Is your prized guitar really what you think it is, or, can you handle the "truth"???

[burntfrijoles]

Really this thread is a familiar old TDPRI (or any guitar forum) theme just couched differently. A wolf in sheep's clothing so to speak.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I like stuff I like for the reasons I like (said) stuff. I don’t have to explain it to anyone.

Label, brand, “pedigree”, place of origin, age, finish…those things might influence my decisions to a certain degree, but (ultimately) don’t matter much, because a lot of my stuff wouldn’t pass muster based on those specs.

My favorite electric was made in Mexico.
My favorite acoustic was made in Korea.
My wife was born in Pennsylvania (bless her heart).
My best friend’s mother was a Russian immigrant who as a young child escaped the USSR and was raised (first) in London and (ultimately) in the Bronx, before settling in Mississippi, where he was born.

None of those thing detracted me from making them my “favorites”.

If it’s good, it’s good.

 

[teletimetx]

For a moment, I thought it was a train, but then the ‘shrooms wore off, and it was just a guitar.

Just a guitar.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

Despite having little street value as a parts guitar, my prize guitar is everything I want or expect it to be. Which proves, once again, that price tags mean little to the real value of a guitar. It’s all subjective.

 

[Silverface]

It's BETTER. And so are the other 10 or 12 on its level. I get offerd stupid money but refuse to sell....

 

[FuzzWatt]

View attachment 995997

A guy I worked with came into work one day with a Tele partscaster he'd spent a month or more "putting together". High quality parts.. MJT body, unmarked neck from some random ebay auction.

It was one of the worst Tele's I've ever played. A grade A turd.

I've long dreamed of doing an MJT build, but man, that guitar turned me off builds and I haven't yet had the want to go that route.

 

[bgmacaw]

A guy I worked with came into work one day with a Tele partscaster he'd spent a month or more "putting together". High quality parts.. MJT body, unmarked neck from some random ebay auction.

It was one of the worst Tele's I've ever played. A grade A turd.

I've long dreamed of doing an MJT build, but man, that guitar turned me off builds and I haven't yet had the want to go that route.

That is a problem with a partscaster build, you don't really know how it will turn out, even if you use ultra premium parts. That's why I do mine with low cost, high value, parts, such as used pickups or parts recycled for failed builds (mine or someone else's). Since the build itself is a lot of the fun to me, I'm less likely to be disappointed if my "ultimate" guitar doesn't pan out.

 

[Novak]

Seems like some of you prefer paragraphs? And here I thought I was being all hip by posting a non binary non biased non gender specific stream of consciousness guitar infused rambling musing???? Ah well, paragraphs it is!

Everyone seems to have some sort of bias, guitar players are no different, so after seeing many posts praising one make whilst deriding others, I offer my own take on this.

A few years back a well known and respected guitar magazine rounded up five notable players who for some reason or other "swore" by the strings they used, and asked them to participate in a "blind" string test as to which string they liked the best. Every single one of them picked and preferred, uh, wait for it, the D'Addario strings that were the same gauge as they were used to over their "perfect" other strings. Not one, not two, ALL five. Of the five two used D'Addario strings if I recollect correctly. This isn't a plug for D'Addario, it's just what the test revealed.

When I bought my first dreadnought, I had no bias back in 1976, I simply wanted the "best" guitar for the money I had to spend, $800 to $1000 in 1976 ( which could get you a good guitar back then ). I bought it according to how it felt, sounded, and played. It was an unknown name back then, and I picked it over a more expensive Guild and Martin, both of which I could have bought, and had they performed better to my ears and touch, I would have gladly walked away with either. I didn't. I still have that guitar to this day, and after some work, it's still as good and sounds better than any Martin I have played. I'm not saying the Martin's I've tried have been bad, they just haven't been as good for me as my original choice, and after 46 years of almost daily playing, it's safe to say it's held up very well indeed!

Luthiers come and go, and the same people are not building Martins, for example, that were in 1940. Or Taylors. Or most anything else. I have a 2017-18 Breedlove Oregon that plays like a $12,000 guitar! I don't know who actually made it, but it's as close to perfect as I've ever seen in every way.

