is anyone else still searching for a guitar that they connect with?

Mattharrier

I can't comment on guitars specifically, because I haven't really played that many, and frankly I'm not really good enough to be able to make a judgement on how nice a guitar is to play, if that makes sense.

However, I've spent a lot of time obsessing over lots of other things - climbing shoes, mountain bikes, snowboards - and it has always boiled down to two things for me - first, trying lots and lots of different options, as many as possible, and secondly being realistic about what is actually happening. My current favourite snowboard is a Burton Custom, which is a good all rounder, but for deeper snow, you "need" something with a different shape, a wider nose, yadda yadda. (One of) my other snowboard(s) is much "better" for riding powder, but realistically it doesn't make any difference which one I use. I even tried my wife's board, which is a full ten centimetres shorter, and the main difference was that it was much slower. Otherwise, I could ride it with no major issues.

If one is looking for a guitar that they connect with in a way they haven't with any other, then great - keep going into every guitar shop you pass, try out as many different guitars as you can, and enjoy the process. If you're expecting your playing to suddenly be elevated by a mystical, perfect instrument, then get your current favourite properly set up and invest in some lessons :-D

Lestratcaster

I'm pretty happy with the way all my current bunch play, but I haven't tried enough to fully be sure that there isn't anything else better out there. All I know is the ones I have play nice, are setup well and sound great. I can rely on them to give me most sounds I need.

racefaceec90

tbh both my guitars need work doing on them a bit (my j mascis high e string is right near the end of the fingerboard,bought it new from localish shop and didn't notice the issue until later). bought the mustang online and could do with a proper set up by a luthier  (tbh both guitars need this done). they are both good guitars though i must add,just me thats lacking lol.

tbh the reason i was thinking about getting another guitar was looking at one of the guitar sites web page (holmes music near where i live) and seeing they have a couple of prs se 24 standard guitars in stock (the £550 ones with tremelo). having never tried a prs am def interested in trying one (also alex lifeson played them in the past too,one of my fav guitarists). also the new squier contemporary range is out and like the look of the tele and floyd strat. 

i definitely agree with your replies though. a new guitar won't magically improve my playing and taking some lessons is definitely not a bad idea at all (have had lessons in the past,so would like to do so again at some point for sure).

tbh my playing is in a rut and i just play the same things (badly lol). i would love to be able to improvise but my music theory is terrible (can never take it in and understand it when i try/musical dyslexia sums it up).

i appreciate you reading this tosh and for all the replies :-)

Mellish

The thing is, though, if you got them professionally set up, they'd play so well that you'd WANT to play them. Right now it seems you're fighting them  

ewal

I think the guitar setup recommendation should be your first port of call.

Sassafras

I've been playing about 50 years, still haven't found 'the one'.
The grass is always greener on the other side.

HAL9000

Over the years I’ve had all sorts of guitars to fill the gaps. Truth is though that those gaps (P90s, HBs, single pickup, etc) didn’t need to be filled - it was just a way of justifying (to myself mostly) buying the latest new shiny thing. My Strat and Tele both feel like home for me. Do I ‘connect’ with them? In truth I don’t really know what that means but I do know that they’re two guitars I don’t envisage ever selling. And I’ve yet to play (without paying CS prices) anything that rocks my boat more.

wellsyboy

Not any more 

stufisher

This thread is brill ... it perfectly demonstrates how and why we're all unique.

One year ago today I bought a guitar to re-learn after a 40 year break. My motivation was to counteract Covid lockdown and to try and recapture the freedom and joy of my youth. I couldn't play a lick or shape more than a G or C chord ... but I had desire and time and determination.

In the last year I haven't played every day or even every week ... I've overplayed and got tendonitis and I've carelessly cut chunks off a fingertip or two when cooking ... but ultimately, I've enjoyed it. Fun is the key.

When I was in my teens I had aspirations, now I have clarity and life-experience ... oh yes, and six guitars!

I didn't set off to buy kit but as I've learned and played more and improved, I'm now listening to a huge range of music that I could never have imagined as a young'n. I'm not looking for 'that one guitar' because I think they all have individual personalities and feel and tone, so they demand different things from me.

I shall buy a Gibson Les Paul because I always craved one ... but if it ain't right for me then I'll move it on ... something I never ever thought I'd say. I'm not in a hurry to do this ... I'm having so much fun with the other guitars. 

