Post your worst guitar

[Rex_Rocker]

LOLOL I guess this is a followup to the best guitar thread.

How about the worst guitar you've ever had? Maybe not that you own now, but that you've had.

I'm sure we can share some funny stories this way.

I'll start!

Mine must have been this POS.

It looked pretty. Or rather, it photographed well. The top was super underwhelming in person.

It sounded horrible. Like, it would not sound good, for some reason. I had like 10 different pickups in it. For some reason, it would make all pickups sound thinner and lower output than any other guitar I have ever had.

The neck was horrible. It was the "Wide Fat" neck profile which was fat and round with just a hint of a V shape for some reason. The fretboard had a 10" radius. Ugh.

The ebony board cracked in a couple of spots. Lightly and subtly, mind you, but I conditioned the fretboard every odd string change, so it was definitely not in lack of maintenance.

The nut was pure garbage out of the factory. I swapped it for a Graphtech nut, but the factory nut was glued so tight that I took some chunks off the finish and even the wood. It was an eyesore. The stock tuners were attrocious too, but with some Grovers, it was fine.

The bridge was a POS. It was a Tonepros with locking studs which marred super easily, even using the provided tool.

Honestly, most PRS SE's I've had have been like that. I've had at least 5, but only 1 has been really like a good guitar.

How about yours?

 

[GuitarStv]

STELLA!


This guitar kinda sucked. Super high action, no adjustable truss rod, teeny-tiny frets, uncomfortable neck, weird painted on fake flame top, horrible bridge, open back tuners that were rusty and wouldn't turn properly, badly cut nut, plywood top/back, pickguard that was screwed into the top for some reason.

Sounded not great as a regular acoustic . . . but as with many terrible guitars I've played, it was kinda cool for slide.

 

[Fender_Punk]

This is my campfire acoustic. Bought it for $80. Sounds okay, plays okay, perfect for camping.

 

[EmiAba]

The worst guitar I had was an ephipone sg. It felt like I was playng a piece of cardboard. Never in tune. It really didn't even deserve a photo :9:

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I had an SG200 briefly in the early 70s. It was pretty crappy and I got rid of it pretty quickly.
That's the least-liked guitar - and the lowest quality instrument - I've ever owned, except for my very first one.
My first was a Norma I bought from the Montgomery Wards catalog. It was a cheap Japanese build, but I still feel some nostalgia for it.
Low quality, sure, yet I can't say I disliked it. At the time, I was thrilled to have it.
This pic isn't the actual guitar, but this it's the same model.



As for my current fleet, there's this Washburn BT-2 with a very unfortunate clownburst.
These aren't terrible guitars but this one didn't quite seem worth upgrading either.
It was a gift from a gal I dated; I named it Esmeralda after one of her personalities.
Posted about her back in 2016 on another forum, in a thread titled How Did You Miss The Crazy, As In 'My Crazy Ex.'

In my instance, crazy is no exaggeration. She was later diagnosed as rapid-cycle/mixed-state bipolar, was overmedicated, eventually refused treatment. Briefly institutionalized, now deceased. Not a terrible person, just far & away the craziest of the ex-girlfriends. By a very large margin. Remarkably gifted and absolutely off the wall.

Eidetic memory; could sketch any image she'd ever seen, recite the words to any song she'd ever heard, any poem she'd ever read.
Also haunted by the echoes of every unkind word anyone had ever said to her.
Played a guitar with five strings in the weirdest tunings I ever heard, never in standard.
Insomniac. Kleptomaniac. Brilliant, tortured, hilarious, exhausting, passionate and extremely volatile.
The sex was spectacular. But if we'd stayed together one of us would've killed the other.

Was sorta relieved when she broke it off.
Half expected to find my car on fire anyway.

Still miss her sly wit once in a while, but not the emotional wear & tear.
It was a wild ride that aged me a decade in the space of ten months.

Anyway, I don't play this guitar but won't sell either. I keep it - despite the truly awful clownburst - strictly for sentimental reasons.
Here's an old pic, in all its hideous glory:

 

[beaubrummels]

Can't post the original guitar. My worst guitar is long gone. Neck broke.

It was a 1983 Sears Stratocaster (don't remember the actual model name or number.). Had a 7-9 ply plywood body, maple neck. 3-color sunburst. Actually had brass saddles on the bridge, but they were rough and cut through strings.

I still have the body. Here's what's left of it, with a Yamaha neck on it and an old Floyd off something else. I chiseled it out to put the humbucker and Floyd on it.

 

[Chistopher]

I don't know, I've never been the type to buy bad guitars.

