How exactly do you find the right guitar?

[van_muddlestein]

I like lots of different style guitars but for me, I've found that I get my best tones from a big ol' gretsch hollowbody. It's a pain in the ass to work with in a loud ass rock setting, but they just feel, sound, and look right to me. You just kind of have to accept the limitations and go with it. Weigh the pros and cons, find something you enjoy(which it sounds like you already have), and just stick with it. Make the nuances and flaws of that instrument a part of your playing.

[doommeow]

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

This.

Well, mostly sort of this.

I think trying to lock yourself into find "the guitar" is a fools game. There's always going to something new (or old) to try, accommodating every possible sound in your head is always going to be a compromise, and don't forget the first rule of government spending - why buy one when you can have two at twice the price.

I went the custom (semi custom - partcaster) route, trying to mash together bits of everything I thought I liked about every guitar that stuck my fancy for more than five minutes - and was initially disappointed. After letting it sit for a couple of years, going back and forth on selling it, I finally came back to it, made my peace with the various failures and turned into something useable.

Right now, I've got two guitars - the partscaster and my SG. Neither are perfect, but neither are pricey. Both are more or less modded to my personally specs and I'd be hard pressed to sell them both due to lowish resale and above average sentimental value.

But when I stopped chasing the perfect guitar and various GAS dreams - a GREAT LP, an offset, etc - and just sat down and played what I had, I was alot happier. (Still need to 1. take my bass project to the tech and 2. either make a decision about buying a baritone, a bass vi, or turning the partscaster into a baripartscasterw/trem)


TL;DR find a couple few different cheap to moderately priced guitars that meet different needs. Go forth and thrash.

[HorseyBoy]

What do you like the sound of? What do you like the feel of? What do you like the look of?
Answer those questions then try to find all three in one guitar. Lotsa choices out there but you should be able to narrow it down at least a little

[Moose]

I think trying to lock yourself into find "the guitar" is a fools game. There's always going to something new (or old) to try, accommodating every possible sound in your head is always going to be a compromise

QFT.

I think the only way you can have "the" guitar is when it's for "that" sound, rather than as a jack of all trades. With my guitars rather than try and make them work for what I want to create, I spend time playing each one and finding what their musical niche is, what their strengths are. That way, I end up enjoying the guitars more as a result, which in turn helps when it comes to writing stuff. There are so many variables to take into account with rig setups that I honestly don't believe it's possible the find the one guitar that does absolutely everything you want, as well as being the most comfortable to play.


I know a lot of people have a specific favourite guitar (myself included), but I think that compromises have to be made to find that favourite, which will never be "perfect" or "ideal".

[skullservant]

Is there a way that you could try that PRS that you pictured before you buy it? I know you're in OZ, I just didnt know if you knew of a shop that might have one in stock over there so you could be certain before you took the plunge.

[rfurtkamp]

24" scale Fender is where I've been happy for a long, long, long time. Mustang or Jaguar, it matters not. I sound like me on either (and know how to make both do what I want).

I have other guitars but by default it's always one of those two types (and I have several of each).

Play stuff until you find something that just talks to you, ignore honeymoon period, ignore flipping. Just play it and love it like you had no other choice.

When I had to sell my '64 Mustangs or live on the street, I struggled through Strats and whatever I could find cheap for a long, long time. I was happily making music, but I missed that damn Mustang.

I have one now that has made me not miss my old mainstay. It's cheap and nasty and Mustangy, just like my original one was (nobody wanted anything that wasn't a Strat or a Tele back then).

It's that Mustang or my main Jaguar out of first grab preference every time, I have to force myself to play other instruments unless there's something specific I need out of them in the guitar category.

[Uncle Grandfather]

point and click lately

[ChetMagongalo]

there is no right guitar, there's only wrong guitars, you should avoid those and if you do that you'll be golden.

[Andrew]

I've been looking at a lot of used Japanese guitars, I think this might be way to go.

There's some really, really unique things out there. Value for money, MIJ is always great quality.

[gunslinger_burrito]

I'll say what I always say:
In order of importance:
1. Does it make the sounds you want? That's your end goal, right?
2. Do you enjoy playing it, is it comfortable for you?
3. Can you afford it?

Sometimes we get attached to a guitar, like I have to my G&L, for years, only to pick up something new/different and go "holy shit, this plays nice!" It took me years to finally get it through my head that I like the sound of a "Fat" single coil. I have a stacked humbucking bass pickup in the middle position of one of my project junkers and it's easily my favorite pickup. I never would've guessed. It's got that chime and clarity that a single coil gets when it's clean, and when it's dirty, it's hot and heavy but still very articulate.

So just try as much as you can until something speaks to you.

[HorseyBoy]

^ Yeah, try as many as you can.
One other thing, rfurtkamp mentioned it earlier but scale length is really important to feel. I was always a Gibson 24.75 guy but these days I really love the 25.5 Fender scale, especially with a 7.5" neck radius (neck radius is also important). But the numbers don't mean shit unless it feels good in your hands.

[BitchPudding]

Basically pure luck on my end.

My tele I got when my first strat got trashed, and it ended up sounding better than everything so far, which is great considering I didn't play it at all before hand. It just kinda fell into my lap.

Which is kind of how my best instruments ended up with me. Gifts and happy accidents, same for my bass.

I'm getting a modded SG in about a month, and that thing fucking slays. So it may end up breaking the random streak. Even tho it's a lucky find.

[Inconuucl]

Would I be able to say this about a guitar that I don't own? But after a decade or so of playing with only a strat and a Schecter C-7, I got my hands on a Classic Players Jaguar while waiting for my wife to finish trying out a synth she wanted. It was an epiphany, I don't think I've that that much fun playing guitar in years. everything I played on it felt and sound anew, it was a completely different monster.

I needed to be a responsible adult and not spend all my rent money on it, however. But one day I'll have one, or so I hope. 8D

My guess is that it was the first time I tried a short scale instrument, but I have not played any other since to confirm that.

[Hyphen Nation]

A lot of good advice on here.

A few things I think about: unless you have your jam and you know it's your jam, I like to look for guitars that compliment my others. Different scale, different pickups, hard tail, offest, etc…
I try to only buy used. When I do that, I look for legit player wear. Not abuse, but wear. If you find a guitar with a well worn neck, that means it's probably pretty special/fun to play and worth taking a second look at.

Play lots of guitars. Go to all the used shops around and play as many as you can without getting into trouble.

[gunslinger_burrito]

I try to only buy used. When I do that, I look for legit player wear. Not abuse, but wear. If you find a guitar with a well worn neck, that means it's probably pretty special/fun to play and worth taking a second look at.

Oooh. I hadn't thought of that. That's a really good idea.