How picky are you about guitars?

[DRF]

I've been pondering this about others and their seemingly craziness for the most minute of details. Also been spending some time lurking on other forums and man o man are guys crazy...the old "I just spent $4000 bux on a custom boutique and didn't bond with it" !!!.

I've got like 20 different guitars and would gig with any one of them in a heartbeat and they will sound great. So long as it doesn't have tiny frets and shitty action,I'm good to go. I'll also confess that 90% of the guitars I bought are right off the internet-untouched beforehand.

I can pretty much tell if I'll love a guitar just by looking at it and the specs. A little time to set it up and voila!.

As a guy once said the neck that is your favorite is the one you spent 2 weeks on getting used to. Maybe its because I hate playing one type of guitar that I'm not picky.

How about you,just how picky are you? how many guitars do you own and are they different?.

 

[lazz]

I own 3 and I love all of them, I go through phases where I can't put one down but I play them all and they all have strengths and weaknesses. At the moment it's my classic 60s player strat that I'm into but I'm really not that fussy about them
if it has a nice neck then that's a decent starting point for me

 

[Lurcher]

Okay, I'm going to exclude my specialist guitars (Electro-Acoustic, Electric 12 string and bass) and say I have 3 electric 6 string models.
I have a Cort EVL-K6 which is a classy beast of a shredder. I recently bought an Ellis Les Paul with more than Page wiring and there's my old Yamaha RGX211. Each of these is a delight in its own way but right now there are overlaps between the Cort and the Yammy. I love the Yammy 25" scale and single locking trem. So simple compared with the Floyd types we see today. But its tone was never the strong point. I upgraded the pups to an original Bill Lawrence at the bridge and a DiMarzio soap bar at the neck which was a massive improvement on the stock ones. So my plan is to do a bit of cut & paste and put the Ellis' overwound Wilkinsons in that and get a pair of Hot Slags instead. That should give the harder edge I like and make the Yammy a better backup for either of the others.
The Cort is far more versatile than many would think from its spec. I suspect the clever combination of tonewoods gives it the versatility and brings the very best out of the active pups.
The Ellis LP is already something of an enigma. I just have to pick it up first every day and re-learn some of the styles I used to work with in the regular gigging days with Gibsons and other quality hard-tails. Tone-wise it goes where none of the others can get near, so it certainly has a place of its own in my range.
Now I only need a LP with P90s, a 3-pup SG, a Rikki and an ES175 and I'm set. (Oh the GAS)

Brian

 

[JIM'S GoldTOP]

I have 2 electrics but I only play my LP. It is one of the best guitars I have ever played. I don't really want any other electrics b/c that will be compition towards my LP. I don't want to choose between guitars. I am very picky on my guitars. I only play the best ones I have and the other ones just sit and gather dust.

 

[cmcoram]

I agree that we can be picky. I know I am. Over the last 22 years, I've owned 3 Les Pauls (Ibanez Lawsuit Era, MIK Epi, MIJ Epi), 6 Strats (one MIA, 3 MIMs, one MIK, and a MIJ), and two Teles (both Squiers, made in ?). Right now, its one Les, one Strat, and one Tele. For me its about versatility. No one guitar can do it all for me. But a room full? Not for me either.

As for my specific pickiness, I like black Les Paul Customs and TobaccoBurst Classics, Oly White or Black Strats with maple boards, and White/Black/Burst Teles, bound or solid, with maple necks (sometimes a Strat neck is good too), and three pups. All have to have wiring mods, for series/parallel, blend, etc.

Is that too picky?

 

[hbucker]

I find that if it's a quality instrument, I can bond with it in some form. Doesn't matter if it's a $200 OLP or an R9. Some of the greatest classic tones were made on instruments that cork sniffers would never be caught dead playing. So what does that say?

I find that I have my own set of standards that I look for in guitars and amps. When I'm seriously auditioning an amp, nobody in the room would be impressed with what I'm playing. I strum and listen for over tones with fairly simple chords. Sometimes I play more agressively. But I find find that if the basic tones are o.k. Eruption will sound fine too...