 

[Mincer]

These days, with many guitars bought online, it is easy to get something you don't like. I've bought guitars that I don't bond with and turned them around quickly after. Recently, it was a PRS SE semi-hollow with a wide-fat neck that was causing cramps in my hand (along with an inability to stay in tune).

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Recently, it was a PRS SE semi-hollow with a wide-fat neck that was causing cramps in my hand (along with an inability to stay in tune).

Typical PRS SE, IME.

I hate to be presumptious and to tell people what they should and shouldn't like. But there are A LOT of PRS SE lemons out there. Their quality control isn't as tight as publicity would have you believe, and their hardware and electronics are cheap stuff, and that would be fine if they were priced low like Squire Classic Vibe. But they aren't.

JME.

 

[Mincer]

Typical PRS SE, IME.

I hate to be presumptious and to tell people what they should and shouldn't like. But there are A LOT of PRS SE lemons out there. Their quality control isn't as tight as publicity would have you believe, and their hardware and electronics are cheap stuff, and that would be fine if they were priced low like Squire Classic Vibe. But they aren't.

JME.

I think they put most of the money into making it look great, and it really does. But would probably need a few hundred more to make it a guitar I can rely on for gigs, and at that price, there are better options out there.

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I couldn't get this thing setup to sound worth a dang way back in the day before I knew a whole lot....

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I think they put most of the money into making it look great, and it really does.

I'd contest that. Now that they're Cort-made, Cort seems to be putting an extra effort into sourcing good-looking tops. Or maybe it's PRS that's paying the extra money. I don't know. But out of all the World-made PRS SE's that I've seen in person, I'm not exaggerating in saying that at least 95% have had really underwhelming tops. Whenever there is wood exposed, you can always see the seams in the body, which they make no effort in dissimulating whatsoever either. Whenever I see reviews online stating "they look just like the real-deal PRS's", I can't help but chuckle. The top carve doesn't look bad, but it looks NOTHING like what they do on the USA stuff. Even Epiphone does a more decent job at matching the actual carve of the Gibson stuff. Many companies like LTD or even Epiphone inlay their logo in a material that at least looks more or less fancy, or some other companies use some kind of silvery metallic-looking overlay. The PRS SE silkscreen screams cheap (IMO).

I personally think the best-looking models are the ones with either solid colors or those that are more "modern" in concept to where the more bare-bones streamlined looks don't look as out of place.

But would probably need a few hundred more to make it a guitar I can rely on for gigs, and at that price, there are better options out there.

100% agreed. PRS SE's are not cheap guitars, and 99% of the time, they are way under-spec'd from the factory compared to what many companies are putting out there in the same price range.

Again, I'm not trying to say no one should like PRS SE. If PRS is your thing, PRS SE is the cheapest way to get into that game. Not saying good ones aren't out there either. Who am I to judge when I do own an Epiphone (that I do like) which is arguably Gibson doing the same thing. I'm just saying that they're not as "flawless and perfect and follow the same PRS perfectionst ethos" as the Internet publictity/hype might make you believe.

JMO, of course. But I'd MUCH rather get a Schecter or an LTD before a PRS SE. I understand why they're more expensive than Squier Classic Vibe. The hardware might be actually a "better" design (but most of the time, the materials aren't awesome either) and they use more expensive construction methods. But in the end. I wouldn't put a PRS SE's quality above Classic Vibe whatosever.

 

[Mincer]

A Classic Vibe is a better guitar, really. A new Charvel is a *much* better guitar. So are the cheap EVHs, and even the Sterlings. At least than the PRS SE that I got, which looks fantastic but functionally isn't great. Also, on mine, the trem arm is stuck in the bridge. Even with the set screw out completely, and the bridge taken completely out of the guitar, I was putting so much force on the bar that the bar itself was bending rather than letting go of the block.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I admit that I haven't tried very many PRS SEs (and never owned one) because every one that I tried was sooo bad (functionally) that I couldn't waste any more time checking them out. The sound was horrible and none that I tried would stay in tune. And they just felt bad to play...not necessarily the neck shape, but quality of fret finish.
Yes, gorgeous looking, but beauty is only skin deep with SEs.

 

[NegativeEase]

LOLOL I guess this is a followup to the best guitar thread.

How about the worst guitar you've ever had? Maybe not that you own now, but that you've had.

I'm sure we can share some funny stories this way.

I'll start!

Mine must have been this POS.

It looked pretty. Or rather, it photographed well. The top was super underwhelming in person.

It sounded horrible. Like, it would not sound good, for some reason. I had like 10 different pickups in it. For some reason, it would make all pickups sound thinner and lower output than any other guitar I have ever had.

