Too much information?

[Br1ck]

I'm as guilty as the next guy, maybe more, of spending far too much time on forums. It is becoming more apparent how the internet and the mountains of data it provides can have a paralyzing effect on the way we think about instruments. Back in the good old days, you were lucky enough to have a store you could go into and choose between a D 18 and a D 28. If you were lucky maybe they would have a D 35 or an HD 28. You would go in and buy the one you liked the best. None of this forwared shifted, scalloped bracing, which of six neck shapes nonsense. You played a guitar, liked a guitar, bought a guitar and enjoyed a guitar. You didn't immediately go home to wonder if you made a mistake. Maybe one Guild was the only good guitar in the shop. You bought it and took it home and spent the next five years finding out what you could do with it. You were happy to ditch your Ibanez. You were happy.

I've been playing my Guild D 35 a bunch lately. It is the one out on a stand right now. My Texan and D 35 Custom are not so much better that my lazy ass gets up, puts the Guild in it's case and gets out the Martin. I realize this modest guitar is just fine, and nothing but practice will get me to where I want to be. No amount of cooked top or no cooked top, 1 3/4 or 1 11/16 nut, performance low oval taper or clunky old yesterday's neck, will change that. So when your head is spinning with useless data, you might try going back to playing, liking, and buying guitars. Don't pay attention to any specs, just play the guitar, like it or not, buy it or not. Then go home and practice. And if someone compares the guitar you just bought to some new wiz bang model, don't pay them no mind. Go play your guitar.

I've happily played my Guild for years not knowing or caring what the neck width was.

Addendum: If you are out in the sticks, have no good store, and have to buy sight unseen, don't fret. There are so many guitars out there you can be happy with. If grandad had an old Martin D 18, play it. No matter what the neck width is. If the guy in the next town has a D 40, go buy it. It will be fine. Only have $700? Buy that old beat up D 25 in a recent thread. I do believe I could live with that one as my one and only. I could live with a 70s Alverez too. Or even guitars that when given the choice, I would never pick, Taylors anyone? LOL.

In the words of the late great Frank Zappa, shut up and play your guitar.

 

[walrus]

"Made to be Discussed"!

walrus

 

[Rayk]

Annnnnnd ,Cut ! That's a rap . Makeup !!!!!!

 

[beecee]

Great post Brick.

Took me a heck of a long time to find the guitar that surpassed my Madeira A-2. It was a Guild thankfully.

I have been guilty of buying some fine "high end" guitars based on the unabashed gushing of others...even on this forum...but I've been culling the herd slowly...sure I'm losing a few sheckles but as Richard told me...I've owned and played a few exceptional guitars...for not a lot of rent money...and now they are onto those who will hopefully enjoy/play/use as intended.

But the boatload of info out there has helped in many good ways too.

 

[Westerly Wood]

Love my ‘84 D35.
And like you say, right now, I am blessed to have it.

 

[davismanLV]

 

[davismanLV]

It's good and bad. Anything you get too dependent on is gonna skew your choices. But that's where fortitude and your will to overcome come flying out of your soul.... and saves you again!!! Good post, Br1ck!!

 

[bobouz]

Nope, does not compute. I’ve enjoyed the unending differences in guitars since the ‘70s - had ten at one time back then, buying up flea market finds to fix & resell or trade - all in a quest for something a bit more stimulating in tone or playability. Primarily, what this has amounted to, is a wonderful diversionary hobby that has been an ongoing source of motivation.

So I guess my bottom line point is that it’s not just the internet & forums that can lure you in - I’ve had this “problem” for the last 49 years!

 

[fronobulax]

I suggest we are dealing with personality types and preferences and refer the interested reader to Myers-Briggs, specifically J and P. Point being, we are talking "different" and not "better"

I would be curious to see whether posters who were employed adults prior to (say) 1990 had regular access to the print magazine Consumer Reports. I might expect a correlation with a general quest for information.

I have found my personal quest of information, prior to an instrument purchase, correlates very well with the probable price and my economic circumstances. Getting the best $300 bass for my money was a lot more important when that $300 was left over after a summer's worth of mowing lawns than it was at a time when $300 was a mere portion of the monthly disposable income.

I am not sure the internet created the problem either. The ads and articles in Guitar Player magazine got a lot of scrutiny back in the day and the whole exercise was constrained by what could be found in person since buying sight unseen and shipping an instrument was an unusual experience in my pre-internet circles.

