Is You Favorite Guitar To Play the Favorite For Your Listners?

[gurroz]

I have 4 guitars that are distinctly different and complement one another. My favorite one to play is my Yamaha FS5. If I pick up that guitar in the morning, I will play it all day! With that said, when I'm playing for friends or family they prefer my Yamaha LS16 rosewood. All of them think it sounds the best. To my ears sitting behind the guitar I prefer the FS5 which is mahogany. As a footnote, they are both strung with Elixer Nanoweb 12's. So now when people come over, I reach for the LS16.

[jaymarsch]

Not really. My guitar playing friends tend to appreciate all of my guitars while my non playing friends just tend towards liking my songs and voice.
I have several favorite guitars and it can vary from day to day and week to week as to which one I grab and enjoy.
Best,
Jayne

[semolinapilcher]

My favorite guitar for me is my Texan.

My social guitar remains the OG Taylor jumbo.

[Mandobart]

Hard to say if I have a favorite guitar. Eight different ones, from 000 to OM to resonator to 12 string, dread, Sel-Mac copy, archtop…

Each one may be a favorite for a certain style, genre or song but none is (for me) the all around best.

My audiences, such as they are, engage with the song and delivery, not the specific instrument used.

It gets more complicated when I expand to my various fiddles and mandolin family instruments.

[Osage]

I honestly have no idea.

[Pickcity]

My J200 is satisfactory for me and whoever is listening.

I’ve never had anyone comment on preference of my guitars, unless it is a band mate, and that is a rarity, and they will typically comment on an amp, setting or pedal on the electric side. Never for an acoustic guitar.

[Silly Moustache]

This is another version of the eternal "If you could have only one" or If the house was burning down which ... etc.

After building my collection for maybe thirty years, all my instrument are my favourites because they are a result of "natural selection" as those that lost their appeal "died out" ... well got traded etc.

I have three dreads. I feel safe with dreads when I'm playing out. One of them is a bit special and has 'lectrics when absolutely necessary, and has an adi top and a sunburst that I'm not crazy about.

The other two are sitka but I think I prefer them ... both.

My 000 is a dream - 22 years old now and really at its best. I use it for teaching and videos a lot.
Standard scale 25.5" and light gauge strings.

I have a two or tree 00 guitars, one is definitely my favourite but I like them all. Ideal late night noodlers.

My two 12 strings are ... eccentric, but I kinda like them - I use the Martin more than the Harmony, although, being a '60s Martin intonation is .... excentric.

And so it goes.

[lowrider]

Yes, I got my D-18 Adirondack in September. It's the one I like best and it's the one that people tell me how great it sounds.

[gurroz]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

This is another version of the eternal "If you could have only one" or If the house was burning down which ... etc.

No, not at all. It's more of a comment that what sounds good to you behind the guitar may sound different if you were in front of the guitar. I prefer the FS5. If I play 3 songs on the FS5 and then play the same 3 songs on the LS16 my family and friends prefer the sound of the LS16. If my house was burning down, guitars would be the last thing on my mind!

[nostatic]

tbh, I kinda don't care what the audience thinks unless there is something drastically wrong with the sound. And 99% of people can't tell the difference between guitars on a gig anyway. At the end of the day, I have to keep myself happy, as that has a direct impact on the quality of my performance (which is something I do care about). The instrument that I'm comfortable with for the particular song/gig is the best choice regardless of any real or imagined audience preference.

I take song requests all the time, but I don't take guitar requests :-P

[jseth]

In over 60 years of playing, I have not once thought about what others might think about how my guitar sounds to them...

Certainly, I've enjoyed the difference between MY playing a guitar, and hearing someone else play it... but I've never been concerned with that aspect. The idea of it falls directly into the category of being distracted by what others "might" think, whether about my playing, singing, songs, etc...

I just figure that the way I sound is the way I sound - if I love it and am thrilled with it, that will be the best possible way to present my music to others.

I believe it was Lauren Bacall who once said, "What other people think about me is none of my concern..."! I think this applies here...

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by gurroz

I have 4 guitars that are distinctly different and complement one another. My favorite one to play is my Yamaha FS5. If I pick up that guitar in the morning, I will play it all day! With that said, when I'm playing for friends or family they prefer my Yamaha LS16 rosewood. All of them think it sounds the best. To my ears sitting behind the guitar I prefer the FS5 which is mahogany. As a footnote, they are both strung with Elixer Nanoweb 12's. So now when people come over, I reach for the LS16.

Hi gurroz…

I never gave people a choice, nor asked questions.

Actually my favorite guitar is a favorite of all my guitar playing friends.

[fpuhan]

Originally Posted by gurroz

I have 4 guitars that are distinctly different and complement one another. My favorite one to play is my Yamaha FS5. If I pick up that guitar in the morning, I will play it all day! With that said, when I'm playing for friends or family they prefer my Yamaha LS16 rosewood. All of them think it sounds the best. To my ears sitting behind the guitar I prefer the FS5 which is mahogany. As a footnote, they are both strung with Elixer Nanoweb 12's. So now when people come over, I reach for the LS16.

The key to your post is this: "To my ears sitting behind the guitar."

Sound ports have become popular because often the player does not hear the same output as the listener. It may be that your friends and family are hearing the music differently than you are.

I found this out when I had a custom guitar made. Just before shipping it to me, my luthier asked if I wanted a sound port. Truthfully, I didn't know about this little tweak until he described it to me. At his recommendation I had him add one (it's a small coin-sized opening on the upper bout that faces the player -- me -- directly). By covering the port I can hear the difference in what I perceive and what my listeners hear.

So, it may be that your LS16 produces a more pleasing sound than your FS5. That doesn't mean the latter shouldn't be your favorite (after all, it's you who's doing the playing) but that may explain why your listeners feel differently.

[rllink]

I don't think my listeners pay much attention to what I'm playing. I have had an occasional musician say how good my Guild D-40 sounds, but then I've had the same ones say how good my GS Mini sounds. No accounting for taste I guess.

[Charlie Bernstein]

No. My favorite is a spruce/mahogany '76 Guild D-35. Listeners' favorite is a spruce/rosewood '92 Guild D-50.

I get it, because, as your fans and mine will attest, rosewood does sound pretty. the D-50 has a gorgeous tone — markedly fuller and richer than the D-28 and D-35 Martins I used to have.

I'm crazy about both guitars, but there's something about the twang and growl of a mahogany Guild that I can't get enough of.

Now you know.