have you disliked a certain type of guitar,but then changed your mind when you actually played one?

racefaceec90

have just recently discovered nels cline myself. the guy is teh awesomenezz 

stefjudd

p90fool said:

Les Pauls for me too. I never liked the sound or the look of them until I tried a friend's two years ago. I bought one immediately and haven't played anything else since.

Strangely, I still don't like the sound anyone else gets out of them, they just work perfectly for me.

That's my exact experience too!

wordy

I used to think strats were naff as they reminded me of Chesney Hawkes.  That was the one and only reason.

I'm over it now.... and have four strats at the moment.

Chesney would be proud.

Dave_Mc

wordy said:

I used to think strats were naff as they reminded me of Chesney Hawkes.  That was the one and only reason.

LOL nice pun there.

Pyroman

crunchman said:

SG

Never liked them but the staff in a shop were noodling on one when I was in there.  I had a go, and it was probably the best guitar I'd ever played.  Ended up buying it.

  Same here, I thought they looked pants, and I confess to buying into all the hype with guys whinging on about "neck dive" etc.  

  Then I tried one.

  A nice red '50s tribute with p90's.  Loved it!  Those p90's are everything they're cracked up to be, and it played great!  Very well balanced in my book, too.  Since then I started paying more attention to SG players, like Tony Iommi, Ed King,  and Glenn Buxton, and how great they sounded.

 I was in the shop, looking at Firebirds- which I couldn't afford at the time.  The sales guy suggested this one, as an affordable option.  I plugged it into a couple of nice Fender tube amps and was hooked!  That guitar went home with me that day, and sees a lot of play.  Better still, it was used, and I got it for a great price!

  For the record, the second I was able to swing the price of a Firebird, it was MINE!   This is another guitar I stupidly overlooked, because it is visually quirky, and I didn't get all the hullabaloo over through-necks.  Wrong!  It plays and feels like no other guitar.  Then you have the tone.  It's also not nearly as neck heavy or weirdly balanced as is reported all over the net.  Gibson's switch to Steinberger tuners instead of banjo tuners likely helped that a lot.  I was kind of non plussed about those, they're so different from the usual, but after tuning my 'Bird up a few times, I really like them!

  Guitar has been a real journey for me.  I started out wanting high output 'buckers, as I was listening to a lot of Archenemy, and other heavy music.  So I got an Ibanez RG.

  Then I decided what I really wanted was something with single coils, for those sweet glassy cleans.  I demo'd some Strats, and when the sales guy put an American Standard in my hands, that was IT- this was MY guitar!   I became a Fendery guy.

  Next, I got into those warm fat vintage cleans/crunches.  My Strats and Tele were just too bright, and thin to do that without a lot of tweaking.  The Blackface Strat I got with vintage alnico 'buckers, was close, but it still sounded like a strat- ie too bright.

  I finally caved, and bought an all mahogany LP-alike with a PAF style bridge 'bucker and a p100 neck p/u  Now We're talkin'!  It's kicked off my apparently latent Gibson fanboyism.  I now own a Firebird, an SG, and a Les Paul.  My guitar GAS is finally slaked.  (ok FINE- I still would like a Flying V, and a Dobro, but those can wait for a while)

  When it comes to amps, I'm still a Fender guy, though.

 

Pyroman

Steadhock said:

Honestly I think almost every single one of my guitars have been a 'surprise' purchase. 

The only thing more frustrating to me is amps. If only I could fall in love with one I can actually afford...

Oh, so true, my friend...

pintspiller

Twenty years ago I was a Les Paul man. So when a mate of mine got a USA Telecaster Standard with his student loan I just despised the thing. The sound. The feel.

I've fancied a Tele for a couple of years and tried a number of models even the USA Deluxe. But I despise the sound. The feel.

Except for the USA Telecaster Standard

Still haven't bought one though. I don't play enough to warrant another guitar.

hugbot

I e played some les Paul's I really like and some I really hate and I can't work out what the distinguishing feature between the two is.

IvisonGuitars

PRS.

Always took the view that they were far too flash and had no soul. I tried a couple for a laugh one day at a local shop and was hugely impressed, great build and loads of sounds on tap. Very versatile guitars indeed.


Still wouldn't be seen dead with one though.... ;-)

pintspiller

hugbot said:

I e played some les Paul's I really like and some I really hate and I can't work out what the distinguishing feature between the two is.

Me too. I was a Les Paul man without actually owning one. Lol. I had a few plywood copies and bought my Gordon-Smith Gypsy as a stop-gap.

It's where the neck meets the body that I don't always get on with. Sometimes the sound of the humbuckers. Never liked the feel of ebony fingerboards. 

I wouldn't mind trying the Axcess though. Sounds like what I've been looking for.

usedtobe

I hated Telecasters. I tried an squier affinity, and loved the feel of it. Still not keen on the sound Teles make when I play them, though.

NotNowJohn

PRS. But then I played a DGT - brilliant guitar.

Also Jazzmasters. Never liked the look of them but tried one and it became my main guitar for years.

olafgarten

I've had it the other way around, always wanted a Strat, but I can't play them comfortably. There isn't anywhere for my picking arm to rest.

koneguitarist

Yep original old BC Rich super strats, great guitars. 

 But mainly basses. Especially Rickies, thought they were ugly and only capable of that hard ELP sound, then had to borrow one to do a deep one night, and I thought what an amazing bass, loads of sounds and it played well. Still think it's ugly though. 

And Fender precisions, always preferred the Jazz bass until I played an old JV through a Marshall super bass head, then I got it! 

stimpsonslostson

Another vote for SG.
I grew up loving Townsend, Young, Iommi & Cream era Clapton so have always been drawn to them.

I've owned several & each time despite the brilliant noise they make I decided they they're not comfortable- everything's SLIGHTLY to the left of where I want it to be, do it always feels like I'm reaching to play open chords...

Until I got my 50s tribute (& a slightly longer strap!). For whatever reason I love it, 6 months on & it's my first choice.

merlin

Worked the other way round for me. Liked the Rickenbacker sound and look and then when I played one I couldn't get on with it! 
Things may have changed now though, I guess it's time to try another! 

Garthy

Gibson SG and ES335. I thought the former had odd geometry but turned out to be great, the latter I just thought would be a weedy sound from a cumbersome body. God it was fabulous, I didn't want to put that big bastard down.

Dominic

Any big old Archtop - thought they were 'old man ' guitars that reminded me of the cover of my Bert Weedon book that my dad bought when I was 8 yrs old and wanted to play guitar ..................I had visions of being more like Marc Bolan than Bert Weedon

 Now I love them and the sound ................I guess the guitars didn't change so it must be that I became an 'old man' and have now adopted the appropriate instrument .Sad but True !

Sarge

YES!
Teles, always hated the look and thought they were always too shrill sounding on reordings.
Then I played one, then another. Still hate them.

Wait....did I say yes?   I meant no!

SquireJapan

Les Pauls and PRS...

Hated them for a long time (without playing one), then convinced myself I should own one ... struggled to find one at all that I could stand (tables turned?). Finally found one I like, which is "wrong" on paper (heavy and made in 1980).

PRS because "they're obviously guitars for walkers" - that they may be, but they're very nice to play. I bought one after trying as a joke in a shop (was looking for a Strat (i.e. "A grown-up's guitar), and said "ha - let's try this walker guitar for a laught).

Turns out that really expensive guitar is quite well made - PRS probably does know what he's doing ...