Guitars and FX you love the sound of but can't get on with

Snags

It might be because I'm decidedly average and don't do anything fast or flashy, or because I always aspired to a Les Paul so got one 22 years ago after which it was my only guitar for many, many years, but I don't find them any better/worse than anything else (in general).

Of all the guitars I've owned to date, the Reverend Jetstream 390 did my head in - I loved the look, and I loved the versatility of sound, but I just couldn't play it. I think it was a combination of the middle P90 bothering my picking hand (psychologically, I never actually clonked it), and the next which was just a wee bit too narrow/thin for my ape hands. It's the only guitar I've had that I played worse the longer I played it in any given session.

I have a similar issue with an old Fenix Tele. I can play that, but I can never quite get it to sit right in a band mix, even after a pickup change etc. etc. It's either too bright, or too quiet, or too muddy, or too ... there must be a sweet spot, but I pass through it every time (to my ears, at least - a couple of other people have commented favourably, but it sounds so grim to me that it puts me off my playing, which needs all the help it can get, not distractions).

TTBZ

lysander said:

Les Pauls and actually most guitars with a tuneomatic bridge. I find having the strings so far away from the body uncomfortable.
And on Les Pauls just about everything is uncomfortable  

Funnily enough the TOM bridge is what makes a Gibson feel so much like home to me. I usually anchor my little finger around the bottom of the bridge I think. Anything with a flat lower profile bridge and I feel lost as I don't have the same contact point and with the strings lower to the body I feel cramped somehow, my picking isn't as accurate.

DB1

Les Pauls and Gretsches. Les Paul's because they're not ergonomically right for me, as I must be shaped like a seal, and Gretsches because, I don't know, actually. Probably the necks, maybe the Tone (in my hands).

Falcons, Falcon Jr, Country Clubs, 6120 EC, Hot Rod, Chet, SSU, Chet VS55, they've all come and gone apart from the VS, and I'm thinking of that too. I love Gretsches and if money was no object I'd have them just to look at and play occasionally. But money is an object so I can't.

fretfinder

335s, I love the sound but they’re just too bloody big. I’m just under 6ft so no midget, but I put on a 335 and it feels like I’ve got something huge and unwieldy hanging there (oooer). I’ve owned at least half a dozen of them over the years but each time I have one I realise how big they are and that I don’t get I’m with them. Then when I‘ve sold it and haven’t had one for a while I feel like I ought to get another one!

Seziertisch

I think some of the comments here regarding guitar shape and size are a reflection of the shape and size of the player. 

I’m relatively tall and find Les Pauls fine to play standing up but a bit too small to be comfortable in my lap sitting down, by contrast Jazzmasters and larger hollow bodies sit right for me when seated.

I also think arm length is a factor, apparently in tailoring there are two body types for men’s suits, with shorter and longer arms proportionate to the torso

Axe_meister

What I'd love is an unlimited budget, a music shop opened just for me, knowledgeable staff and time to actually choose/play everything and find the actual guitar/amp/FX combo that actually speaks to me.
Rather than an impulse buy or budget compromise.
I'm fortunate to have a few really nice warmoth guitars, built and setup by people in the know, but they just don't speak to me.
Yet when I was handed a relic Strat at a guitar shop I finally understood what it meant to have a guitar speak to me. Alas I didn't have 4.5k handy.

JezWynd

lysander said:

Les Pauls and actually most guitars with a tuneomatic bridge. I find having the strings so far away from the body uncomfortable.
And on Les Pauls just about everything is uncomfortable  

This is one of the key reasons I find LPs difficult to play. Weight distribution is the other one; the body always seems to be pulling down and bringing the neck up - definitely a guitar best played standing with a strap.

ICBM

fretfinder said:

335s, I love the sound but they’re just too bloody big. I’m just under 6ft so no midget, but I put on a 335 and it feels like I’ve got something huge and unwieldy hanging there (oooer). I’ve owned at least half a dozen of them over the years but each time I have one I realise how big they are and that I don’t get I’m with them. Then when I‘ve sold it and haven’t had one for a while I feel like I ought to get another one!

I'm only 5'6", so for me it feels like carrying a canoe with the paddle attached to one end.

Oddly, a 330 - which has the same size body, but the neck is set about an inch further in - is drastically better.

YellowLedBetterMan

As a bigger dude (6'4" and wide) I often find some guitars are too small rather than too big. Mustangs especially (although I still like playing them). Also means guitars where normal people struggle to access upper frets, I have no chance trying to squeeze in there.

Probably why I hate Les Pauls but love 335s.

The other thing I can't get on with is most time-based effects. I wish I could make Tremolo, delay or vibe to work, but the most I can do is very subtle chorus. 

maltingsaudio

Fx side ring modulators just why? Most other fxs on their own take a lot of getting just right and then use the same settings live and that’s another whole heap of pain!
Guitar wise no ones mentioned Gretsches yet, horrible things and trying to get the Duane Eddy twang impossible.

Fender twins I have a sound in my head I had for one day in the 70’s with a strat and have never found again.

JerkMoans

Telecasters. Loads of my favourite players rock ‘em. Must have had about 10 (including a very expensive/loss making birth year job): just cannot get on with the tinny feckers.

DrJazzTap

Another Les Paul guy, like @monquixote I was a huge slash fan. The one time I looked at the guitar logically when changing from a strat, a SG just made so much more sense than a les paul. Every time I've tried a les paul since, I find it weird and hunched over to play. 

Oh and whammy pedals, fun for about five minutes but that's about it. 

Stuckfast

I love the sound of Rickenbacker 12-strings but I can't play them because the neck is so narrow.

pintspiller

Wah, RAT

jeztone2

Stuckfast said:

I love the sound of Rickenbacker 12-strings but I can't play them because the neck is so narrow.

This. I remember trying a 360 12 out in a music shop after a school friend lent me The Smiths first album. The neck felt like the withered arm of a starving child. Just horrible. Plus the lacquered fingerboard. Love the sound though. 

abw1989

Definitely Strats.

The tones of Hendrix, SRV, Frusciante et al all sound good to me but I think Strats look and feel like toys.