Is it price, playability, tone or appearance

[hotroad]

What drives a purchase for you? Is the price of the guitar first, the playability of the guitar as in how it feels in your hands, it's size and how it conforms to your body, or is it the tone of the guitar including woods used, or lastly, the guitar's looks including sunburst or not, bling, rosette, fret markers, etc.

[lowrider]

It's all of that. That's why you have to get out to the stores to play some guitars before buying.

Sitting home in your pajamas and clicking on every guitar made just isn't the best way to pick your new guitar.

I was out at GC (Maskless) and SA (masked) playing electrics. It's too bac that I have no use for one. Electric guitars are just so darned cool!

[mr. beaumont]

Just like I found my wife-- looks got my attention, but it was the other more important stuff that sealed the deal.

[383roller]

In that order, if the price is attractive then I start scrutinizing the other factors to see if it makes sense. If the other things fall in line then the price is always justified.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Like Ray Charles said, "How's it sound baby?"

[TheGITM]

Playability first
Then tone
Then looks
Then price

Price is last because it has to reflect the value of the prior 3.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by hotroad

What drives a purchase for you? Is the price of the guitar first, the playability of the guitar as in how it feels in your hands, it's size and how it conforms to your body, or is it the tone of the guitar including woods used, or lastly, the guitar's looks including sunburst or not, bling, rosette, fret markers, etc.

Tone....Tone...and more tone I've sent more than one pretty guitar a-packing..

[roylor4]

Appearance is dead last for me - makes no difference to me.

Tone 1st with playability being a close 2nd. You can make a guitar easier to play, but the right tone is either there or it isn't. Price is important to me, as I'm on a budget but it still comes in 4th on this list.

[TBman]

I've bought my last couple of good guitars online.

First is tone. I'd see/hear someone here playing one and get curious. Then I would research it and find out the price. If its in my mental budget (under $3,000) I will find more about the guitar, go to the mfg website, etc. That's how I bought my Avalon and Furch.

Now, the funny thing is the first time I played my Avalon I couldn't handle it. It was difficult/different to play. The setup was perfect, but it took a different kind of touch to play it. I'm not sure if I found it in a store and tried it if I would have bought it. After about a week I was in heaven though.

My Furch has great looks, fit and finish, but the warmth of cedar isn't knocking me in the face yet. It needs more playing time. Its beauty and reputation is why it didn't go back. I'm sure in a year or two I'll have that warmth I want. (Also finding the right strings for it might help).

[tkersey]

For me price comes first simply because I can’t augment whatever amount of money I have. When I’ve found something that fits my budget I initially evaluate its playability. If it passes that test put some new strings on it if possible to get a fair assessment of the tone. Appearance is a very distant fourth.

[jaymarsch]

I cannot separate tone and playability - a guitar's tone is inextricably linked to the player who plays it. The more comfortable a guitar is for me to play, the better my technique and the more I can maximize the tone that the instrument offers. Those are my top two considerations.

Price has always been a consideration for me, however has not impacted my ability to own a high-end guitar. It just takes longer - budget planning to save up for the expenditure and practicing patience - learning to live with delayed gratification.

I am very visual but that is the final consideration for me. Fortunately, these days, with so many guitars and luthiers, I have always managed to meet my top considerations without sacrificing what I love visually in a guitar.

Best,
Jayne

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

Playability first
Then tone
Then looks
Then price

Price is last because it has to reflect the value of the prior 3.

What he said.

Tone is super important, but I'm somewhat flexible about it; a guitar might sound a bit different than what I was looking for, yet it's a sound that I can imagine making good music with, so I might buy it.

OTOH, if it doesn't feel good in my hands, that's an automatic, absolute dealbreaker. I have made the mistake before of saying, "well it's a little awkward, but probably would be fine with a good setup." It's like trying on a pair of shoes and thinking "they pinch a little but they'll probably loosen up as I wear them." Life's too short to spend good money on wishful thinking.

Looks for me are important only on the negative side -- i.e., if I think a guitar is downright ugly, I probably won't buy it (or even try it) regardless of its other qualities. But if my hands and ears say "wow," I'll buy it even if my eyes say "meh."

Price is kind of in a different category than these. It's not part of my evaluation of a guitar. It comes into play at the beginning of the process (by narrowing the range of guitars I'm going to bother to look at) and at the end (when I say "am I able/willing to pay this price right now?"). But I would never, for instance, put two guitars side by side and say "I like the way Guitar A plays and sounds better, but Guitar B is better value for money, so I'll buy Guitar B."

[Jim85IROC]

For me, it's typically sound and comfort. Playability, especially with electrics, is not as much of a concern because I can almost always make it play great unless the neck profile is just way too different than I prefer, or there's some kind of gross problem with the guitar.

[nuchdig]

Not sure how to rank these but I would say looks come last. The other variables are quite intertwined for me

[Gordon Currie]

Tone and playability are inextricably linked for me and are the most important factors. (I include details like cutaway, fretboard width, scale length, tonewoods etc. as aspects of tone and/or playability.)

I am uninterested in a guitar that has a great tone for someone else, and yet I can't access it. Playability ensures I can extract all the tonal goodness.

Price is almost meaningless to me. If the tone/playability is not there, then no sale at any price (I don't buy and flip). And if I don't think the price is in line with the value TO ME then no sale.

Appearance is truly meaningless to me as a factor for purchase. While I appreciate awesome woodworking and design skills, I don't buy and collect 'wood art.' If the guitar sings, I buy. If not, I pass and let it find a better match.