Members Spike Li Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Or, what do you find more inspiring to play? - A guitar that sounds great but plays bad or one that sounds average but plays great? I know that ideally we would all prefer something that sounds and plays good, but if you had a choice between the 2, what would it be? I ask because of my recent experiences with some guitars- my jim root strat and LP studio arent by best players - they could both really use some fret work, but they sound great!Last night I played an ESP eclipse and was blown away by how good it felt to play! It sounded good, but wasnt anything special... If a had a choice between one or the other, im not sure which way i would go so wanted to get a reading on what you guys think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Space coyote Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 I'm lucky because I have one guitar that is both, what sux though is that it weighs a ton, but I know what you mean, I had an Ibanez S that played like butter, but I could never get it to sound the way I wanted not matter what i did. Right now I have a mutt stratish guitar that i built that has gobs of tone but isn't the best player, but it's the guitar I play the most......so i guess for me tone is more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lincoln40 Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Dude thats a hard one. When I started learning I used to play a Chinese piece of {censored} Epiphone Les Paul Special 2, you know it sounded pretty good for a cheap guitar but man, something about the neck and fretboard felt "sick"...I dont know how to describe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members m90guy Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 If it sounds like {censored}, then whats the point??? I'd rather wrestle my guitar and have it sound good any day of week over something that plays like butter, but sounds like ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fenderman1991 Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 I would pick play better, but whats the point if it sounds bad!? If it were like average, then I'd choose play good, sound average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reignman Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Dude thats a hard one. When I started learning I used to play a Chinese piece of {censored} Epiphone Les Paul Special 2, you know it sounded pretty good for a cheap guitar but man, something about the neck and fretboard felt "sick"...I dont know how to describe it. .... no offense dude but your posts have a habit of making me giggle (as manly as that sounds) It's easy as can be. If it sounds like {censored}, it sounds like {censored}. If I have to piss, moan, complain and bitch all day at my guitar and fight it until the death but it sounds sexual than abso-{censored}ing-lutely I'll fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Has to play well. As much as a good sounding guitar is important, a lot of tone does come from the player. But if you're fighting the guitar, you're not going to get your tone, it's hard to execute your ideas, and it's just not as fun. The reality is that most guitars sound good enough when paired with a decent amp. A crappy amp...that I could not live with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted November 12, 2010 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 I would pick play better, but whats the point if it sounds bad!? If it were like average, then I'd choose play good, sound average. Yeah I think i misworded the poll I meant to put average, not "bad". Really this is about playability vs sound/tone, obviously no one wants something that sounds terrible, im just interested to see if people would choose something that played better over something that sounded better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 I would willing play a plywood doorstop layered with 3" of poly if it played great. Half of my playing is based on feel - then again, I have an audience of one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 It has to play and feel great or else, after an initial, 'wow, this sounds GREAT' phase, it will set neglected in the corner. If it plays great and sounds ho-hum, it's time for new pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Yeah, I say playability, that's the harder of the 2 options to come by. I can make a bad sounding guitar sound fantastic, but I can only improve a {censored} player's playability a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FoonkySteve Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Has to play well. As much as a good sounding guitar is important, a lot of tone does come from the player. But if you're fighting the guitar, you're not going to get your tone, it's hard to execute your ideas, and it's just not as fun.The reality is that most guitars sound good enough when paired with a decent amp. A crappy amp...that I could not live with! I concur:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Surrealistic Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Hard to choose. If we're talking really bad on either score then I'll pass on them both. If we're talking "sounds average but fixable with good processing" then I'll take the "nice to play" guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluffalo Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 tone is overrated, has to play well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Space coyote Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 tone is overrated, has to play well for me. Tone is overrated??!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 Tone is overrated??!? I think so. I mean, a solid tone is important, but once you see a truly incredible guitarist make an inexpensive/mildly crappy rig sing, you realize that the gear-based "tone" we speak of is, in fact, overrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted November 12, 2010 Members Share Posted November 12, 2010 I can make music come out of pretty much any decent plank of wood, sometimes a guitar that "resists" me will make me word harder and in turn sound better. But a nice playing guitar that sounds muddy... sorry my fingers can't do anything about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeanoBoy Posted November 13, 2010 Members Share Posted November 13, 2010 If it sounds like {censored}, then whats the point???I'd rather wrestle my guitar and have it sound good any day of week over something that plays like butter, but sounds like ass. A bit crude, but to the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willyguitar Posted November 13, 2010 Members Share Posted November 13, 2010 The two are inter-related. What I particularly like about decent telecasters is that they are very dynamic to play... which means that you can tease some pretty unusual and interesting sounds out of them. However, I don't give a damn about sharp fret ends, or slightly over-weight guitars... and if it is action, that can always be adjusted. So, I choose types of guitars that 'play' in a particular kind of way, but care much much less about the cosmetics and minor issues compared to sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted November 13, 2010 Members Share Posted November 13, 2010 I voted plays great because for me it's a huge part of the enjoyment, being able to render technically challengig tunes. A great sounding guitar that plays bad would have a limited use for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nighthawk15 Posted November 13, 2010 Members Share Posted November 13, 2010 I would say plays great. Sound is important to me, but its really important to me that it feels good in my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted November 13, 2010 Members Share Posted November 13, 2010 It's much easier to sit down and change pickups, pots, switches and whatnot. A guitar that sounds bad can be remedied in many different ways. A guitar that plays like {censored} can be fixed to a point but you will always hit a wall limited by material and overall quality. Give me a guitar that plays like a dream and I can make it sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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