How it sounds is all that matters

[RP]

Originally Posted by guitar george

The advice we get all the time in this forum and elsewhere is, "if it sounds good, buy it". We also hear that some models or brands are very iffy as to sound and "If you can find one that sounds good, you should buy it". It doesn't seem to matter what it is or what it looks like, "how it sounds" is all that really matters.

If we should buy only the best sounding guitars, why do the majority of people buy all the other ones that don't sound so good?

And why do people insist on photos and not sound clips on NGD????

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by RP

And why do people insist on photos and not sound clips on NGD????

Guitar porn. Plain and simple.

[6L6]

Welp...

It may be the best sounding acoustic I’ve ever heard. HOWEVER...

If it has runout on the top or anything other than a 1 11/16” nut, I won’t be buying it.

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by Paddy1951

Everybody likes to have a good looking guitar. That can mean different things to different people.
I think the guitar's looks are the easiest thing to accomplish. I have seen hundreds of good looking guitars that were not worth anything sound wise.

Looks plus feel plus sound equals complete package.

That said, I'm first inspired by a guitar because of how it looks. (My idea of aesthetics anyway).

[DenverSteve]

Since I believe, and have proven for decades, that any quality guitar can play/handle any style of music/play, it has grab me immediately. The tone, volume, sustain can be evaluated in 10 seconds or less. Playability can always be altered to what you prefer. Looks, whether admitted or not, matter but I can't say whether it's 10% or 50% but it absolutely matters. It doesn't have to be perfect, runout doesn't bother me in the least. If it was important, you wouldn't see custom and high-end builds with it.

In the end the tonal quality is what engages me after 10 seconds. Afterwards, I evaluate the physical feel and whether it appeals to me, without looking for, or at, specifications. It either feels right, or it doesn't, regardless of what it looks like on paper.

[Pickcity]

Sound and playability are equally important, IMO, with looks taking a close second. Life is too short and there are too many options to waste time with a guitar that doesn't sound good, play good, and look good. All 3 can be obtained and should be expected, at almost any price range.

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by RP

And why do people insist on photos and not sound clips on NGD????

[byudzai]

I'm a heathen, I know, but I don't care about sound much. I want a bulletproof (carbon fiber) guitar that's easy to play, tunes well, has a built in tuner, and has a good place to put a capo. And looks cool. And has no bridge pins so I can palm mute the way I like for some songs.

I have other guitars that sound or look beautiful but don't function well. They never get played.

[Prof_Stack]

Funny thing about runout and related "impurities",

When I played the '39 Gibson L-50 I was so caught up in the amazing tone and clarity of string separation that I forgot all about checking the visual attributes.

At home, I found that it has runout and also checking in the top. That bothered me for about 5 minutes, and then I let it go.

I figure that I'll be happy if I'm that good when I'm 80 years old, too.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by 6L6

Welp...

It may be the best sounding acoustic I’ve ever heard. HOWEVER...

If it has runout on the top or anything other than a 1 11/16” nut, I won’t be buying it.

Right. It's ridiculous.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by RP

And why do people insist on photos and not sound clips on NGD????

One reason is certainly that most of us have the ability to take a reasonably accurate representative picture of the guitar. Most of us do not have the equipment to accurately reproduce the way the guitar sounds.

I have experienced precious few ugly guitars in my travels, thankfully. I've seen some lovely backs on guitars, but I always have that part against my shirt - so I don't get too excited by looks.

I've been doing cabinetmaking as a serious hobby for about 50 years and drive my wife crazy looking at wood grain wherever we happen to be. But I guess an instrument is a tool for making music in my book, looks are not secondary but much further down the line. I would probably care more if I found a bunch of ugly guitars.

[73171]

Here's what matters to me:

1) Can I afford it?
2) Can I get the tone that I like from this guitar?
3) Do I like the way it feels? (body size and shape, neck shape, fingerboard width, scale length, etc.)
4) Do I like the way it looks?


I've found several guitars that meet all four of the above, so I won't buy one unless it does.

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by guitar george

The advice we get all the time in this forum and elsewhere is, "if it sounds good, buy it". We also hear that some models or brands are very iffy as to sound and "If you can find one that sounds good, you should buy it". It doesn't seem to matter what it is or what it looks like, "how it sounds" is all that really matters.

If we should buy only the best sounding guitars, why do the majority of people buy all the other ones that don't sound so good?

It's mostly down to experience and personal taste. The 'experience' bit is important in being able to assess the potential of an instrument which might otherwise sound uninspiring-old strings, poor setup etc. I imagine lots of perfectly good guitars get passed over because of those reasons.
I also suspect that the Eko 'Rio Bravo' I loved as a 15 year-old wouldn't be to my taste with 50 year's experience behind me.

It's a double-edged sword; the more refined and attuned one's hearing becomes, the more finicky one becomes when auditioning the things.
I would also add that as we become more knowledgeable we begin to develop 'headstock blindness' and we buy with our ears, and not by the name on the headstock or tonnage of attractively inlaid crustacea. With the bewildering array of fine guitars now available at all price points there is no reason that, with a little experience and knowledge gained, anyone should be playing guitars with below par performance.

[Jim in TC]

To me, size and comfort play the bigger role. My little Cargo certainly does not have the power or depth of my old, former, D-18 but that big guitar was becoming less comfortable as I aged. But the Cargo is a joy to play and travels extremely well. I myself have always looked at "it has to sound the best" as secondary - it only has to sound good enough...

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by Flgatorgirl

Do you remember the guitar that truly started it all for you? Was it your first? The next? Do you remember the feeling that got you into REALLY playing and loving the guitar? I sold my first, second and third guitar for various reasons. I had a long hiatus until I picked up guitar again. I have picked a few that I really thought would “be the one” and I enjoy all that I have.

But wouldn’t you know it, my latest acquisition (Martin Woodstock 50th Anniversary DX) just feels perfect! Like the guitar that started it all for me...I suppose the feeling I have been longing to find again. The One. The feeling that started the journey. It makes me happy to go home and play. I guess I have come full circle in a way. It’s not one specific thing, it is the whole. I am happy with my “not the best, greatest, most expensive, high end guitar” out there. Sound, tone, playability, looks...whole.

Yes, absolutely. My first acoustic was appalling in retrospect; a Hopf 'Original' that my mother got from a friend. That was quickly discarded for a succession of hefty and overbuilt Japanese and Italian guitars until Yamaha first appeared in England and I bought my shiny new FG180 which, tonally, was a revelation.

Over the intervening half-century I can't count the number of fantastic, mediocre and just unspeakably dreadful guitars I have bought and sold-including most of the usual big name suspects and a couple of custom builds.
Now I have come full-circle and my first real love, Yamaha guitars, grace my home again.