluating what it sounds like plugged in.

 

On a side note, I think there's a certain reality to the fact that some people are a lot pickier/more sensitive about guitars and tone than others. Not that anybody's really right or wrong, because they're your ears, but some people are out there just to get some guitars that play pretty good, look good, and make sounds. Whereas others are interested in the particulars. So you get pretty divergent opinions on people's approaches to buying.

[Bbreaker]

 

I think the unplugged argument is true, but kind of silly at the same time. Because I usually play my electric through an amp, I test them through an amp as well. It might be a good approach if you are buying a guitar knowing you are going to have to upgrade pickups and other components and are trying to find the best "blank slate" to work with, but my goal is always to find a guitar that I really dig as it is. Which means evaluating what it sounds like plugged in. On a side note, I think there's a certain reality to the fact that some people are a lot pickier/more sensitive about guitars and tone than others. Not that anybody's really right or wrong, because they're your ears, but some people are out there just to get some guitars that play pretty good, look good, and make sounds. Whereas others are interested in the particulars. So you get pretty divergent opinions on people's approaches to buying.

 

 

Playing an electric guitar unplugged is sort of like getting to first base.

You realize if you want to go further.

Sex could be enjoyable or just going through the motions.

[larry50]

 

Playing an electric guitar unplugged is sort of like getting to first base. You realize if you want to go further. Sex could be enjoyable or just going through the motions.

 

 

Exactly.

[Bbreaker]

 

Exactly.

 

 

.................it could be filthy dirty but fantastic in the end.

[oryan]

I try to buy local. I've been burned more than once buying online. The problem and I'm sure everyone here experiences the same issue is the "perfect" guitar we seek is not going to be in stock at our local stores. I've been hunting for a new guitar for a few months now and have visited every shop within a 50mile radius.....still no luck. I see a few guitars online that I really want, but from prior experience I'm very hesitant to pull the trigger. It's frustrating to say the least.

[SnowViking]

What to look for? Well the look first! Feel/playability, tone, and range. Although I'm not averse to buying guitar hardware online, never a guitar, got to play it first in situ. That said even after trying a guitar out in a shop and getting them to order one in it still sometimes needs a bit of work done on it to make it playable.