Most disappointing guitar you ever bought?

[Stevien]

A brand new Gibson Keb Mo model. A disaster from head to butt. And this is not an economy model! The finish wasn't cured properly, so it was tacky to the touch; left fingerprints everywhere you touched it (sunburst). The back of the headstock was so oversprayed, that you couldn't read the serial #. It smelled like a dead Koi fish, & sounded like a dead cigar box, still full of cigars. I sent it back before the packing box had time to settle. Plus I was charged a re-stocking fee from a prominent dealer who advertises no restocking fees. The last time I ever bought from a dealer, and my first & last Gibson.
Steve

[Wellington]

Probably an Ibanez 7 string electric I bought. I tried to like it, but just wasn't my jam.

[bufflehead]

I traded a beat-to-heck Guild D-25 that had been my sole guitar for 35 years straight across for a Washburn Rover, a travel guitar. I took that Rover on several multi-week kayak expeditions before I finally gave it to one of my TAs. That was actually a good deal because I replaced it with a Big Baby Taylor, which actually sounded like a guitar.

[McCawber]

1988 Guild J-65-12. I was enamored with the beauty of this instrument - flamed maple back and sides, three piece maple neck, gold Mini-Grovers. But the neck was as thick as a baseball bat and the tone, while big, was incredibly nasal. Finally sold it and replaced it with a Taylor 356ce 12-string. The Taylor doesn't have the punch of the Guild, but it's a much more mellow and balanced tone.

But I really wish I hadn't sold my Martin D-12-20 some thirty years ago . . . .

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Mrbirdog

Long ago and far away in a distant land I was an idiot. Here is a hint, the guitar's name starts with a "Z" My counselor was impressed with how quickly I worked through the ordeal. It started with purchasing a Martin and that set me on the road to recovery.

A student of mine had the same experience with the Z word. Thankfully, I convinced him to buy a real guitar: a Gibson Hummingbird

[Wellington]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayer_PR

A student of mine had the same experience with the Z word. Thankfully, I convinced him to buy a real guitar: a Gibson Hummingbird

Enlighten me, what the heck is the Z word? Zager?

[KevinH]

An old Gibson I bought for my daughter when she was 6 months old. She never bonded with it. Nut was too wide and it needed a neck reset. And it was hard to find new strings for it.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

For me, it was the tale of two disappointments: a Martin OM from the sustainable series and a "boutique" guitar I bought from a local luthier. The Martin was 100% unplayable. Awful experience and not even a good setup worked. The boutique was the absolute worst high end guitar I've ever played. Looked gorgeous, sounded totally dead and its electronics sounded like CRAP.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Wellington

Enlighten me, what the heck is the Z word? Zager?

I don't want to open a can of worms, ha ha!

[Wrighty]

My Martin J40 bought new in 1997 and owned for many years - just couldn’t ever accept that it just didn’t sound great. Eventually let it go in 2017 and replaced it with my Furch and haven’t looked back.

[stephenT]

For me it was an early 2000 Gibson L-00, what a dog. Put on a new set of strings, dead within a day.

[poopsidoo]

Originally Posted by stephenT

For me it was an early 2000 Gibson L-00, what a dog. Put on a new set of strings, dead within a day.

That’s a baaaad guitar that would kill a set of strings in 24 hours!!

[Rpt50]

Back in the 80s (maybe late 70s?) I bought a Fender acoustic at a mom and pop shop. I was not very familiar with acoustic guitars (electric was my thing back then), and there was not much to compare it that shop. But since it was a "Fender", I figured it must be good. As the years went by and I played acoustic more with other people, I realized what an absolute dog that guitar was.

It is really quite a contrast to today (at least pre-pandemic). I live in ATL with five GCs, a Sam Ash, and a variety of shops that carry the high end and super high-end guitars. I take advantage of this wealth of available guitars, and finding dogs with high price tags is pretty easy, but it is also easy to find stellar guitars with modest price tags. If you're talking serious money you gotta try before you buy, even if it means booking a trip to the nearest metro area.

[KenL]

I'm a big fan of Alvarez-Yairi guitars. Spent a couple of years looking for the rare AY-20, which was a folk-sized cedar/rosewood guitar.

Finally, one showed up on eBay, advertised as "excellent." I got it for a decent price, but when it arrived it was cruddy dirty. Smelled bad too. I left negative feedback for the seller, which was the first time I had ever done that. He got really bent out of shape about it, but deserved it.

I spent a lot of time cleaning and polishing that guitar, and got it whipped into shape. Nice woods, pretty guitar. But I could never get it to sound like anything, it just sort of "whispered." Too bad, I really wanted to like it.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I had some sort of Guild dread back in the 80's. Big and heavy, it only sounded good for a week or so after putting new strings on.