Electric Guitarists. Choice History. Worked? Foolishly Traded away? Still Own to this Day?

[JeffBlue]

Back in the 80s, I traded the ONLY BC Rich Explorer for a 70s Gibson Les Paul Custom that the owner put stripes on the face of the guitar with black electricians tape. This Les Paul was rumored to have been a gift from Paul Kossoff for being saved from drowning. I traded this guitar off.

Around those same years, I had bought a 60s Gibson 345 guitar and a blonde Fender Super reverb amp. I foolishly traded those off. Idiot me.

I was given a 1969 Fender Bandmaster Reverb head from a friend who is no longer with us. I sent this amp in to Benjamin Fargen for his ODS mod which is to blackface the Vibrato channel and convert the normal channel. This amp is staying with me.

 

[Dennyf]

Biggest . . . actually, only . . . guitar regret and moment of shame was when I whittled out the pickup cavities on my '65 SG Special for a set of DiMarzio Super Distortions. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was young. Guitar is long gone.

 

[Stringbanger]

My first guitar was a no-name acoustic, and it was extremely hard to play. I think I sold it for peanuts, but I don’t remember for sure. I know I didn’t give it away, nor did I throw it away.

My second acoustic was a Conn, which sounded pretty good for a cheapy. But, one day the bridge pulled away from the body, taking a piece of the body with it. I was young and dumb, and I didn’t know how to repair it (even if it was repairable). The guitar ended up in a dumpster.

Since then, I have never sold one piece of equipment, so I guess I am considered a buyer only. My mindset is that, if I’m going to buy gear, it’s got to be something I’m going to keep.

 

[BramptonRob1958]

I got back into the hobby (lol) after many years of infrequent activity since my teens....

The last 5 years have been a roller coaster of GAS, Memories, spur of the moment decisions, honey moon periods and self discovery. Both in personal preferences and ability....

Due to my Gasoholic nature I'll limit my discussion to the last couple of years. BTW All Repurchases were in 2022)

Stupidly Sold/Traded

Fender Jimmy Page Mirror Tele
Fender EJ "Virginia" Strat
Fender CS Tele 1952
Fender 70th Broadcaster
Fender 70th Esquire
Gibson 50's Les Paul Std
Gibson Les Paul Special DC

Corrective action(s) Repurchased

Fender Jimmy Page Mirror Tele (used but for half price of new)
Fender EJ "Virginia" Strat (arrived Thursday, thrilled, better than my 1st copy in every way)
Fender Custom Shop 70th Broadcaster (FCS Used is superior the Stock version in tone and playability)
Fender 70th Esquire (Same colour, better factory setup than my original)
Gibson Slash Appetite Les Paul (Purchased used during Black Friday Blow Out)
Gibson Les Paul Special SC (Used Black Friday Deal, Single Cut fewer factory flaws than my original)

Sometimes you have to let gear "Go or get away" in order discover its importance.... and how inspirational it is to "You"

Letting Gear Go out of necessity (Eat, rent, divorce) is a fact of life and one of life's woulda, shoulda, coulda moments. But the choice is clear. So while we may regret, you need to do, what you need to do. You never need to feel bad about letting a guitar go.....

Having a guitar "Get Away" is usually a severe case of "Gas".... Ad's stating "Need to Fund incoming gear!", Moving another direction, Thinning the Herd (also means I wanna buy something else), My wife found my guitar stash, Boss says it HAS to go etc....

The Get Away guitars are easier to control. We all get Gas....Every Guitar listed above and there were others, but, these were Top 7 Stupid ones for me.....fortunately, I'm at a point in my life, where I could correct the mistakes... It took a lot of years to get here and earlier in my life, I didn't have the ability. My gear movement at that time was mostly from being forced to Let Go of gear.

They say "Intelligent people learn from their own mistakes", A Genius will "From other people's mistakes"
Let's just say that I am not a genius......lol

Hopefully, this thread is read by many, especially those just starting out and helps them avoid the pitfalls that most of us have to experience.

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

[dlew919]

I traded a charvel for a bass. Love the bass. But wish I’d kept the charvel.

 

[gentrywhite]

Regret trading the 73 Tele custom in mocha. Regret trading away the SF vibrolux. Regret trading away the Vox Pacemaker. Have nightmares about selling the Mig-50.

 

[Wyzsard]

Biggest mistake for me is trading one of these for a Mustang Bass and crappy Stage bass amp.