Now I play classical as well so it's smaller than a dread which is one of the reasons I bought it. Most comfortable steel string I have. Doesn't sound like a Martin, isn't supposed to, but for what I use it for sounds better to my ears.

When I had to repair my 40 plus year old dread a few years ago ( refret neck set tuners etc.). I realized it was getting fragile so I was looking for a new one. Went to a specialty high end store where an amazing player was having a dilemma between a Collings and a Boucher ( I hadn't heard of either at the time ). He heard me play a bit and then asked me to play them both so he could give a listen from a ways back in the room.

Then we got to talking. He said if I was looking for a dread he'd let me buy the Boucher as he already had a good dread and I believe the Collings was a smaller auditorium style and he was actually looking for a smaller guitar to finger pick with. So he took the Collings and I took the Boucher but he was seriously considering the Boucher even though he had a good dread ( he didn't say what make it was ). There were numerous other well known "brands" there, all decent and high priced, which we also tried, but our consensus was the Collings and the Boucher were the best of the ones we tried.

Sound is a subjective thing, but what also stood out about those two guitars was their ease of playability and their obvious quality....they were a cut above the others. Case in point neither of us gave a hoot about the name on the headstock, we were looking for a tool to fill a certain niche, so it was all about the feel, response, playability, sustain, projection, and tone.I get loving what you have and wanting to think it's the best out there, especially if you dropped a lot of coin for it, but may I suggest that before you feel the urge to "dis" some other make that you may not have even tired, or that you're unfamiliar with, maybe you should take it for a test drive first.

I don't comment on anything I haven't tried or compared, so If I say something about any brand, it's just relating my own experience with that brand, however broad or limited that experience may be. Arguably the best red spruce comes from Canada, because it's where the Appalachians start ( or end, depending on your perspective ).

I say this because 1. it's true! ( the U.S. cut down almost all it's red spruce during world war 2 ( over 90 percent of it, so the oldest trees there are less than 80 years old and most occurs along the coast at close to sea level ) 2. Canadian red spruce forests are at a higher altitude ( 1000 to 1800 feet on average ) and have a longer, colder winter so the rings are straighter and closer together, which makes for a better sounding and stiffer top.

Boucher guitars makes most of the highend Adirondack soundboards in the world, so your AAAAA Adi top on your custom Collings, Bourgoise, Martin, or whatever was probably made by them. In fact, they only make around 400 guitars a year themselves and have four luthiers who just make Adi tops for others.........like Jack says in " A few good men "....." you can't handle the truth".....lol! Enjoy whatever you have and keep plucking, eh?!

I would offer to suggest that the model number stamped or written on the sticker in the soundhole, and the name on the headstock, is not nearly as important as the actual people who chose the wood and parts and put it together, whoever they were, and wherever those parts came from, eh?

Did you know D'Addario uses the best high quality German steel used for radial car and truck tyres?????? Thought so! lol!

 

[Novak]

Seems like some of you prefer paragraphs? And here I thought I was being all hip by posting a non binary non biased non gender specific stream of consciousness guitar infused rambling musing???? Ah well, paragraphs it is!

Everyone seems to have some sort of bias, guitar players are no different, so after seeing many posts praising one make whilst deriding others, I offer my own take on this.

A few years back a well known and respected guitar magazine rounded up five notable players who for some reason or other "swore" by the strings they used, and asked them to participate in a "blind" string test as to which string they liked the best. Every single one of them picked and preferred, uh, wait for it, the D'Addario strings that were the same gauge as they were used to over their "perfect" other strings. Not one, not two, ALL five. Of the five two used D'Addario strings if I recollect correctly. This isn't a plug for D'Addario, it's just what the test revealed.

When I bought my first dreadnought, I had no bias back in 1976, I simply wanted the "best" guitar for the money I had to spend, $800 to $1000 in 1976 ( which could get you a good guitar back then ). I bought it according to how it felt, sounded, and played. It was an unknown name back then, and I picked it over a more expensive Guild and Martin, both of which I could have bought, and had they performed better to my ears and touch, I would have gladly walked away with either. I didn't. I still have that guitar to this day, and after some work, it's still as good and sounds better than any Martin I have played. I'm not saying the Martin's I've tried have been bad, they just haven't been as good for me as my original choice, and after 46 years of almost daily playing, it's safe to say it's held up very well indeed!

