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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
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 :-)
The grass is always greener on the other side.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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'.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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.
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.