1965 Gibson Country Western Flat-Top Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Natural SJN w/Victoria Luggage Case! | Reverb

1965 Gibson Country Western Acoustic Flat-Top! Trades considered and International buyers welcome!Very cool Gibson C&W from the mid-60s! It has a few minor alterations, and an abundance of player wear/usage, to make it a bit more affordable than most on the market.As the photos show, if has b...

reverb.com

It wasn't worth that much at the time though but it was near mint when I bought it from my cousin.

 

[ravindave_3600]

I'm a "keeper" - when I find something I like it stays.

'73 tele was my first real guitar (following a '73 "Norma" that was a Teisco copy, and a student classical (which I think may have been better than I thought at the time)) and it's still with me 44 years later.

'83 Yamaha FG340, the best I could afford in college, and which has been featured at countless youth retreats, beaches, and firesides on three continents.

I then went 15 years without buying another guitar. Those two were more than adequate.

Since 2000 I've purchased a partscaster "62" tele with a neck bucker for when I want to rock instead of sounding like Steve Cropper, an '02 MIM Strat that sounds as good and plays as well as most "pro" instruments I've messed with, and a D18 for leading in church when I don't have a bass player handy (that E string has TONS of thump!).

Along the way I picked up a Gibson J185ec I ought to sell; I like it but mostly use it for recording and I don't record that much.

My love 'em and 'leave problem has been with basses. I'm on my 4th.
* First was a Rick because I loved McCartney; problem was I couldn't make it sound like anyone but mid-70s Paul (and I love Motown).
* Second was a gifted no-name P-bass that weighed (conservatively) 147 lbs and mostly stayed in its bag.
* Third was a Yamaha P/J that weighed (approximately) 2 lbs I bought as a reaction to the P-bass but never bonded with.
* Fourth is a partscaster J built by a luthier friend that has a good combination of thump and growl and whose neck was shaped by hand to be just the way I like it. I traded him the P and P/J for it and it's my keeper.

 

[ravindave_3600]

Biggest mistake for me is trading one of these for a Mustang Bass and crappy Stage bass amp.

1965 Gibson Country Western Flat-Top Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Natural SJN w/Victoria Luggage Case! | Reverb

1965 Gibson Country Western Acoustic Flat-Top! Trades considered and International buyers welcome!Very cool Gibson C&W from the mid-60s! It has a few minor alterations, and an abundance of player wear/usage, to make it a bit more affordable than most on the market.As the photos show, if has b...

reverb.com

It wasn't worth that much at the time though but it was near mint when I bought it from my cousin.

I love those SJNs and would buy one if a) I could play it first, and b) I could find one without the pencil neck.

 

[brookdalebill]

I love guitars, and I’ve bought, sold and traded them since I was a teenager, a mere 10 years ago.
I’ve had lots of great instruments.
I have even given valuable electric guitars away to friends who liked them more than me.
I love Les Pauls, but mostly as sculpture/art.
I have had a crazy number of them, including a 55 gold top, a 56 Junior, five 68 gold tops, and many CS reissues.
I currently have three CS Pauls.
I’ve had a 55 Esquire, 57 Tele (that I gave away), a 64 Jazzmaster, two 58 refinished Strats, as well as three 60s rosewood board Strats.
I regret nothing.
The guitars I own now are the best sounding, playing and looking ever.
I’m grateful!

 

[Gabeezlebub]

Most electric guitarist with a decent history behind them know the meaning of terms like "Keepers". "The One(s) that Got Away". "Never Looked Back". "Lifelong from First Picked Up". "If I could have done this over". ... The bonding or lack of is part of the player / instrument life partnerships that might cover the short span of a year or less or last a lifetime. Sometimes they lead to careers or signature tones. Other times it's more personal to the player that had to work to earn the bread to act on their own gear decisions and then bare the results of both good and bad choices during the months and years that followed. In the world of electric guitar players, the instruments, amps and effects they chose to partner with, combined with the much harder to develop skill levels achieved over time through practice, trial and error, etc. results in the cumulative present of the guitarist who's captained this process from the first day they picked up the instrument and silently said "Yes".

I do appreciate and commend you one and all for the skills you've mastered over the years. What I'd like to ask concerns the gear you've tried out over the years. The pieces you instantly recognized as keepers. The pieces you purchased, questioned, sold, and then wished you hadn't. The pieces you never questioned, never sold and still have to this day. The pieces you screwed up on and sold and then just had to repurchase at a higher price later on. The thread is about Gear. Look at your current signal chain. Guitar, Effects, (if you use them), and Amp. Any love at first sight? Relationships that have lasted forever? Found, lost reacquired partnerships? Relationships that took some time to develop? Which brand. Which Model? Which type of Gear?

