Trouble saying goodbye to guitars....

[marshall409]

Has anyone here ever had a guitar that they decide needed replaced, because it simply wasnt good enough, but then had trouble letting it go?

I currently play a strat copy built by Hamer. I love it. It was my first guitar. Before you spot my age, I know a little bit about guitars. Ive played many, travelled afar to many stores. And not to mention played all the shredder kids guitars at school, and all the zepplin douches LP's. I dont like LP's. they are too heavy for me. but often i find myself searching for the magic "make my guitar sound like a lespaul" button. my buddys got one of those humbuckers that are like the size of a singlecoil. its pretty close to a real humbucker.

anyone...to the point. i see myself surpassing this guitar. the main problem being poor build quality. the neck bends way to easy. if im really into a song, strangling the neck, i can hear it being slightly sharp cuz im bending the neck back. ive got one fret that is COMPLETELY dead. ive never heard anything like this. i play the E on the D string(14th fret) and bend up slightly, and it just completely dies. cuts out indefinitely. quite annoying. theres a few other problem areas. but i love the neck. the fretboard just sorta sucks. i can upgrade pickups and such, get it setup better, but is it really possible to get a guitar like this to a point where it wasnt built to go? or should i just go buy a new god damn guitar?

Adam

[travelin travis]

i don't know god damnit........ask your fucking mother.

[dwarf]

Originally Posted by TravisinFlorida

i don't know god damnit........ask your fucking mother.

That was funny

Why don't you just keep the guitar and get it set up by a luther? and when you want to upgrade (I'm taking that this is soon) keep it that way you will have 2 1+1=2. I'd never part with my first electric, got that sucker when I was 10 it's a samick strat copy and we were made for each other, I hardley use it, but when I do it's heaven. To bad I compleatley fucked it up when I was 14 (took a 3 year break to go skateboarding, man I'm an idiot) i took it appart to try and add humbuckers (didn't own any at the time) and give it a "new look" well it backfired and it's not in the best of shape anymore, i will fix it, but it still plays nice.

SO after that long story let me recap

Keep your first guitar, you will probably regret selling it, get a seccond one that way you have 2.

....and there was much rejoycing

[Anfontan]

Keep your first guitar, you will probably regret selling it, get a seccond one that way you have 2.

....and there was much rejoycing
__________________
The leprichaun tells me what to do

and soon he will tell you too

Listen to him..theres a lot of wisdom in that little gumby Dude!

[Armistice]

Originally Posted by dwarf

To bad I compleatley fucked it up when I was 14 (took a 3 year break to go skateboarding, man I'm an idiot)

Burnt out at 14! Wow....


Marshall - do what I did with all my crappy guitars - start saving for a decent one, and when you get it, gift your old one to someone else so they can learn. The guitar gods will shower you with karma points...

In the meantime a set up may solve some of your problems - sounds like you have a bit of twisting maybe in the neck...

[Jouni]

Keep the guitar, Beg or steal the capitol for a new, better one. Wich, in turn will be your baby, but the old one is cool to look at gathering dust on the wall. You wont get squat trading or selling it anyways, so those Karma-points are a good idea. And playing, thus training and learning new stuff, is a HELL more interesting with Good Gear.
Worst mistake a beginner could do is get a bad guitar, that kills motivation.

[travelin travis]

Originally Posted by Jouni

Keep the guitar, Beg or steal the capitol for a new, better one. Wich, in turn will be your baby, but the old one is cool to look at gathering dust on the wall. You wont get squat trading or selling it anyways, so those Karma-points are a good idea. And playing, thus training and learning new stuff, is a HELL more interesting with Good Gear.
Worst mistake a beginner could do is get a bad guitar, that kills motivation.

I paid $8 for my first guitar. How motivating do you think that guitar was?

14 years later, I'm still at it.

[Jouni]

Haha, well, that isn't a rock-solid rule.
But if you sound crap because of bad intonation etc. you easily get discouraged and think you just don't cut it, unless you get to play a decent instrument from time to time. ...I've been told, and makes sense..
I had the luck to start with a decent electrick, but if I have had to learn with a spanish acoustic with a mile-high action, I might have dropped it..

