How did you choose your guitar?

[Condemned soul]

In Mother Russia, guitar chooses you.

https://reverb.com/news/guide-to-soviet-era-guitars

[LLL]

In Mother Russia, guitar chooses you.

[Demanic]

Most of the guitars that I have gotten I have found in pawn shops for substantially less money than they were worth. Some have been gifted to me. I got my V because it's neck through and the price was right.

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[Lucius Paisley]

Ibanez because it was the only left handed guitar the pawn shop had. I might swap and sell, wavering between everything else, but I keep coming back to Ibanez.

[alex1fly]

Oh man. You picked the perfect question to get a bunch of guitarists talking.

Strat because David Gilmour. And because "a Strat can do anything". Fast forward 19 years and I finally realized that there are things a Strat won't do, so I've started from scratch on my tone quest.

Strats always seem to sound better in the hands of others than they do in mine.

[Aceman]

I chose my guitar because this...

[DavidRavenMoon]

I pick guitars because I like the way they look and if the neck feels good to me. That’s it. I don’t care who plays what. I don’t try to sound like anyone else.


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Top-L

”There are absolutely differences, but I haven't noticed that good tone is correlated with more money"

I couldn't agree more. I've seen kids get shamed out of playing guitar because they didn't have x,y, or z brand. I'd even take what you've said one step further and say it applies to amps. Ever hear a Bugera Trirec compared to a Mesa Triple Rectifier? You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get a good solid tone.

[Top-L]

Some people choose their guitars because their heroes played them. Some people forge their own path. Some people start by copying their heroes, then figure out what they like and veer off on their own. There is no right answer here, just hopefully interesting stories.

For me, I started with a Strat. While I grew up liking Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zep, only Blackmore played a Strat, but mine didn't sound like his (and his Strat sound wasn't my favorite- it was his ES 335 that got me). My evolution in instrument choice started with a Strat, then evolved into ergonomic shapes and electronics that got me closer to the sound I heard in my head.

Personally, I never modeled what I liked or did after my heroes, but plenty of my guitarist friends did. I am curious how you got where you are.

My first guitar was a Charvel Model 3 with a Khaler. Honestly it was a decent guitar and it was on sale for $450 which was the best one I could get. I didnt know anything about guitars but EVH played something that looked like it.

A few years later I upgraded to an Ibanez with an Edge trem and the tuning stability was godly compared to the Charvel. Ibanez had all the best endorsments back then.

I stayed with Ibanez until about ten years ago, now I prefer guitars with an OFR. Similar quality for less money, and I don't have to deal with the arm bushings any more.

I'm pretty simple. Bolt on or neck through with a floyd. What I care most about is the fret work and that it looks nice. I can play any thickness neck. A neck has an aesthetic feel/appearance that makes me want to play, but I dont have a preference I can pin point.

I'm brand agnostic and I don't anymore believe that certain guitars have far superior tone. There are absolutely differences, but I haven't noticed that good tone is correlated with more money.

[NegativeEase]

%100 Neck profile feel and playability from the geometry of the body, fretboard and taper.

-any other factor can be tinkered with later

[ErikH]

My first was a Kay acoustic. That's what I learned on and played for over a year. My first electric was a cheap Strat copy, a Martin Stinger. Plywood body, pickups top mounted to the wood, 21-fret maple neck, all black. I took it apart not long after getting it and put it back together. That was my start with the love of modding my guitars (from reading all the stories of Eddie doing his own and all that). My dad was not too happy to see it apart in my room like that but I got it working. That lasted me a good 5 years or more, it had to, until I bought a white Jackson copy (Series 10 or Pro Player) from a college friend. I played that a few more years until I built my first Frankenstrat in California with a buddy and mentor. It was my first really good electric and I still have it. It's almost 30 years old now. See, that EVH influence besides playing paid off.

I've had various others but the Strat shape feels like home to me. My old Kramer Baretta that I picked up in 1995 feels great too. That was a guitar I always wanted when I started playing but couldn't afford. I remember seeing a wall of them in a music shop on Grand Island, NY when my dad and I went to pick up a Boss Digital Metalizer. Man, I so wanted one of those Barettas. Though I got mine some years later, it's a keeper.

I like Les Pauls and SGs too; have had a LP Studio, Epi LP Standard, Gibson SG Junior (early 90's reissue), SG Classic (I miss that one), still have my SG Junior kit and recently paid a buddy for a Les Paul Trad Pro. There's something about the Strat shape though. It just fits. Hence why I ended up parting out an Esquire build and building another Warmoth Strat. I've had my share of Tele's and know they don't suit me or feel good on me. I love my Strats and I think the shape seemed to pick me.

[Ascension]

Have been playing mostly Carvin Kiesel guitars since the early 1990's if for no other reason because of their reliability on the road. Was playing Ibanez , Fender and Gibson but would fight them with neck adjustments exc way to often playing out here in the south. Traded a WRC Gibson for my 1989 DC 200 at a local shop back around 1990 and over the 20 + years I owned that guitar never dressed the frets and adjusted that neck maybe twice. Came out of the case night after night in tune with no drama. Sold me on those guitars and have owned over 50 over the years. Sold that one a few years ago because it was solid rock maple and weighed a little over 10 lbs. Still played like butter and looked almost new. Have 6 now same thing they play great and are just super stable. Nothing else I have ever owned comes close in reliability. My 91 X220C is a prime example have had this one for 20 + years and after I set it up the way I wanted it I can never remember touching it to do anything but tune and string it. Been played out often weighs just under 7LBS balances perfectly on a strap plays like a dream and absolutely screams! This is one guitar I will never sell.

[PFDarkside]

Gilmour and Hendrix played Strats, Jimmy Page and Slash played Les Pauls. I got an Epiphone Les Paul and Deluxe Strat Plus to have both. Over the years I have just grown accustomed to the Fender ergonomics and necks. The majority of my guitars are Strat based, from RI up to modern Charvel style, lots of different pickup options. They all have that familiar feel so that Gibson acoustics and electrics are always “different” to me, especially the neck. I’m thinking of doing a Warmoth Les Paul, it’ll be bolt-on but the rest of the specs should be pretty Gibsonish.

[MichYank]

My first "real" guitar in 1971 was a '68 ES330 because I couldn't afford a 335 like my hero's all played (really glad I kept it too!). Then, a used Strat a couple years later... then the 335. After that, it was going for the pickup sound. My brother sold me his Tele real cheap for the Tele sound, then another Tele with a mini hum, and a Les Paul for another humbucker (59's). Later, a Heritage 575 as a solid jazz guitar. Still considering a Charlie Christian equipped guitar! All this over forty years....

So, initially I went for the hero thing, then I was more interested in covering the pick up types and guitar sounds. Glad I did what I did, but it's tough to say today what my favorite is!

[Mincer]

I chose my first guitar based on what I could afford. .

It was from the 1968 Montgomery Wards mailorder catalog, a Norma like this one:

This is a wicked first guitar!