For myself .....

1). My first true quality piece of gear was a Gibson SG my father purchased for me after I'd been playing guitar for 11 years. A brand new 1st release '71 / '72 SG Deluxe with a Bigsby trem / tailpiece. $499.99 including a hard shell case and full lifetime warranty. I've often thought my selling it four years later was a mistake but, in hindsight, replacing it with an Alvarez 12 string acoustic and finding my songwriting output tripling immediately was an eye opener moment. I'll be thankful forever for having been introduced to the 12 string guitar at that time.

When I sold the SG I didn't know the rarity of it's production or what was in it. It turns out dad acquired mine from a music store that had received a pre production model that Gibson had thrown everything they had into it. From mother of pearl block inlays to the original, (first version), T-Top Les Paul pickups Gibson started producing in '68. When the full production run came out maybe six months to a year later some of the special parts had been lessened or deleted so the street price could be lowered to just over $400.00 and I don't know if they carried the lifetime warranty. I don't know the number of pre production models Gibson sent out to dealerships but it wouldn't have been many. I'm glad I bought the Alvarez 12 string but I should never ever have sold the SG.

2). A Wah Wah pedal. No specific brand in the beginning. Blame it on Clapton. Between "White Room", "Sunshine of Your Love", and "Crossroads" I was sold on this effect for a lifetime. Robin Trower and Frank Marino's use of the Wah Wah just solidified my love for the effect. I have three pedal boards set up and all three have a Wah pedal on board with spare Wahs sitting on a shelf.

3). My Acoustic Control Corp. "Black Widow" six string electric. I purchased it when I mustered out of the U. S. Navy along with the purchase of a Kasino Fever amplifier. While not my favorite electric guitar it certainly holds the spot as the guitar I owned the longest as well as the guitar listeners expected to see strapped on me when I played. It was always in constant use. My three children grew up thinking of it as "dads" guitar. Between the late winter of '77 to just prior to the turn of the century I wore it completely down. Three refrets and finally the fretboard itself worn to the point of needing to be fully replaced. At that point I quite using it but I've never been able to part with it. It no longer has a case. The case finally fell apart into scrap. It no longer hangs on a wall rack but rather just sits tucked in a corner behind some shelves in the music room. I know it's there.

4). My Mesa Boogie, (fully loaded with every available build option), Mark III Blue Stripe head. This was the 4th of 5 versions of the Mark III that virtually made it a reproduction of the Mark IIC+. I loved this amp because it was the first amp I'd found that had massive amounts of gain on tap but didn't give up the warmth or mids the way most other high gain amps of the time were doing. It was extremely versatile. It could go from tweaked Fender Tweed to mid '60s Deluxe or Twin Reverb or, with the use of the graphic equalizer sound like a Marshall JTM45 to a Superlead to JCM800 or even go into SLO territory. While I never used it for Metal I know the boys in Metallica, (I'm told Kirk Hammett's was a blue stripe), did so with great results. The amp worked great until it didn't. Somewhere between 7 and 9 years ago it was cranked and singing sweetly one minutes and making booms and pan fried sounds with smoke billowing from the back along with tiny flames flickering inside. I took it to three different amp techs in the area and learned that all amp techs emit the same woeful laugh when looking at a chassis burned in hell. I've tried to replace it numerous times but virtually all of the used Blue Stripe Mark III's still available on the market aren't the fully loaded versions or have been modified in one way or another. Mine was born and died stock. Of note* From the Mark III's day of purchase until it's untimely death it was always stacked atop a Marshall Vintage 4 X 12" slant cab loaded with Vintage 30s. They paired up beautifully. Up until I discovered Bruno and Cornford amplifiers the Mark III Blue stripe was far and away the finest amp I'd ever owned.

