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Post subject: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 11:25 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I can't consider myself a guitar player, only a collector. I have over 40, and all are set up to play well. That being said, my point is that too many of us put too much importance on our guitars looking for the sound and feel they think is the "best". I can't help but think that everyone that says they had to try 6 identical guitars before they found the "right one", picked the one the 6 previous prospective buyers thought was a piece of cheese. There's just too many variables to sound, including the player, guitar, amp, and room acoustics to make it all a mute subject. How many of us try to capture the sound created with a cheap guitar, with 50's recording equipment, recorded in a basement? It's the artist and the music that came together for that perfect moment, not the equipment.


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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:17 pm
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It is all subjective and thats why you need to try 6 of the same guitar to find one that feels and sounds right. Variables betwen instruments, however minor will be felt or heard, and if this does not agree with the buyer they will move on to the next instrument. What one person thinks is "cheese" another will think its gold.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:41 pm
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In a way I think your correct, I have a few guitars, certainly not 40 though and I suppose they all could benefit with a bit of setting up to suit someone else.

For me though there is a favourite and its not the "best" in terms of perceived quality ie the 2006 deluxe. Nothing wrong with it but for a while i've just preferred another.
All it means is we all don't want the exact same thing even if there are many similarities.

Reminds me of an acoustic guitar playing wizard who "tried to teach me" a bit, he and his neighbour had about 45 guitars between them and his neighbour had 2 :lol:


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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 5:11 pm
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tvr, I'm with you, only I consider myself a player AND a collector both. I currently own 70 guitars, give or take one, and I love them all. I have never, ever agonized over a group of nearly identical guitars, trying to find the one that best fit my hand, my brain and my psyche.

I've got guitars of dozens of makes and models and I can jump from one to the next without a glitch or a giggle. This thing about varying neck radii, scale length, humbucker vs single-coil, none of it sets me back a bit. I buy what I like and I play it.

I have been playing out now for 50 years and I am still out there 8-10 times a month and sometimes I take this guitar and sometimes I take that guitar - it just depends on what I am in the mood for and which guitar might look better with tonight's outfit. Life's too short for the agony.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 6:09 pm
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Rock Star
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You know there's a guy somewhere telling his friends, "I sold that Strat because it was such a dog."

And across town another guy is telling his friends, "Man, check out this Strat I just bought off of Craigslist. I cleaned it up, threw my favorite 9s on it, and it just sings!"

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 6:15 pm
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orvilleowner wrote:
You know there's a guy somewhere telling his friends, "I sold that Strat because it was such a dog."

And across town another guy is telling his friends, "Man, check out this Strat I just bought off of Craigslist. I cleaned it up, threw my favorite 9s on it, and it just sings!"


:lol: :lol: :lol:

Prolly closer to the truth than we'd like to think!

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 7:57 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:12 pm
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Location: Perth, Western Aus.
I have an electric and acoustic. I don't collect and see no point in it. No one make guitars to look at. Well some do, but they look like hideous blingfests to me.

I don't know how well I'll end up playing, but I know I'm not as picky about gear as most people I read about. I do know I went through a period early on with my Strat and Mustang amp, where I thought both (for different reasons) were kind of meh. As I've got better playing and know them better, I've got more out of both.

Not being picky doesn't mean I'm cheap, or that I don't know what I like - just that I don't care for whatever subtleties there might be between one thing and another. Especially when many of those subtleties require a much higher buy-in price, and so for me, are the definition of diminishing returns.

So long as the guitar sounds good and is comfortable, I can adapt to any things that don't feel like they were custom made for my hands and fingers, cos they're not.

I like reading about guitars and gear, but I'm clearly not cut out for a long career on forums. I love playing music, to whatever ability I have.


