The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

[JB_From_Hell]

I started playing in the early 90’s. Not long after learning about SGs, Les Pauls, Strats, and Teles, I discovered Paul Reed Smith. Loads of bands I loved were using them, and the magazines were teeming with ads picturing these classic but modern looking guitars.

Every so often I’d encounter one in person, and they looked and played great. Started jonesing for one, and a quarter of a century later, I finally got one. I’d wanted to hold out for a “real” one, but stumbled onto a good trade deal for an SE. Loved it enough that it kicked me into gear, and I just got an S2 a week ago.

This guitar is everything I’ve been chasing for the last hundred plus guitars I’ve bought, sold, and traded. I can’t help but feel a little dumb for waiting this long to make it happen.

Anybody else take 25 years to get the one?

[mojosman]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

When I started playing I was all about the Stratocaster and Strat tones. It seemed like every player I was into was playing them. For years I owned Strats exclusively, but I did buy a tele at one point. Then after years, decades really, I started getting the itch for a Gibson guitar with humbuckers. I couldn't really afford one at the time, so I swapped the Tele for a Studio faded. It checked off all of my boxes, I wanted the 50's neck profile, affordable, and because it was a bottom of the totem pole sort of Gibson; I wouldn't think twice about modding it. I played it stock for about a year, then overhauled it with 50's wiring, PIO caps, Pearly Gates pickups, and Grover lockers. The only issue the guitar had left was the factory nut was cut wrong, and binded and caused tuning issues; that was an easy fix.

Owning a humbucker guitar and playing something with a different scale was a revelation to me. I really enjoyed it, and eventually upgraded and now two Les Pauls that are both keepers. I still prefer the feel and overall experience of playing a Strat, I guess because it's what I'm most used to. However, the tone and feel of the Gibsons are pretty cool too. I wish instead of waiting I had made the move sooner. I am starting to really like the tones that you can get out of a Les Paul. It's crazy how versatile they are, it just takes a bit of learning how to get different tones out of one.

[Mincer]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

I used a stock Strat for the first 20 years of playing, and I wished I'd gotten started on humbuckers earlier. Now, humbuckers mixed with the ergonomics of a strat-like body is my favorite.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

The more I think about it, maybe it's better I got it now rather than before. Kind of like when you experience a life changing book or movie, it probably has a lot to do with where you are at that point, and maybe wouldn't have been as impactful at another time.

Whatever, got the one I've been after, so I'm happy. It'll be nice going to music stores, trying out the higher end stuff, and not coming home pissed off

Now, on to obsessing about amps...

[GuitarStv]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

I wanted a strat when I first started out but for various reasons ended up with a 335. Which I learned to love . . . so it took me nearly 20 years until I got a strat. Strats are amazing! Between the single coils, the trem, and longer scale, it just plays radically differently, much better for a lot of the sounds I had been trying to get.

[Mincer]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

See, I just got a 335-style (Eastman T59/v) and wished I had been exposed to these earlier. I mean, I was aware of 335s but I never used one through my rig. Now I know what I was missing.

[GuitarStv]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

See, I just got a 335-style (Eastman T59/v) and wished I had been exposed to these earlier. I mean, I was aware of 335s but I never used one through my rig. Now I know what I was missing.

They're great guitars! I'd take a 335 over a Les Paul any day of the week.

I like my strat better for playing with effects (specifically phaser, vibe, and wah), upper fret access, fast funk strumming, and using the trem. I like my 335 better for double stop bends, thick/gorgeous lead sounds, and jazzy comping. With just the 335 there was a huge annoying hole . . . but together they cover pretty much all the guitar sounds that I can see myself needing.

[Silver]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

Not a specific guitar, but I wish I’d gone high-quality earlier.

I spent a lot of time, and money, buying low-end and low/mid end guitars and adding pickups to improve them a bit (that’s how I ended up on this forum!).

Then when I played some Suhr, Vigier, Musicman, etc, guitars... I understood that every single aspect of those guitars was just amazing and contributed to a completely different (better) playing experience.

I can’t afford a Suhr, but I did splash out of some really nice parts and built a Warmoth, then I spent a chuck of change on having a pro assemble it and make the frets nice. I was also able to choose neck dimensions that suit me perfectly (narrow nut width, tall frets, asymmetric profile, compound radius). Glad I did it.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

^ I love the Facebook guitar groups with an army of people claiming they went to Guitar Center for a Custom Shop Strat but all the Squier Bullets played better. I’m not making fun of people who can’t afford expensive gear. All my new stuff comes from selling old stuff and occasionally lucking out on a trade. Don’t say some dumb crap to explain why you’re playing a $100 guitar, though.

[IMENATOR]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

Like 16 years to get my Charvel SoCal after using my Fender Strat. I am not a pro player and my strat is great too but I wish I had it when I had more time to play daily, radius and frets and bridge make a big difference.

[NecroPolo]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

Ibanez RG. After decades of recommending it for folks probably several hundred times and recording these even more so with great tones and a smile on my face when the band gone restin' for the day and I tested the gear a little, I realised just recently that I've actually never had one. I had basses, Artist, AX and a couple of other Ibanez models but never an RG. It must be fixed some time soon.

Squier '51. I bought mine relatively late for its production era, somewhere around 2007 in a local shop where the sales guy knew me well for ages and also knew that Strats and me, and me and Strats... Don't really glue well. He gave me the '51 saying, "Now finally this is a hardtail Strat that was made for you". It was an understatement. I was totally blown away. I wish I had something like that around 1990.

[ibanezrocks]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

Not quite the answer for this thread, but I wish I had sold my telecaster sooner because for a long time it was my only guitar and I really didn't like it. I didn't play much those years.

I also wish I could've bought a Helix 15 years ago. EZ Drummer is another tool that has really pushed me to play guitar more, write my own songs, improve my timing, etc.

But I never bought a guitar that changed everything for me.

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[eclecticsynergy]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

My first PRS literally changed the way I approach music when I bought it in '87.
By that time I'd already been playing guitar for twenty years, and making my living at it for more than ten.
I still love Strats & LPs. And Teles & korinas and McNaughts and my other PRSs, especially the DGT.
But that first PRS remains my #1 32 years later.

[BeKindRewind]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

My RG1570 that I bought last year. It's the perfect guitar for me in every single way. And it's also the very first guitar I ever lusted after, some 15 years ago as a kid in high school flipping through a catalogue.

The instant I saw it I knew I had to have it, something just jumped out of the pages at me. I had pored over Jackson and Ibanez catalogs but this was the one!!! but that was when I had just gotten my first Squier and was already hungry to upgrade , and it was just a dream. Kid with no money.

By the time I got money enough to buy real quality instruments, I sort of forgot about it . The first real quality instrument I ended up buying was an American Stratocaster instead. From there I moved on to Les Pauls, SGs, Flying Vs, various USA Jacksons, ESPs, Deans, pretty much everything but never did go back and try an Ibanez. But now I finally have it and it's like it was built exactly for my body, and my hands. It's the PERFECT guitar and I wish I'd bought it all those years ago.

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[Francois]

Re: The Guitar You Wish You’d Bought Earlier

A Stratocaster : I bought mine in 1996 (a Jeff Beck signature, the first official Fender HSS Strat).
But I should really have bought one before.