5 & 6). Both my Mesa F-30 combo, (about 22 watts but able to produce 30 watt bursts when required through some type of Mesa proprietary magic) and my Marshall DSL 401 40 watt combo. Both sounded great. The F-30 was much smaller and less versatile but fit perfectly behind the drivers seat of my old Buick Century and was sized perfectly for a grab and go amp to take to friends homes for get togethers and family jams. The DSL 401 was much louder and more versatile than the F-30 but also twice as large and came from the factory with a build flaw that used to routinely toast a circuit board located too close to the vacuum tubes. The reason these two amps are grouped together is because they provided my first insight into the use of EL84 output tubes. Sure. I'd known the Vox sound forever but I thought that the Vox sound was all EL84s were good for and I couldn't have been more wrong. Out of all the amps I currently own only five will follow me into retirement and all five of them use EL84 output tubes. Both Tony Bruno Underground 30s, both Cornfords, (Hellcat and Carrera) and my Mesa Boogie Mark V:35. The EL84 is mandatory for all of my most required amp tones.


Currently I own instruments that took me a lifetime of saving up for and purchasing. Among these are a select few that will never be sold. Looking back on life choices is the lesson plan that taught me to recognize a keeper, pass on a hyped model, only buy signature models based on the instrument itself with no thought to the player whose name is included, taught that the way an instrument melds with me when I play it X build quality and attention to detail are paramount and I have to go in with a price is no object perspective. On multiple occasions over the years I've passed on purchases because of the instruments cost and later came to regret those decisions terribly. I'm not saying an instrument needs to be expensive to be a lifelong keeper. I'm saying no instrument in consideration for purchase as a lifelong keeper is ever too expensive.

After completing my current downsizing the remaining electric guitars that will never leave include my #1 favorite Giffin Standard, 2 Melancon T-style models 2 Gibsons, (a Custom shop CS-336 & a Les Paul Traditional), a Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster and a Rickenbacker 1993 Plus 12 string. Seven electrics out of more than double that amount currently in the studio. There are also two lifelong keeper acoustics but this thread is about electric guitar gear so I've save them for a later thread.

Anyone else have some history to share? Scores? Mistakes? Discovering your lifelong keepers? Surprises along the way? Something given to you or something stolen at a gig or whatever? Electric guitar player history 101. We can share and learn.

I have a PRS semi-hollow SE Custom that I thought was a pretty nice guitar, but now am discovering from my guitar teacher is kind of a PRS cheapo made in Korea. Will probably sell it.
I had another solid body PRS SE Custom that I thought was a better guitar, but maybe that was a cheap guitar as well. Sold that one. Here I always thought PRS’s were always higher quality guitars. They both were very good looking guitars.
I have a BBKing guitar(Epiphone) that’s really big and never played it. It’s becoming my favorite simply because it’s set up so well. Very easy to play.

 

[Gabeezlebub]

I have a PRS semi-hollow SE Custom that I thought was a pretty nice guitar, but now am discovering from my guitar teacher is kind of a PRS cheapo made in Korea. Will probably sell it.
I had another solid body PRS SE Custom that I thought was a better guitar, but maybe that was a cheap guitar as well. Sold that one. Here I always thought PRS’s were always higher quality guitars. They both were very good looking guitars.
I have a BBKing guitar(Epiphone) that’s really big and never played it. It’s becoming my favorite simply because it’s set up so well. Very easy to play.
View attachment 1079391

 

[arlum]

I have a PRS semi-hollow SE Custom that I thought was a pretty nice guitar, but now am discovering from my guitar teacher is kind of a PRS cheapo made in Korea. Will probably sell it.
I had another solid body PRS SE Custom that I thought was a better guitar, but maybe that was a cheap guitar as well. Sold that one. Here I always thought PRS’s were always higher quality guitars. They both were very good looking guitars.
I have a BBKing guitar(Epiphone) that’s really big and never played it. It’s becoming my favorite simply because it’s set up so well. Very easy to play.

Don't let the opinion of your guitar teacher effect your like or dislike for an instrument. When I used to teach if a student had a guitar that was maybe hard to learn on because of string height or had scratchy knobs or a pickup that didn't sound right I would first talk to them about setups and what options there were to make their guitar better I would never tell a student their instrument was cheap because, while cost does most often play a big role in the quality of the instrument that doesn't mean their aren't jewels waiting to be found among less expensive guitars. Among the many guitars in my studio that individually cost multiple thousands of dollars I also have a 1989 Ibanez RG I paid under $200.00 for used with case and a 2000 Ibanez Gio GAX I paid $179.00 for brand new. Both were pure players and both are still played. I'm big about necks and both of these instrument have wonderful necks. Note. Neither has the Ibanez Wizard type neck. I don't like the flat D shape. Out of all of my instruments the Gio has the second fastest playing neck in the house. Both were bought for how well they melded with me as a player. Both are a perfect fit. That said .... neither had quality pickups so I replaced the RG's pickups with much better sounding DiMarzios and the Gio's with much better sounding Seymour Duncans. I also included a switch for coil splitting on the Gio so I could also use it as a single coil.