Luthiers come and go, and the same people are not building Martins, for example, that were in 1940. Or Taylors. Or most anything else. I have a 2017-18 Breedlove Oregon that plays like a $12,000 guitar! I don't know who actually made it, but it's as close to perfect as I've ever seen in every way.

Now I play classical as well so it's smaller than a dread which is one of the reasons I bought it. Most comfortable steel string I have. Doesn't sound like a Martin, isn't supposed to, but for what I use it for sounds better to my ears.

When I had to repair my 40 plus year old dread a few years ago ( refret neck set tuners etc.). I realized it was getting fragile so I was looking for a new one. Went to a specialty high end store where an amazing player was having a dilemma between a Collings and a Boucher ( I hadn't heard of either at the time ). He heard me play a bit and then asked me to play them both so he could give a listen from a ways back in the room.

Then we got to talking. He said if I was looking for a dread he'd let me buy the Boucher as he already had a good dread and I believe the Collings was a smaller auditorium style and he was actually looking for a smaller guitar to finger pick with. So he took the Collings and I took the Boucher but he was seriously considering the Boucher even though he had a good dread ( he didn't say what make it was ). There were numerous other well known "brands" there, all decent and high priced, which we also tried, but our consensus was the Collings and the Boucher were the best of the ones we tried.

Sound is a subjective thing, but what also stood out about those two guitars was their ease of playability and their obvious quality....they were a cut above the others. Case in point neither of us gave a hoot about the name on the headstock, we were looking for a tool to fill a certain niche, so it was all about the feel, response, playability, sustain, projection, and tone.I get loving what you have and wanting to think it's the best out there, especially if you dropped a lot of coin for it, but may I suggest that before you feel the urge to "dis" some other make that you may not have even tired, or that you're unfamiliar with, maybe you should take it for a test drive first.

I don't comment on anything I haven't tried or compared, so If I say something about any brand, it's just relating my own experience with that brand, however broad or limited that experience may be. Arguably the best red spruce comes from Canada, because it's where the Appalachians start ( or end, depending on your perspective ).

I say this because 1. it's true! ( the U.S. cut down almost all it's red spruce during world war 2 ( over 90 percent of it, so the oldest trees there are less than 80 years old and most occurs along the coast at close to sea level ) 2. Canadian red spruce forests are at a higher altitude ( 1000 to 1800 feet on average ) and have a longer, colder winter so the rings are straighter and closer together, which makes for a better sounding and stiffer top.

Boucher guitars makes most of the highend Adirondack soundboards in the world, so your AAAAA Adi top on your custom Collings, Bourgoise, Martin, or whatever was probably made by them. In fact, they only make around 400 guitars a year themselves and have four luthiers who just make Adi tops for others.........like Jack says in " A few good men "....." you can't handle the truth".....lol! Enjoy whatever you have and keep plucking, eh?!

I would offer to suggest that the model number stamped or written on the sticker in the soundhole, and the name on the headstock, is not nearly as important as the actual people who chose the wood and parts and put it together, whoever they were, and wherever those parts came from, eh?

Did you know D'Addario uses the best high quality German steel used for radial car and truck tyres?????? Thought so! lol!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Lord, I was born a ramblin' man^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[msalama]

Short answer: yes

 

[leadplayer]

Seems like some of you prefer paragraphs? And here I thought I was being all hip by posting a non binary non biased non gender specific stream of consciousness guitar infused rambling musing???? Ah well, paragraphs it is!

Everyone seems to have some sort of bias, guitar players are no different, so after seeing many posts praising one make whilst deriding others, I offer my own take on this.

A few years back a well known and respected guitar magazine rounded up five notable players who for some reason or other "swore" by the strings they used, and asked them to participate in a "blind" string test as to which string they liked the best. Every single one of them picked and preferred, uh, wait for it, the D'Addario strings that were the same gauge as they were used to over their "perfect" other strings. Not one, not two, ALL five. Of the five two used D'Addario strings if I recollect correctly. This isn't a plug for D'Addario, it's just what the test revealed.

