How much to pay for perfection ?

[AustinBurrell]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

My absolute perfect guitar is my PRS Custom 24 CE(with the bolt on neck). To me, this specific guitar plays, looks and feels better than not only other CEs I've played, but any other much more expensive PRS or any other guitar I have played. I paid a thousand bucks for it after the owner passed away a month after he purchased it in 2016. The reason why I bring it up is the same idea that's been already brought up, being that perfection is in the player's eyes and hands. I have a friend who would have paid anything or his $300 MIM Strat, which he swears by and refuses to accept that ANY other Strat could be better. Another friend has used the same snare drum for about 10 years and even though he consiously looks for a better replacement, just can't because to him, it's the perfect sound for him. So in that, you could pay whatever is necessary if the instrument you're buying is the absolute perfect instrument for you.

 

[BTMN]

Varies.....

Varies.....

Any number of good brands and even custom local luthier built just as you like it can be had for $1200-$2000. I have bought a near perfect Warmoth Korina Les Paul model for $500 with a sweet case worth $100 on it's own. Hamer has a bunch of different models in that price bracket that might be called perfection. PRS too. I like some Hamers. Studio Customs are about $1200 to $1500. This one was a lil more but very reasonable. YUM!

 

[Chistopher]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

The good news is that cheap import guitars are getting better. They still have cheaper parts, but I've seen Bullet Strats that are built better than American made Strats from the '80s

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

I remember when I first started playing
In the late seventies
Cheap guitars were almost unplayable
High action, jagged frets, bowed necks

Of course, no one I knew could set one up either
We just played them the way they came
With the pickup they came with

Heck even after I started on this forum, one of my friends from back then
Told me "professionals play they with the pickups they come with "
If it don't sound good just swap it on another
He couldn't understand why I was putting in the SD pickups

Then he played my RG2
And bought some new pickups for his strat

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

First define perfection, then if the cost is worth it to you, you pay whatever it is.

 

[greekdude]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

Perfection cannot be described with absolute specs, as it is variable along the life of the player / instrument. So, I guess one has to keep his gear simple and learn how to tweak it.

 

[Mincer]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

Well, I can define perfection as something I'd never have to (or want to) mod, and plays like it will always be my #1 and there is no reason to even own a #2. There is always something I like to mod, even if it is just straplocks (why don't they come on every guitar). I have found guitars that come close, but never there yet.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

Perfect for me.is not necessarily perfect for you

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

Still haven't seen the definition of perfection.

The law of diminishing returns is real...

I think as guitarists we idolize some guitar that will make our notes ring perfectly, our sustain endless, our vibrato silky smooth, our fretting speed quick, our picking precise and our amplified tone heavenly. There are a lot of guitars out there that will do this with a good setup right now...

 

[C-Martin]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

There's too many variables to try to pin point an answer to this question. I have played many guitars, own a lot of them which at the time of purchase i thought WERE perfect. I still love each of them because they all had something special that inspired me to play them, but i think our perception of "perfect" changes even with time. This is why we end up modding our guitars.

I've always believed in "you get what you pay for". Interestingly enough, my current #1 is a MIM Classic 1960 Lacquer Strat. I'm a Strat freak and have never gelled with any MIM enough to purchase one, and even a lot of US ones. Lately this one's been so "perfect" for some reason that I just can't put it down. Wrote and recorded almost entire songs basically weeks after purchasing it, purely based on the sound and inspiration the guitar was giving me. I haven't had it for a year yet and there is already some fret wear on it that i need to take care of.

What really boggles my mind is that I have an old US Deluxe Strat supercharged with everything i could possibly want on it, my main guitar for ages. It has SD custom shop pickups and all the best parts I could get because I wanted to make it "perfect". I feel like betraying it when I pick up my simple classic 60s and think "damn, this one just feels more "right" to me". I did notice one day while comparing it with one of my friends' classic tele that the tuners seem to be Gotoh and not Ping on mine. Maybe something happened to the original tuners and the store swapped them out? I doubt that would've changed much, though. Will have to dissect it some day and see what all is going on.

Would I say this guitar is "perfect"? Probably not, but it's currently beating something I thought I could consider perfect for years. Food for thought.

 

[Securb]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

I paid $300 for my B.C. Rich it sounds perfect like I would expect, plays perfectly and when I need a guitar for a hard rock metal gig it fits the bill perfectly. I do not think you need to spend thousands to find a "perfect" guitar.

 

[RorySquier]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

I own a 2006 Epiphone Les Paul Standard that was probably made in China. The workmanship on the guitar is near flawless and very well built. I find the guitar comparable to higher end guitars costing way more money. I got a good deal on it at a pawn shop. I bought it for $500 with an SKB hard shell case made in Orange, California. It was one of the best deals I got on a guitar. It's a real player for sure.



;>)/

 

[Clint 55]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

Guitar $200
Warmoth Neck $260
Pickups $90+$90+$80+$80
Pickguard $40
Electronics $40
Tuners $40
Mags $30

I'm about $1000 into my HHH Strat and it feels and sounds perfect to me. Really happy about it. Spent about a year fiddling with all the mods. Fortunately all the parts came together intact and right for my style. I got some other Squiers that came out well but I prefer my #1. Some others also bit the dust with me learning everything.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

I consider a guitar perfect if the construction and finish are near flawless, the neck is straight and the frets are perfectly placed, and everything else can be made perfect by me (fret leveling and dressing, new electronics, new pups, and new nut...however I make a bone compensated nut for every guitar I own anyway). These, for me, are very simple and inexpensive mods and can bring nearly any guitar to perfection. Even some of the most expensive guitars I own have needed some of those mods (I'm a bit OCD about some things like the frets and nut).

I have 4 dozen guitars (13 of them I have made) and I'd say that over 3 dozen of them are perfect even though they are very different (Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Schecter, etc). But with the exception of one or two, none of them started out perfect. Interestingly...the two that started out perfect were both Fender American Strats, a '57 50-year commemorative, and a 2003(?) HSS (I do have to admit, however, that I did a very slight rewire to the S-1 switch).

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: How much to pay for perfection ?

Oh, I forgot...

Most of the guitars that I bought which are "perfect" were in the $300-800 price range.