Why playing before buying isn't foolproof

[wguitar]

Some may disagree, but do we sometimes "overthink" our guitar buying decisions ? IMHO, AGF is definitely an "enabler" of this overthinking, sometimes to the point of overshadowing our other sensory interpretations of a given guitar (hearing, feeling, seeing, etc.),. In this regard, actually playing a guitar before buying definitely allows greater input from all of our senses, while buying online is obviously limited. Now I'm just an average guitar enthusiast with no scientific credentials but have found myself guilty of what I've described above. I do plenty of research and due diligence, but overthinking can at times paralyze your guitar buying decisions. Food for thought if nothing else. Stay well and enjoy your guitars during these "different" stay-at-home times. Cheers!

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Why playing before buying isn't foolproof

But it's way ahead of buying blind, if you have the opportunity to play first.

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Never said it wasn't. Only said it isn't foolproof.

Lots of good old fashioned subjective truths in this thread.




Don
.

[joegator81]

It’s the same with guitars as it is with an audio system, placement goes a loooooooooooong way as does the environment. Break in also changes the sound.

There are rooms in my house that sound awful and some that sound fantastic. Within those rooms there are spots that sound better than others. A tile room with no rugs with concrete and glass walls will usually sound atrocious. Throw in some heavy drapes and rugs and you might find that your guitar sounds a whole lot better

[BluesKing777]

I suppose there is 'experience'.

My guitar buying visits are more like a targeted and heavily researched mission! Last time I ventured on a mission, the shop had a used guitar I had wanted for a long time. While I needed another guitar like a hole in the head, I wanted this one before I got there, hoped it played well......not too many problems because the truth, it was going to mine anyway!

I played a few tunes on it at the shop, but asked if they had a capo I could use and the notes I played up higher rang out through the whole shop!!!!! Oooh. And people looked around. One guy said: 'Wow!"

I could see that it needed lots of work but it is mine! So experience comes in to play a bit here - guitar knowledge, playing knowledge and a large dose of 'instinct'.......


BluesKing777.

[tbeltrans]

Over the years, there have been brands and even specific models of guitars that folks in this forum have uniformly sung the praises of and others that have been somewhat controversial.

While The Podium was in business (and now Fret Central), I had the opportunity to try a number of both, and often found that my experiences did not match those of consensus in this forum. With the high end guitars, the workmanship was every bit as good as was claimed here. However, the guitar may not have been a good match for me specifically.

A more recent example is Eastman parlor type guitars, carried by Fret Central. Many here sing the praises of these guitars, and so do folks in another smaller forum I read. I have tried them, since we do have a dealer locally with a nice stock across the range of Eastman. I personally don't care at all for their fretboard. They are nice guitars and I can't fault the workmanship or sound, but being able to try before I buy has certainly saved me from any hassles of having to send it back to a remote dealer.

An example of high end are Olson guitars. They are beautiful and very finely crafted - flawless and fantastic wood choices. But for me, the few I have personally tried were just not comfortable to play. It is a shame because that would be a great guitar to aspire to.

Another example is in carbon fiber guitars. I recall playing examples of the Michael Kelly McPherson guitars. I really didn't care for them, and wrote them off as a potential choice. I much preferred my Cargos. But then, some years later, I was able to play the models that McPherson put their own name on. They were much improved, in fact, perfect. Now I own a few of them.

Another example is Rainsong. These are really nice guitars. Every one I have tried, I just could not get on with the neck. If I bought based on hearing a youtube video or seeing a picture on a website and reading the praises here (though some others have commented on the neck too), I would have been disappointed (with the neck, not the sound or workmanship). Being able to play a number of examples, I saved myself that hassle.

So, for me, try before you buy HAS been important and I feel fortunate to live in an area where I can do that. Try before you buy is no guarantee that you will keep the guitar forever. There is still the matter of living with it for a while that you can't get around no matter how you purchased the instrument. But I have had enough experiences reading the praises of a particular brand/model and being grateful that I had the opportunity to play them before considering a purchase.

The problem isn't the folks praising the guitar, because to them, it is a great instrument. The issue is that we are each individuals with different needs, body builds, and priorities as to what in a guitar is important to us. We can't rely on somebody else's judgement for what is right for us in a guitar. We have to experience it for ourselves and make our own judgement.

Tony

[Bob Womack]

Why playing before buying isn't foolproof

It is only as good as the person who does it.

