Did you ever KEEP a guitar you didn't like?

[Deuce]

Gang:

I am NEVER going to play a Strat as my main instrument or even as my backup guitar. Ever. I cannot tell you how many of these guitars I have owned and they are JUST NOT ME! I totally get why some guys think these guitars are the greatest, but the tones from a Strat are not what I hear in my head.

And yet, having said that, I own a Strat. Why, you might ask? I think it's to fill the "Tone Compendium" I've written about over the years.


My question is this: Do you own a guitar or more than one guitar, that you just don't play and just don't really like? If so what is it? Why don't you like it? And, most importantly, why do you keep it?

Just thought I'd ask. I need to see if I'm the ONLY one holding on to a guitar in total futility.
Take care.
Deuce

[Ches]

My question is this: Do you own a guitar or more than one guitar, that you just don't play and just don't really like? If so what is it? Why don't you like it? And, most importantly, why do you keep it?

Not any more, although I did go through that with some Leo Era G&L's. I kept them because I thought they were kinda cool, but I eventually came to the conclusion that if they don't get played, they're going away.

After trying a bunch of guitars over the last 10 years, I'm at a point where if I don't like it I don't buy it, although I've bought some guitars that I ended up not liking as much as I thought I would. Skinny necks were usually the deal breaker. I broomed them all. I've decided I'm only keeping gear that I want to play. With 4 electrics that I really like (I could take any one of them to a gig and be happy), I'm no longer on the prowl for guitars. It's amazing how satisfied you can feel about your gear when you're not looking for something new!

[John_L]

I had a Charvel for a while, it looked like hell as it had been stripped and it only sounded half decent plus it had a Floyd. I needed a trem for some session stuff so I used that and turned it into an art project. I gave up on it soon enough but still have it (sans pickups which I sold) I have half a mind to stick a EVH Frankenstrat pick up in it and revive it.

I have the same problem with Strats although I have never owned one I think they look nice. But I can't sit with them, stand with then or get a decent sound out of them. I once played a 70's strat with a fixed bridge which had been rewired and am now thinking of a fixed bridge S500 it has the look and a switch to get the sounds.

[shawn500]

Emm....I pretty much play all the ones I have. I feel there's no point keeping something if you don't like it. I have had a Les Paul a couple of times for a very short period, just long enough to know I don't like Les Pauls. I feel I probably should have one for completion sake, but I just can't get used to them.

I would only keep an instrument I didn't like, if it was worth an appreciable amount of money....and then I'd probably sell it once it got to a large amount and buy a couple more G&L's!

[Muleya]

I typcially play all my guitars...in part because I don't have much of a gear allowance so I don't buy stuff I won't play. But it's also part of my personality...can't justify keeping something I don't play.

The one exception is my MIM Fender Strat...I mostly keep it because it's worth more to me laying around than I could get if I sold it. Also, if one of my daughters decides she has interest in playing, it'd be a good starter guitar. And I do occasionally plug it in.

I had a beautiful semi-hollow Charvel Surfcaster with a Greenburst finish that I sold a couple years ago. That is one guitar I would have kept for it's looks, but it never quite got the tones I wanted and I needed the money to buy a Les Paul. I recently found it on e-Bay...someone is trying to get about 4 times what I sold it for (or paid for it in mint condition 10 years ago), but it's been up for weeks without any bites, I'll be surprised (and depressed! ) if he gets any takers at anywhere near that price. Here's a pic and the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Greenburst- ... 439e20eafd

[Boogie Bill]

i suppose the one guitar in this category that I own now would be my ASAT Deluxe. I think my Les Pauls, Ibanez Ghostriders, and the 335 (and clones) fill the 2HB role better for me than the AD. But it is my ONLY 2HB with a vibrato, and it's too pretty to sell. Thought about it many times, and I suppose if the right offer came along....

I am definitely hanging on to my Music Man Sabre IIs, even though I don't play them very much anymore.

I hung on to my ES150DCN for seven years trying to get that guitar to work for me. I traded it off on the first Sabre, and lot a bunch of money on the deal, but was happy to be rid of the beast. I really tried to make it work.

I don't like it when I make a mistake by buying a piece of gear that doesn't work for me. But, I don't like giving up on things, either.

Bill