Bottom line: I'm picky about what I'm picky about, but over all, I'm not that picky... or something.

 

[captcoolaid]

Do not care what condition it is in when I play it for the first I either gel with it or don't. Tone off the rack I also do not care about because chances are it is getting modded. All about the neck.

 

[Perrow]

How picky?

It got to have strings, preferably six of them but I do play a ukulele from time to time, so it's not a hard and fast rule. In a pinch I'd play a Fender or even a Gibson even though I own neither.

Then again, I'd be stretching it quite far if I said I can actually play the guitar. Sure I know a bunch of chords and have two electrics, an acoustic and said ukulele (technically the acoustic is borrowed and the uke is my sons, but I use them both) and can play a few songs, kind of, if I can have the book in front of me, but not what I myself would call a player at this stage. Getting there, but not there yet.

 

[SGMM]

Very....nowadays anyway....have owned & sold WAY too many so now I'm much more selective & try to only buy keepers....& big necks being most important to me that negates alot of possible guitar purchases!!


After many years & many guitars: I prefer having fewer guitars now....& playing the guitars I really love more not playing a certain guitar because I haven't played it in months!!

 

[Deftone]

Very....nowadays anyway....have owned & sold WAY too many so now I'm much more selective & try to only buy keepers....& big necks being most important to me that negates alot of possible guitar purchases!!

After many years & many guitars: I prefer having fewer guitars now....& playing the guitars I really love more not playing a certain guitar because I haven't played it in months!!

+1. I'm trying to get my collection down to just my favorites. I currently have four, but I want to keep just two. I'm totally on the fence over one guitar; it's for sale, but if it doesn't sell, I'm not going to be unhappy.

 

[paulatics]

i have to play it before buying it, i have only bought one guitar without playing and got lucky with my jp2. i like low action and great tone, my collection includes buckers, noiseless single coils and p90's. i am trying to narrow my collection but it is very hard to do. i sold one last month and im down to 17 guitars would like to get down to about 10.

 

[zontar]

I have to play them before I buy them, and I have spent months looking for a new one.

The last one I bought I spent about 9 months deciding--part of that was saving up more money for it though.

For me I can tell as soon as I hold a guitar if I don't like it--then I play it--and it says more to me.

I always play it unplugged first, unless it's already plugged in and handed to me.

The sound unplugged will tell you a lot about a guitar.
If it sounds good unplugged, but not plugged in, you can change the pickups or electronics and get a better sound.
If it doesn't sound good unplugged, you probably can't save it.

My guitars are different by design. I like different sounds, and when I play them I do different things.

The closest ones would be my three solidbodies with humbuckers--but even those differ.
My LP copy is the oldest of those, and I'm going to be putting in some good pickups as I like the sound unplugged, but not plugged in. It will have a P-Rail in the neck and a JB in the bridge. I plan the wire the P-Rail for humbucker, P-90 & rail. The JB will be set up for series/parallel/coil split.

The Les Paul has a Duncan Distortion in the bridge and a Seymourizer II (Now called a Duncan Distortion II) in the neck. With the maple top it has a stinging tone. Both are wired for series/parallel.

My Iceman is all mahogany, and it sounds different from the Les Paul and the copy. It's stock.

They all have different tones, and feels to them.

My others are more different, but I love them all.

My future plans for buying guitars include types I don't have for more variety.

 

[MyJuniorRocks]

The sound unplugged will tell you a lot about a guitar.
If it sounds good unplugged, but not plugged in, you can change the pickups or electronics and get a better sound.
If it doesn't sound good unplugged, you probably can't save it.

This I also agree with. They need to be resonant when unplugged. I've got 25 guitars, some bass, some acoustic but its the electrics I have that are most important.
I've got a strat built by a friend of mine. When I plug it into an amp it sustains fantastically. Feedback almost on cue. It's a delight to play.
I've got an R7. Sounds ok acoustically but when it's plugged in, it just doesn't do it. Forget trying to play parisienne walkways. Notes just don't take off.
Flying v Faded. Unbelievable. It's totally alive when plugged in. Almost plays itself. If ever you have played a guitar that is like this, you'll understand what I mean.