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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 8:45 pm
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Not saying anyone is wrong here, but I have a slightly different opinion. There is no perfect guitar. Each has their strong points and weak points, depending on what they are needed for. Each is better suited to certain styles of playing and music, than another might be. Every time I have a project, I rotate through my guitars to see which one has the sound that song needs. Sometimes a certain guitar will make a tough part of a song a little easier to play. It would be foolish of me not to use the strengths that each guitar has, to my advantage. If for no other reason than it gives me a mental confidence boost. I'll admit to being a bit obsessive, but I'd have a hard time living with one guitar.
Not because I want lots of guitars, but because I feel I need different types of guitars for different things. All of my guitars are very different, and I like that.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 9:51 pm
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I'm actually finding myself thinning the herd lately. I used to think I wanted one of everything. I could see myself on the path of owning a pretty large stock. But lately, I think I'm becoming more content with fewer. I had myself up to about 30 at one point which can be nice sometimes. But I'm finding myself playing a select few more often while others sit in a closet.

Surprising to me, is how much I like to play my Epiphone Special II. I've used it in the past to try out different pickups before dropping them into more preferable guitars. Then I put a set of mag modded Duncan '59s in it, and I'm afraid to take them out. It's my favorite sounding guitar.

I catch myself thinking I'm crazy for keeping them in such a "low level" guitar. But in reality, I came to the conclusion that it makes just about every pickup I've ever had in it sound good (with the exception of the OEM, those were awful). The guitar feels comfortable, it's a lightweight basswood guitar that feels great and has a way of just sounding awesome no matter what I put in it. I'll bet I've had somewhere around 20 pickups wired through it for testing purposes. Whatever main characteristic a pickup possesses jumps right out of it clear as a bell.

I put on a Tone Pros Bridge, some good tuners, and I just roll with it. I could care less about brand and model. If it feels good, plays good, sounds good, I'm cool with it. The '59s sound too good to take out.

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Last edited by Jah Soldier on Wed May 28, 2014 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 9:53 pm
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Drew365 wrote:
All of my guitars are very different, and I like that.
Amen to that!

I love variety!

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 10:05 pm
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I just have 2 I'll never sell at this point.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 11:13 pm
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I went through a "thinning of the herd" about two years ago. I had nine electrics and two acoustics. What bothered me was there were a number of these guitars that never got used. I thinned down to one Strat, one Les Paul, one Gibson 335, and a Martin acoustic. My band plays a variety of styles and I can cover all the styles adequately with those four. I figured there's probably people out there that would appreciate and use my other guitars and I'd rather them be used than sit around and degrade over time.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:09 am
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I thinned my herd about 6 years ago. I think I had 12 electrics, 1 acoustic, 1 bass and 6 amps. I initially went down to 4 electrics, 1 acoustic, 1 bass and 4 amps but it's been slowly growing again. I built one electric, bought another acoustic and another bass, sold one amp and bought 2 more and then bought an amp kit which I have yet to start. When finished I'll be back up to 6.

I also severely culled my herd of pedals about 4 or 5 years ago and began buying better quality pedals that lean more to the old school. I must have sold more than 30 pedals and replaced them with about 8 or so, most recently a Moog Delay which they tell me just came in which I will pick up as soon as this job is done.

On topic, I think the way a person touches the guitar (hands) has a big influence on whether a particular guitar "speaks" to them or not.

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 11:47 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
orvilleowner wrote:
You know there's a guy somewhere telling his friends, "I sold that Strat because it was such a dog."

And across town another guy is telling his friends, "Man, check out this Strat I just bought off of Craigslist. I cleaned it up, threw my favorite 9s on it, and it just sings!"

Prolly closer to the truth than we'd like to think!

Okay -- now here is one to really get wrapped around the axle on. Based on the above scenario, I think it is possible that both of the players in the scenario could be right. All guitars clearly don't play and sound the same, and sometimes what works or sounds good to one person does not work at all for another. Just my humble opinion ...

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Post subject: Re: It's all subjective
Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:11 pm
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I can see always striving for better guitars, and upgrading to something that's clearly better.
But I don't see myself wanting more guitars than I really will play. Perhaps one more than I have, of a type I don't have (like a nylon string acoustic, or a baritone).
However, I truly don't feel the need to acquire half a dozen almost identical guitars. That would be like buying half a dozen cars of the same make, but different years and trims.

Guitars are like women - I don't want more of them than I can pay attention to, and certainly not several that are almost the same.


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