[orson198305]

Originally Posted by marshall409

Has anyone here ever had a guitar that they decide needed replaced, because it simply wasnt good enough, but then had trouble letting it go?

I currently play a strat copy built by Hamer. I love it. It was my first guitar. Before you spot my age, I know a little bit about guitars. Ive played many, travelled afar to many stores. And not to mention played all the shredder kids guitars at school, and all the zepplin douches LP's. I dont like LP's. they are too heavy for me. but often i find myself searching for the magic "make my guitar sound like a lespaul" button. my buddys got one of those humbuckers that are like the size of a singlecoil. its pretty close to a real humbucker.

anyone...to the point. i see myself surpassing this guitar. the main problem being poor build quality. the neck bends way to easy. if im really into a song, strangling the neck, i can hear it being slightly sharp cuz im bending the neck back. ive got one fret that is COMPLETELY dead. ive never heard anything like this. i play the E on the D string(14th fret) and bend up slightly, and it just completely dies. cuts out indefinitely. quite annoying. theres a few other problem areas. but i love the neck. the fretboard just sorta sucks. i can upgrade pickups and such, get it setup better, but is it really possible to get a guitar like this to a point where it wasnt built to go? or should i just go buy a new god damn guitar?

Adam

Set fire to it & swing it round your head, only then you will release the sexual tention between you and the old guitar

[dinorocker]

If the utilitarian value of the guitar is more than you would get from selling it, keep it.

Frankly, I'd say keep it - period. I know what you are going through, and I still regret *giving away* my first electric back in the late 70s. In fact I regretted it the next day.

I didn't repeat the mistake with my next guitar. I have kept it, and while it sounds like rubber bands on a soap box these days, I can still pick it up, feel the extra sharp, protruding fret at #11 tear into my palm when I slide a barre, and close my eyes and relieve the feeling of those days. In fact I can go through an entire range of guitars that I have, and relive the feelings of the period that each guitar belongs to.

And consider this - do you know how much that relic of yours will be worth 30 years from now, when you are a famous star like Paul McCartney?

[legionserial]

My first guitar was a Squire Strat. It sounded ok but I kind of outgrew it, found it a real bitch to play after a while, so got a new guitar. The Squire belonged to my dad, and we were both talking about selling it, but neither of us could bring ourselves to do it. I just kinda got attached to it, even if i never use it, and he talks about wanting to learn guitar even though I know he won't. But it nice that theres a guitar over at his place that I can noodle on when I'm there. To be honest if he was going to sell it I think I'd buy it off him. You can never have too many guitars.

As for the dead 14th fret D string, that something you should be able to get fixed, you've just played it a lot. My Fender strat gets exactly the same thing a little with oldish strings, but its 11 years old and been played and played and played. Need to get it sorted out.

[arcaxis]

Originally Posted by marshall409

Has anyone here ever had a guitar that they decide needed replaced, because it simply wasnt good enough, but then had trouble letting it go?
Adam

Every once in a while I think about the wife this way

[Gorty]

In my household, "Guitars are Bought".......Never Sold!!!

[jimistone]

I play a guitar for a while and trade/sell it when I get tired of it.

I don't usually regret moving it on down the line....with the exception of 2.
A mid 70's les paul custom I sold for $250 and a late 50's gretch country gent I sold for $300.

I don't regret parting with those 2 axes because I miss them....it's because I sold them too cheap.
I traded the first guitar I owned (Jap SG copy) for the gretch country gent even swap. I paid $100 for the les paul custom....so I did OK profit wise. I just know that I could have done better on the LP and I could have done ALOT better on the gretch. The gretch deal was a case of not realizing what I had and in turn getting fucked because of my own lack of investigation on the value.

I have a vintage strat that I have had since age 16.....I would never part with that one.


Right now I only have 2 electric guitars...the vintage strat and the epi V.

[travelin travis]

I'm having issues with my o' yamaha. I have a friend that is without a guitar that wants it....................it's been too good to me. I can't do it.

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by TravisinFlorida

I'm having issues with my o' yamaha. I have a friend that is without a guitar that wants it....................it's been too good to me. I can't do it.

If he is willing to take that guitar off you after the attachment you have with it has been known to him then he is not a real friend!!!

[Lt. