The guitar you just had to have

[dhodgeh]

Yep. Went in to my favorite shop with the intent of buying a small body travel guitar. Nothing rang my bell, but the shop had just received a few of the Eastman Juliets.

Made the mistake of playing one and I was smitten to the point where it had to come home with me. For the first time in a very very long while, Wifey did show a bit of disapproval, especially after I had just bought a vintage 65 Jaguar a couple of months before.

Here's the trouble maker:



In spite of the bit of friction it did cause, it is a seriously cool guitar and a blast to play,

D

[dhodgeh]

Double post - please delete

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by BlueBowman

I've never been lucky enough to find one by accident and not be able to leave without purchasing it. Come close a few times though.



Man, to find just one of those pawn shop guitars in a lifetime would be major... but for it to happen twice?! Well done I stopped bothering with pawn shops several years ago. No luck for this ole fella.

By the way, you have an insane collection, BK. And they are represented very well by the photos you take.

Thanks!

The main thing is to have your ducks in a row before you even go to a pawn shop.....some people would do the work themselves - they would be the ideal buyer. For me it is past experience of luthiers plus lots of research and yep, forumising!


BluesKing777.

[packmule]

Yep, walked into McCabe's to kill time before meeting a friend for lunch and a couple of hours later walked out with my 00-18, couldn't put it down and wasn't going to leave without it. Don't regret it either!

[guitarman001]

Multiple times.

When starting a band. Small budget for an electric. Walked out with special edition PRS which was 3x budget. Had to have it.

First acoustic, Larrivee OM-02, same story but was actually within budget. Cost not very much 20 years ago and slays the big brands - I played every guitar in the shop. Every. Single. One. That Larrivee was the best by miles and miles. A Martin custom shop sinker + adi top recently almost matched it and I liked the sound (and I'm not usually a Martin guy) so next day went to get it but was taken! Moral: always buy on spot. But that custom was £££k and I can get a real luthier made for that (which I'm now getting).

Also my Larrivee OM-03BH... When the magic happens, you need to just spend the cash...

https://ibb.co/hZNj6Qc

Edit - have to say Atkin are really good btw.

[zuzu]

Not necessarily off a music store wall or a particular one, but I WILL have a Telecaster, and WILL NOT go very long without one. I have been very good at keeping them over the years but they do occasionally slip away from trades, giving them away, begging friends, etc...but I always quickly get another.

[Zissou Intern]

After I bought my D1T four, almost five years ago, I decided that my fantastic Gibson J35 Fullers would be even more fantastic if it was another Collings, the beautiful CJ35G I had been eyeing on Gryphon’s website. So I called the shop a couple times, and made a fairly lowball offer, even by pre-Covid pricing, and they took it! Then I scrambled to sell the Gibson Fullers to a fellow forum member.

When the CJ35G arrived, it was basically unplayed and shockingly gorgeous with perfect fit and finish, like everything Collings builds. The setup was ideal with a super comfortable neck profile, with Bill’s signature visible through the soundhole, and it sounded nothing like I expected or wanted it to sound. The “lesser”, but better sounding Gibson, and a pile of cash were gone, and the Perfect CJ35G sat in its case in our music room. Lesson learned… well almost. I tried it again with a baked Sitka CJ35 a year or so later. Yeah, closer to the J35 Fullers, but still not my sound.

[dilver]

Yeah, but I couldn’t afford it. Martin all Koa 12 fretter. It was like $8,000 - too much for an impulse purchase. Never played or heard a guitar like that again.

