What's the worst guitar you've ever owned?

[Shades of Blue]

Worst electric was a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Gold Top. There was a bad alignment issue with the neck and the high E string was WAY too close to the edge of the fretboard....unplayable.

Worst acoustic....Hmm....that's tougher because I've liked all of the acoustics I've owned.

So worst? Tie between Martin D-1 and PRS SE Angelus. I really don't like my Seagull S6, but it was my first guitar soooooo.....

[menhir]

A sorta-kinda copy of a Gibson electric. I can't remember the brand name.

I only performed with guitar on songs where an extra backup guitar made more sense than my keyboards, so investing in a good electric wasn't a priority...the keyboards cost plenty enough back then.

This particular knock-off was sturdily built, looked fit, finished, and was pleasing to the eye. It sounded good, too..But it just would not play consistently in tune up the fretboard no matter how I adjusted it.
I quickly got rid of it.

Conversely, I once bought a very cheap old used electric at a flea market just for a fun project. I stripped it, slapped on a simple stain and varnish finish and cleaned it up. Still, it was an ugly duckling.

I ended up using it on stage for years.

Go figure.

[fitness1]

The guitar I learned on - about a 67 "Stella by Harmony" cherryburst plywood number. My parents bought it for my brother to take 3 lessons on and it was never touched again. It had been left out in the rain etc, etc. By the time I was 13 and had an interest, the action at the 12th was probably a full inch with the original strings on it........but I kept at it until my parents realized I wasn't going to quit. They bought me an original Applause with the one piece aluminum fingerboard/frets for 99.00 from Elderly. Man, was that a step up!

[Nymuso]

Yamaha Silent Guitar. Thought it would be perfect for acoustic gigs, and in theory it was. In practice, the setup was lousy the B string was hot in the balance and the piece that comprised the top bouts kept coming loose no matter how well I tightened the securing screws, since they also doubled as strap buttons. On top of all this it had a very sterile sound that no amount of processing could bring to life. It was the perfect guitar for someone. Just not me. I returned it after one day.

[jwellsy]

I'm not sure which was worse an imitation Ovation (applause) or a Martin Backpacker. They both sucked worse than an Estiban I was given.

[Monsum]

The only bad guitar I owned for a very short time was a guitar which I purchased online, it taught me to play guitars prior to buying. The rest of them were good to excellent, usually depending on the price.

The unfortunate one was an Epiphone Masterbuilt. I took it to my guitar technician for a setup and after examination he said he couldn't set it up because the neck was not properly glued in the body (wrong angle or something like that).

[Oldguy64]

Originally Posted by escardel

I've owned a Tak, Taylor, Seagull, and most recently an Eastman. Each of them had their quirks but all special in their own way. A really nice Martin was coming my way at one point, but it was such a good deal, it sold before I could get to it.

At one point through a craigslist trade I acquired an "Esteban" branded guitar. My gosh, why would such a great player put his name on such trash. All laminate acoustic-electric with a horribly ugly rosette and a really nasty ring to it. Action was an inch high. It did come with a nice case though. Luckily I was able to trade it off later on.

What was the worst guitar you've ever owned?

I bought a case, and the lady selling it wouldn’t keep the Esteban residing within.
I’m still mad at her, but I managed to unload the thing after I cleaned it up, restrung it and made the action a little more playable.

[rampix]

Back in the 70's my playing partner bought a Gibson Dove. I was playing a Yamaha and thought that Dove just hung the moon. Sadly, as a young family man a Dove was out of my price range, so I ended up buying a Lyle Hummingbird. It was an Asian copy of the Gibson and within my budget. It looked pretty good, but that was all. It had no tone, no sustain, no volume...no nothin'.

Over the next few years I gave it to a couple of friends with the same result, it always came back to me within a few weeks. I eventually gave it to a kid that was interested in learning and he loved it.

[beegar]

A late 90s Fender Classic 60s Strat in Burgundy Mist Metallic. Great sound and color, but the neck was twisted so bad it couldn't be fixed.

[L20A]

My first [almost] guitar was a Stella.
This was back in about 1959.
My instructor didn't know a lot about guitar set-ups.
We tried to teach me to play that Stella for about 2 months before he took it and tried to play it. He them let me play his small body Martin.
What a difference. I could actually make a bar chore with his Martin.
I quit the lessons and didn't pick up another guitar until I graduated from High School. That one was an all laminated Yamaha and it was a great guitar. Wish I had that one back.

[min7b5]

Bought a Martin Backpacker nylon string once that never did get in tune and was beyond awkward to try to play

[DukeX]

A $100 off-brand nylon. God awful. But it got me started on nylons (now I have a Larrivee L-30).

[Tony Done]

A new Martin J-40. It was fine when I bought it, but it was structurally highly unstable, and the tone just kept getting worse over an extended period. I sold it at a big loss after about three years. I bought another Martin shortly afterwards, but didn't keep it long, as I have never really had any enthusiasm for them since the J-40.

[Rosewood99]

A dirty thirty recording king. I love recording king guitars and it looked so pretty I thought it would be a great beater. Turned out to be a boxy piece of junk.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by JGinNJ

I had one of those, too, from the 70's- which I got from my brother when he didn't take to it. It would be at the top of the list for worst guitar I ever had, but it served it's purpose.

Someday I'm going to write a song "Ode to a Harmony Stella." It won't be a happy tale

That was my first guitar. Oh my, I wish I still had it - so I could BURN it, or maybe pull a Fargo and woodchip it. I don't know what happened to it but I'll always regret not actively removing it from the pool of available guitars so that someone, somewhere wouldn't encounter it and have their passion for learning guitar extinguished forever.

Almost happened to me. I took up guitar at 9 and by 11 I had all but dropped it in favor of saxophone. Luckily I somehow got a super cheap but playable nylon folk guitar around age 12 - all of a sudden all those complex Beatles chords were actually playable for the first time.