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

guitarjack66

I havent found anything that Ive bonded with just yet,acoustic or electric.

Mellish

^ same here. I've recently bought a Gibson Dove Original and I think this is the one for me.

Been a long journey, though, 1960-present  

Philly_Q

I connect with some more than others.  But they all sound shit when I play them. 

I think I need to find some hands that my brain connects with.

CavemanGrogg

Id say it took me two classical guitars to find the one I bonded with,, and 3 electrics before I finally found one I bonded with.  And of those 5 guitars, I only still own two of them, my first classical guitar was a rental, sothat was returned when I got the one I bonded with and still have to this day over 30 years later, and the electrics I traded my first one - which my father picked out for me, for my second electric, which I then traded for the first electric guitar that I truly bonded with.  I do believe that you can bond with more than one guitar though, and I don't mean 1 electric, 1 acoustic, and 1classical, but didferent things feel better plated on different guitars, For The Love Of God for example is never going to feel as nice playing it on a LP axcess compared to a Super Strat equiped with a Floyd, just like how Mountain's stuff never feels as nice being played on a Ibanez, that doesn't mean to say it can't be done, and done well, I just don't think these guitars feel right, nor am I bonded to them playing those songs on them, right tool for the right job sort of thing.

BillDL

There are certain activities in life that only really become enjoyable after you get good enough through practice to enjoy.  Snooker and tennis are examples.  If you keep missing pots or hitting the net every time you stroke your cue or swing your raquet it is too frustrating to enjoy the game.  After you can pot a few or keep hitting the ball back until you win some points it then becomes more enjoyable.

Guitar playing is similar but only to a certain extent. There are hurdles and challenges you need to get over or through before you can continue with the next ones, but part of the fun is knowing that you now have those skills under your belt and can feel chuffed with yourself.  I can remember having to actually hold one of my fretting fingers in place with my right hand while trying to move the other fingers to the right strings and frets to change chords, and I remember the challenge of getting a barre chord to sound all strings cleanly.  Once you have practiced enough and can master the absolute basics required to fret chords, hold a pick, strum and pick individual strings you can obviously stop forcing yourself to learn more advanced techniques and play campfire songs all day, but that is often where the rut sets in and the fun is short lived.

In my opinion that is the turning point at which you can begin to recognise what kind of guitar feels good for you.  If you've never played any notes above the 5th fret it's hard to know whether a guitar is going to suit you until you start venturing up to the body end.  If you've only ever played an electric guitar sitting down a Les Paul type guitar can feel wrong because it keep slipping backwards off your knee.  It's a whole different feel with the same guitar hanging on a strap, and the same can be true of other styles like a Strat, Tele, 335 style semi-acoustic, or an SG sitting to play or with it hanging on a strap.  There are obviously certain physical aspects that you can feel about a guitar in your early stages of learning that allow you to lean towards one type or another, for example a narrow nut with close string spacing can feel cramped, or a large acoustic guitar body that's hard to hang your arm over can feel too bulky, but apart from some physical attributes like these you really need to have achieved a certain level of skill before you can get a real feel for whether a particular guitar is THE type you want.

It's been mentioned by others that a badly set up guitar that is hard to fret, has a high action, or is badly intonated can stifle your desire to learn and get better, and if that is happening before you get past the basic stages to reach the point where you really begin to enjoy playing it can be enough reason to jack it in.  In the same vein if somebody as only ever played electric guitars at home at modest volumes through a practice amp they will not have fully explored what the guitar is capable of.  Some guitars sound drab trough small amps but literally spring into life when played trough a larger ampor a larger speaker.

I tried out loads of different guitar shapes around the age of 19 after I felt that I was sufficiently skilled to make some proper decisions about what to buy as my first good electric guitar.  Just about every new Fender Strat felt equally comfortable compared with all the other styles, and I instantly preferred the jangly sound of it compared with the twangy squared-off block of wood that is a Tele, or the more bassy sound from les paul copies (couldn't afford the real thing) that felt wrong because I was sitting down, or 335 copies that just felt too big and the neck seemed to be at the wrong angle.  I knew I liked the feel of a maple fretboard over rosewood.  My choice of Strat was ultimately based on my preferred colour, because they all sounded the same to my untrained ear through the same amp at modest volume in the guitar shops.

The only guitar that has ever made me go "Wow, this is the perfect guitar, I must buy it now" immediately I picked it up and played it (unplugged) was my 1985 Fender Flame (Master Series model).  I bought it from somebody I knew after a gig.  Contoured medium weight chambered double cutaway alder and maple body larger than a Les Paul but smaller than a Strat, Gibson 24.75" scale, opaque lacquered maple neck, 43.4mm nut width, 12" radius rosewood boar, quality Schaller hardware and quite powerful wide warm Schaller humbuckers.  It hung perfectly on the strap and felt immediately comfortable in all ways, and it rang out beautifully.  Immediately I plugged it in I asked him "how much would you sell it for" and went straight to the Autobank.  Had I been less experienced and accomplished by then I might not have realised just how well that guitar suited me and what I was seeking for playability and sound.

