Anyone else less of a guitar snob these days?

grungebob

Yeah definitely less of a snob these days. 

From beginning to learn to beginning to earn i yearned after high end in both amps and guitars.
once I got to late 20’s early 30’s I could buy whatever  I wanted but it never made me play any better or sound significantly better. 

Other priorities came along and I couldn’t justify to myself having all this money tied up in gear I didn’t get the perceived benefit from. 

Now I own modest gear and enjoy playing a lot more, all my guitars play well and sound decent. 

I don’t search in the £2k plus bracket anymore it sub £500 all day long for me. 

I also don’t enjoy owning as much gear as I used to , I like to keep it to the essentials. 

sweepy

High end or high spec for me, anything else just takes up space 

proggy

JanekLubanski said:

Cheap and cheerful for me. Which might be rather self limiting regarding my actual playing technique not getting better over the years.....but I just blame it on the crappy guitar that I have.....and wonder if a top end axe would allow for me to be a better player. Probably not.

If you bought a better guitar you might ba inclined to play it a lot more often than your cheap guitar thus improving with the extra hours of practise. It's the only way to get better. 

greggreg66

No : (

I know it's sad. I do wonder whether it's rooted to when I was growing up and most of my guitar heroes had Gibsons and they were so outrageously unobtainable to me back then etc. Recently bought an Atkin over a Martin.... still want a Martin though ha!

Musicwolf

sweepy said:

High end or high spec for me, anything else just takes up space 

I’ve come to the same view.  Of course I’m always looking but it would need to be something special to displace one of the existing stable.

RaymondLin

I almost bought a Mexican Strat in the Guitar Village sale?

But in my own collection, 6/7 guitars are American, the 7th one is Mexican made Taylor GS mini.

So yeah...guitar snob.

JanekLubanski

proggy said:

JanekLubanski said:

Cheap and cheerful for me. Which might be rather self limiting regarding my actual playing technique not getting better over the years.....but I just blame it on the crappy guitar that I have.....and wonder if a top end axe would allow for me to be a better player. Probably not.

If you bought a better guitar you might ba inclined to play it a lot more often than your cheap guitar thus improving with the extra hours of practise. It's the only way to get better. 

I kinda know this. But what guitar is "better" than the one I've got? Does better always mean more expensive? And how much do I need to fork out for a better guitar? I'm not going to be the next Gary Moore, Paul Kossoff  or Jimmy Page....no matter what guitar I play or how many hours a day that I practice. What I'm trying to say is that I'm totally ok with playing my cheap guitar........badly.

thegummy

I've never been a snob or had any kind of country-specific exclusivity. I do have a realistic idea that as quality and features get higher and higher, so does the price but I also don't have loads of money so I've decided to buy a fewer number of mid to high-mid level instruments which I think makes more sense than buying loads of cheap ones.

I actually think there might be a sort of reverse snobbery for some people where they deliberately buy very low priced guitars (and do so very conspicuously) on a bit of an "I'm more enlightened than someone who wouldn't buy a guitar at this price point" tip.

Not saying that's everyone who buys cheap guitars, and the ones it may apply to would likely be those who already have 20-odd guitars and are buying even more; if someone only buys one cheap guitar and just plays it I have the utmost respect for them.

slacker

All but one of my guitars are USA built by the usual suspect s. My japansee gretsch is a thing of beauty.

digitalscream

All of my guitars are hand-made (three by Jaden, and one Washburn N4) except my Squier Strat which has been in bits for about 15 years now.

I guess that would make me kind-of a snob, but...the reality is that I just don't care about other guitars; I'm just not remotely interested, because the ones I have all fit me perfectly and cover all of my needs.

johnl

When I couldn't afford a "posh" guitar I was convinced that they weren't any better. Now that I can I'm convinced they are. I was either wrong then or now but still not quite sure....

kin

Godin Icon, Ibanez RG , Yamaha FG something acoustic and Squier Jazz Bass. They are all professionally set up , play well and sound good to me.

  No amp, everything through an ipad and monitors, perfectly happy.


  I've got a 65000 mile Toyota Yaris on the drive too , lol.

  I've never played a Gibson , there again I've never fucked a supermodel either.. strangely, I still enjoy playing guitar and sex ( obviously both are solitary experiences. )





So having read back through this, I've realised where I've been going wrong, the answer is obvious ..get a Gibson, swap the Yaris for a Porsche and I'll be knee deep in supermodels in no time.

Schnozz

After buying a £3000 PRS SC58...No.

I currently play an older £200 Taiwanese Yamaha - Very well built, so I don't realize after 5 minutes of playing.

I have my dad's MIC Squier Classic Vibe and I'd say it's of similar quality, but more solid.

thegummy

Schnozz said:

After buying a £3000 PRS SC58...No.

I currently play an older £200 Taiwanese Yamaha - Very well built, so I don't realize after 5 minutes of playing.

I have my dad's MIC Squier Classic Vibe and I'd say it's of similar quality, but more solid.

If only you'd tried both before dropping the three grand

HarrySeven

Unsurprisingly, I never was...and never will be.

thegummy

I think a possible scenario that would lead someone to first go for high end then later accept lower prices is to do with the fact that sometimes people will go for high end mainly through paranoia or fear that they'll be losing out if they compromise on price. That, even if the cheaper option feels and sounds fine to them now, something else will be apparently missing over time.

That's pretty much the reason I bought a Gibson Les Paul rather than any other brand version; if I hadn't it would have always been on my mind wondering if a Gibson would have been better.

This happens big time in the audio production world, there are some pieces where it's very common for people to buy extremely expensive versions yet it's very rare that people have actually done any comparison reliably.

With the guitars, once someone has owned and played both a high end and mid range guitar for a couple of years they can be more confident that they're able to tell how good each genuinely are and when the cheaper ones are good, any paranoia induced snobbery is gone.

p90fool

I'm happy with my cheap 'n' cheerful US-made Gibsons and Fenders thanks! Strandberg Boden and D'Angelico guitars are out of my league, wherever they make them. 

soma1975

I sold my Les Paul in order to buy an Eastman. I spent the money before I could but still.... 

NelsonP

I have a US made Gibson, a Japanese Ibanez, a Mexican Fender, a Chinese Epiphone (with US Gibson pickups), a Chinese Squier and a Mexican Taylor. They are all good guitars and all get played regularly. 

So I guess I'm not much of a snob. 

A few years back I'd never have considered a Chinese Epi or Squier. But I bought them both on the internet, unseen and unplayed, which also used to be a taboo. Both needed a professional setup, but I'd anticipated that, and afterwards they played beautifully.

The Squier is a J Mascis and had been extensively upgraded by it's previous owner (Seymour Duncan's, Fender trem, Gotoh locking tuners, CTS pots, Switchcraft switch and Jack, vintage rewire).

The Epiphone is a Gary Clark Casino, which  has Gibson p90s, CTS pots, Switchcraft switch and jack.

So in a way they are both 'anti snob' guitars. 'Wrong' name on the headstock, but good quality components and they punch way above their weight. 

I still hanker after US strats and Les Pauls but can't justify spending £1500+ on one. Maybe one day.

JayGee

I’ve got some snob-worthy (Gibson, non-SE PRS, Fender USA) stuff and some less so (MIJ Fender, Squier, PRS SE, MiM Fender, Gretsch Electromatic, Danelectro) - I like the posh stuff well enough, and it was the backbone of my gigging rigs when I was in a working band but, when I’m at home praying for pleasure the stuff which I reach for tends to be the cheaper, quirkier guitars with some of the expensive stuff not having been out of their cases literally for years.

Go figure...