The quest to find the right one(s)

scalino65

Hello
Over the course of the last two years (round about the time I found this place) I have been through more guitars than I ever imagined I would. I started out owning some lovely guitars that I'd bought about 15-20 years ago and thought were my "keepers" : a 63 strat, a 58 Les Paul Junior and a CS 54 strat. That was at a time when you could buy originals for teh same price or less than a new model!  But then I started "looking around.." I've bought and sold several CS strats including a masterbuilt, some teles, some Japanese strats and three Les Pauls.
Most of them just didnt "feel right" to me so they've been moved on.
What I've ended up with is a 76 custom LP, a 56 CS strat, a 55 LPjunior and an E series JV strat. Everything else has gone including the 63 strat and the 58 junior which I thought I'd have forever, but have funded my quest.
The remaining guitars are just great to my mind and I'm very lucky to have them. My observations are: that different models of the "same" guitar seem to vary hugely. I only like to have guitars that I feel comfortable leaving out of their cases even though kids could bash them,etc so anything "posh" just hasnt fitted into my plan but beaten up/well played are great.I'm not tied to a specific neck size or type of wood at all although I dont get on with 12inch radii and really flat boards. I have to say that I am staggered by the quality of the Japanese Fenders. I've re-finished a 300 quid buy from e bay and its one of the lovliest guitars I've ever had (some of Ash's pickups will go in there eventually), so price does not necessarily equate to enjoyment for me
I never thought that I would "crack" Les Pauls until I discovered the 70s Norlin ones - they are great. My lifelong obssession with double cut juniors has been replaced with a passion for the single cuts.
So, I'd really like to hear if you've you been on a similar quest, what have you discovered and does it really ever end?
cheers
WIll

scalino65

p.s. I've also met, either in person or just via messages, some great people from here who have shared their knowledge very freely.

guitars4you

The quest to find the right one(s) is easier to find the quest for the right one - I'm fortunate that for over 40 years I've sold, touched, played and owned many fine guitars - As an overview I'm pretty content with guitars that are my own, as against shop owned, but I do occasionally 'borrow' a used guitar that grabs me, then return it to stock, to be hopefully sold at a later date - Yet occasionally something grabs me in away that brings something different to the table and for instance I've played a Supro Westbury that I think is great and so much different to other guitars - Not in the be all and end all way, but somehow brings something different and cool to what I have - I think if you are fortunate to have the funds to buy a selection of guitars, then appreciate that and enjoy them all for whatever they bring to the table - I know we spoke recently about a Feline Lion DC LP style and that has totally grabbed me in the way I was hoping to find in an original late 50's (pref 59 to match my DOB) but have not found one - My active search for an original 59 has gone , but I dare say if something cropped up out of the blue at the right price, at the right time, then I might explore it as an option, but it would have to match the performance of my Feline

I've had Youtube on in the background most of today, playing Tom Petty tracks and mostly live versions and Mick Campbell almost has a different guitar for every gig or song - maybe the Tele makes more appearances - maybe I'm only jealous that I don't have enough time to play them all as often as I'd like to and leave them on record on such fine songs in the way that Tom and Mike have

And yes the finer nuances of two guitars, that are effectively the same spec, will always ensure you'll prefer one to the other - I've said many times that if I pick 2  C/Shop Strats of the wall and ask 10 players to evaluate them, then pick 'the one' I bet you won't find a 10 v 0 victory - more likely to be 6 v 4 or 7 v 3

scalino65

Thanks for the reply. The "what they bring to the table" concept has always fascinated me. Why when you pick up one strat do you play the same old stuff you always play and then pick up a similar one and your ear/the instrument leads you to different ideas and different melodies/chord progressions,etc. The guitars I currently have all did this for me hence why I held on to them in preference to other ones. Weird isnt it? I guess thats exactly what you're talking about in your 10 CS strat test. Must be very interesting in the shop to hear people's opinions on a particular instrument or on a group test of similar instruments with them trying to pick the one they like best.

barnstorm

As of a few months ago, I'm down to a single guitar. At this point I know that if it isn't a Strat (or a Strat-type), it ends up living in its case rather than in my lap, so everything has gone except my CS 63.

I do still like mucking about with other stuff and, following several recommendations here and elsewhere, a Probett or an Asher may be in my distant future, but I'm slow to buy now – and I like the CS 63 in so many ways (rational and completely irrational) that nothing is going to relegate it to #2 in the long term.

I've taken a bath on a couple of guitars along the way, in particular a Jag that I'd rather forget, and done okay moving others along once the novelty has worn off. At the point that I got it, I worked out that the 'cost' of my Strat, all told, was somewhere in the region of what I'd have paid had I bought it brand new as a custom order, which isn't too bad. I daren't do the maths again just in case…

There was a thread on here recently about the book A Perfectly Good Guitar, which is a collection of short interviews with guitarists talking about their 'one'. Even allowing for the fact that the writer interviewed a whole bunch of Texas/Nashville guys, I was struck by the number of Teles featured; Sonny Landreth is the only one who talks about a Strat. All the sharp bits have prevented me from completely figuring out the appeal, but I guess there's something about a Tele.