67 SG Jr. same as the faded V. It's just alive. The way the amp reacts with the guitar. It's not always about shear volume or too much gain. The guitar vibrates with the sound waves. (a bit like a hollow body but more controlled)

I've played bass most of my gigging life (24 yeears and counting) and I've owned plenty of them too, but i found a 75 P bass that is like this. Loud and slick.

I love all my guitars, even if they don't all 'do it' for me.

 

[AmazingJourney]

+1. I'm trying to get my collection down to just my favorites. I currently have four, but I want to keep just two. I'm totally on the fence over one guitar; it's for sale, but if it doesn't sell, I'm not going to be unhappy.

I trying to do the same thing, but I don't think I can just go to two.
I love my Gibsons, I have two LP's and an SG. can't see selling them unless it was for financial reasons.
Same goes for my two Rickenbackers, two Schecters and two acoustics.
I'd like a Tele too.

So, with all this in mind, I'm looking to go from 18 to 10. I've already started that process as there are 5-6 that I have passed on to others who have expressed an interest in playing, but couldn't get themselves a guitar. That's how I got down to 18.

But, if could only keep two they would be my LP Studio and my Ric 330/6.

 

[snaredrum]

i'm in the process of selling pretty much all my cheap guitars to fund a couple of mid price ones, and it's a pretty strange experience. I've always been the "i love my guitars but they're JUST guitars" guy, and i hope i still will be when the pretty expensive ones arrive...

 

[cynic79]

I'm not terribly picky, but I can generally tell within 30 seconds of picking up a guitar whether I like it or not. The resonance, the feel of the neck, and weight are all make or break for me.

 

[dynamohum]

I've a whole bunch of guitars - all eras, wide variety of makers. They're all different. I disagree that you can know within 30 seconds whether the guitar is for you or not. I suggest a minimum of one month constant playing before making such a decision. Some guitars that I initially thought to be lead-weighted turkeys turned out to be fantastic players with their own unique contribution to the tone I was seeking.

That's my own personal opinion on the matter. Other people may think differently .

 

[SiriusAbbott]

I currently have 17
16 electric,and 1 acoustic(this isnt counting my bass' and mandolins)
of those,just over half are "keepers",has nothing to do with the name(or lack thereof) on the headstock,nor does it have anything to do with the hardware,or finish,that came on/with the guitar.
It is all about feel,I can tell pretty quickly whether or not the guitar and I have any "connection"
if a "connection" is established,then I move into the realm of "what does this instrument need to make it perfect?"(perfect being my personal view of perfection) and then appropriate measures are taken to bring that guitar "up to" my desired level of "perfection"
I am always amused by corksniffers,real or virtual,as the make/model/features of any instrument has NOT to do with its use as a musical instrument,nor ones successfull "union" with said instrument.
I am currently 46 years old,have played since I was 11,have played proffessionally,have taught proffessionally,and now merely do it as I dont have any real choice in the matter...it is just what I do
that being said,I have owned hundreds,yes,hundreds of electric guitars over the years,so you'ld think I am probably very picky
how picky am I?
well,I bet I play guitars that many of you wouldnt give a second glance at....and,conversely I am old,so I can afford to do things like have custom instruments made for me....but,heres a secret for you,my custom made,many thousand $$ guitars neck...is based off of an ass-ugly $100 pawnshop prizes neck....its just one hell of a lot prettier

in summation,I am picky about feel,everything else can...and probably will,be changed

 

[snaredrum]

I'm not terribly picky, but I can generally tell within 30 seconds of picking up a guitar whether I like it or not. The resonance, the feel of the neck, and weight are all make or break for me.

i completely agree. weight is a big one for me as i have arthritis. i recently passed on an Ibanez AR100 from about '81 as it weighed about a stone. best sounding guitar i've played in a while, but unplayable in a live situation.

 

[TahoeTone]

"Only two things in life that make it worth living... Guitars that tune good and firm feeling women."
-Waylon Jennings-

One out of two aint bad...