PRS has through the roof standards for their American made guitars and to keep a well deserved reputation for quality in place they have to also hold overseas factories they contract with to certain minimum build standards as well. When properly set up they should play well. Individual components may or may not need to be upgraded and that totally rests with you to decide.
Just don't like your instrument less based on a block opinion on a certain brand or model. If your teacher has played it and found faults ask what corrective actions might be available. If you yourself don't like the feel of the neck or personally just don't meld with the instrument then that's the only time you should consider replacing it with something else.

 

[ravindave_3600]

Don't let the opinion of your guitar teacher effect your like or dislike for an instrument. When I used to teach if a student had a guitar that was maybe hard to learn on because of string height or had scratchy knobs or a pickup that didn't sound right I would first talk to them about setups and what options there were to make their guitar better I would never tell a student their instrument was cheap because, while cost does most often play a big role in the quality of the instrument that doesn't mean their aren't jewels waiting to be found among less expensive guitars. Among the many guitars in my studio that individually cost multiple thousands of dollars I also have a 1989 Ibanez RG I paid under $200.00 for used with case and a 2000 Ibanez Gio GAX I paid $179.00 for brand new. Both were pure players and both are still played. I'm big about necks and both of these instrument have wonderful necks. Note. Neither has the Ibanez Wizard type neck. I don't like the flat D shape. Out of all of my instruments the Gio has the second fastest playing neck in the house. Both were bought for how well they melded with me as a player. Both are a perfect fit. That said .... neither had quality pickups so I replaced the RG's pickups with much better sounding DiMarzios and the Gio's with much better sounding Seymour Duncans. I also included a switch for coil splitting on the Gio so I could also use it as a single coil.

PRS has through the roof standards for their American made guitars and to keep a well deserved reputation for quality in place they have to also hold overseas factories they contract with to certain minimum build standards as well. When properly set up they should play well. Individual components may or may not need to be upgraded and that totally rests with you to decide.
Just don't like your instrument less based on a block opinion on a certain brand or model. If your teacher has played it and found faults ask what corrective actions might be available. If you yourself don't like the feel of the neck or personally just don't meld with the instrument then that's the only time you should consider replacing it with something else.

My $300 mim Strat is a very fine guitar.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

The thing I regret is liking the sound of vintage Fender guitar amps that are getting too heavy to chuck in the car while eating a donut, holding a coffee and talking on the phone.

In my 20's I somehow crammed a JCM800 half stack and a Les Paul into my '72 VW for gigs. The thing fit perfectly and the bonus was no passengers.

 

[JohnnyThul]

There is only one item I regret selling of all the stuff that came and went.

When I was 13, my father brought my brother and me 2 books back from one of his business trips to the USA. One was American Guitars by Tom Wheeler, the other was Duchossoir's Gibson - The electric years.
I spent nearly every day going through those books, and I still remember certain passages by heart, and I can still recall most pictures of Gibson guitars in these books from my memory.
My english wasn't too good back then, so, I had to guess a lot
I remember, that during that time, I was depply fascinated by Angus Young and his SG, which seemed to be the symbol of rock'n roll for me, and I have loved the SG shape ever since those days.
When I was 16, I had 2 surgeries in my right ear, both times only local anesthesia. For some reasons, I didn't get an anodyne as is usually handed it before, so, I was pretty "excited" at the surgery, and I rmemeber calming myself during the "action" with me picturing a 1961 Les Paul / SG with a sideways vibrola.
The same year, I worked on cinstruction during summer break an got the princely sum of 1100 DM out of it (that was a LOT money for a 16 year old in 1998). And I wanted an SG.
Up to that time I couldn't really play, I was maybe able to do the Smoke on the Water riff, or the Parisienne Walkways melody and basic chords, not more than that. But I was set to spend over 1.000 DM for a guitar. My parents - especially my father - called me nuts for wanting me to spend that much money on just a guitar.
I went through the local ads to look for a '61 SG Reissue. It had to happen fast, because, knowing myself it was clear, if I had money laying around for more than a week, I would start to spend it on random stuff. I was never one to save money.
So, having the time pressure, the only guitar I could find, that I could afford and that was a Gibson, was a 1989 Les Paul Standard. So I called the guy selling it and we set up a meeting. My mother had to drive me.
When we arrived there, I went to the 3rd floor of an old building, on the way I ripped a buckle of my show, so, when I arrived at the door, I had pretty loose fitting shoe on one foot.
I went in the appartment, the guy showed my the guitar and told me stuff, which I cannot recall. One of his little kids was jumping in the guitar case, which I found funny. I played some quirky melodies on the guitar and handed over the money. I think, the guy took a pity on me, so he gave me TS-10, a strap and a cable on top.
I went back to my mother's car , awkwardly shuffling due to the damaged shoe and we drove home. On the way back, we got in a traffic jam, and someone was maneuvering pretty wild in front of my mom, so she hit the horn. And the horn wouldn't turn off afterwards. Stuck in a traffic jam. People were honking around us, yelling, but my mom couldn't make the horn stop. That was a long 15 minutes or so.