When I bought my first dreadnought, I had no bias back in 1976, I simply wanted the "best" guitar for the money I had to spend, $800 to $1000 in 1976 ( which could get you a good guitar back then ). I bought it according to how it felt, sounded, and played. It was an unknown name back then, and I picked it over a more expensive Guild and Martin, both of which I could have bought, and had they performed better to my ears and touch, I would have gladly walked away with either. I didn't. I still have that guitar to this day, and after some work, it's still as good and sounds better than any Martin I have played. I'm not saying the Martin's I've tried have been bad, they just haven't been as good for me as my original choice, and after 46 years of almost daily playing, it's safe to say it's held up very well indeed!

Luthiers come and go, and the same people are not building Martins, for example, that were in 1940. Or Taylors. Or most anything else. I have a 2017-18 Breedlove Oregon that plays like a $12,000 guitar! I don't know who actually made it, but it's as close to perfect as I've ever seen in every way.

Now I play classical as well so it's smaller than a dread which is one of the reasons I bought it. Most comfortable steel string I have. Doesn't sound like a Martin, isn't supposed to, but for what I use it for sounds better to my ears.

When I had to repair my 40 plus year old dread a few years ago ( refret neck set tuners etc.). I realized it was getting fragile so I was looking for a new one. Went to a specialty high end store where an amazing player was having a dilemma between a Collings and a Boucher ( I hadn't heard of either at the time ). He heard me play a bit and then asked me to play them both so he could give a listen from a ways back in the room.

Then we got to talking. He said if I was looking for a dread he'd let me buy the Boucher as he already had a good dread and I believe the Collings was a smaller auditorium style and he was actually looking for a smaller guitar to finger pick with. So he took the Collings and I took the Boucher but he was seriously considering the Boucher even though he had a good dread ( he didn't say what make it was ). There were numerous other well known "brands" there, all decent and high priced, which we also tried, but our consensus was the Collings and the Boucher were the best of the ones we tried.

Sound is a subjective thing, but what also stood out about those two guitars was their ease of playability and their obvious quality....they were a cut above the others. Case in point neither of us gave a hoot about the name on the headstock, we were looking for a tool to fill a certain niche, so it was all about the feel, response, playability, sustain, projection, and tone.I get loving what you have and wanting to think it's the best out there, especially if you dropped a lot of coin for it, but may I suggest that before you feel the urge to "dis" some other make that you may not have even tired, or that you're unfamiliar with, maybe you should take it for a test drive first.

I don't comment on anything I haven't tried or compared, so If I say something about any brand, it's just relating my own experience with that brand, however broad or limited that experience may be. Arguably the best red spruce comes from Canada, because it's where the Appalachians start ( or end, depending on your perspective ).

I say this because 1. it's true! ( the U.S. cut down almost all it's red spruce during world war 2 ( over 90 percent of it, so the oldest trees there are less than 80 years old and most occurs along the coast at close to sea level ) 2. Canadian red spruce forests are at a higher altitude ( 1000 to 1800 feet on average ) and have a longer, colder winter so the rings are straighter and closer together, which makes for a better sounding and stiffer top.

Boucher guitars makes most of the highend Adirondack soundboards in the world, so your AAAAA Adi top on your custom Collings, Bourgoise, Martin, or whatever was probably made by them. In fact, they only make around 400 guitars a year themselves and have four luthiers who just make Adi tops for others.........like Jack says in " A few good men "....." you can't handle the truth".....lol! Enjoy whatever you have and keep plucking, eh?!

I would offer to suggest that the model number stamped or written on the sticker in the soundhole, and the name on the headstock, is not nearly as important as the actual people who chose the wood and parts and put it together, whoever they were, and wherever those parts came from, eh?

Did you know D'Addario uses the best high quality German steel used for radial car and truck tyres?????? Thought so! lol!

