Great Sounding but Uncomfortable OR Weaker Tone but Perfect Feel

[LesRose]

I love music - it makes me feel good when it sounds good.
If the sound is bad, it's bad.
If it's different, can adapt.

If it hurts to make the sound then I am not happy.

Bottom line- "if you ain't feelin' it you ain't playin' "

If it feels good, do it - if not - move on.

[Basalt Beach]

I passed on voting because, if those were the only two offerings, I would not buy.

My ears and hands decide together, one does not win out over the other.

[VTexan]

...because its neck is too small for my finger picking. But I love the look of it, and it's a better strumming guitar than my Martin. But that Taylor's been calling and one's got to go.

[brencat]

Playability #1

What good is great tone if you're fighting the instrument every time you pick it up??

[JonHBone]

I voted feel. I sound my best when I'm playing my best. But If I were in a tight spot and had to pick one (which is what youre asking) it's comfort/feel for sure.

[Jim Owen]

The more I practice, the better I sound.

The more comfortable I am playing, the more I practice.

[stormin1155]

No need to play that game. There are lots of great sounding and great playing guitars to choose from. If forced to choose, I'd pick the better sounding one, because I know I can make just about any guitar play well.

[Warrenaines]

Tone all the way in this hypo. I can get used to a neck/string spacing I don't care so much for at first, as long as it's not something terrible for me it will likely even bring out a lot of different things in my playing.

A body shape that's not instantly perfect would be a harder choice, though still tone all the way at this point. I'm wary of all the stories of people who gave up dreads because of pain, and I've had some pain (not the good kind), but working on ways to play it pain free becuase I love the tone so much, seems to be improving so far, we shall see, it's a journey

[Goodallboy]

Not really a surprise as to the results.

Based on comments from tuners to strings it's pretty clear that the majority of AGF members prefer feel over sound.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

Two guitars in the $2000 range. You can only choose one:

(a) a guitar with glorious, piano-like tone but with a neck carve and string spacing you don't care for.
(b) a guitar with a tone that lacks the complexity of the other -- but it fits your hand like a glove made of buttered leather.

Or to put in another way:

On (a) You sound your best.
On (b) You play your best.

You can't have both. Please vote your choice.

When I go to hear play, and your music grabs my attention, the guitar sound won't be why. You'll be able to leave your best musical impression when you feel most comfortable.
HE

[djg]

"glorious, piano-like tone" -- meh, not in a guitar -- that's what we have the piano for.

Like others, I'd just keep looking. I suppose I could do a scaled-back version of this and say that I have gone for tone where the tone really struck me but the neck carve didn't seem great. But "didn't seem great" here is not meant to reflect any sort of apparent problem. At this point it's hard to imagine buying a guitar where the neck carve and string spacing really didn't seem to work for me. What's easier to imagine is getting the feel wrong -- there are things that very obviously don't work right off the bat; and there are things that seem likely to be a problem; but I can well imagine a neck that seems fine and workable for a half-hour audition or so that doesn't work in the long run, with longer stretches of playing time.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Not really a surprise as to the results.

Based on comments from tuners to strings it's pretty clear that the majority of AGF members prefer feel over sound.

Well, in the early stages the votes were slightly skewed the other way and have bounced around a lot. Still could change course I guess?? (BTW - I voted feel too.)

[SJ VanSandt]

I voted feel. I'm assuming that these are the last two guitars in the world and I'm down to my last $2000. The range of guitars I'm comfortable with turns out to be pretty narrow, particularly regarding nut width and string spacing. Scale length and neck profile are important to me too. I have to go with feel. Besides, I haven't run across many $2000 guitars that didn't sound at least passable, nor have I encountered that many that sound phenomenal, so I'm assuming that the one that sounds better is not worlds better.

[Sesop]

Originally Posted by VTexan

Having two grand to drop on a guitar.

But let's turn the poll on its ears:
"Why would I have to ask a bunch of strangers which guitar to buy?"

There's only one answer:
1. Because I'm choosing the wrong guitar.

When you find the right one...you won't have to ask.

I think that sums it up. Conversely, my J45 TV is easily the best all around sounding guitar in the history of the world, but the dread size is too big for me to play comfortably. So I have my Bacon & Day, which is ever so slightly less loud with ever so slightly less bass response, but it fits like a buttered leather glove or whatever the analogy was that someone used earlier. So I guess maybe I'd say get both even though you seem clear that that's not an option.

[DesertTwang]

Neither. I keep looking. There are simply way too many guitars out there, fitting every budget, to not have both. Especially if I had $2,000 to spend. All of my guitars are great in both categories, and all of them cost less than that. To me, it'd be like trying to decide between two (but no more!) women to date and/or marry. Makes no sense. Too many fish in the sea.