Have you ever been really disappointed with a guitar you bought?

[Captaincranky]

Oh what the hell, I just remembered I had a spectacular lemon.

I had an Ovation 1157 "Anniversary" built for me. They start off with a 40% upcharge for a left hand build.

Well, the builder put enough of whatever clear coat they were using on, to almost totally immobilize the top. When I finally got the action down to where I wanted it, the saddle was barely peeking above the bridge.

And then it was, "mellow". Actually mellow to the point where even after I stuffed 80/20 strings on it, it still put me to sleep. Bah, that was likely due to the ice skating rink depth of the top finish.

[muscmp]

never disappointed with any guitar i bought, however, probably my best sounding guitar, an hd28, is difficult to play very long due to bursitis in my shoulder. so i do exercises for both shoulders, arms, hands and fingers, and, start out with a smaller guitar to warm me up.

maybe i need to be torrified or attach a tonerite to me so i open up. ha!

play music!

[Zorker]

A used 2008 Martin D-18VS. The guitar was good but the owner/seller dumped bad cologne over the smoke stench as a cover up and denied it (other issues undisclosed too). I got it smelling OK, but had to sell it for these reasons.

Originally Posted by Captaincranky

Right! Save for the fact that stores within your shopping radius would have to stock the guitar you wanted, and have multiple copies of it for you to compare.

For example, if you live in Cleveland, it would be beyond impractical to drive to Australia to audition the largest selection of Cole Clarks.

This is probably why you shouldn't "want" a guitar you've never heard in person Cranky.

[Captaincranky]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

This is probably why you shouldn't "want" a guitar you've never heard in person Cranky.

Which in turn forces you to accept only what is available. And agreed, that can create a lose/lose scenario.

I'm forced to the web and the mail for my instruments, (left handed handi-capable).

That said, sometimes I have to bite the bullet, and search for the "angels of my new guitar's better nature", rather than nitpicking its flaws.

Either that, or make up my mind to shop lo locally, and have the finest and most expansive collection, of unplayed, left handed, black Squire Stratocasters, in the free world.

Originally Posted by Captaincranky

Which in turn forces you to accept only what is available. And agreed, that can create a lose/lose scenario.

I'm forced to the web and the mail for my instruments, (left handed handi-capable).

That said, sometimes I have to bite the bullet, and search for the "angels of my new guitar's better nature", rather than nitpicking its flaws.

Either that, or make up my mind to shop lo locally, and have the finest and most expansive collection, of unplayed, left handed, black Squire Stratocasters, in the free world.

I never told you to play the guitar the wrong way around now did I? Honestly I do feel for you left handed players. You're lucky if you find even one left handed guitar in a store. I've only seen a few in the past 30 years of going to music stores. There are some left handed only stores though like Southpaw Guitars https://www.southpawguitars.com/ but you would have to travel to visit one I assume.

Edit: I found this as well. Not sure if you've seen it before: http://leftyfretz.com/left-handed-gu...ore-directory/

[tseliot]

Originally Posted by Rmz76

Sorry for the rant. I know I shouldn't care what people do with their money or how they feel about these things, but I hate that ignorance is causing players to spend more for "higher end" acoustics when they should just be judging their guitar candidates with their ears and hands. IMO if you haven't progressed to the point that you can use your ears and hands to pick a good guitar for what you need to do with a guitar then you should really consider the reasons why your spending all that money on an upgrade in the first place. I

I see no rant here. It's something most of us have probably gone through, and I agree with your conclusions. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this when largely unmotivated GAS hits

[jaybones]

No, never. Gotten a free acoustic that I was disappointed that wasn't in better condition or a better brand. But, then again the price was right.

Guess I haven't bought enough yet!

[aknow]

Yes, 1995 new Gibson Gospel.. What a dull sounding, difficult to play guitar, even after a good set-up. Total junk.

[Guitar1083]

My D-41

[Big-Al]

Well . . . most guitars I've owned wind up with something that bugs me . . . like perhaps a minor wolf note or two, or a couple of odd notes on the unwound strings, or some stray dissonant overtones when playing certain chords in certain positions, or lack of headroom, etc. . . . so yes, in that regard, pretty much every guitar I've owned has been kind of a dud. I play them anyway, and some of them sound great to everyone else but me. Yeah, I'm kind of OCD.

I owned a plywood Chinese maple jumbo for a few years that didn't have anything I found annoying . . . but it was a cheap Chinese plywood guitar with tone that was quite good, but not exceptional. I sold it to buy something nicer. I tried to convince myself that I really deserved a better guitar. I bought one that cost five times more. It really is a better guitar in almost every way. It has very rich and complex tone and it is a sight to behold, but it does have couple of notes I find a little harsh. In retrospect, I should have hung onto the Chinese cheapie. It didn't annoy me.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Bought a 414ce from one of you guys....bright, thin, harsh. Changed strings, bone nut.....still dead....sold it in a week. Bought a GA4 from one of you....same thing.....sold in a week.

[SFCRetired]

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

Bought a 414ce from one of you guys....bright, thin, harsh. Changed strings, bone nut.....still dead....sold it in a week. Bought a GA4 from one of you....same thing.....sold in a week.

You can't buy anymore guitars from us.

[MBE]

I had a Taylor BTO a few years ago that was beautiful, but the worst-sounding acoustic I owned. It didn't last long.

[Brucebubs]

Interesting thread. So far we have a fairly mixed assortment of guitars that have been disappointing for various reasons.
2 Gibson Gospels but the winner is 5 Taylor 400 series guitars.
My own 422 then a 410 and 412 and 2 x 414ce's.