Back home, I opened the brown case with the pink liner, took out the guitar as if it was the holy grail and set it up on my guitar stand. And then I watched it. I barely touched it, as it was so intimidating with its beauty, coming right out of the book I coveted years earlier. And although I wanted an SG and never a Les Paul, that guitar really got me.
I set it up at the end of my bed to see it last, when I went asleep and first, when waking up. I couldn't get home soon enough after school for days, because I wanted to be in the presence of the thing, which was just too beautiful of an object to be owned by me.

I then started to play it. Before that, I had a Strat, and it wasn't fun, for reasons I didn't know, until I plugged the Les Paul in. That was the sound! It worked out of the box and felt naturally to me, whereas the Strat always felt wrong and sounded thin to me.

I was playing to records until I got the right notes. Back then I was deep into collecting vinyl and had all the good stuff from the 60s and 70s. I remember trying to play "Paranoid" along the vinyl single and noticed, the tuning was different. So, I set up the speed of the record player, until it matched the guitar tuning (not the other way round ) and felt like a genius
The guitar set me on a path to get to know everything about vintage Les Pauls, I became a nerd and could soon point out all the differences of my Les Paul to the one on the cover of the Duchossoir book (the older edition with the white cover). It was an obsession for many years and I inhaled everything regarding vintage Gibson, I even got to play an original Burst shortly.

On that guitar I learned to play. I got into a band and played the hell out of that guitar for 6 years in which I managed to wore of part of the paint on the neck, multiple dings and dongs, I had to change the bridge, as the original Nashville collapsed under the 10-52 strings I played back then. At one point I mounted a Bigsby, but didn't know how, so, I did it wrong and then corrected it, leading to 4 holes in the top of the beautiful plain cherry sunburst maple top.

I sold the guitar in 2009 to raise funds for another Les Paul. I have missed that guitar ever since, the only one, I ever missed. I do not miss it because of its sound, or financial value, but because of the history. I can still smell the guitar, I recall the feeling of pure excitement, the nearly transcendental experience of owning and playing such a beautiful instrument, it brings me back to the glory part of my teens. It felt like, anything is possible and it settled the deep love for guitar I had ever since.

Now I build the guitars I play, and while I built quite a few different shapes, I always come back to the Les Paul style. It just speaks to me, and sometimes I can still feel the excitement of my 16 year old self, disbelievingly looking at this beautiful object, resting at the end of his bed.

I never to this day owned an SG.

 

[Paull]

1961 Gibson Barney Kessel. PAFs, brown case with pink interior. Bought it in a tiny music store in PA for a ridiculously low price ca. 1991, sold it for a lot more than I got it for. T-Bone Walker dreams, anyone?
Mid 80’s (?) American Standard Telecaster. Stripped the horrific plastic finish & finished it in white lacquer.
1962 Epiphone Riviera, gold hardware. The Cleveland jazz guy had had the neck replaced with a ES 335 neck. The mini humbuckers also hhad patent applied for stickers. Finish was a beautiful faded honey yellow, the top had three birdseyes in the maple.
Also had a Princeton Reverb and a deluxe Reverb rebuilt to blackface specs by a friend in Philly
All nice stuff, but it’s the acoustics I sold that I weep for.

