Anyone play their 'beater' guitar more than their main guitar?

[wreckmarkT]

I paid big bucks to enjoy my fine instruments.......so, I do.


...so, to answer your question, no.

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

I seem to get the same enjoyment out of playing my cheap
guitar as I do my expensive guitar.
Just wondering how many else do also?

The wording of the OP takes the words "beater" and "main guitar" out of the equation, and asks about "enjoyment". (see a suggested alternate thread title above)

When looked at this way, I think it poses a very thought provoking and interesting question.

I enjoy playing, and play, my old Harmony guitars more than my other, newer guitars, and they were both less expensive than all my newer guitars. This despite the fact that the tonewoods used back in the '60s to make the Harmonys would probably cost a fortune today.

I'd say my appreciation and preference for the Harmony guitars is really more a reflection of the insane quality/price value of those guitars than of my preference for "cheaper" guitars.

[Steelhead]

Guilty! Maybe, because I just acquired my GS mini-e Koa, but I have a nice collection of high end wood that might sit for a few days while I bang away at my GS Mini...

[Pitar]

I have a few guitars; one classical, one steel string and one cross-over. They have different purposes and I play them regularly. No beaters, no favorites.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

No. I play my nicer guitars at every opportunity. Pull out the beater for travel, camping...and that's about it.

Ditto...though in my case "nicer guitars" would be in the singular. And I spend a couple days a week on the ranch, so my "beater" gets played lots.

[ewalling]

I don't have a 'beater,' but I do have a relatively inexpensive all-solid wood Seagull Mini-Jumbo. Maybe there's greater inconsistency with cheaper models, but there are some gems to be had in the lower price bracket if we're lucky and/or choose wisely. This guitar has convinced me that some all-solid wood guitars for less than $1,000 can compare extremely favorably with instruments costing a lot more. I don't know if I play the Seagull quite as much as my two more expensive ones, but I still play it a lot, and I don't feel I am playing a 'cheap' guitar when I am playing it.

[Doxyshusband]

I try to play every day and usually play 2-3 of my guitars. When I do. Probably not a good way to progress, it's like when you're in a guitar store. I almost always play my Guild dread, though, which was bought as a beater but has grown on me. I love the size, I love the sound. I paid only 300 for it. It is sensitive to dry heat, very sensitive, so I have to treat it as carefully as my other guitars, but I just like it. Something is telling me I have to sell 3-4 of the others and upgrade further to an HD-28 or something in that league because my Guild seems to close in on the other guitars at times. Of course, I am a clumsy player so I can't say I get the best my better guitars can give. My wife owns a guitar that clears space between itself and everything else we own, a Gibson Emmylou Harris model. I guess when I play that, I don't want to switch back. But then I have to give it back. You know..😊 it's hers.

[Hyoung]

Obviously "beater" is relative. A few years back I got a Martin DSR-GC as a beater, and it's a fine instrument in its own right. The action on this particular guitar is so great that I just love to pay it. Sure the other guitars get a lot of play as well, but the DSR has exceeded expectations.

[swsman]

No for me. I do enjoy playing my inexpensive nylon string Yamaha, but I am a steel string player at heart - Taylor just delivers in spades, great do-it-all guitar. That neck just plays itself - what sold me on it in the first place.

[ifret]

All mine get equal play. They all have their purpose. My nice ones don't get taken to neighborhood jams, so I do pick and choose what they are exposed to.

[Silly Moustache]

I don't really get the concept of a "beater". I do have one guitar, my oldest Collings which has some battle scars and I use this one for events or gigs where I'm not sure about the condition ... is that what you'd call a "beater?"

Usually matters are fairly much in my control so I take the instruments that will best suit the gig/occasion. Some get played more than others - one a sitka/hog dread has a power ant tone that has been reserved for the bluegrass band - but the band has disbanded so - not sure of the direction for that one.

[nedray]

I know a guy whose only guitar is a no-nake 12-string dread that he bought new 30 years ago for $50. Plays and sounds great and he plays it in church every week. I once told him I was considering a used Martin OM21, selling used for $1200 at the time, to use for a beater, and he just looked at me. Kinda makes you reevaluate the whole GAS thing...or it should.

[Ed C.]

Early in my playing days I had an inexpensive Harmony that I really liked the set up/action. It was much easier to play than my nicer Gibson at the time even though the tone was not as nice.

Fast forward purchasing very nice guitars. When auditioning a guitar, the neck has to fit my hands and I'll spend the money to have it set up as I like it. The guitar much have both playability and tone (that I like) to get purchased.

So, in a very round about way my answer was yes the beater got played when I was young, it taught me what I liked and now the answer is no (by default, I don't have a beater now, anyway).

[Fatstrat]

This is an interesting thread to me. Because after decades of playing cheaper guitars and wishing for better ones. I finally reached the financial point where I could get the guitars I wanted. Only to find that they really didn't enhance my enjoyment of playing all that much.
Sure they're louder, project better and have better tone. But it's been over a decade since I last played anywhere other than in my living room or a campsite. So I don't really need loudness & projection. In fact I usually play while others are watching TV, so I play softly. Mostly w/just my fingers and no pick. As far as tone, I do notice & enjoy the better tones of my upper tier guitars. But I could easily get by with just my cheapo Epiphone.
My #1. priority now is playability. And the Epiphone has it just fine. In fact better than my Gibson.
Someone said "If you don't play the high dollar guitars, why have them? Why not just sell them?" And I have actually considered this.
But to me it like telling your Grandmother, "If you don't use the good china every day, why not get rid of it?" The answer obviously is because even if I don't use it every day, I still enjoy having it. And the option to use it if I choose. They're not eating or costing me anything. And they're not losing value. And if time comes that need the money, they're there. Kind of an investment.
Personally in my experience there is way too much guitar snobbery going on here. And while I understand it, way to much GASing by people who THINK having an expensive instrument will greatly enhance their ability and enjoyment.
A high dollar guitar will not make you a better player. But it can I suppose enhance your enjoyment. If only slightly. The key is in what your use of it is.
What I have learned from nearly 50 years now of playing guitar is that the dollar amount invested doesn't have a high degree of enhancement on my enjoyment of playing "in my situation". I enjoy PLAYING my $100. (I actually only paid $60. for it used) Epiphone just as much as I enjoy playing my Martin. And the only difference is in the 1st few hours when the difference in tone is most evident. After I get accustomed to the tone of either, the playing enjoyment is largely the same. It's the ability to change and experience the changes in tone that bring me the enjoyment of having different tier guitars. But I can enjoy playing ANY well set up guitar fairly equally. It's YOU that makes the difference. Not the guitar. A cheap guitar played well can sound AMAZING.
And it's always been that way. I've always strived to have the best that I could afford. And certainly found that I liked the tones of some guitars more than others. But I believe that experience has taught me that you don't have spend $1K (or more) to enjoy playing guitar. There have ALWAYS, (at least since the 1970's) been affordable guitars that YOU can make sound GREAT.

[jimcaleca]

In the winter, low humidity months my main guitar will be cased up. I do have a humidifier in my guitar room, but still don't leave it out. The beater, or beaters will hang on the wall all year round, which equates to easy access and more playing time..