 

[Guildedagain]

I had one guitar for 10 years starting in my teens, when that's all I needed and could afford. Yamaha Red Label FG-75. Fell in love with it every time I played it, something different came out. I had one guitar, a '65 SG Jr. light as a feather with a fingerboard from heaven for ten years until I started GASSING for a LP Flametop by the early 90's. Then came Strat fever. Then my longstanding love affair with P Basses as I acquired a 1962 for $175 with blonde OHSC, played it in a college band, Don't have it anymore, now I have a true relic '71 I picked up at a yardsale.

I then came back around to acoustics, got into Guilds. Got into the Dobro and open tunings.

Right now I have my '71 Dobro bell brass bodied round neck strung up with mediums 12-54, tuned to standard minus 8 cents A = 432Hz, and it's blowing my mind day after day.

An acoustic will really make you a better player. I usually go electric for the volume, but it really affects your playing, nevermind effects. I find the Dobro to be the perfect crossover between acoustic and electric. Sometimes it feels like it's plugged in and there's really trippy reverb on the treble strings, the high E especially has dual tones, like the best sounding reverb I've heard blooming with and trailing a note naturally, it's coming out that metal can but it's uncanny ;]]

Love the one you're with when you're playing it, that's the most important thing.

Over time, you'll develop an ability to pickup the most weatherbeaten piece of junk with dead strings and after a brief getting acquainted period sound passably good, maybe even great.

I get bored at people's houses real quick, and if I see a guitar case in the living room by the piano, I'll ask "Hey can I check out the guitar" and it's some 70's Japan copy they admit nobody ever played it because it sounds terrible, and as they chat you slowly get it tuned and then go on play it and you sound great. Best guitar in the whole room.

What the best camera in the world?

The one in your pocket.

 

[merlin6666]

I totally agree and preferred guitar shopping when the choices were more fundamental and spec lists non existent. I don't even look at Gibson or Martin guitars any more just because of spec detail overkill. Having to choose between like 25 versions of D18 or 13 versions of D45 is a huge turn off for me. Guild got it right by sticking to the basics, and having both Standard and Traditional versions of a D40 and F40 is already pushing it for me.

 

[HeyMikey]

Very glad that this approach works for you, but it doesn’t for me. I also had one guitar for a long time, and it was what it was.

Now I like knowing the specs and reading user reviews since most of my guitars and gear are purchased online without trying first.

Knowing more rather than less will hopefully give me a much better chance of buying something that works well for me based on my preferences, and at a good value, without being limited to whatever I might stumble upon locally at any given point on time.

 

[Br1ck]

But really, specks, the logo on the headstock, who plays it, what is supposed to be better, that new marketing design change, mean nothing but channeling your preconceptions. I think all this clouds you thinking before you even play a guitar. Think of all the people out there that have preconceptions regarding Guild. Oh, it's just something people buy when they can't afford a Martin. They have moved so much they can't be any good, etc. etc. But when you can walk in a store and like a D 55 better than the Martin rosewood dreads, well you might never pick it up.

I walked into a big Taylor dealer once. They had Martin and Gibson too. I told the manager I'd never played a Taylor guitar I ever liked. He opened up a glass case and handed me two. They were both wonderful. Now I have to say I never liked a Taylor under five thousand dollars. Apparently, half of the people like the old Taylor bracing, half the new, when they try them side by side. So is the new better? From the marketing it sure is. Forward shifted bracing? Better for you maybe. Without trying both, how will you know, then how much of that is preconception?

If you go into a fine violin shop, you don't ask for a brand. You tell them a budget and they bring out five or sic violins, some more, some less than your budget. You play them. One could be 20 years old, one could be two hundred. One could be made by someone you've heard of and the rest not. But you buy the one you like, or at least tell them the number one or two choices. Then they tell you about what they played. My daughter played a viola through grad school and beyoud that was a Chinese factory instrument that had been taken apart by a violin maker and reworked. It was $4500 and the cheapest instrument in the room by far. Had we known, how much was it likely to skew our own experience?

What does an artist endorsement have to do with what you are going to like? Yet it is a proven way to sell instruments. AS we move more into an online world, our choices become defined by numbers, which can sort of guide you, I guess, but can they tell you if you will like what they represent? Go hunt down a recent Music Villa D 18 vs J 45 blind test. Neither the pro musician or the retail guy could pick out the D 18. So how much is knowing one has a short scale going to help you? I took the test at the end of the clip. We shall see. They haven't posted the results yet.