Possibly the smartest thing I've done in the last year is get guitars professionally set up. The difference in playability and sound is profound and I agree that it increases desire to play.

So, bringing my inane drivel to a close, I would say ... keep an open mind, go with how you feel, let the guitar make you happy, laugh more (at yourself) and keep posting threads on this forum.

BTW ... I'm still crap ... but I care not a jot! 

Stu

grappagreen

Personally I don't get this whole 'connect' thing that's banded around. I connect with every guitar I play i.e. I physically hold it and play it. Although I have got rid of most of the guitars I once owned I have a couple of instruments that I believe are things of beauty so I can dig the aesthetics but beyond that.. 

Of course a guitar that is well spec'd, constructed, setup makes life much more enjoyable (I'm not a personal fan of all the 'I like to fight the guitar' rhetoric either) and obviously over time we develop preferences in terms of neck profile blah blah.

As for some spiritual/mental relationship that elevates the whole experience and takes playing to a new level... practice more and every guitar you have gets better..

I actually think that having the perspective that you have to 'connect' is ultimately a negative thing.. I mean how do you ever know when you've found the 'one'... it's a treadmill that never ends..

Si

UHAS

Guess I've always wanted a guitar that'll play itself and magically make me better, in reality, I've only realised just how good a guitar is when I've sold it! 

Tall_martin

"Guess I've always wanted a guitar that'll play itself and magically make me better, in reality, I've only realised just how good a guitar is when I've sold it! "

Isn't that the point of marketing?

Mmmmm, you need "insert thing" it will help sooo much. If you just spend "amount of money you can just afford" your experience will be sooo much better! You don't need to practice, just spend money!

I went mountain biking with a mate down in wales. She was quicker up and down the hills on her £400 10 year old hard tail than lots of the folk on £10,000 super bikes. She rides to work every day, and had been doing so for almost 10 years by that point. And the practicing is the difference.

Mattharrier

grappagreen said:

Personally I don't get this whole 'connect' thing that's banded around. I connect with every guitar I play i.e. I physically hold it and play it. Although I have got rid of most of the guitars I once owned I have a couple of instruments that I believe are things of beauty so I can dig the aesthetics but beyond that.. 

Of course a guitar that is well spec'd, constructed, setup makes life much more enjoyable (I'm not a personal fan of all the 'I like to fight the guitar' rhetoric either) and obviously over time we develop preferences in terms of neck profile blah blah.

As for some spiritual/mental relationship that elevates the whole experience and takes playing to a new level... practice more and every guitar you have gets better..

I actually think that having the perspective that you have to 'connect' is ultimately a negative thing.. I mean how do you ever know when you've found the 'one'... it's a treadmill that never ends..

Si

I think the word "connect" gets a spiritual connotation, while I think mostly it's intended to mean "I like this guitar better for reasons I can't define, it's just... nicer" - I have a cheap, plywood LP style guitar that has a really nice neck, it feels nice to play, and although the pickups are junk (the original neck pup was knackered and I bought a really cheap set on ebay to replace them - I will be putting the original bridge back in at some point and running it as a sort of Junior!), and I now have a much nicer LP style, I still play it quite a bit.

I have a Strat style guitar that also has a nice neck, it plays well, and the pickups, while still not amazing, are reasonable and give a decent range of tones - I just don't like it as much. I don't know why, I've played a friend's "Strat" which is broadly similar and it feels much nicer than mine. Is it the neck profile? The fretboard radius? The fret height? No idea. There's obviously something, I just can't identify or define it.

Whether that's a mechanical property of the guitar, or something more ephemeral, I couldn't tell you. I just don't connect with it as well :-D

AK99

axisus said:

Yeah, got mine. You need to establish the kind of guitar you like best, then search for the one that rocks your boat.

While that does make perfect logic - the two guitars over the last decade that really did it for me were my AVRI Tele, and a s/h Danelectro that came to me through the magic of the TFB (thanks again StruanR btw).

After decades of trying to find the perfect (but invariably - twin humbucker bearing) guitar, I picked up the Tele in a shop at random for a strum, and fell for it hook line and sinker,  despite having had no intention of ever buying one. The Danelectro looked like a bit of cheap and cheerful fun, but when it finally landed, couldn't believe how much I enjoyed playing it, and do still. Sometimes they really do come at you out of the blue. 

grappagreen

Mattharrier said:

grappagreen said:

Personally I don't get this whole 'connect' thing that's banded around. I connect with every guitar I play i.e. I physically hold it and play it. Although I have got rid of most of the guitars I once owned I have a couple of instruments that I believe are things of beauty so I can dig the aesthetics but beyond that.. 

