The guitar you just had to have

[Backcountry]

Jeffery Yong (luthier) playing my guitar...



I bought it second hand off of AGF without hearing it but from the demos of his guitars on his website, I knew I had to have one. Or two. Or three...

And this axe does not disappoint! Every note blows me away. There're no other guitars on Earth that sound like his.

[Bridgepin]

I only did it once, it was a beautiful used Stratocaster but down the road I stopped playing it because I realized I just enjoy acoustics more so I sold it.

I have gone in and played guitars that I liked and started looking to find them in the used market.

Out of buying 16 guitars I've never bought one new always used, I always like the price difference in the used market, but you do need to know how to evaluate and know what to look for as possible issues.

[Jeff Mc]

[QUOTE=bogdan101;7309652]Have you ever walked into a guitar store just to have a look around, without a definite intention of buying something, grabbed a guitar from the wall to try it out and could not leave the store without it?

That is how I have bought most of the guitars in my life. Probably why when I went into my local guitar stores the sales people were handing me guitars as soon as I walked in the door.

[DianeA]

Originally Posted by 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

What a beautiful story!

[SpruceTop]

Ovation Adamas models and since 1982, I've had three of them over the years, and my latest 2020 Adamas I 2087GT-8 is in residence.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Backcountry

Jeffery Yong (luthier) playing my guitar...



I bought it second hand off of AGF without hearing it but from the demos of his guitars on his website, I knew I had to have one. Or two. Or three...

And this axe does not disappoint! Every note blows me away. There're no other guitars on Earth that sound like his.

What are the woods?

Looks amazing.

About this thread title question, there really isn't one guitar anymore. I used to want something somewhat special like a Bourgeois but the want got doused fast after buying one of these Hsienmo guitars I learned about last June.

But if somebody said "hey let me buy you an awesome guitar", I would probably gravitate to one by Driftwood Guitars. Mainly because I've watched his work and followed him on Youtube for quite a while. I wouldn't want one with intricate fretboard inlay but more modest. His guitars are in the $20,000 range.

https://www.driftwoodguitars.com/

Anything fancy would probably be a redwood top over African blackwood with an armrest of quilted mahogany and basic abalone around the edge.

[Br1ck]

The beauty of experience is that you know when something is special. I was consigning a few mandolins, and was playing a few guitars while I waited for them to appraise value. I picked up my Santa Cruz, a clean 2012 D P/W I knew immediately I was taking home. I told the guys to tell me trade value instead, and told them I'd need to add a Martin to the list to justify it. They told me see you tomorrow. But I put my plastic on the counter and said, I'm taking no chances.

They said it was smart, for the stories of woe from guys leaving to sleep on it are common.

I bought my 65 Texan much the same way, but was kinda sorta looking for an older J 45. Played the Texan for 2 1/2 hours before looking up.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

The beauty of experience is that you know when something is special. I was consigning a few mandolins, and was playing a few guitars while I waited for them to appraise value. I picked up my Santa Cruz, a clean 2012 D P/W I knew immediately I was taking home. I told the guys to tell me trade value instead, and told them I'd need to add a Martin to the list to justify it. They told me see you tomorrow. But I put my plastic on the counter and said, I'm taking no chances.

They said it was smart, for the stories of woe from guys leaving to sleep on it are common.

I bought my 65 Texan much the same way, but was kinda sorta looking for an older J 45. Played the Texan for 2 1/2 hours before looking up.

Brick, other than Dazzo pickups, I think we have a lot in common!

[gibpicker]

Originally Posted by 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

Was it an XKE?

[Mobilemike]

Mine is my 1970 J50. I walked into Guitar Center in Manhattan and there it was - old, worn looking, and with a pickguard ripped off a Hummingbird. I picked it up and started playing, and then sat down and kept playing. I was only supposed to be in GC for half an hour or so because my wife and I were going to go shopping at "real" stores, but I texted her and told her to meet me there because I wasn't going to let this guitar out of my hands.

Good thing I didn't, as two other people came up to me while I was playing it and literally asked if I was going to buy it because if I wasn't going to they would. My wife eventually met me there and heard it and it came home with us that day.

-Mike

[Mbroady]

Been wanting an Ambertone D-35 for a while. Finally got off the fence an ordered one. Was told it would be a six month wait. No big deal. Then 2 weeks later the factory shut down due to Covid. 6 months turned into no less than a year +. So the order was canceled and the hunt began. Took about 2 month to find one. Got lucky with a 2016 50 year Anniversary model.

Almost sold it recently to fund another guitar but listened to the voice in my head saying “Don’t Do It”

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by TBman

Every guitar I have ever bought was a "I have to have it" guitar

This describes me. Easy to fall in love (when it comes to guitars.)

[tomh]

I went into a store to check out some D-28's, D-18's and some J-35 Faded models last fall. None of them did anything for me and then I was handed a Custom Shop J-35 and wow. It was the sound in my head I was searching for. Played a few J-45's for comparison and a couple other J-35 CS and walked out of the store with the One. I play it everyday and have not lusted after anything else since.
It is hard to say exactly what I like about it, but there is absolutely nothing I don't like about it.

[appstaterules]

My 2007 Guild D-55 Special Run in Honey Burst 2005-07/Reverb-One look BUY NOW!! An absolute thunder cannon and visually stunning, in an understated way. And finally, my Alvarez Yairi DY95N "Vine of Life". Probably the most beautiful figured Brazilian RW B/S as stated by Gruhn's Music, Chicago Music Exchange and my luthier. It is paralyzing to look at. But, as my wife keeps telling me, "Mike, you don't play the backs". Yes you do, from the front!!!!

[appstaterules]

Good choice is keeping this one!!