Since then I've played and owned a lot of different styles of guitars.  I know that for a few weeks I've felt that most of them were my new favourite, but none have made me feel the same as I did when I played that Fender Flame.  There are only about 3 guitars out of probably 70 I've owned that have turned me off completely after I bought them and set them up, but there were also about 5 or 6 that were lacklustre in one way or another and the new guitar novelty wore off quicker with them.

DrJazzTap

If push came to shove, it'd be my 98 SG standard. I've had it over twenty years now, and it just feels like home. Again it's just familiarity with it. 

I would say if you have the funds get yourself on a guitar set up course. Knowing how to do it yourself, and feeling the difference to a guitar which has been set up for you makes all the difference.

As others have said they are just planks of wood and bits of metal. (Quite why I have 6 is beyond me) 

ICBM

I think one of the problems is that a lot of people assume it’s going to be one of the classic designs, because that’s what their heroes played. In fact, they were usually just what was available at the time and they made the best of it.

I found it was easier to find the right guitar when I stopped thinking it had to be a Strat or a Les Paul - Strats are too big, the controls are in the wrong place and the sound is too thin when I play them. Les Pauls are the wrong shape and I don’t get on with four knobs, and they usually don’t have a trem.

I eventually found that I’m a PRS player. They just fit me, and even though I went through a period of thinking they weren’t ‘cool’, I’ve come back to owning one - actually the most versatile one I ever have, which really does cover the Strat and Les Paul sounds very well.

Lewy

I have successfully found "the one" about fifteen times I reckon .....

Rather than looking for a soulmate in an inanimate object, these days I tend to think in terms of enablement (spell check is telling me that's not a word but I have to hear it forty times a day at work so I'm f***ing using it now) - in other words does this instrument best enable me to make the music I want to make? If so, that's "the one" for now.

SPECTRUM001

In my experience, finding "the one" has been hampered by my own shallow and finicky parameters more than anything else.

I have dabbled playing both cheap and high end guitars, and the more expensive ones have definitely sounded better (presumably from their woods and pickups), had gorgeous finishes and been nice and light...however I have also found a couple of mid-range Fenders (Players and Classic Players) that suit my crap playing style very well - the neck and fret size feel absolutely right.

But their body wood and finish aren't to my taste. So have ended up re-finishing and upgrading pickups - to achieve guitars that I really enjoy playing. It does become quite obvious when you always grab a £600 over a £2600. 

I recently road tested a CS Jazzmaster and a Ltd Ed Player Jazzmaster. The CS was one of the best sounding guitars I have ever heard - ever (particularly the neck pickup). However I just couldn't get the neck working for me. Given it was very expensive, I decided to pass. The Player (which had AVRI pickups) also did really well - I was so impressed. Sadly though it was too heavy for me so was a non-starter. Had it been a pound lighter I would have kept and refinished - and reckon it would have been a keeper (I will try again when they are back in stock in the summer).

When I was younger I didn't particularly like the sunburst finish on my Precision, but it was a heavy supersonic tool and I completely ignored aesthetics in favour of getting the job done - plus my back was in better shape.

So - times and concepts change, and finding guitars that we like is dependent on many factors. Personally, I enjoy the hunt...

TTBZ

The closest I've got in terms of feel is my SG. I love the neck on it and it plays really nicely. I think playing a load of other guitars recently has made me realise how nice it feels, or maybe it's just Stockholm syndrome

Trouble is I still don't really like the sound of the bridge pickup. I thought it was ok but recently got an LTD Eclipse and the SG sounds so thin and twangy in comparison - no weight or depth to it, especially noticeable on palm mutes etc. I'm considering another Bare Knuckle Warpig or an Invader for it which did beef it up nicely IIRC.

Paul_C

I find the sound (tone, if you prefer) of a guitar one of the most important things, though I've also come to the conclusion that I'm a Fender/Squier fan above most things when it comes to comfort.

I've also concluded that I don't like the sound of Strats in their traditional form, the only strat-shaped guitar I have has a floyd-rose and two humbuckers.

fretmeister

Mine was a Marleaux Consat Custom bass.
Unfortunately after a load of surgery it was too heavy for me to keep playing it so it went.