 

[davismanLV]

Which I think is why, if you read my recent post about your first guitar or Guild, I kinda forget exactly, that in 1994 I went down the hill to GC and by picking and playing I chose my top three. Then I went for a little walk out in the big room and came back and took a seat facing the wall in the "good" guitar room and our sales guy played each one in random order. Twice. Then I chose my top pick. Then we went for another walk out in the big room, and when we returned Don plunked down in the same seat facing the wall. He did the same and picked his fave. Both of us chose the Guild over a Martin and a Taylor. So that's what I bought. To me it was the best sounding guitar in my price range. I didn't read anything, I didn't know specs at all, and I was woefully ignorant to so many things. But I ended up with my best guitar, still. But I enjoy them all and all their differences.

 

[walrus]

But something like nut width (as one example) at least for me - can make a big difference in playability. As has been said, in the old days you just knew it was comfortable or not. But I have no trouble adding an understanding WHY it's comfortable or not.

walrus

 

[HeyMikey]

Which I think is why, if you read my recent post about your first guitar or Guild, I kinda forget exactly, that in 1994 I went down the hill to GC and by picking and playing I chose my top three. Then I went for a little walk out in the big room and came back and took a seat facing the wall in the "good" guitar room and our sales guy played each one in random order. Twice. Then I chose my top pick. Then we went for another walk out in the big room, and when we returned Don plunked down in the same seat facing the wall. He did the same and picked his fave. Both of us chose the Guild over a Martin and a Taylor. So that's what I bought. To me it was the best sounding guitar in my price range. I didn't read anything, I didn't know specs at all, and I was woefully ignorant to so many things. But I ended up with my best guitar, still. But I enjoy them all and all their differences.

I agree wholeheartedly that is the ideal way to choose a guitar - and pretty much how I used to do it. That’s how I settled on and bought my Martin OM, because my only real choice was mostly Martin or Taylor. Unfortunately these days there is not as much easily available in a setting like that where you can A/B/C, especially US made, vintage guitars, and especially not Guilds. When I got my F30R online, after researching specs similar to the Martin, I sold the Martin because it fit my style of playing better.

 

[Guildedagain]

I bought a vintage D28 because I just had to have one before it was all over but I don't remember much about that guitar at all. It was pretty but I hardly ever played it, kept the same strings on for years at a time, actually liked the sound of it like that... I didn't even like it much for the first year I had it, I think until the strings went dead? ;] I never at any point considered it exceptional, which is why I didn't keep it. Against other guitars in the room, it was never that much better, and some guitars were better than it, which forced me to get rid of them because it doesn't make any sense to have a $200 Yamaki D28 copy that a hobo carried that sounds better than your D28.

I went to a couple parties with it, but it was too precious to be out, rowdy kids flying by, I had to guard it with my life. It did sound freakin good now that I remember it, it was pretty good at The Battle of Evermore and stuff like that, it was pretty loud.

I don't really miss it. I just want more Guilds ;]

This was the Yamaki, really pretty special that one, shoulda kept it and sold the Martin instead, but having a Martin rates pretty highly.

 

[Br1ck]

I have played plenty D 28s that did nothing for me. Guilds too for that matter. ( my F 40). And really, my Guild D 35 would get passed over pretty often for a D 18 or a D 28. Prominent bass and volume sell a lot of guitars. Taylor's too low for me stock setup sells a bunch of guitars for them. Sometimes you need to live with a guitar a while to understand what it can, and can't do. Removed from a store environment, my D 35 provides plenty of bass. Bluegrass bass and volume? Not really, but I have my Martin D 35 for that, and the Martin overpowers my vocals if I don't back off. My Texan is the best vocal backing guitar I have. The Guild id one of those does everything pretty well guitars that grows on you. But I guess we should keep quiet about them or we'll ruin a good thing.

 

[chazmo]

Nicely put, Br1ck!

Don't keep quiet! But, yes, no question Guilds are an outstanding value in the used guitar market.

 

[Guildedagain]

It's true I have a memory of picking up many a D28 and not playing all that long. Only ran into one used Guild locally over the years, my 1st D35. Played it and have to have it.