The neck was horrible. It was the "Wide Fat" neck profile which was fat and round with just a hint of a V shape for some reason. The fretboard had a 10" radius. Ugh.

The ebony board cracked in a couple of spots. Lightly and subtly, mind you, but I conditioned the fretboard every odd string change, so it was definitely not in lack of maintenance.

The nut was pure garbage out of the factory. I swapped it for a Graphtech nut, but the factory nut was glued so tight that I took some chunks off the finish and even the wood. It was an eyesore. The stock tuners were attrocious too, but with some Grovers, it was fine.

The bridge was a POS. It was a Tonepros with locking studs which marred super easily, even using the provided tool.

Honestly, most PRS SE's I've had have been like that. I've had at least 5, but only 1 has been really like a good guitar.

How about yours?

Is the SE pre 2021? I understand that PRS SEs recently moved to being built by Cor Tek manufacturing to Indonesia by who make the best import guitars on the market for Gretch and other companys already -really top notch quality.

SO I imagine SEs since 2021 are an improvement over the South Korea contract mfg they had.

 

[Mincer]

Is the SE pre 2021? I understand that PRS SEs recently moved to being built by Cor Tek manufacturing to Indonesia by who make the best import guitars on the market for Gretch and other companys already -really top notch quality.

SO I imagine SEs since 2021 are an improvement over the South Korea contract mfg they had.

Mine was a 2022. Maybe I got a dud, but I am not going to sort through them to find a good one.

 

[NegativeEase]

Mine was a 2022. Maybe I got a dud, but I am not going to sort through them to find a good one.

Was it definitely Cor Tek? I think there was some cross over time between when SEs started coming out and the Korean plant shut down SE production.

Im just not a PRS fan, but I do think they are quality guitars... Every Butt Rock and Nu Metal guy had em in the late 90s and 2000s and it's given me an aversion -I know its a me problem -they are just ugly.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Is the SE pre 2021? I understand that PRS SEs recently moved to being built by Cor Tek manufacturing to Indonesia by who make the best import guitars on the market for Gretch and other companys already -really top notch quality.

SO I imagine SEs since 2021 are an improvement over the South Korea contract mfg they had.

Don't remember what year. But yeah, it was made at the World factory. Not Cort.

But then again, World guitars tend to be more expensive than Cort.

I've had quite a few World-made guitars. Mostly LTD's. One of the best guitars I've had was a World-made EX-401. But LTD's in general are MUCH better (IME) on average than PRS SE even if they used to come out of the same factory.

Admittedly, I don't have much experience with the newer Cort PRS SE's. I've seen a couple at the store, but I've never tried one. The 5 or 6 Korean PRS SE's I've had left too much of a bad taste.

Personally, I always thought World guitars had more of a reputation of being the "best import guitars"? At least, the price seems to reflect that. I'm not saying that's true, but that's what the usual internet hype I'm reading keeps suggesting.

Well, other than Japanese ESP's and Fujigen. Those are in a different league altogether, IMO.

 

[Ascension]

Worst ever was a 1989 Gibson Showcase U2 I bought while working at a Gibson dealer. Only 200 built and was not cheap for the time. A year or so down the road the POS was coming apart. Finish turned a wild purple then started getting the nasty putrid yellow spots frets were super soft neck wouldn't stop moving and flat would not stay in tune on stage. Traded it for the Sapphire Blue Flame Carvin DC 200 I played on stage with for a couple decades and never looked back. Never dressed the frets on that Carvin it always held tune all night on a hard set and i can count on one hand the number of times I adjusted that neck. That guitar is why I'm such a huge fan of Carvin Kiesel guitars today.
The U2 was one of these and is by far the worst POS in a higher end guitar I have ever owned!
https://reverb.com/item/29329792-198...edition-silver

 

[NegativeEase]

Don't remember what year. But yeah, it was made at the World factory. Not Cort.

But then again, World guitars tend to be more expensive than Cort.

I've had quite a few World-made guitars. Mostly LTD's. One of the best guitars I've had was a World-made EX-401. But LTD's in general are MUCH better (IME) on average than PRS SE even if they used to come out of the same factory.

Admittedly, I don't have much experience with the newer Cort PRS SE's. I've seen a couple at the store, but I've never tried one. The 5 or 6 Korean PRS SE's I've had left too much of a bad taste.

Personally, I always thought World guitars had more of a reputation of being the "best import guitars"? At least, the price seems to reflect that. I'm not saying that's true, but that's what the usual internet hype I'm reading keeps suggesting.

Well, other than Japanese ESP's and Fujigen. Those are in a different league altogether, IMO.

I would imagine both manufacturers excel at different pricepoints