Playability vs. tone

[1833]

I have had and got rid of guitars that had a tone I liked but I couldn’t play because the nut was to narrow for me . I am not comfortable playing a Martin with that has a nut that is 1 3/4 . I gave my grand son a Custom D classic because the nut was to narrow for me to play comfortably. Nut width is a deal breaker for me .

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by D-utim

If both factors couldn’t be accomplished in one guitar, which one do you prefer?

I'm assuming that in this hypothetical the poor playability could not be corrected.

It's a tough choice. How bad is the bad tone? How bad is the playability?

Tone is my number one consideration, but if the action/etc. is so bad I can't play much . . .

I need more information before I choose.

[Goodallboy]

Surely the OP wasn’t intending to suggest tone vs a guitar that was unplayable. That’s not what was being asked, I’m certain.

I think it was more along the lines of is it tone, or a perfectly spaced string measurement, or tone vs a certain radius, or a preferred nut width.

Some, like myself choose tone over any of those factors and some do not.

An unplayable guitar isn’t likely to be a guitar with stellar tone, so let’s throw out that red herring.

[DukeX]

Tone, baby, all the way!

[DukeX]

Playability, all day long!

[RP]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Surely the OP wasn’t intending to suggest tone vs a guitar that was unplayable. That’s not what was being asked, I’m certain.

Originally Posted by D-utim

If both factors couldn’t be accomplished in one guitar, which one do you prefer?

Actually.................

[GGSanders]

Reading through this thread has made my head spin. If I were to tally the results I would have to give an edge to those who vote for playability over tone, although everybody really wants both. Many felt that without acceptable playability, they wouldn't play the guitar even if they felt its tone was stellar.

In this, and other threads, it's clearly obvious how obsessive we acoustic guitar geeks are when we speak of tone. Instrument builder, woods used, string manufacturer and alloy and gauge, pick brand, thickness and material, even bridge pin material all seem to play a role in producing the tone of a specific instrument.

But the average listener is much less discerning. Comparing two different guitars, one in my opinion with stellar tone, the other without, my wife would simply say "They both sound nice, just like guitars."

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by RP

Actually.................

Actually.....he used the word playability, not unplayable. There are levels of playability and unplayable is quite something else, but thanks for injecting your attempt at correction.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Surely the OP wasn’t intending to suggest tone vs a guitar that was unplayable. That’s not what was being asked, I’m certain.

I think it was more along the lines of is it tone, or a perfectly spaced string measurement, or tone vs a certain radius, or a preferred nut width.

Some, like myself choose tone over any of those factors and some do not.

An unplayable guitar isn’t likely to be a guitar with stellar tone, so let’s throw out that red herring.

This is kind of what I was wondering. What exactly does he mean by playability? A guitar with really bad string height or poorly cut nut and other things that can fixed by a good set up? Or just the variances in different guitar builds like body size, nut width, scale, neck carve, string spacing, etc. I automatically assume the latter.

And if that is the case, then in my experience I would prefer tone as I've found that I can pretty quickly acclimate to most any guitars ergonomics as long as it has the right tone for the job it's trying to do. And I say that because I've found that the guitars I prefer for live play and the guitars I prefer for home (unamplified) play are vastly different.

So I guess in summary I would take tone over playability. Because regardless of what the OP meant about playability, I'd take the tone because if it's just the ergonomics then I can acclimate and if it's the other type of playability I'd either get it fixed (setup) or I wouldn't keep it regardless of how great the tone was.

[NotveryGood]

Playability most for me. I have to want to pick it up. I have had guitars that sounded lovely that I desperately wanted to like, but eventually and reluctantly moved on, because I became tired of wrestling with them. There are those of course that can play guitars of any body size and neck dimension, adjust accordingly and enjoy the experience but Im not one of those.
Some of us find Tone and playability in one guitar,and thats the ideal of course. Less chance of that for us lefties, but its a good excuse to keep looking!

[bluemoon]

We’re in a golden age for options. There been many great guitars I loved the tone but the pain they caused to play led me to pick up a guitar with less of the tone and fundamentals I’m looking for.

I want a guitar that when I pass it’s case, I’m gonna want to grab it out. You’ll be late to events, more often, but it’s worth it.

Ultimately you have to be able to play it to see what the tones like.

[Ray175]

I'm now facing that conundrum with my Martin J12-16GT. After several years of happy cohabitation, I am now approaching 65, and am having increasing difficulty holding barré chords in an A shape on the first 4 frets (Bb through to D) - although this could be a side effect of my chemotherapy.....
I('ve decided to take the plunge and after consulting an excellent luthier in the southern suburbs of Paris, France I will be asking him to adjust the radius from the current 16" to 12" or 12.5". Naturally it isn't just reprofiling the neck and maybe changing the fingerboard, then refetting, but also changing the bridge saddle and resetting intonation.
I've considered alternatives but am unable to find a smaller radius Jumbo size with sitka top and mahoganhy back and sides. It would be possible to go custom made, but that would be a crazy price in my current condition.
Life is full of a series of choices!

[Robin, Wales]

Put me in the playability camp. There's many an excellent musician that could make a laminate 'beater' guitar sound wonderful as long as the set-up didn't hamper their playing. I like my guitars to be workhorses with a bit of character; that's more than enough for me.

[Lakewood_Lad]

I just wouldn't buy the guitar.

You don't have to make those kind of choices.

[Johan Madsen]

Originally Posted by D-utim

If both factors couldn’t be accomplished in one guitar, which one do you prefer?

Playability definitely