Tim Plains Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 When somebody says their guitar is great, do you believe them? Personally, I don't...well, for the most part. If somebody goes out, plays a few of them and goes home with the one they liked best, then yes...I believe them. But the guys that buy a guitar unseen, I don't believe. Although I'm making this statement across the board and not specifically to Les Pauls, the 50th anniversary '59 Les Paul reissues are a perfect example of this. They're not all great, they're just guitars...and I know this first hand. I was extremely fortunate to play three of these 50th R9s and while they all looked nice, two of them sounded like crap when played side-by-side...and we're talking $6,500 guitars here (Canadian). While I was lucky enough to pick my guitar, others are buying them sight unseen and then speaking highly of them saying they're the best. Do these guys know what a good/great guitar is or are all Les Paul Standards the same to them, all Strats the same to them, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Great point. I had played many LPs before I purchased my LP Standard. I had em lined up on the day I got the desert burst. Several customes, standards and even a couple SGs. Each had it's own character. I got the one that sounded the best through a Vox ac30 I had taken a liking to. I wish I had did the same evaluation for the Robot. I got it on a whim. An expensive whim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callen3615 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Well if I buy a guitar on ebay or something and it doesnt perform, I dont keep it very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 So many of these people you speak of are referring to the aesthetics alone, and wouldn't know a good player if it slapped them in the nuts. And how many of them do you actually hear play, be it good bad or indifferent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I think all les pauls and strats and teles, in fact all gibsons and fenders are "GREAT GUITARS!" for them... that's why they go off, buy a melody maker and then think gibson sucks because that guitar wont do metal (same applies for teles). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 something tells me their the same kids who max out anolog distortion, drop to d or drop c or something, and then continue to make noises that resemble the noises that come out your butt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Took me about a year of playing countless number of Les Pauls before I settled in on my first one. Yes looks are important but I wanted both looks and sound. The second one was faster because I learned a lot from the first time. Also, I did buy a made-in-Mexico Strat without really thinking about it and that was a bad move. It gets out of tune quite easily, but others have told me that they didn't have major problems with theirs. When I upgraded to an American-made one I took my time again, which worked out nicely for me (love it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FennRx Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 what is great is in the eye of the beholder. it is possible to buy a guitar online and have it be great. why not? i have done it. my std faded was awesome, but i wanted a historic, so off it went. or perhaps you cannot tell a great guitar without a comparison? in that case, the issue is with you, not everyone else. just playing devil's advocate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I don't believe a lot of things that people say about gear when it comes to sound and functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matiac Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 To each his/her own, in all aspects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Make these comments in the "Les Paul Forum"..In the historic section. Theyll hunt you down and kill you. We all have a sound in our head. One that sounds pleasing to us. What sounds good to me may sound like crap to others. I think the best rule of thumb is to play any electric guitar unplugged. If it sounds pretty good and you can feel decent vibration in your hands then itll sound good plugged in. Then its up to the amp and your playing style to enrich the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 But the guys that buy a guitar unseen' date=' I don't believe. Although I'm making this statement across the board and not specifically to Les Pauls, the 50th anniversary '59 Les Paul reissues are a perfect example of this. They're not all great, they're just guitars...and I know this first hand. I was extremely fortunate to play three of these 50th R9s and while they all looked nice, two of them sounded like crap when played side-by-side...and we're talking $6,500 guitars here (Canadian). While I was lucky enough to pick my guitar, others are buying them sight unseen and then speaking highly of them saying they're the best. Do these guys know what a good/great guitar is or are all Les Paul Standards the same to them, all Strats the same to them, etc?[/quote'] +1 I was seriously cosidering buying one of the 50th anniversarry 'bursts but, as I live in London, the chances of me being able to try out a few to select the one that I prefer is absolutely nil. Even well respected shops which are advertising them on-line are flagging them as 'Not available from stock - to reserve this item please call'. This means, basically, that if someone pays for one in advance then they will get one sent over. The thought that I don't even have a chance to hear, feel or see what I'm expected to pay 5,000 Serling (about $7,200 US) for has effectively put me completely off the prospect of ever owning one. How disappointed would I feel if the guitar arrived and was nowhere near as good as the one I already own? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I don't believe a lot of things that people say about gear when it comes to sound and functionality. Yep. Hang around musicians long enough, and somebody will tell you anything can do everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Yep. Hang around musicians long enough' date=' and somebody will tell you anything can do everything.[/quote'] What gets my goat is when someone comes here and asks what sort of amp they should get with no mention of what style of music they play or examples of guitar players whose tones they like or anything at all describing what sort of sound they want to get let alone whether they're going to be playing at home or Madison Square Garden. Immediately after that, you get people chiming in with the usual suspects - "Blues Junior!" "Orange Tiny Terror!" "Egnator Rebel!" "Marshall Major stack!" - without even thinking for one second that just because those amps might work for them, that doesn't mean that one size fits all or bothering to ask the guy what he's into. Worse yet, the guy who asked in the first place ends up responding with "Cool! I'll check those out!" That's when it becomes painfully obvious that he has no idea what the hell he wants anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 That's when it becomes painfully obvious that he has no idea what the hell he wants anyway. ](*' date=') [/quote'] I appreciate you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 or perhaps you cannot tell a great guitar without a comparison? in that case' date=' the issue is with you, not everyone else.[/quote']No, but it helps. Besides, I think I have a sixth sense when it comes to picking a guitar. Devil's advocate...perhaps you are one of the guys I'm referring and you'd be happy with any guitar? If you play two different R9s with the intent on buying one of them, wouldn't you want to buy the one that's better than the other one? Maybe you're the one that can't tell and that's why you decided to go with on-line purchases. Just as long as it looks pretty, right? Regarding the "which amp should I buy" type questions...I don't know, sometimes it's good to ask if you don't know what's out there. There are so many amps out there and heck, even I don't know what's available other than what my local music shops carry. Maybe it's the wording of the question. If they asked "what are my choices" it wouldn't be so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mick Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I have never and will never buy anything that costs a significant amount of $$$ with out seeing touching and or hearing. Even if I don't know what the hell it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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