This might seem stupid, but what does it mean...

[whvick]

I lived with a guitar or two that were “OK”. Then the guys on the forum got me into set-ups. Now all my guitars are easy to play.
Find a good tech/luthier and guitar life is much better!!!

[buddyhu]

I guess the question for OP is whether any particular guitar feels “more great”.

Maybe a 12 fret feels a but more relaxed because there is a bit less of a reach for chords and fretting on frets 1-5? Maybe a 1 and 7/8 neck feels a bit easier and more comfy to work with when fingerpicking (though all nut sizes might be pretty workable)?

Maybe a short scale opens up a few doors that are closed in regards to reaches that OP wants to play.

But maybe not...

[jaymarsch]

For years I played a guitar without knowing anything about set ups or scale length, etc. I wasn’t very motivated to practice and I didn’t sound very good. Once I got a guitar that “felt” better, I practiced more effectively and became a better player. The guitar sounded better as well. It is great that you are so adaptable to a variety of specs. It’s an evolving personal journey and for some it takes some time.
Best,
Jayne

[KevinH]

Yes, a lot of the feel has to do with getting a proper set up. But, in addition, I think for many people on the AGF, aging narrows down the range of guitars that are comfortable to play. Shoulder injuries for example, can make it hard to play a large body. I used to find most any size of guitar comfortable. Not so much anymore.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by hatamoto

When they say "buy the guitar that feels good to you?"

Buy the guitar that INSPIRES you. If a guitar inspires you to pick it up and play more often, you'll become a better player because of it.

[brencat]

Originally Posted by hatamoto

When they say "buy the guitar that feels good to you?"

When I go to a store and try out different guitars, I can tell the difference, but they all feel good! For me, it's always been about apples and oranges, and I've always believed that it's up to the player to adapt to the guitar. So what does it truly mean to have a guitar that feels right in your hand?

I'm not a beginner, I've been playing for a long time and I can definetely feel when a neck is thinner or chunkier, larger vs smaller frets, shorter and longer scales, and I can even feel when a neck is slightly more concave or convexed feeling.... but the thing is, I can play on all of them no problem and they all feel great, so how do I pick?

Congrats! Consider yourself lucky. Maybe you're not overly picky and maybe you truly are adaptable to a lot of different necks. I like Tadol's response earlier... go with the cheapest great guitar you can live with comfortably and play the devil out of it.

I started playing guitar when I was 41... been at it for 9 years. I'm super picky about neck profiles and feel, and can pick out nuances in the tone and responsiveness of different guitars -- part of the blessing and the curse of being super detail oriented.

My taste in guitars has also evolved from the early days of mostly strumming to now being hip deep into bluegrass flatpicking. Many guitars sound and feel great. Others sound and feel a LOT better -- and so I chase them to experience them.

[Br1ck]

You need to develop what I call the once a decade attitude. It works like this. You aren't actively looking. You have some fine guitars already. Don't try guitars you aren't willing to buy. Every one has a comfort level. Break this rule only if something strikes your fancy and is no more than 30 to fifty percent above your comfort level. Say you envision your level to be $5K, but you come across an old J 45 that is $7000. Play that. If you put it back on the wall after ten or twenty minutes, pass. It won't do the trick for the long haul. That 1939 D 28? Don't even go there.

So you play a bunch of $5K guitars. Do you know how much guitar you can get for $5K? But still, 20 minutes, put it back. One day you'll pick up a guitar, look at the clock and two hours has flown by. That is when you get serious. Maybe it's a $2500 guitar, maybe $6K. I've thankfully decided to sleep on it twice, both because I played vintage guitars I could not afford. I had not established rules for myself. One I decided to sleep on, and I was hoping it would be gone next day. It was. It was in need of extensive work. I could have bought the guitar, but not the repairs.

There are thousands of wonderful guitars. Very few are really the one, and it's different for everyone.

[Glennwillow]

I find the OP's comments interesting, because I tend to find that most guitars feel almost equally playable to me, also. In terms of feel about neck size or nut width or width of strings up at the picking end of the guitar, I have never played a guitar that caused me too much problems unless the action was just terrible. I do notice high action! And, I suppose I slightly prefer guitars with narrower nut widths like 1 11/16" a little more than wide ones, such as 1 13/16". (I own three guitars, however, with 1 13/16" nut width because of how these guitars sound. )

However, what jumps out at me is how easy or how hard it is to get great sounds out of a guitar. Each guitar has its own kind of sensitivity to a bunch of plucked notes. Some guitars tend to make rather dead or muffled sounds, and some guitars just make kind of average sounds, and some guitars tend to make glorious sounds, as if I was a whole lot better player than I really am.

It's the glorious ones I like the best. Trouble is, those are the ones that generally seem to cost the most!

- Glenn

[egordon99]

I generally get along with all guitars/neck widths except the necks on Martin "V" series such as the HD-28V. I loved the sound/look of those but just couldn't get past their necks.

I couldn't tell you the nut width on any of current guitars though...

[hatamoto]

Great comments everyone! Maybe I'm indeed lucky. This is just one of those things that I've been thinking about lately since I'm searching for my next one and I want to be more mindful on this subject. In the past, it was more about looks and sound. This time I want to focus on playability and sound. This forum is great!

[Mandobart]

Maybe you're a fellow caveman.

[Fred]

The guitar that you continually pick up will be the one in which the neck fits your fretting hand and the guitar body is comfortable against your body. All others...you'll be less inclined to pick up. After you've played several sizesand neck shapes, you'll get the message.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by hatamoto

So what does it truly mean to have a guitar that feels right in your hand?

I had forgotten that there was a time when I didn't know this.

It feels inviting to play. Wherever you place your fingers, good sounds come out - sometimes they are surprising, and you think "Was that me?"

Play a chord. It sounds beautiful. Play a different one. Still sounds excellent. Misfinger a chord. It STILL sounds good! You start to wonder if it is even possible to make this thing sound bad.

You look at the clock, thinking it's been 5 minutes since you started playing this thing. Whoa - 30 minutes have gone by!

You find yourself playing things that have always been just out of your grasp. And they feel natural.

It's the experience of playing an instrument that SEEMS similar to all the other instruments you've played, but there is something - actually a whole bunch of generally subtle things - different, and your playing has increased a notch without having to do anything.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by hatamoto

When they say "buy the guitar that feels good to you?"

...I'm not a beginner, I've been playing for a long time and I can definitely feel when a neck is thinner or chunkier, larger vs. smaller frets, shorter and longer scales, and I can even feel when a neck is slightly more concave or convex feeling...but the thing is, I can play on all of them with no problem and they all feel great, so how do I pick?

Most of us here "can" play just about anything - that said:

• When those pesky fingerings just seem to fall effortlessly into your hand;
• When every note on the fingerboard rings clear and true;
• When the weight or neck width/profile doesn't become tiresome after extended periods;
• When you find yourself being challenged to try things you've never attempted before;
• When the instrument truly becomes an extension of your heart and soul;
• When, in spite of the fact that you may own other guitars, you won't be getting rid of this one...

- that's when a guitar feels good to you...

[beachbum205]

For me, when buying a new guitar, the most important consideration is not that a guitar "feels right". It has to sound right. Tone and volume are the most important factors for me by far.

I may have slight preferences for certain body types, neck widths, etc. And I'm aware that in most cases the play-ability of a guitar can be enhanced with a setup. So for me, tone trumps feel almost every time. YMMV.