Beyond tone

Cranky

I'm getting in touch with my inner vanities, wondering if anyone out there wants to share reasons they've acquired a guitar for reasons other than tone.  Looks?  GAS?  Guitar hero?  Something else?

I'll start.  I bought a Jaguar almost entirely because of Nirvana.  And I bought a Casino because of The Beatles.  Don't get me wrong, they've paid me back in the form of tone and fun.  But I don't even gig!

octatonic

Tone is a myth.

tony99

I bought a Gibson Les Paul because its construction from rich mahogany looks good next to my many leather-bound books.

Funkfingers

Cranky said:

I'm getting in touch with my inner vanities

You are Gene Simmons and I claim my five Guineas.

artiebear

I was once on a tour where the stipulation was ( oh god, what would twitter make of this ?) all guitars / gear had to be white. White strat/ LP sorted ( actually I used an Aria top end something or other most of the time, it was the 80's) Thankfully my wood cab boogies were below stage and they stayed as were. Was like playing gigs in a fridge freezer

monquixote

octatonic said:

Tone is a myth.

I've met him.

Cranky

Funkfingers said:

Cranky said:

I'm getting in touch with my inner vanities

You are Gene Simmons and I claim my five Guineas.

Lol I don't even get this.

merlin

octatonic said:

Tone is a myth.

No she ithn't. She'th a mythter. 

thegummy

I'm a practical/functional type of person so I'm less likely to have an answer than some.

The only thing I can think of is that if I ever buy a Hofner violin bass it would be because of Paul McCartney; as in, if he never played one it wouldn't even be on the radar. But even then, it would only be considered because it offers something tonally that I don't already have and I quite possibly won't buy one for tone reasons too.

stickyfiddle

Tone is context. Looks are forever.

guitars4you

Feel/playability - IMO if it doesn't feel and play right then nothing else matters - IMO you will not get a good tone if you are struggling to play it - It all starts IMO with your playing hand and follows on from there - Granted looks has an initial impact, for a number of reasons, but once played, if it doesn't feel comfortable it is a no no - I love the looks of a Gretsch 6120 but never owned one as I just can't get on with how they feel/play - To conclude feel/playability everytime

TTBZ

Feel, sustain and playability for sure. I can't play anything I have to fight and hate when a guitar doesn't have decent natural sustain and is a chore to play. Tone can be altered to a certain extent through pickups but usually I favour mahogany bodied guitars.

But also looks.

merciful-evans

I passed up a superb playing/sounding PRS CE24 in favour of a better looking one. Still regret that
I avoided Teles for years because I thought they were ugly. 

AlbertC

I confess, I often listen with my eyes - The appealing looks of a guitar somehow have a way of bamboozling my ears into believing the tone is superb 

HAL9000

Tele because a lot of my early influences used them - Keef, Wilko, Brooce, Quo, etc.
Strat (black, maple neck) - impulse buy but definitely EC influenced.

axisus

Buying a guitar for tone?    ....   hmnnn .... I'm interested, keep talking ......

ThePrettyDamned

Looks before tone everytime.

Like folk who insist a Maple fretboard adds loads of bright snap compared to rosewood. If there is a difference, it's miniscule and easily dialed into an amp. 

Not downplaying the importance of tone wood, but a thin cap on a fretboard compared to the great lumps of wood at either end of the string... Fretboard is feel and looks imo. 

Likewise, I desperately want a gretsch. I want one without a tension bar bigsby, like a b70 or b7. 

I can convince myself this is for the lower string break angle for a less sustainy, jangly tone a la jazzmaster. In reality, I think tension bar bigsby vibratos are ugly as balls  

Funkfingers

Cranky said:

Funkfingers said:

Cranky said:

I'm getting in touch with my inner vanities

You are Gene Simmons and I claim my five Guineas.

Lol I don't even get this.

Well, you certainly didn’t LOL it. 

Gene Simmons, bassist and vocalist of KISS, is famed for having an unusually long tongue.

”… I claim my five Guineas” is a reference to the Lobby Lud sales boosting campaign by the Westminster Gazette newspaper.

I am a fan of the humour of Took and Feldman, as heard on Round The Horne. You probably didn’t wish to know this.

Cranky

Funkfingers said:

Cranky said:

Funkfingers said:

Cranky said:

I'm getting in touch with my inner vanities

You are Gene Simmons and I claim my five Guineas.

Lol I don't even get this.

Well, you certainly didn’t LOL it. 

Gene Simmons, bassist and vocalist of KISS, is famed for having an unusually long tongue.

”… I claim my five Guineas” is a reference to the Lobby Lud sales boosting campaign by the Westminster Gazette newspaper.

I am a fan of the humour of Took and Feldman, as heard on Round The Horne. You probably didn’t wish to know this.

1.  I've officially LOL'd it.
3.  I'm not English and thus have no idea what you're on about with Lobby Lud and Round the Horne.
2.  Still feel like I'm missing something but that's alright.

Strangefan

I honestly don't care what a guitar looks like, (hense  the name) how it sounds and playability is all that matters
My only guitars are a d'angelico deluxe Brighton, an 80wls  Japanese bc Rick warlock and a 1910s solid wood parlour,  people care too much about a name and ignore the Importance of sound and playability, where as for me, looks and "mojo" /coolness play 2nd fiddle.

dindude

I’d play an ugly guitar that sounds fantastic way before a nice looking thing that sounds average