Of course a guitar that is well spec'd, constructed, setup makes life much more enjoyable (I'm not a personal fan of all the 'I like to fight the guitar' rhetoric either) and obviously over time we develop preferences in terms of neck profile blah blah.

As for some spiritual/mental relationship that elevates the whole experience and takes playing to a new level... practice more and every guitar you have gets better..

I actually think that having the perspective that you have to 'connect' is ultimately a negative thing.. I mean how do you ever know when you've found the 'one'... it's a treadmill that never ends..

Si

I think the word "connect" gets a spiritual connotation, while I think mostly it's intended to mean "I like this guitar better for reasons I can't define, it's just... nicer" - I have a cheap, plywood LP style guitar that has a really nice neck, it feels nice to play, and although the pickups are junk (the original neck pup was knackered and I bought a really cheap set on ebay to replace them - I will be putting the original bridge back in at some point and running it as a sort of Junior!), and I now have a much nicer LP style, I still play it quite a bit.

I have a Strat style guitar that also has a nice neck, it plays well, and the pickups, while still not amazing, are reasonable and give a decent range of tones - I just don't like it as much. I don't know why, I've played a friend's "Strat" which is broadly similar and it feels much nicer than mine. Is it the neck profile? The fretboard radius? The fret height? No idea. There's obviously something, I just can't identify or define it.

Whether that's a mechanical property of the guitar, or something more ephemeral, I couldn't tell you. I just don't connect with it as well :-D

Take your points and agree to a certain extent.

I agree that it can be quite hard to define why you like one guitar over another; many factors influence this both physical and mental in my view. What I can say (as I did it myself) is that from the physical perspective if you play enough guitars for long enough you can identify what works and what doesn't for you. Before I sold most of my 'collection' I thought long and hard about what I liked and disliked most about each guitar. Some of it was very subtle and so it's easy to not even think it's a factor. Put it all together however and it made a big difference to me. I took the risk of a custom build combining my preferences and guess what, I really connect with it in a physical sense.

ICBM

axisus said:

Yeah, got mine. You need to establish the kind of guitar you like best, then search for the one that rocks your boat.

Or you can do it the other way round and pick up one you had no idea would be your perfect guitar, and it just was.

This has happened more than once, with several very different guitars, when I found new musical directions. In each case I wasn't looking for that type of guitar at all, but when I played them I just found they fitted me and what I wanted to do perfectly.

One of them has been a return to a type I had previously, so I'm more sure than before that it is 'the one'.

tanihhiavlt

I've just taken delivery of a GSPBasses left handed SG ... fitted the metal-work - no pickups yet, very excited to hear it, it's light and sounds lively   

TimmyO

On the contrary I have 2!

A 28yo Les Paul goldtop, and a PRS DGT. 

There have been others that I thought would be forever guitars but it comes back to these two - and if it had to be one it would be the LP. 

racefaceec90

holy thread resurrection batman

i finally think i have found a guitar that i finally gel with after 20 odd years plus trying to play guitar.

it's my new harley benton fusion iii pro hss in daphne blue that i paid the grand sum of £344 inc gig bag and delivery.

i just love it i have to say.

both the looks but most of all when i play it. the neck feels bloody great to my hands and i just love how the guitar feels when playing it both sat or standing. it's a good weight not super light but def not an anvil either (apologies no scales to measure weight of it).

everything bar the tone pot feels solid and well made on it (the tone pot works though but it's a cheap push pull one so feels loose to turn).

the wilkinson trem is very nice to use also and the arm stays where you leave it when you tighten the allan bolt up.

the pickups sound good and every pickup option has its own sound (i play through a fender mustang 25w small combo just at home) but i mostly play unplugged and it def rings out and vibrates for sure.

overall i bloody love the guitar i have to say and have been playing everyday since getting it last saturday (still play just as bad as before it's no miracle worker lol).

i would upload some pics but when i tried before they wouldn't show for people here.

wellsyboy

No - my Collings i30LC is the end of my journey I believe.