Necessity or Desire: Is your best guitar holding you back?

[KevWind]

As I said the reasons are vast and numerous. For me Music is in the auditory artistic pursuit realm, and is based on sound. So naturally different guitars have different sounds ,,,it's as simple and as complex as that for reasons .

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by Twiddle Dee

Yes tone hunting is what makes me search out and ultimately buy guitars. I know what I like but it seems that I always come up a bit short from the tone I want to achieve.

This is the story of my life (almost)

[Zissou Intern]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

This is the story of my life (almost)

I know I wouldn’t mind bagging a trophy D18VS as you did recently!

[LakewoodM32Fan]

I will still reply though, six months on, it seems like my SCGC 1934D may have cured me of GAS, at least for a decent amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I still go to guitar shops a couple of times a month to say hello to the staff I've gotten to know there, and to buy accessories like strings. And yes I do pick up guitars and play, but ever since the 34D nothing has motivated to even contemplate reaching for my wallet.

But to answer your original question, my "current" guitar (whatever one it was at the time of various purchases) never held me back. I'm just not that skilled where a structurally sound, well set-up guitar is ever going to be the limiting factor.

Some guitars I purchased because they were tonally very different from what I had in the stable at the time (due to a body shape difference, tonewoods, scale length, or any combination of the three).

Sometimes it was because I felt it did something that a current guitar I owned did, but was either more tonally pleasing, or perhaps more comfortable (I've learned my fretting hand really gets along well with SCGC's neck carves). But in cases like those, the replaced guitar got moved on.

Now I'm at a good point where I have one end-game level guitar that I play mostly for myself and very close family/friends, and several others that are tonally very different from each other which I'm not afraid to take out places. As the saying goes: variety is the spice of life.

[cedartop52]

Whatever guitar I've owned over the past 50+ years of playing has never really held me back. Over the past 10 years my purchase of numerous (always more expensive) guitars in an on-going search for more/better tone has probably held me back because the 'hunt' has taken time away from my playing. For the past several years I've been committed to owning only one acoustic guitar at a time and I'm now thinking of backing away from the high-end market, run with a more modest guitar and focus more on my playing, singing and writing. Crazy talk, I know!

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by Zissou Intern

My questions were not rhetorical. I asked because I was curious to know the different reasons people on this forum bought different or upgraded their guitars. It's not necessarily "progress" to own a better or more expensive guitar. Lastly, I think a guitar can definitely hold you back. But thanks for your insights.

I started playing the guitar when I was 10 or so. My first guitar was a Yamaha G-55A, a student, nylon-string guitar with a 2” nut (which I miraculously held onto for 50 years, and just sold). For a 10-year old’s hands, that guitar was difficult to play. My next guitar was an electric guitar, which was much easier to play. It was so long ago that it is hard for me to say for sure, but I suspect that if I hadn’t switched to a guitar that was easier to play, I might have given up.

For decades, I basically had one electric and one acoustic guitar (not counting the G-55A). In the last couple of years I have become much more interested in trying different guitars, more out of curiosity than anything. I don’t expect them to make me a better player, although certain guitars are easier to play so I sound better playing them.

As a left-handed player, I have found that it helps to be opportunistic when it comes to guitar buying, since left-handed guitars aren’t as plentiful as right-handed ones. Where I live, there are no shops where I can just walk in and try 20 or so guitars. If I buy a guitar new and like it enough to hang on to it, I do. Recently, I’ve bought a bunch of used guitars (Waterloo WL-S Deluxe, Waterloo WL-14 LTR, Iris CH, Iris DF and Martin J-40) which have very different scale lengths, neck shapes and nut widths/string spacing, not to mention body sizes and “voices.” None of these guitars “holds me back,” but I definitely prefer some to others. They all help me discover my preferences. At some point I may sell off or trade the ones I don’t play as often, but it’s fun to have them around for comparison purposes.

I agree that just because one guitar is more expensive than another doesn’t make it better. One of my more expensive guitars—a Taylor 614ce—is one of my least favorite. But discovering one’s tactile preferences and exploring different tones is a sort of progress in my opinion.

