Your 'Favourite' Guitar?

[brensec]

Is your favourite guitar your favourite because of it's playability, tonal qualities or another aspect?

I have a favourite guitar (both acoustic and electric) and I'd have to say that 'playability' is the hands down feature that makes them my 'favourite', simply because I enjoy playing them, more so than my other guitars. However, tonal quality is another aspect that is very important to me and the one acoustic (my Yamaha Jumbo, below) that plays beautifully for me, is also the best as far as tone is concerned.

Not so, with my favourite electric. The Epi Casino is set up beautifully, for me, and I enjoy playing it and I did think the tonal quality was also the best. However, I recently acquired a Sheraton and I have finally found an electric that, to me, has a better sound to my ear but the playability is, at least at the moment, not as comfortable as the Casino.

What so with your 'favourite'? Do you, in fact, have one?

[Rosewood99]

All three combined.

[KevinH]

Taylor 522, equally because of its ease of play and it's tonal qualities. I don't think I'd keep a guitar that was too far from one end or the other.

[Silly Moustache]

I have a fair collectin of guitars and I bought all of them for specific purposes,(or some carefully constructed reasons) and they all give me great pleasure, or they go on their travels.

I have some that I prefer to perform with, and others that are my faves to play at home, and one or two, cough, others.

It's lke asking you which is your favourite child (don't ask!)

[OddManOut]

My favorite guitar varies from day to day. My guitars all have good playability, so for me it's mostly about tone and response dynamics.

Some days I like some rosewood rumble, other days I like the bite of my archtop, or the woodiness of mahogany, etc. I have a couple guitars which I feel are my best do-it-all guitars, but they're not necessarily my favorite tonally on any given day. Some days they are.

[jaymarsch]

My favorite two are the ones that were custom made for me. I have had my Wingert 12 fret grand concert for over 16 years. It fits like a pair of cozy slippers and sounds like a dream.
Best,
Jayne

[Victory Pete]

This 2016 Gibson Western Classic is my favorite. Its very deep and punchy.

[Methos1979]

My favorite guitar is usually the most recent one acquired. Right now I have three. Well, actually four, but the fourth one is a backup to the third one. They are gigging guitars (Cole Clarks). If I'm playing an amplified gig then they are my favorite. But new newest one (Froggy Bottom H-12) is my favorite because it's new, it's pretty, it's my 'someday/retirement/holy grail' guitar, it's wonderfully made, the tone is incredible and it plays extremely well. Guitar number two (Martin D-1 Custom, formerly number one until the Froggy came) I actually like the neck carve/shape a little bit better then the new number one. But feature for feature, the latest is hands down the winner and will likely be for some time to come.

[dadio917]

mostly my 00-17. Looks like it's been through the war (well, i guess it has) but sounds and feels fantastic.

[Br1ck]

My 65 Epiphone Texan because it was the most immediate positive reaction of any guitar I ever played that I could actually afford. The 39 J 35 was five grand over anything I've ever bought even though it had been put together after being brought in in pieces in a cardboard box.

Every time I play it, I think of all the people who would not like it. Skinny neck, ceramic adjustable bridge, hideous sunburst, multiple scars, finish checked and all. But it has that thumpy dry bass, and a zing in the high end that took a while to adjust to but is now essential. But the age in the wood is there.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by brensec

Is your favourite guitar your favourite because of it's playability, tonal qualities or another aspect?

I have a favourite guitar (both acoustic and electric) and I'd have to say that 'playability' is the hands down feature that makes them my 'favourite', simply because I enjoy playing them, more so than my other guitars. However, tonal quality is another aspect that is very important to me and the one acoustic (my Yamaha Jumbo, below) that plays beautifully for me, is also the best as far as tone is concerned.

Not so, with my favourite electric. The Epi Casino is set up beautifully, for me, and I enjoy playing it and I did think the tonal quality was also the best. However, I recently acquired a Sheraton and I have finally found an electric that, to me, has a better sound to my ear but the playability is, at least at the moment, not as comfortable as the Casino.

What so with your 'favourite'? Do you, in fact, have one?

Acoustic:
Seagull CH momentum cedar topped

Electric:
Epiphone ES339/P90 Limited
My custom Fender Affinity Strat, Stew-Mac 2-P90 pickguard, custom tone pots and wiring and Mighty Mite P90's

[gfirob]

I have five guitars, and they all get played but the two with the most hours a week tend to be the Martin OM-42 and the Gretsch Nashville. The Telecaster has become the most forlorn since the Gretsch came to live here and its days may be numbered, though I really like the sound of the Tele. Each of these has a pretty distinct and different voice.

[Cromwell]

This is a tough one, I absolutely love the sound my Eastman E10ss, to my ears it's the best sounding guitar over ever played, it just growls and rumbles. However, the string spacing is just a little tight on it, it's only downside for my large hands.

I'd say overall, because of a combination of playability and tone, it would be my faith gloss all mahogany, the neck plays like a dream, feels so good in my hands and the all mahogany back sides and top give it a beautifully warm tone, and it's surprisingly loud too.

[brensec]

It seems that there is no end to the different reasons why we all tend to gravitate to a specific guitar, be it as a 'favourite' overall or on any given day or because of the requirements of live performance and recording...

I suppose, given the comments so far, it's something that's far more complicated and dependent on circumstance than anyone might think.

I think of the Yamaha Jumbo I mentioned in my initial post. I've had it since new and it's now 42 years old. It's well accepted that the tonal qualities of a 'decent' guitar mature and change for the better over time. If that's the case, then that's why I haven't heard another acoustic that sounds as beautiful, to my ear, as this one... The playability and ease are explained well using a comment by 'jaymarsch', comparing it to a 'cozy pair of slippers'...

Although I performed live earlier in life, I only had the one acoustic and electric to use at that time, so there was no comparison to be made (although the Yamaha was the guitar in question, along with the Casino). I have done a good deal of studio session work, mainly vocals but sometimes a little acoustic 'rhythm' for which I used the studio's 'house guitars'.

I will add that in a recording environment, my Yamaha does have an annoying 'booming' on the A string which is dealt with by strategic placement of the mic...

[6L6]

That would be my '97 Martin D-45V I bought new at Gryphon.

24 years of sonic bliss!