Looks vs Sound?

[chazmo]

As a lousy player and, honestly, a bit of a cork sniffer, looks are important to me. However, I'm really not a big fan of traditional guitar adornments. I really dig cool wood, so I lean toward the "plain" spectrum.

I'm really not consistent on the issue though. E.g., I think Dan's guitar above is a beautiful thing. Really.

All that said, I really don't think looks influence my opinions when I try to decide what instruments I want to have. Not much, anyway. My F-512, which I first thought looked like a shiny joke on the wall of my music store, completely blew me away when I played it. As many of you know, it's why I'm here.

So, there you go. Clear as mud.

 

[crank]

A beat up guitar can be a thing of beauty.

 

[walrus]

For me it's a combination of sound, playability and looks. Has to hit me in all 3 categories.

I'm with crank - I've only had one acoustic in the last 32 years, so I've done little "comparing". But it hits all three categories nicely...

walrus

 

[merlin6666]

A beat up guitar can be a thing of beauty.

well it REALLY depends on who was doing the beatin' ...

 

[davismanLV]

I'll agree with Chazmo here, that guitar of Dan's is BEAUTIFUL in a whole different way!!

Now to further veer from the original post and criteria, if you want to know what draws me to an instrument and makes me pluck it off the hanger in a whole WALL of instruments, that's going to be looks. That's our first input in a real-life situation. We have not heard the guitar and we have not played the guitar, so we only have a visual assessment to go by. And I love a flashy and pretty guitar. So first grab is usually based on looks. If that makes me shallow, then so be it. However, the first strum will make or break my interest in said guitar. Just more junk and opinions to throw into the mix here. This has been fun..... :encouragement:

 

[Neal]

When I see one hanging on the wall that I want to try out, I am drawn first by the shape, then by quality/type of the woods it is made of, and then by the workmanship.

All three impact the way it is likely to play and sound. So, to a certain extent, the look of a guitar is a preliminary indicator of how it might sound.

Once you have played a bunch of guitars, the eye becomes trained in sorting for what the ear wants to hear. Not a perfect correlation, but there's definitely a connection between looks and tone that helps a discerning buyer pick out what they are likely to prefer.

 

[kdavid]

Given only those two characteristics of an acoustic guitar . . . sound, 100 percent.

Good looks are simply a bonus, imo.

yup, im going with this also. when i got mckaila, it was her looks that attracted me to her (also the Guild on her headstock LOL ). i could see she had been played heavily, but while strumming & fingerpicking her, it was the sound that made me know this was the one i was going to take home.
same was true with the Martin D18 she replaced (marty) that one had been played heavily also, but she had a wonderful tone also.
im sure i'd still have her if son in law hadent dropped the couch on her
i guess its probably looks attract me to them, but its the tone that make them a keeper

 

[adorshki]

So first grab is usually based on looks. If that makes me shallow, then so be it.

For Christmas we'll getcha a t-shirt that says "Caution: No Diving At This End"
If that don't spark some conversation, then you'll know right away that one's not a keeper.
:friendly_wink:

 

[The Retro Rocker]

If I don't like the looks of a guitar, it's tough to bond with it. If I don't really like the sound of it, I'm out!
There are plenty of guitars that sound AND look good, luckily...and, guess what? They are all Guilds!

 

[Cougar]

"rule number one, you have to look good!
now what looks good? that is a matter of opinion....

This burst F50R.

Sounds great, too!

 

[rampside]

I keep coming back to this thread, and as every time I do, I have no definitive answer.

Guitars, like other things I have, such as vehicles, tools, boats, guns, etc... I have several of, and there would be different percentages for each and every thing, as for the reasons I have them.

Just depends on the day, I guess?

Now, if you could only have one, such as, say,:smile::smile: your soul mate, well.....that's a different story.