Yes... I bought a Martin for a hefty price, I already had, don't laugh, a Bedell cutaway dread... which I bought in the dark based upon materials... Indian Rosewood sides and back and sitka spruce top and ebony fret board... I got the Martin with the same specs except that by then the fretboard was synthetic. After about 4 days I return the Martin, it just did not stack up to my Bedell, who BTW now owns Breedlove. Today's Bedells cost a fortune. Tom Bedell has an interesting history. For electric guitars I have a Fender Strat and a Tele... was never excited about these, I later got a G&L Fullerton Comanche, and a Fullerton ASAT, and a tribute Bluesboy... for me, they absolutely blow the fenders away. Should not be surprise, Leo Fender is who cerated these guitars after Fender, implementing his latest innovations into the G&Ls. I have a Gibson SG... the rake on Gibson headstock makes it tough to keep them in tune... so Gibson can keep their guitars as far as I am concerned.
I've spent a lot of time in guitar stores playing the different ones... two guitars of the same model and brand seldom sound alike, or play alike, so I completely agree that the name tag means squat. Up until the last few years price was not a clear indicator of quality, but now for example a rosewood back and sides guitar is hard to come by compared to 3 or 4 years ago... and priced almost twice as high.
If you can ever test drive a Yamaha A-series AC5R... I don't think you can get more guitar for the money, not even close.
I got a Yamaha 100% Koa Wood A4K several years back... they made 750 of these, and no longer. Wow... the fit and finish are unreal awesome... the setup was perfect out of the box and still is today. The sound is leaning toward a 100% maple 6 or a 12 string.
Well... said too much. But I do agree with you... forget brand names.

 

[Tricone]

Yes. Far superior actually. The truth and nothing but the truth.

 

[Johnnygdub]

All my guitars mean something to me. From my 41 year old Fender bullet that I bought new for about 300 euros to my 22 year old Gibson Les Paul standard Raw Power that I bought at the beginning of the pandemic for €1100 plus some labour and a 1tb SSD drive.

I have 5 more in between in cost. I like them all for different reasons.

I have enough now. Though I don't have a 12 string. So I'm holding myself at bay with the problem of whether I would get acoustic, electric or something in between......

 

[sloppychops]

 

[Endless Mike]

I like Santa...

 

[Johnnygdub]

I like Santa...

Na

 

[fenderchamp]

Seems like some of you prefer paragraphs? And here I thought I was being all hip by posting a non binary non biased non gender specific stream of consciousness guitar infused rambling musing???? Ah well, paragraphs it is!

Everyone seems to have some sort of bias, guitar players are no different, so after seeing many posts praising one make whilst deriding others, I offer my own take on this.

A few years back a well known and respected guitar magazine rounded up five notable players who for some reason or other "swore" by the strings they used, and asked them to participate in a "blind" string test as to which string they liked the best. Every single one of them picked and preferred, uh, wait for it, the D'Addario strings that were the same gauge as they were used to over their "perfect" other strings. Not one, not two, ALL five. Of the five two used D'Addario strings if I recollect correctly. This isn't a plug for D'Addario, it's just what the test revealed.

When I bought my first dreadnought, I had no bias back in 1976, I simply wanted the "best" guitar for the money I had to spend, $800 to $1000 in 1976 ( which could get you a good guitar back then ). I bought it according to how it felt, sounded, and played. It was an unknown name back then, and I picked it over a more expensive Guild and Martin, both of which I could have bought, and had they performed better to my ears and touch, I would have gladly walked away with either. I didn't. I still have that guitar to this day, and after some work, it's still as good and sounds better than any Martin I have played. I'm not saying the Martin's I've tried have been bad, they just haven't been as good for me as my original choice, and after 46 years of almost daily playing, it's safe to say it's held up very well indeed!

Luthiers come and go, and the same people are not building Martins, for example, that were in 1940. Or Taylors. Or most anything else. I have a 2017-18 Breedlove Oregon that plays like a $12,000 guitar! I don't know who actually made it, but it's as close to perfect as I've ever seen in every way.

Now I play classical as well so it's smaller than a dread which is one of the reasons I bought it. Most comfortable steel string I have. Doesn't sound like a Martin, isn't supposed to, but for what I use it for sounds better to my ears.

When I had to repair my 40 plus year old dread a few years ago ( refret neck set tuners etc.). I realized it was getting fragile so I was looking for a new one. Went to a specialty high end store where an amazing player was having a dilemma between a Collings and a Boucher ( I hadn't heard of either at the time ). He heard me play a bit and then asked me to play them both so he could give a listen from a ways back in the room.

