Guitars: Ever gone for function over form?

Philly_Q

TTBZ said:

I guess my SG falls into this category for me. I did used to like the look of them (big Sabbath and Fugazi fan!) but I find it too cheesy now. 

SG cheesy?  That really surprises me, I have never thought of SGs as anything but cool.  They have their faults with neck-heaviness etc, they're a bit boring in terms of colours, but otherwise... super cool.

robgilmo

Every telecaster player, ever.

richman6100

slacker said:

I often get a colour scheme I don't like. 4 out of 5 of my electric guitars are the wrong colour.

I've done this on occasion. If the guitar itself is good and I bond with it, but the colour doesn't appeal....well that's what @lamf68 of this parish is for.  :-)

HT986M2

I’ve got my eye on a Charvel Henrik Danhage and I’m having this dilemma. 

 Love everything but the relic’d body. I’m wondering if it’s worth getting one and then just finding someone to take it back to bare wood. 

Paul_C

Any Telecasters I buy from now on will be out of spite.

. . . and because they're fantastic.

robgilmo

richman6100 said:

slacker said:

I often get a colour scheme I don't like. 4 out of 5 of my electric guitars are the wrong colour.

I've done this on occasion. If the guitar itself is good and I bond with it, but the colour doesn't appeal....well that's what @lamf68 of this parish is for.  :-)

My Tele is the sickly colour of vomit, it's supposed to be butterscotch blonde but it looks more akin to a regurgitated latte.

Neilybob

fretmeister said:

Always!

I never buy for aesthetics. I don’t give a crap what an instrument looks like. If it looks nice then that’s a bonus, but I really don’t care.

There are loads of beautiful instruments that I refuse to even consider because their function is compromised.

That's the whole reason I don't play PRS guitars tbh 

Roland

Offset said:

… have you ever bought a butt-ugly munter of a guitar either for its' feature-set or because it plays sublimely? 

One man’s ugly is another man’s perfection. When it comes to function vs looks then I’ll choose function almost every time. I give you Parker Fly, Klein, and a string of headless guitars. 

Neilybob

I picked up a very nice '84 strat off of evilbay a while back for much less than it should have gone for, probably because it has a painted headstock to match the body paint. Doesn't worry me.

I only look at the fretboard trying to work out where to put my fingers lol 

slacker

Wisdom as one looks at the fretboard more than the paint job.

ALR

I saw this thread and initially thought I have never bought a guitar for function over form. However, even though I'd always loved the shape of the Fender Jaguar I never bought one because I thought the traditional electronic configuration was too quirky. But when I saw the video for the Johnny Marr Jaguar I realised he'd finally rationalised it into a useful guitar and that's when I decided to get one. I supposed I've further refined it by fitting a Staytrem bridge and changed the pots to 500k, but as they came in the 1960s, I thought they looked nice but they were no use to me.

Revolutions

I need a guitar look appealing to me. Might mean I’ve missed out on loads of great playing guitars, yet I’m not sure I would have enjoyed playing them. On the flipside, I have a collection of guitars that do what I need & love to look at. Luckily almost every aspect is subjective, so 

fretfinder

To those who can’t see the beauty and elegant simplicity of a Telecaster - oh dear, how sad, never mind. 

TTBZ

Philly_Q said:

TTBZ said:

I guess my SG falls into this category for me. I did used to like the look of them (big Sabbath and Fugazi fan!) but I find it too cheesy now. 

SG cheesy?  That really surprises me, I have never thought of SGs as anything but cool.  They have their faults with neck-heaviness etc, they're a bit boring in terms of colours, but otherwise... super cool.

It's the "devil horns" look I think, just looks like a bit of a kids toy to me sometimes. Until I find something as comfy that plays as nicely I think I'm stuck with it though! I love the thin beveled body and how it hangs on a strap with the neck pointed up, just find that very comfortable and hard to find in any other guitar. Not even sure a Mira would hang the same without moving the strap button to the neck heel.

Philly_Q

TTBZ said:

Philly_Q said:

TTBZ said:

I guess my SG falls into this category for me. I did used to like the look of them (big Sabbath and Fugazi fan!) but I find it too cheesy now. 

SG cheesy?  That really surprises me, I have never thought of SGs as anything but cool.  They have their faults with neck-heaviness etc, they're a bit boring in terms of colours, but otherwise... super cool.

It's the "devil horns" look I think, just looks like a bit of a kids toy to me sometimes. Until I find something as comfy that plays as nicely I think I'm stuck with it though! I love the thin beveled body and how it hangs on a strap with the neck pointed up, just find that very comfortable and hard to find in any other guitar. Not even sure a Mira would hang the same without moving the strap button to the neck heel.

You're right, it doesn't.    More like a doublecut LP Junior.  In common with the SG (but not so bad) the Mira can be a little neck heavy, which never seems to be the case with the more typical PRS doublecut shape.