Did you ever get haunted by a guitar you played you had to go back and buy it

Frusciante · #1 01-07-2013, 12:20 AM

I haven't bought a new guitar at retail in probably 7 years. I prefer used as the value is much greater. A week or so ago I was looking at a excellent condition used Taylor 314 for 600 bucks. and while I was at the guitar store I played pretty much everything on the wall including several Gibsons a bunch of very nice Martins and an 814ce, a 414ce and a couple of 314ce.

One of the 314ce's i picked up sounded like I had a just doubled up a guitar part. The string to string definition the deep lows and clear highs gave the guitar this big open piano like tone. Still the used 314 sounded very nice had a more mid focused almost Martin like tone so I figured for 600 how can I go wrong.

I put the crazy good 314ce back on the wall and left with the used 314

A week goes by i can't get that 314ce out of my head. I go by a couple of other guitar stores try a few more 314ces. Maybe they all have that magic and I can just pick up one used. No not quite that same 3d tone.

So I go back to the store with the beautiful sounding 314ce. Play a couple dozen guitars again. This 314ce still has that magic. So I'm thinking I'm going to regret this if I let this one go. Walked out with a new Taylor. Now I have 1 new and one new to me Taylor's when I was originally looking for a 000-18' Martin

Anyone else have a similar story

Roselynne · #2 01-07-2013, 12:42 AM

I know it's going to happen someday. But the closest so far was a '73 Yamaha Taiwan-made cedar-top dread I alllmooost bought, but I found the Seagull instead. The Yamaha languished in the store for several months more, and though I knew I'd made the right choice, I felt vaguely sad every time I saw it. I take lessons in that store, so I got to "visit" it every week. It finally found a home, but I sort of miss it.

Some things are meant to be, and others are not. I'm glad your 314ce waited for you.

ResoN · #3 01-07-2013, 12:54 AM

I have done that twice. The first was Tacoma mahogany 00 size, I can't recall the model number. I thought about it for about a week and when I got back to that town again I found that the music store still had it. I bought it and played it for many years. It was a great little guitar.

The second was a Goodall mahogany concert, I called and had it shipped to me the next day. I now have a Gooddall CJ rosewood also.

Andymcdandy · #4 01-07-2013, 01:02 AM

The Martin 00-28VS haunted me for the longest time... but the ghost of guitars past neglected to put the funds into my pocket to take it home .....

I did go back and play it about 8 times though! Haha

Shawnglory · #5 01-07-2013, 01:17 AM

Lakewood M52 a year back. I was in the market for a new guitar after 11 years of no purchase and after playing that I fell in love all over again and decided to quit my day job and sit at home instead (no i still have steady income coming in). I didn't have enough in my wallet at that time so I decided to come back the day after. Sadly though it wasn't there anymore so yeah. That led to a series of other events but the next time I see one on a shelf, I'm grabbing it right off the bat.

Frusciante · #6 01-07-2013, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andymcdandy

The Martin 00-28VS haunted me for the longest time... but the ghost of guitars past neglected to put the funds into my pocket to take it home .....

I did go back and play it about 8 times though! Haha

Well Andy looking at your sig I'd say given the collection of guitars you have there are more than several that you can pick up and feel less sad.

Huckleberry · #7 01-07-2013, 03:34 AM

Yes, it was a Collings OM1. I played it on a random visit to a store, and it kept me awake for two nights - I had to go back and buy it.

I sold it a couple of years later to be get my Hamblin. It's the only guitar I've ever sold that I really miss - though I do not regret getting my superb Hamblin one bit. I will definitely own another OM1 sometime, though.

Silly Moustache · #8 01-07-2013, 04:10 AM

I had a thing about geting a Gibson L-1 - y'kn ow the suposed Robert Johnson model, only not the new re-issiue.

I got a call from a nearby storewho said come over quickly and see this !

I picked up this 1929 ish Gbison and it took me over - it played me, and tunes were coming out that I'd never played before - it was actually spookey - but wonderful !

"How much?" I asked "£6000" ($11500) - I put it down. It sold the next day. I still think about that magic guitar.

