What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

This neck right here. R2 transitional ESP neck. So smooth it's really unbelievable. I would play it more but it's a one trick pony with no real tone options with it. Pretty clean guitar too and would just cringe if I dinged it.

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My Baretta is minty so it stays locked up most of the time so I leave this guitar out. Neck is very similar,a little thinner on the first through ninth frets but hardly noticeable. Completely different finishes too.

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Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Hi Everyone...I'm brand new to the site, but I've been lurking for a couple of days. Great guitar forum, and it's great to be here.

My responses would be both of my 1980 G&L F-100s. My guitar instructor as a kid had one that played like an absolute dream. Sadly a few years back he was diagnosed with a neurological disease that left him unable to play. He contacted me to buy it, and I scooped it right up though I wish it had been over better circumstances. Since then I have put that one away and purchased another 1980 Series II last year. They both have the most comfortable necks I have ever touched. Here it is being played by my nephew Alex:

BubbaGL.jpg


And VERY close to those would be my USA made Charvel San Dimas. This is now my main guitar. It is just an amazing hard rock machine! Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture...it's the only one I had handy from the day I bought it...

Charvel1.jpg


Again, I'm really looking forward to spending some time here and sharing the awesome world of guitar with everyone.
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

It's a tie between my '68 SG Standard and my '68 ES-330. They are both fast as **** and smooth as butter in feel, but pure filth and evil in tone. Their common features are somewhat fat (but narrow) thick-nitro-finished necks, wide and low frets, not a lot or radius (but some), and ABR-1 bridges with nylon saddles (if that even makes a difference). Also doesn't hurt that they are also two of the best sounding guitars I've ever played.
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

I'd say one of the Music Man John Petrucci models, I think it was the JPX, the purple one. It's a little controversal that I say this but it plays like a dream neck is the thinnest I've ever seen and the guitar is ergonomical and feel is unbelievable, ultra low action BUT... It's not what I would buy or even custom build if I had the chande. As Petrucci has said he has designed those to play as easy as possible as he doesn't like to fight the guitar at all. That's fine but I like a little fight not too much but enough that it has character. Also the MM ALbert Lee HH with the rosewood neck played like a dream, neck felt awesome and action was pretty spot on for me. Too bad I'm not too into that body shape but I 'd buy that one if I had the extre money.

Also my Fender Yngwie strat was surprisingly good. I had no idea it would be that awesome when I bought it. I know it's not the easiest fretboard to play and I knew that and wasn't expecting anything easy, but something made me feel like it was made to my hands. I so felt the strings under my fingers and could control those.
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Another boring vote for PRS.

SE Soapbar (Singlecut) to be specific. I bought it for $250 from theodie, who, if you recall, kind of stole it from Gr8Scott :laughing:

It's all square now, apparently, but it's a cool guitar with some serious SDUGF history.

 
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Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

There was this gorgeous Charvel San Dimas Wildcard I saw in one of the big music stores downtown Toronto several months ago.

Quilted maple under a teal-black burst, HSS with a JB in the bridge, Floyd Rose. Headstock had the Charvel logo in teal too. looked so sexy.

I plugged it into a Soldano Avenger. Goddamn, that guitar just played itself. It sounded fantastic too. I probably would've bought it on the spot if I'd had the money then.

edit:
CharvelAquaWildcard.jpg
 
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Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Fruitubdahloins said:
Hi Everyone...I'm brand new to the site, but I've been lurking for a couple of days. Great guitar forum, and it's great to be here.

My responses would be both of my 1980 G&L F-100s. My guitar instructor as a kid had one that played like an absolute dream. Sadly a few years back he was diagnosed with a neurological disease that left him unable to play. He contacted me to buy it, and I scooped it right up though I wish it had been over better circumstances. Since then I have put that one away and purchased another 1980 Series II last year. They both have the most comfortable necks I have ever touched. Here it is being played by my nephew Alex:

BubbaGL.jpg


And VERY close to those would be my USA made Charvel San Dimas. This is now my main guitar. It is just an amazing hard rock machine! Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture...it's the only one I had handy from the day I bought it...

