Would You Buy A Guitar You Love From A Brand You Don’t?

[Bluenose]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

Some folks need to read the thread! It’s a Dean.

Color my emoji red.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

Not on Iris. You must’ve missed the post where I revealed the maker: Dean.

So you have ANOTHER guitar company whose headstock you dislike?

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by jim1960

So you have ANOTHER guitar company whose headstock you dislike?

There are more than two.

[WFO!]

Dean <shiver>?? Put it down and slowly back away... LOL.

[mcduffnw]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

There are more than two.

Well, if the other one is Breedlove, the older pointed headstock shape, I would definitely give it another look/play because Breedlove made/makes some really fantastic guitars, especially IMO, the older ones from 1992 to 2012, and especially again, IMO, 1992 to 2001.


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[RussellHawaii]

You could change your name to ‘Dean’ and say you made it yourself! Just kidding…I would pass on it if I felt as you describe.
A couple times I bought a sunburst guitar against my better judgment ( I just don’t like them), and sold it soon after at a loss as I just never wanted to play it.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

How would you handle this situation?

If I LOVE the guitar, then I would buy it.

If a headstock is getting in my way, then I do NOT love it after all.

I suspect that you do not LOVE the specific guitar, but love some things about it and not others.
That equals LIKE in my book and I never buy an instrument I merely like.

[Monty Christo]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

There are more than two.

A lot more! I'm keeping a running list, and here's what I've got so far:

PRS, Recording King, Collings "haircut," D'Angelico, Seagull, Ovation, Dean, most Takamines, Olson, CF Martins with the big vertical "Martin" inlay, Washburn, anything with vines or a "tree of life," Benedetto, Gold Tone, large Epiphone, acoustic Fenders with a Strat headstock, Godin Multiac, and whatever this thing is:

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Monty Christo

A lot more! I'm keeping a running list, and here's what I've got so far:

PRS, Recording King, Collings "haircut," D'Angelico, Seagull, Ovation, Dean, most Takamines, Olson, CF Martins with the big vertical "Martin" inlay, Washburn, anything with vines or a "tree of life," Benedetto, Gold Tone, large Epiphone, acoustic Fenders with a Strat headstock, Godin Multiac, and whatever this thing is:

Wow, I really love the Collings haircut design, and I love those gawdy D’Angelicos too! To each his own, I suppose.

[CharlieBman]

I buy guitars for how they sound and make me feel. When I'm playing I'm not interested in how the guitar looks. So yeah, if the guitar got me there, it could be butt ugly and I wouldn't care.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

Here is my dilemma: I recently found a guitar in a shop that I absolutely love. It is from a brand that I do not like at all, and it has probably the ugliest headstock in the business. This is one of the reasons that I don’t like this particular brand of guitar. I cannot help it, I am a serious headstock snob!

I picked up this guitar, mainly out of curiosity and was completely blown away. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it. But I really do not like the way it looks, I hate the headstock shape, and don’t generally like the vibe of the brand that made it.

I am intentionally not listing the brand. I do not want to offend anyone that likes this brand, and I don’t want to color the discussion in any way regarding the brand.

How would you handle this situation?

Me ? I would either buy the guitar, then take a photo of a headstock I did like, size it correctly, and like Slimey said put it on piece of cardboard cut out the peg holes and tape it to the head stock .
Sure it will look a bit silly and artificial but that kinda matches the situation no ?

Or perhaps take a step back, objectively reevaluate my perspective and see what is the more important , looks or sound ? While considering music is an auditory art form, not a visual one But hey in the end ya gotta do what feels right

[Squirrel40]

Just don't let your friends see you playing an ugly guitar and you will be fine....

[BlueBowman]

Originally Posted by CharlieBman

I buy guitars for how they sound and make me feel. When I'm playing I'm not interested in how the guitar looks. So yeah, if the guitar got me there, it could be butt ugly and I wouldn't care.

Yeah, I'm mostly in this camp.

The headstock thing has never bothered me, because when I play I don't stare at the headstock unless to tune. And I also agree with Monty Christo about not liking the heavy vines and "tree of life." Both being on the fingerboard, you can't get away from them while playing (minus eyes closed), and that IS very distracting for me.

[abn556]

To the OP - my answer is no. I tried to do this numerous times and the doubt about the brand always caused me to end up selling the guitar in the end. This most recently happened with an E10SS. There was nothing wrong with the guitar, but in my mind I kept thinking “it can’t be that good - its Chinese”.

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by abn556

To the OP - my answer is no. I tried to do this numerous times and the doubt about the brand always caused me to end up selling the guitar in the end. This most recently happened with an E10SS. There was nothing wrong with the guitar, but in my mind I kept thinking “it can’t be that good - its Chinese”.

This thread has actually been very helpful and I’ve decided to pass on the guitar. If I’m going to spend the money and expect to enjoy playing it, I need to really love it on every level.

I don’t want to start a China-bashing thing, and I do believe it’s possible to talk about such matters without everything going sideways, but I mostly feel the same about a guitar made in China. I say “mostly,” because if it’s an Eastman it seems like its own thing and strikes me as more legitimate. But if it’s a big name brand and was subbed out and made in a Chinese factory so it would cost less, that kind of ruins it for me and I can never fully take the instrument seriously. I feel somewhat the same though not as strongly if it’s made in Indonesia, Korea, etc. It’s not “country of origin” as much as it seems like a fake product simply made to cost less. But a company like Eastman has their own shop, builds by hand, etc. Seems different to me. YMMV.

I know this stuff is discussed ad nauseam…