Never found anything that sounded or played like it, and gawd knows I've tried.

bertie

Lewy said:

I have successfully found "the one" about fifteen times I reckon .....

this, and sometimes it can be the same bloody guitar, again

jeztone2

I feel incredibly fortunate to own the instruments I do. When I had my PRS Custom 22 nicked in 2016 I was crestfallen, as I had dialled that instrument in to my needs and it suited the sound of the band I was in at the time perfectly. 

But then the other side of me thought how lucky I was to own half a dozen guitars. Had I been robbed of so much gear as a 22 year old. It would have been a very difficult thing to come back from. As it happened I’d rebuilt my board in a week and was gigging two days later. 

I think discovering how my hands responded positively to jumbo fretwire was the key for me. 6 of my 7 electrics have either 6100 or Jescar Evo Gold. If I buy used now I always factor in the cost of a refret. Since I started that I’ve only had one guitar I didn’t bond with. 

CaseOfAce

I think you've got to play a lot of guitars before you figure out what works for you. And even then it can change - it's not set in stone. I think I've figure out by now after more or less 35 years of playing I definitely like a Fender Stratocaster - that's non-negotiable at this stage...and a dual humbucker guitar of some sort - which is a completely open playing field for me.

Whether I will ever chance upon "the one" in either category is very much up for debate.

But as the Stones once said ... "you can't always get what you want, but sometimes...you get what you need...".

newi123

I have a 2004 highway one strat that I'll never sell.

Objectively it's an OK guitar. Its a strat with a modern neck, replaced SD pickups (nothing boutique) and it weighs 8 1/2 kg - so it's not light!  But I've moved abroad with it, gigged it alot, run weekly jam nights for 15 yrs with it as the house guitar. It's battered and worn and it's the guutar I'll never sell.

Was it 'love at first sight'  'magical on first play etc etc - no, but absolutely familiarity breeds love!

It's comfortable, familiar and I just know it inside out. That makes me play well, reach further and push myself. 

I have far more expensive, far 'better' guitars, but I go back to this!

So maybe it's a question of picking one, staying with it and seeing what happens. 

wraub

I very recently found "my" Strat, one I definitely connect with. I'm still open to others, but I see no need to look for them.

Fortunately there are other kinds of guitars too. 

Funkfingers

The electric guitar is a tool.

I do not so much consider myself connecting with a particular guitar as much as it allows me to connect with some aspect of myself. 

e.g. If a blackguard Fender is "home" to me, a shred stick offers possibilities that the Fender does not.

BillDL

I believe I have just found "The One", courtesy of a fellow member via the classifieds and for a very good price.

Squier Affinity StARcaster in candy apple red.  Immediately I started getting close to achieving a really good setup I could feel how well it was going to resonate, but plugged in it is wonderful.

The Classic Vibe version has wide-range pickups and volume and tone for each pickup,  which I find a bit fiddly to use, whereas the bottom end Affinity version has "standard" open humbuckers and master volume and tone controls that I prefer.  I wondered whether I might be missing out on the shimmery jangle and wider spread of frequencies that the wide range pickups purportedly have, and actually checked out some modern equivalents while waiting for it to be delivered, but I am glad I can't justify the cost of them because these pickups sound perfect to me on this style and format of guitar.  I'm sure the Classic Vibe probably does sound more like the original 70s Starcaster than this, but I like the Affinity version this way.  Of all the guitars I have ever owned this one provides me with the greatest tonal difference between neck and bridge pickups and the most usable gradient of tones from the smoothly responsive tone pot.  The neck is lovely with a really smooth satin feel.  It feels better than my G&L "Strat", and that is a nice neck.

I'm really not sure whether there would be any similarity in sound between this guitar with its tune-o-matic bridge and stop-bar tailpiece and the original Strat-like bridge on the 70s ones, and these pickups vs the original's wide range ones, but I definitely think Fender got this design right for what is really a budget guitar.  The string tension with 10s feels like the mid-way point between a Gibson and a Fender despite its 25.5" scale.  I have always liked the quirky appearance of that large headstock but always swithered about the asymmetric rear end, however now that I have it on my knee and on a strap it is an exceptionally comfortable shape that balances well and is neither heavy nor light.  I don't normally like opaque metallicky colours, but the candy apple red with black body "binding" is very much nicer in real life than in photos.

i just have string trees to fit and a new nut to replace the loose one in it and I am going to play this guitar to death ........ until another comes along that could be the holy grail for me.

artiebear

We guitarists are a strange bunch. We tend to swap guitars to play a few things we know , rather than battle through the process of truly understanding the instrument to the point that neck shapes, body shapes etc are secondary to being able to produce music from 6 strings across a finite number of frets on any guitar.
 Sure there are tonal differences , differences in feel /ergonomics that cause us to play differently, but, personally, I don't believe that bonding with a particular guitar needs to be a thing.