Michael Watts · #9 01-07-2013, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I had a thing about geting a Gibson L-1 - y'kn ow the suposed Robert Johnson model, only not the new re-issiue.

I got a call from a nearby storewho said come over quickly and see this !

I picked up this 1929 ish Gbison and it took me over - it played me, and tunes were coming out that I'd never played before - it was actually spookey - but wonderful !

"How much?" I asked "£6000" ($11500) - I put it down. It sold the next day. I still think about that magic guitar.

Yeah, me too...

There are a couple of instruments out there that have stayed with me... I can still remember how they felt to hold... the sound... the response...

kdn · #10 01-07-2013, 05:38 AM

funny how these things get us...
i went in for a pack of strings for my then Martin D18, & spotted a Martin D12-20 hanging on the wall (dont remember the year)
action was good, saddle looked ok, did a G run & chord & BY GOLLY!
that was the 12 string sound id been hunting for.
i strummed a little more, picked a little more & gave it back to my luthier.
paid for my strings & left.
couldent scrape up even a little for a down payment. i had to leave without it.
it sold a few weeks later
ive picked on a couple D12-20s since & neither of them had that sound.
been haunted by it ever since.
it happens. maybe i'll be a little more stable financially next time i run into another one that speaks to me

Joboxer · #11 01-07-2013, 05:45 AM

Mine was a Martin 000-16RB Babyface. Played it, thought about it for a weekend, went back and it was gone. I've tried subsequent others, none having same mojo.

YamaYairi · #12 01-07-2013, 07:32 AM

I was in Timeless Guitars in Parma, OH (my favorite used guitar shop) looking for an electric guitar. Upstairs he has all electrics, downstairs is all acoustic. I bought an Epiphone Sheraton, and then checked out downstairs. He had a Yamaha L6 there that just sang so beautifully. Went back up and asked the price. $350 with a HSC! Went home, sold some stuff and came back a few weeks later, luckily it was still there and I bought it.
Another time I went in there shopping for a "camping guitar." He had a Jester guitar. Never heard of it but I picked it up and played it. It is a smaller guitar, probably 00, and just had amazing tone. Very light, seems to be a copy of a pre-war Martin. But it needed a neck reset and he wanted $450 for it so I put it back. That's the one that haunts me.

rmyAddison · #13 01-07-2013, 07:49 AM

Usually I don't get haunted because if a guitar really grabs me I buy it. But years ago a D-18GE haunted me but I was worried I cound not handle the neck, back then I preferred 1-11/16" nut and low profile.

Every time I went to my GC I would play that GE and fall in love with it, and finally I took the plunge. Ironically after some adjustment I grew to prefer the wider nut and got used to the Mod V profile. Now all my 1-11/16" nut Martins are long gone and I've bought nothing but 1-3/4" nuts for many years.

To me GE's are still one of the best series (dread, OM and 000) Martin has ever offered....

jlwoodall · #14 01-07-2013, 07:58 AM

I had the opposite problem. I played a Morgan and Monroe slope shoulder dread and it was incredible. It was nothing but laminate back and sides,but I sat their and compared it to 3-4 other Martins and it blew them out of the water. The price tag... $150! I didn't have any cash so I went home without it. A couple days later I realized my mistake and went back to pick it up... It was gone.

I'll never let that happen again!

dirkronk · #15 01-07-2013, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I had a thing about geting a Gibson L-1 - y'kn ow the suposed Robert Johnson model, only not the new re-issiue.

Mine WAS the reissue Robert Johnson L-1. One showed up used over a year ago at a nearby shop. I was just starting to get serious about buying a new instrument after my 30-year hiatus from guitar playing, and wasn't at all ready to let go of the kind of bucks they wanted for it (though nothing close to the price of the original YOU saw and played). Also, I'd realized that I needed a wider nut and wasn't sure the RJ's 1-23/32" was going to be quite wide enough for my fingers, which were still feeling old and fat after so many years away from a fretboard. Thing is, the darn guitar really did haunt me. Amazing sound for such a small body, picked or strummed, beautiful build and finish. Wound up going back to see it twice...first time I was still waffling about the price, and second time it was long gone.

Dirk