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by sinistral

As a left-handed player, I have found that it helps to be opportunistic when it comes to guitar buying, since left-handed guitars aren’t as plentiful as right-handed ones.... Recently, I’ve bought a bunch of used guitars (Waterloo WL-S Deluxe, Waterloo WL-14 LTR, Iris CH, Iris DF and Martin J-40) which have very different scale lengths, neck shapes and nut widths/string spacing, not to mention body sizes and “voices.” None of these guitars “holds me back,” but I definitely prefer some to others. They all help me discover my preferences. At some point I may sell off or trade the ones I don’t play as often, but it’s fun to have them around for comparison purposes.

I only used bold type on your quote above as reference for my question (out of nothing but curiosity).

It makes sense that it is harder to buy a lefty guitar as we are only about 11% of the population, and an even smaller percentage of lefties actually play lefty. Do you find it's also hard to sell a used left-handed guitar due to this lower demand, or is it easier because the demand that exists is not being adequately filled in the new guitar market?

BTW I also tell everyone I prefer the term "sinister" to "left-handed."

[ewalling]

For me, buying a new guitar nearly always comes down to the urge for something different, not better. Recently, I got the itch for a 12-string but sent the guitar back when I felt the stress on my fretting fingers again (I'd forgotten about that!). At other times, I might find I want a certain kind of electric or nylon string guitar. I'd been without a dread for a few years until last week, when a used Eastman E2D came up on GC Used Online. Now it sits proudly on my guitar stand (and what a guitar!).

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I only used bold type on your quote above as reference for my question (out of nothing but curiosity).

It makes sense that it is harder to buy a lefty guitar as we are only about 11% of the population, and an even smaller percentage of lefties actually play lefty. Do you find it's also hard to sell a used left-handed guitar due to this lower demand, or is it easier because the demand that exists is not being adequately filled in the new guitar market?

BTW I also tell everyone I prefer the term "sinister" to "left-handed."

I tend to hang onto guitars so I don’t have a lot of experience selling them. I actually just picked up a new HD-28 since it was on sale (15% off). I have a 2012 HD-28 (i.e., pre-reimagined), so it will be interesting to compare the two over an extended period of time.

Based on prices of used left-handed guitars and the length of time I see them listed, I would say that they are harder to sell than their right-handed equivalents. As an example, the two Waterloos I picked up recently were reasonably priced. I’ve watched right-handed versions sell more quickly and for more on Reverb and here in the classifieds.

[Marty1]

I'll be honest. I just really like the stuff. There is no rhyme or reason. I live once and this is the hobby I have. More is better

[baseball]

SKILLS

The better guitars I have gotten, the better my skills have improved.... then the subtlety or nuance of the next better guitar actually matters.... Practice every day

I don't think I have the spare income of some of our brethren here, so I usually sell off the one's I have outgrown... I started with 500-700 dollar guitars and have worked my way up to 3000-5000 dollar guitars BUT I didn't need them until I was ready and had fully exploited the potential of the previous one

Better guitars with better set ups WILL make you a better player

[Kh1967]

Originally Posted by Zissou Intern

After reading a couple recent threads, I am wondering what drives your GAS and subsequent purchasing of new guitars. Was it merely desire for something different or better, or was your guitar holding you back? Could you not make the music you heard in your head, so you just had to have a better guitar?

For me, it is largely exploration and curiosity. I am not someone who can play a guitar for 30 minutes in a shop and know if it is a keeper for me - that takes months for me to figure it out. That said, if it is dead wrong, I can figure that out in 3 minutes.

And, neck profiles…that has been a struggle for a bit with a hand injury, but feel I am coming out the other side.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

In our modern Western society we are constantly being encouraged to buy more "stuff". This applies to guitars, boats, guns, motorcycles, whatever we are interested in but isn't essential to life. It has nothing to do with making music, primitive people will make music naturally with whatever they can find.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

Originally Posted by Marty1

I'll be honest. I just really like the stuff. There is no rhyme or reason. I live once and this is the hobby I have. More is better

This is the message we are being fed daily in social media, it's no surprise that so many people think it will bring happiness.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Kindnes

This is the message we are being fed daily in social media, it's no surprise that so many people think it will bring happiness.

There's little question that it will bring happiness - at first. But enduring happiness? Maybe. Maybe not.