Which guitar purchase disappointed you the most?

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Paddy1951

Geez.... Are there any guitars that work for you?

I been wondering the same thing....

my big fail was the ovation Legend SSB 12 string that I picked up in probably 96/97? Ordered it, waited a few months for it to arrive. Plugged in, and playing it live it was good. Unplugged it was just no where.. I found out I hated the bowl back and the neck dive on that one was epic. I thought I'd have it for life, but in reality, no...

[kathyson]

$4000 Custom shop Les Paul R8. Needed $200 fret work and nut out of the box.

[parlorpower82]

How is this not brand bashing?

[hat]

Loar LH250. I've owned two, and both were a disappointment. I won't try another. On paper they seem great. All solid, L00 size solid Hog back/sides with spruce top. The finish is a mile thick, the neck, even though its advertised as solid mahogany is spliced together. They sound like most all laminate guitars do.

[ataylor]

For me it was a Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster. Loved the guitar, but overlooked its weight when I’d bought it in the shop — likely because they were running a promo of sorts and the price tag was just too good to pass up!

I later discovered the guitar weighed about 10 pounds and since I was frequently playing standing up as part of a band at the time, it started to give me some shoulder and chest pain that just wasn’t worth everything else about that guitar that was so great. I ended up selling it later that year.

A few years ago (about six or seven years after buying and subsequently selling the Baja Tele) I bought another — this time making sure to know the weight beforehand! It’s a shoulder-friendly 7.375 pounds and in the iconic buttery blonde finish I’d wished the first one had (previously had the opaque cream-colored “desert sand” finish). It’s a fantastic electric guitar and won’t be going anywhere.

[merlin666]

Thanks for the thread and the frank responses. My biggest disappointment was my first "good" guitar. I had traveled a long distance to the big city and spent hours in the store comparing, and ended up with fancy BR bodied dreadnought. I must have been blinded by bling because I never really bonded with it after I brought it home and I soon went electric instead for a while and the guitar went into the attic.

Another big disappointment was my first eBay purchase and first 12 string. It had a lose top brace and top collapsed after a few days and the rosette popped off. This was after I had given the seller already top rating and I didn't even think about seeking recourse. While this was a very stressful and disappointing purchase experience (it took me another 10 years to use eBay again) I got it repaired for a reasonable price and it emerged as the best sounding 12 string I had ever owned ...

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Excellent, thought provoking thread. I've been thinking a lot about this question since the thread started, and I'd have to say a resounding "None".

Every guitar I have owned has helped me one way or another to refine and better understand my preferences. Each has helped me get to the point where I am now - Completely satisfied with what I have.

[kiva238]

Originally Posted by brencat

My most disappointing guitar purchase was the Martin OM-28 Authentic. I drank the cool aid, even got a sound sample from the dealer, but after a few weeks just wasn't that impressed. Way too dry sounding and not particularly versatile. And it needed Mediums to sound its best, which is a no-go for me. Sold it after 6 months.

I once bought got a Martin OM-18 Authentic and hated it. Later, I purchased another, and guess what? Turned out to be incredibly good! Outstanding actually.

I own one of the first OM-28 Authentics made, and it took quite a while for the guitar to open up. Now it sings with the best of them. Go figure.

As a general rule (YMMV), I now avoid Gibson, Larrivee and Collings.
I'm sure there are very good examples out there, but I haven't stumbled on any I've liked and I don't have the time to go through a bunch more. This is a shortcut way to get to the better stuff more quickly. OK, I'm lazy. . . . but I'm also getting old.

[mawmow]

For me, it was not the guitar itself but the way I got it : I bought a used Boucher OOO from a reputated store.
It was clear that the nut had been replaced since it was larger than the neck and the first string tended to slip out of the fret : I mentioned that and got a price reduction. A pickup had been withdrawn and it was already taken into account. String action was ok.

So, I got it on my workbench to install a new nut and a new pickup. When I lifted the saddle, I discovered there was a slit of rosewood underneath to compensate for a missing piezzo ! So I made a new bone saddle to the correct height.

I now never give any credit to the sentence : "Carefully inspected by out guitar tech."

[Bear Davis]

A few hundred guitars later there were several let downs but here is the biggest.

Taylor 810 brazilian. I was taken by the beauty of the wood on this particular guitar and I love dreads so I figured this will be a win win. When it arrived it was just as gorgeous as the pics. After getting it tuned to pitch I was beside myself with how bad this thing sounded. It didn't even resemble a dreadnought... more like an OM stuffed full of socks. Took me FOREVER to move it at a loss.

[CoryB]

Mine was a Martin 000-18.

It had, for lack of a better descriptor, a jingle on the open b string. I tried multiple brands and weights of strings, had the guitar in for set-up twice, frets leveled/checked, nut changed, action set and reset and nothing worked.

I wondered if it was my hearing as I do have some problems, but that is the only guitar that ever had that jingle.

I sold it and moved on.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Ed-in-Ohio

Every guitar I have owned has helped me one way or another to refine and better understand my preferences. Each has helped me get to the point where I am now - Completely satisfied with what I have.

Have to agree with Ed on this. Since every guitar I've owned was auditioned before buying, I must have liked something about each. While some of those are gone, they were a step along the way to figuring out what works best for me.

The guitars I still have that are played the least are still good guitars, but not the most appropriate for the music I now enjoy playing.

Guess I can't say a guitar has disappointed me. Darn -- I love to complain.

[_zedagive]

1975 Martin D-28. Never knew how much better and cheaper other guitars were until sitting down at GC several years ago. Always thought Martins were the gold standard. Maybe for other, but not even close for me.

[dhodgeh]

For me it was a Collings D2H. Not that there wa anything inherently wrong with the guitar. It sounded great, and was a great player.

But, there was something about the standard modified V neck that caused me problems with my fretting hand.

Fortunately, the person I bought it from wanted back, so we came to a mutually beneficial agreement and I sent it back to him.

I'm now the owner of a D2H Traditional and am much happier with that neck profile.

D

[JAMKC]

Originally Posted by Ed66

It's hard, if not completely illogical, to disagree with this statement. In an ideal world I'd try every guitar before buying. Unfortunately, I have neither the time, nor live in a location which facilitates that reality. So most of my purchases (with 3 exceptions) have been online. I've been a statistical aberration (apparently), in that most of my online purchases have been great successes. I did buy two guitars early on - out of ignorance and and at very cheap price points - that didn't last - but they served their purposes and I ended up selling them for what I put in them so no loss there.

On to the disappointments. One was a Seagull folk model that I bought off of Craigslist. I'm a huge Seagull fan, but I bought this after playing it in a McDonald's parking lot. It sounded OK originally (with traffic noise competing with it) but once I got it back it just didn't feel right. I ended up learning how to setup a guitar on it, but, while I was able to get it relatively comfortable to play, it always had a small guitar/boxy sound that I wasn't OK with. I ended up selling it in the same McDonald's lot and making a few dollars.

My other disappointment is a Furch spruce / walnut G21SW-C that I've worked to get setup well, but I still struggle with in terms of sound/applicability. It's a very loud guitar (possibly the loudest I own) with some real punch and good tone which I imagine might work quite well were I a flat picker doing a bunch of bluegrass tunes. But that's not me so I'm in a state of flux on it right now. I may just hold onto it, but if I find I'm not playing it much in the next year it will have to go. Truthfully, it's too nice a guitar not to have a home that appreciates it and makes sure it gets played regularly.

I’ve gone almost exclusively “online” and out of all of them had just one dog of note as mentioned above. Missed the return window by a day or two and was stuck. ALL. Of my others have been fine guitars, some finer than others for sure.