 

[Gabeezlebub]

Don't let the opinion of your guitar teacher effect your like or dislike for an instrument. When I used to teach if a student had a guitar that was maybe hard to learn on because of string height or had scratchy knobs or a pickup that didn't sound right I would first talk to them about setups and what options there were to make their guitar better I would never tell a student their instrument was cheap because, while cost does most often play a big role in the quality of the instrument that doesn't mean their aren't jewels waiting to be found among less expensive guitars. Among the many guitars in my studio that individually cost multiple thousands of dollars I also have a 1989 Ibanez RG I paid under $200.00 for used with case and a 2000 Ibanez Gio GAX I paid $179.00 for brand new. Both were pure players and both are still played. I'm big about necks and both of these instrument have wonderful necks. Note. Neither has the Ibanez Wizard type neck. I don't like the flat D shape. Out of all of my instruments the Gio has the second fastest playing neck in the house. Both were bought for how well they melded with me as a player. Both are a perfect fit. That said .... neither had quality pickups so I replaced the RG's pickups with much better sounding DiMarzios and the Gio's with much better sounding Seymour Duncans. I also included a switch for coil splitting on the Gio so I could also use it as a single coil.

PRS has through the roof standards for their American made guitars and to keep a well deserved reputation for quality in place they have to also hold overseas factories they contract with to certain minimum build standards as well. When properly set up they should play well. Individual components may or may not need to be upgraded and that totally rests with you to decide.
Just don't like your instrument less based on a block opinion on a certain brand or model. If your teacher has played it and found faults ask what corrective actions might be available. If you yourself don't like the feel of the neck or personally just don't meld with the instrument then that's the only time you should consider replacing it with something else.

Thanks Arlum (and Phoenix and Ravin)! I never had the green (poor picture) PRS set up. I thought it was set up pretty good but should maybe have a pro work his magic on it and see if this makes a significant difference. I have a really good luthier. It’s a beautiful (emerald green) guitar. The scale is a little smaller so it’s good for practicing. I am learning a little bit about good guitars as I play and can sort of see what my teacher is telling me. Wow, you should see his guitars. All sound amazing and incredibly playable. He even has one of Brian May’s only green guitars made by John Birch.

Don’t think I will get into modding it although I know the pick ups could be improved. I think I’ll keep it. Thanks again!!!

Don't let the opinion of your guitar teacher effect your like or dislike for an instrument. When I used to teach if a student had a guitar that was maybe hard to learn on because of string height or had scratchy knobs or a pickup that didn't sound right I would first talk to them about setups and what options there were to make their guitar better I would never tell a student their instrument was cheap because, while cost does most often play a big role in the quality of the instrument that doesn't mean their aren't jewels waiting to be found among less expensive guitars. Among the many guitars in my studio that individually cost multiple thousands of dollars I also have a 1989 Ibanez RG I paid under $200.00 for used with case and a 2000 Ibanez Gio GAX I paid $179.00 for brand new. Both were pure players and both are still played. I'm big about necks and both of these instrument have wonderful necks. Note. Neither has the Ibanez Wizard type neck. I don't like the flat D shape. Out of all of my instruments the Gio has the second fastest playing neck in the house. Both were bought for how well they melded with me as a player. Both are a perfect fit. That said .... neither had quality pickups so I replaced the RG's pickups with much better sounding DiMarzios and the Gio's with much better sounding Seymour Duncans. I also included a switch for coil splitting on the Gio so I could also use it as a single coil.

PRS has through the roof standards for their American made guitars and to keep a well deserved reputation for quality in place they have to also hold overseas factories they contract with to certain minimum build standards as well. When properly set up they should play well. Individual components may or may not need to be upgraded and that totally rests with you to decide.
Just don't like your instrument less based on a block opinion on a certain brand or model. If your teacher has played it and found faults ask what corrective actions might be available. If you yourself don't like the feel of the neck or personally just don't meld with the instrument then that's the only time you should consider replacing it with something else.

 

[Fretting out]

One of my biggest gear regrets wasn’t an electric but an acoustic

Takamine that looked like this, was my first good acoustic and sounded really good for how much I paid

This isn’t mine but mine had the case and all like this, bought it used for 400 bucks, I thought that was a decent price, had beautiful flames back and sides

Basically gave it away

 

[Rockinvet]

If I wrote about all the gear I sold, it would take many pages. Throughout the years I had the concept of using gear to finance gear mentality. So therefore I sold off many Gibsons that are worth many thousands of dollars that I paid hundreds for. The biggest one is my Les Paul Custom Fretless Wonder. I still tear up to this day thinking of that one. And it’s not just the money it’s that I just can’t replace it now.