Is your skill/talent matched to your guitars?

[TKT]

Originally Posted by WindChaser

So, i need to be a really good driver to justify purchasing a Ferrari?

Actually probably you should be if you are the driver. I live in the Ferrari capital of the USA, and traffic is too bad to find much room to let it stretch it's legs; the cars are so short they are difficult to see in traffic, and you'll seldom get out of second gear, never mind being able to actually get in and out of the car with any grace, lol. So when you do stomp on it you really need to know how to handle that many horses in such a light body.

My family used to sell Ferraris, Maseratis, and Lamborghinis, and the men all raced.

A very pricey guitar on the other hand isn't likely to get you or someone else killed in your own living room.

Well, I'm good and I have good guitars, so yeah.

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

My skill/talent far exceeds my guitars, simply because they can't do anything unless I make them do it. Without me, they are absolutely mute. It is me and my skills that bring out their music...

Exactly. My ability - drives/controls the instrument. If someone says "that guitar sounds fantastic", I say, "thank you" because I know what they mean.

I'm a decent journeyman guitarist, what my old band mates use to call a "utility player." My decent journeyman utility guitars reflect this quite well, I think.

[bitraker]

I don't know, my guitars aren't talkin'

and if they are, they ain't telling...

[dwasifar]

This poll lacks intermediate steps. I would probably choose "My guitars slightly exceed my skill/talent," if that were an option. And I think that's the optimum place to be. If your instrument is right at your skill level, you've hit the ceiling with it. I want the instrument to be at least somewhat better than I am, to give me room (and motivation) to grow into it.

[vindibona1]

I dunno. My guitars are wonderful. My playing? In process.

I think it is easy to become confused by such a broad question. The quality of an instrument may or may not have anything to do with your skill or ability, but may in fact have a lot to do with ALLOWING you to perform certain types of music more musically.

As an example, I've been working on some Tommy Emmanuel tunes in the past year or so. And while my Martin and Taylor are great guitars, I find it a bit difficult to play some of the TE stuff cleanly, especially on the Taylor. Then I pick up my Alvarez Yairi DY77 which has a slimmmer neck and find it easier to get some of the fingerings down more cleanly. Playing his stuff on electric seems like half the effort.

In general , I can't answer if my guitars are better than my ability or vice versa. Perhaps a little of both?

[FrankHudson]

I get the idea that the OP is a skeptic regarding the premise. I hold with the large portion of the responses that say the premise, and the question arising from it, misses the point of making music.

I use guitars to make music. I like different sounds, or even the different feels of different guitars. Music, of course being art, doesn't care about "talent" in any way that can be scored, like sports skills or stats. It's deeply subjective. That's not say the ability to do certain things either from practice, or inherent biological skills doesn't enter into it, it's just not the point. Often in art we like pieces that emphasize, perhaps even simplify, some aspect of the musical palette.

If we had only music from those with the greatest set of musical skills, we'd have much less music, including much music that many here treasure.

[cisco7]

Originally Posted by bitraker

and if they are, they ain't telling...

Yeah, very true

[Slothead56]

OH, heavens no. My guitars are much better than my playing deserves. However, they are a great match for how well I sing.

[BoneDigger]

My guitars match my budget, not my skill level. The guitars could sound much better with an expert, but it means nothing to me. I can afford them and I enjoy hearing pleasing tones when I'm lucky enough to play something correctly.

[geelinus]

Absolutely!!!

My guitars are made of wood -- and folks insist that my performances are also quite wooden. . .

[JeffreyAK]

I used to see similar sorts of debates/discussions/attitudes on motorcycle forums, regarding sportbikes. You must have a certain level of skill to ride a particular bike and even wear particular gear, and if you ride/wear that stuff and some yahoo on a Ninja 250 wearing shorts and flip-flops is faster than you down Highway 9, you simply suck and deserve public humiliation. I never really saw guitars in the same light, since a guitar is simply a musical instrument and either plays and sounds nice in your hands, or not. Tying skill with powerful cars and especially motorcycles at least makes some sense, since you can kill yourself and others driving and riding them, but guitars?

[BoneDigger]

My other answer would be that the guitars themselves are talentless, which matches my playing perfectly.

[alien]

This is one of those questions where there is neither a right nor a wrong answer. Tell me...What middle class parent is going to buy their child an "expensive" beginner guitar? You put the price on what "expensive" is. When I was 12 years old(1968) and learning to play guitar, I had a crappy, cheap beginner guitar. There wasn't much to choose from and that's what my parents could afford. My older brother on the other hand, worked a summer job and had some money saved up. He bought a guitar with his own money- a Martin D18. Was it "better than his skill level"? At that time...probably! But the big difference is that HE bought it. Not our parents. And even this poorly skilled, 12 year old beginner could hear and tell the difference in the 2 guitars. I thought the Martin played a lot easier too! I didn't get my easy-to-play guitar until I was about 21 and bought it myself. Apparently there was a pattern in my family.

Jump ahead a few decades. At least now, parents can buy a fairly decent "beginner" guitar, and pony up the 30-40 bucks for a decent set up so it's easy to play and voila! At least the beginner has a fighting chance of learning and staying with it.

Now the whole point of that rambling is this. What if the beginner is a full grown wage earning, tax paying, got money burning a whole in my pocket adult? We, at times, tend to compare that new guitarist with the 12 year old whose mom and dad just bought them a guitar. Very different. As adults we can buy what we want, when we want, as many times as we want. Unless we are taking money away from our families, I see no problem. Buy and spend as much as necessary to make you happy. I believe someone mentioned earlier...My guitars match my budget.