[jaymarsch]

In early 2018, I headed to Mighty Fine Guitars here in Northern California to play a Kramer Prairie Grass guitar that he had for sale. I’d always liked Sparky’s scaled down slope shoulder models and had played a number over the years. I played a number of guitars in Stevie’s shop that day but kept coming back to the Kramer. I ask if the price was firm and we tossed some numbers around. Stevie called Sparky, we landed on a price, and I left with the guitar. The friend who came along with me was a bit stunned that I went for it as I’m not an impulse buy kind of person. But, somewhere inside I did feel like I had to have that guitar. Only time that it has ever happened.
The guitar was made in 2013 and I had played it at that year’s Healdsburg guitar festival. I remember it as being pretty tight sounding with its red spruce top and gorgeous Bois de Rose back and sides. Fast forward to 2018 and it had mellowed and broken in nicely. It was a new guitar from the perspective that I was the first owner other than Sparky himself. He had built it on spec for the festival and he loved the tone of it.
I only had the guitar for a few months and I was struggling a bit to adjust to the wider nut width and longer scale. I ended up putting it on consignment and on its way to Nashville via FedEx it was damaged. It ended up in Massachusetts in the capable hands of Bill Tippin for repair. Bill did a fabulous job and it made its way to Guitar Gallery where it now went on sale as a used, repaired guitar.
In the meantime, I ordered a custom Prairie Grass from Sparky - a short scale German spruce mahogany beauty that I picked up at Sparky’s shop in July of 2019. Great guitar that I bonded with immediately.
All through the pandemic and a breast cancer diagnosis, I had followed the status of the consigned guitar and dropped the price several times. I retired from my job of 27 years and decided to take the guitar off consignment and sell it locally since I had the time. I received the guitar back and fell in love with it all over again. I had become a better player over that time so the nut width/scale length issues had disappeared. It felt like I was reuniting with an old friend.
So, I guess the guitar that I had to have also had to have me. We both just had to travel our separate roads for a while. :-)
Thanks for listening.
Best,
Jayne

[Silly Moustache]

No, not really. Not in this century anyway.

As I'm a 12 fret freak, I have to look hard to fing my "preciouses".

Although I bought my last three new, Waterloo WL12 in 2016, (instead of a Gibson) and my two Eastmans - E20-P (2019), and E40-00 (2020) both online, most of my collection were bought used from Ebay.

[Joseph Hanna]

I've mentioned this story before, but it fits this scenario and question. When I first played my Marton OM-18 Authentic, I knew. There wasn't much of a doubt. But as a caveat, I was genuinely guitar shopping at the time. It took me a day or so to put the deal together.

On the other hand, earlier this year, a good friend of mine whom I respect his guitar sensibilities and certainly his playing abilities was ranting and raving over the newer Yamaha FG Dreadnoughts. I can't handle Dreadnoughts, so my trip to explore them was merely for fun with no expectations of a purchase. That and I don't need another guitar and, in fact, have been trying to cut things down a bit. For those that don't know, I think these Yamaha FG dreds are as good as it gets. Before I left the store, however, the salesperson mentioned that there was another guitar I should try. It was a Yamaha LS36. It took mere moments before I realized I had a work of art in my hands. Ten minutes later, I owned it.

[GoPappy]

I walked into a Guitar Center about 15-20 years ago and they had a used 00-18 hanging on the wall. That guitar sounded great and felt like it had been custom made just for me. But I had more acoustic guitars than I could say grace over at the time, and I decided I just didn't NEED it.

So I left it there, and soon enough it was gone forever and I've regretted it ever since that day. I still think about that guitar. If I ever find another guitar that speaks to me like that one did, I'll buy it on the spot and it won't matter whether I NEED it or not.

[Doug Young]

Yes, my Hamblin GC was something I stumbled on when I was just browsing. I sat and played it for an hour, then put it back on the shelf and walked out, intending to "think about it". Got as far as the car, when I realized that there was no way that guitar would still be there tomorrow. Went back in and bought it. 20 years laters, still happy with that decision.

[boombox]

This one:


It's my Stephen Kinnaird FS-12 prototype. Went in to try two J185s (which didn't suit) and tried this while I was there. Couldn't let it go by. It's still the best guitar I have ever played/owned and gets played nearly every day.

[curbucci]

Gallagher G-70