Then we got to talking. He said if I was looking for a dread he'd let me buy the Boucher as he already had a good dread and I believe the Collings was a smaller auditorium style and he was actually looking for a smaller guitar to finger pick with. So he took the Collings and I took the Boucher but he was seriously considering the Boucher even though he had a good dread ( he didn't say what make it was ). There were numerous other well known "brands" there, all decent and high priced, which we also tried, but our consensus was the Collings and the Boucher were the best of the ones we tried.

Sound is a subjective thing, but what also stood out about those two guitars was their ease of playability and their obvious quality....they were a cut above the others. Case in point neither of us gave a hoot about the name on the headstock, we were looking for a tool to fill a certain niche, so it was all about the feel, response, playability, sustain, projection, and tone.I get loving what you have and wanting to think it's the best out there, especially if you dropped a lot of coin for it, but may I suggest that before you feel the urge to "dis" some other make that you may not have even tired, or that you're unfamiliar with, maybe you should take it for a test drive first.

I don't comment on anything I haven't tried or compared, so If I say something about any brand, it's just relating my own experience with that brand, however broad or limited that experience may be. Arguably the best red spruce comes from Canada, because it's where the Appalachians start ( or end, depending on your perspective ).

I say this because 1. it's true! ( the U.S. cut down almost all it's red spruce during world war 2 ( over 90 percent of it, so the oldest trees there are less than 80 years old and most occurs along the coast at close to sea level ) 2. Canadian red spruce forests are at a higher altitude ( 1000 to 1800 feet on average ) and have a longer, colder winter so the rings are straighter and closer together, which makes for a better sounding and stiffer top.

Boucher guitars makes most of the highend Adirondack soundboards in the world, so your AAAAA Adi top on your custom Collings, Bourgoise, Martin, or whatever was probably made by them. In fact, they only make around 400 guitars a year themselves and have four luthiers who just make Adi tops for others.........like Jack says in " A few good men "....." you can't handle the truth".....lol! Enjoy whatever you have and keep plucking, eh?!

I would offer to suggest that the model number stamped or written on the sticker in the soundhole, and the name on the headstock, is not nearly as important as the actual people who chose the wood and parts and put it together, whoever they were, and wherever those parts came from, eh?

Did you know D'Addario uses the best high quality German steel used for radial car and truck tyres?????? Thought so! lol!

I can't believe I've read this twice now.... I wasn't clued in again until I hit Boucher...

 

[mystichands]

I like all of my guitars, though my least expensive one, an old Yamaha FG110, which I found in a pawn shop for $75 years ago, is one of the best guitars I’ve ever played. Sure it’s not fancy, and I had to replace the tuners, but with light gauge silk and steels, it rivals my old Martin in tone, not volume!

 

[bcorig]

The most brilliant piece of...

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Seems like some of you prefer paragraphs?

?

Nothing wrong with paragraphs.

And here I thought I was being all hip by posting a non binary non biased non gender specific stream of consciousness guitar infused rambling musing????

????

Ah well, paragraphs it is!

So it seems.

Everyone seems to have some sort of bias, guitar players are no different, so after seeing many posts praising one make whilst deriding others, I offer my own take on this.

A few years back a well known and respected guitar magazine rounded up five notable players who for some reason or other "swore" by the strings they used, and asked them to participate in a "blind" string test as to which string they liked the best. Every single one of them picked and preferred, uh, wait for it, the D'Addario strings that were the same gauge as they were used to over their "perfect" other strings. Not one, not two, ALL five. Of the five two used D'Addario strings if I recollect correctly. This isn't a plug for D'Addario, it's just what the test revealed.

I usually use 'em. The industry standard.

. . . Luthiers come and go, and the same people are not building Martins, for example, that were in 1940. Or Taylors.

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a 1940s Taylor.

. . . like Jack says in " A few good men "....." you can't handle the truth".....lol!

Lol?

Enjoy whatever you have and keep plucking, eh?!

'Zackly!

. . . Did you know D'Addario uses the best high quality German steel used for radial car and truck tyres??????

??????

Thought so! lol!

Lol?

I agree. Better-made strings and better-built guitars sound better.