Charvel1.jpg


Again, I'm really looking forward to spending some time here and sharing the awesome world of guitar with everyone.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum. That one that your nephew is rocking out on is awesome looking. Stick around. :beerchug:
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

IMO, any guitar set up properly, and after I tweak it further.

For years the best playing guitar in a music store, hands down, was a Desert Yellow Ibanez Jem- I guess it was the Jem 777DY. Back then (late 80s)there was no Guitar Center near me, only Sam Ash, and every guitar received a setup before it hit the floor, unlike now where they're just taken out of the box after being shipped from Japan and thrown up on the wall.

The recent Charvels feel Very close to that Ibanez Jem , though I cherry picked a Charvel Tele that played better than all the others.

The absolute best playing guitars you can find in stores now are American made PRS. I have 12 guitars and they've all been collecting dust since I bought the PRS. However, even that guitar, after hanging in a Guitar Center for a year, needed a proper setup. In November Paul Reed Smith held an event in NYC and his head tech Len set up the guitar, doing a minor truss rod and intonation adjustment which made the stiff guitar feel and sound like a fine broken in violin afterwards.

American made Jacksons are good, but any I've found in guitar stores have felt stiff and need further minor work to reach their potential.
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

I could have sworn that I posted on this previously. I guess I'll go again.
Honestly, my choice would also be a Parker fly, insane neck and neck joint, overall amazing guitar.
 
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Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Best I've ever owned: My current strat.

Best EVER: An '83 strat (2 knob) that for all its structural and mechanical flaws, had the fastest neck I've ever played on. I wish I had the $1500 for it. Nice FAT, but fast neck. Woulda put in better pickups and a proper switching system for it... but then the freeflyte woulda scared the tar out of me.
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Empty Pockets said:
my friend's 1958 Gibson Les Paul

believe the hype
Click to expand...

That is sooo true E.P.
Technically, my Jackson Soloist is the best playing, but , and this is kind of a weird concept, but true; a guitar that will give you back the most response and tone after what you put into it playwise will always trump any purely technical player, unless of course shred metal is your thing I would think.
Its what I'd call "Feel" with the old guitars vs. Action with newer guitars ..so, I'd have to say an old Les Paul and an old Strat were the best players by far, which is surprising, cause i thought the 7.25 radius and medium frets on an old Strat would be terrible, but the thing plays like a dream! The old master luthier hand shaped neck profile is whats just unreal too. As far as the old Lesters, yeah, just the best of all incredible players, and again, hardly anything like my speed Demon Peavey Explorer with Flat radius and Super Jumbo frets, but theres no comparison ....the old Gibson blows it out of te water.

And somene said you could make a 99 dollar guitar play like butter with just a set up, and that to me just ludicrous talking, i'm sorry, and i'm not trying to be antagonistic. Those guitars are junk, no matter what you try to do to em.
 
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Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

Kam said:
Easily this thing:

dscf0010fo.jpg
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Hey, I didn't know you put a P90 in the neck?! Looks killer, like a hot-rod. What's in the bridge spot?

The Super-Sonic is also my vote best playing guitar i've played. It could be that I've had it since I started playing, the short scale, the great neck, or the set-up...but for me its perfect!

Tim
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

My '80 Washburn Falcon. Practically plays itself.
 
Re: What's the best playing guitar you've ever picked up?

timhatimay said:
Hey, I didn't know you put a P90 in the neck?! Looks killer, like a hot-rod. What's in the bridge spot?

The Super-Sonic is also my vote best playing guitar i've played. It could be that I've had it since I started playing, the short scale, the great neck, or the set-up...but for me its perfect!

Tim
Click to expand...

Yup. When I got it, I was actually planning on going for a dual P-90 kinda setup, but I didn't know whether a bridge P-90 would work on that slant. No reason why it wouldn't, I guess. The neck pup is a GFS Mean 90 which is a really impressive pickup, but most likely getting replaced with a Phat Cat pretty soon. The bridge is a Custom/'59 hybrid with an A5 magnet, which has became my favourite humbucker of all time. I'm toying with the idea of trying out a JB there though, just because that's what Omar Rodriguez-Lopez has in his and I love his tone.

And thanks. I've always liked the look of mismatched pickups too. Probably from growing up looking at Jimmy Page's Les Paul. :)
 
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