By the way, I am not holding up myself as some sort of epitome of trying before I buy. I find it useful to "visit" a guitar, multiple times and over a bit of time. I usually wait overnight as well. People say, "If you find a good one you better snap it up before anyone else does." I've just taken the process as being more important than the urgency of snapping up a guitar. If someone else gets it, it wasn't meant to be. I usually find that patience with myself and with the guitar pays off.

There have been exceptions. I bought the most expensive guitar I've ever bought twenty-four hours after I found it. In that time I played it twice for a total of about an hour and a half. I called the morning after I tried it and asked them to hold it for me. In another case, my wife and I visited a store one time and I tried out a guitar. She turned around after about five minutes and said, "You sound really comfortable on that guitar. We need to get it." She was right. Done. Went back and tried it again the next day and bought it.

Bob

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Over the years, there have been brands and even specific models of guitars that folks in this forum have uniformly sung the praises of and others that have been somewhat controversial.

While The Podium was in business (and now Fret Central), I had the opportunity to try a number of both, and often found that my experiences did not match those of consensus in this forum. With the high end guitars, the workmanship was every bit as good as was claimed here. However, the guitar may not have been a good match for me specifically.

A more recent example is Eastman parlor type guitars, carried by Fret Central. Many here sing the praises of these guitars, and so do folks in another smaller forum I read. I have tried them, since we do have a dealer locally with a nice stock across the range of Eastman. I personally don't care at all for their fretboard. They are nice guitars and I can't fault the workmanship or sound, but being able to try before I buy has certainly saved me from any hassles of having to send it back to a remote dealer.

An example of high end are Olson guitars. They are beautiful and very finely crafted - flawless and fantastic wood choices. But for me, the few I have personally tried were just not comfortable to play. It is a shame because that would be a great guitar to aspire to.

Another example is in carbon fiber guitars. I recall playing examples of the Michael Kelly McPherson guitars. I really didn't care for them, and wrote them off as a potential choice. I much preferred my Cargos. But then, some years later, I was able to play the models that McPherson put their own name on. They were much improved, in fact, perfect. Now I own a few of them.

Another example is Rainsong. These are really nice guitars. Every one I have tried, I just could not get on with the neck. If I bought based on hearing a youtube video or seeing a picture on a website and reading the praises here (though some others have commented on the neck too), I would have been disappointed (with the neck, not the sound or workmanship). Being able to play a number of examples, I saved myself that hassle.

So, for me, try before you buy HAS been important and I feel fortunate to live in an area where I can do that. Try before you buy is no guarantee that you will keep the guitar forever. There is still the matter of living with it for a while that you can't get around no matter how you purchased the instrument. But I have had enough experiences reading the praises of a particular brand/model and being grateful that I had the opportunity to play them before considering a purchase.

The problem isn't the folks praising the guitar, because to them, it is a great instrument. The issue is that we are each individuals with different needs, body builds, and priorities as to what in a guitar is important to us. We can't rely on somebody else's judgement for what is right for us in a guitar. We have to experience it for ourselves and make our own judgement.

Tony

Very well said.

“We can’t rely on somebody else’s judgement for what is right for us in a guitar. We have to experience it for ourselves and make our own judgement.”

This should be “tatooed” into the collective memory.

[J Patrick]

....I have 4 “nice” acoustic guitars...their average msrp is around 6K.
....of those four 2 were purchased online unplayed....the 2 that I played first and then purchased get the least playing time....and are both on the way out....go figure??

....I will add that Silly hit the nail on the head with his anecdote and summation....to put it another way...love your guitar and it will love you back...

[brandall10]

Originally Posted by tadol

He started playing, and everyone in the room turned around. It was an amazing sounding guitar - based on that sound sample, up on a website, I don’t think anyone with the money wouldn’t have bought it immediately.

One fellow who comes to mind is Matt Chulka from Eddies Guitars. Almost everything he plays sounds like a choir of angels. Part of it is the type of music he plays, which are largely his own compositions and they have a lilting/celtic quality to them, but it's also his super light touch in tandem with the close micing/room dynamics, I imagine.

On the one hand it's cool how he can really make what are mostly pretty great guitars shine, but I have to imagine there are quite a few chuffed new owners of these instruments who struggle to get similar dynamics.

As an aside, it's pretty funny how even he couldn't get the new Sheeran models to sound much better than a cardboard box, so his magic touch doesn't completely transcend time and space.