How exactly do you find the right guitar?

[Andrew]

I've been trying to find my ideal guitar for the longest time and haven't had any luck. I've had guitars ranging from $300 to $3000 and i've liked them all for a bit, then I get over the honeymoon period and I just don't feel like carrying it over. Hell, the only guitar that I have that I truly get on with is a 90s Edwards LP Custom that I bought for $500, it has the best playability of any guitar I have played. Though I kind of want some versatility and less of a solid booming tonal wall, and maybe a whammy bar. I've tried Jazzys, Teles, Strats, Superstrats, Aluminium necked, PRS se, Les Pauls and semi hollowed. I've also attempted to try a few ERGs, but I don't shred enough to justify it.

I'm not a shredder or a bluesman and I don't really want to go back to the Jazzy/Jag route just because I like reverb and fuzz.

So yeah, how do you do it?

[neonblack]

Maybe try bass?

[Andrew]

I have a Bass, but i'm selling it because I prefer playing guitar.

It's a shitty cycle.

[backwardsvoyager]

I kinda have the same problem, so I'm getting a custom guitar built to my specs super precisely. I was tempted to go the aluminium route but i wanted something that addressed every issue with my current favourites to play. It seemed like the best solution in the long run. Everything i play off the shelf has some sort of playability or tonal quality that falls short, even if the guitar is amazing overall.
I hope to report back in a few months to say the honeymoon period never ended

[neonblack]

Maybe find a guitar that you like most things about, and then upgrade the things you don't. I'm doing that right now with a Squier short scale jag bass. I love how light it is, and its so fast and easy to play, but didn't like the color and the sound needed work.

So I took it apart, started painting it, and let it sit for 2 weeks. Haven't ordered a single thing for it yet

So...don't do that exactly. But you see where I'm going with it.

[Andrew]

I kinda have the same problem, so I'm getting a custom guitar built to my specs super precisely. I was tempted to go the aluminium route but i wanted something that addressed every issue with my current favourites to play. It seemed like the best solution in the long run. Everything i play off the shelf has some sort of playability or tonal quality that falls short, even if the guitar is amazing overall.
I hope to report back in a few months to say the honeymoon period never ended

Yeah, that's what I did with my EGC. But yeah, do it man. Australian pricing is pretty fucked and you can get a nicely priced instrument elsewhere as opposed to buy one here.


But honestly, I'm kind of thinking:


I know PRS guitars have a weird bluesdad connotation but the Paul Reed Smith S2 cu24 are very well priced, considering it's MIA. They should be versatile for the prog rock/gazey shit I like. I liked the SE I had, but it kind of felt a bit like plastic.

[backwardsvoyager]

Oh I meant I was tempted to go EGC or Obstructures but I actually went with Harvester guitars in Melbourne, he's building me a custom offset that fixes everything that bothers me about fender offsets. It's nearly done and worked out cheaper than an EGC and actually barely more than buying a new Fender AVRI. Retail pricing here is terrible, haha.

I don't mind PRS guitars. Some of the less bluesdad fancy ones look cool and they have great necks IMO. Fast like an Ibanez but with nicer sustain and body to the sound. If it suits you that's all that matters.

[wildebelor]

Melbourne has some good builds of all kinds at the moment
But seriously harvester is very rad, glad he's taking care of your offset needs!

Andrew - I can honestly say that whilst hose PRS cu24's are amazing to play (I've owned one), they felt like they were always lacking something.
I can't explain it fully without using words that don't exactly describe sound accurately but I'll give it a go.
For about 5 years I played it with the stock pickups and it always sounded really compressed or buzzy.
I felt it never had a distinct sound - with any fender I can go "that's a fender", same with gibson. but with the PRS I felt it was something that played REALLY well but never sounded great.
SO, I changed the pickups and still had the same problem.
It felt, soul-less…

Anyway, I hope you have better luck if you go with the PRS!

[weed_killer]

I don't want to say something cliché like "it finds you, young warrior," but...kind of . For me it took a couple years of noticing trends and patterns amongst guitars I liked, with pros and cons for most. A Fender always felt like home to me. I liked simple circuits (volume, tone on occasion) and disliked guitars with more than two pickups from a design standpoint. The feel of a guitar mattered to me as much as the sound. I ended up with a parts mustang, and quickly realized it fit me best. As of right now it's my only electric and I'm fine with that. Some people like to have a lot to get different sounds for different projects, but I'm more into having one defining sound as my own.

[Moustache_Bash]

Just buy a guitar that has the qualities you like........? What's wrong with your Edwards that makes you want another guitar?

EDIT: Never mind, was this your problem with the LP? "Though I kind of want some versatility and less of a solid booming tonal wall, and maybe a whammy bar"

[MEC]

Have you played any Matons?
I've always loved the looks of them but they're a little pricy and hard to try out first in the US.

Also, G&L builds custom stuff at reasonable prices.

[Gone Fission]

If the pickups on your LP are 4-conductor wired, have a go at the Page wiring with all the coil splits, series, and phase options. Might get you enough extra non-wall textures to get it going. Also, maybe a Bigsby. (There are some non-invasive mounting options like Vibramate. Pricey, but cheaper than a new PRS.). I'd do the wiring stuff before the Bigsby to see if the extra sounds are enough to keep at that guitar, since they're the cheaper proposition.

[whiskey_face]

I usually just solve that issue by having a shitload of guitars.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I got lucky? I was trying to buy a tele, tried one jag because why not and I immediately bought it without any real thought process. Turns out 5 years on I still love it so it went well. But yeah, random chance.

I can think of extra features I'd want in a PERFECT guitar, but at the end of the day this does everything I need and gets the kind of sound I'm after.

So uhhh, no advice sorry. Good luck in the search!

[tuffteef]

ive been trying to sit on one guitar for like 10 years and still cant make up my melon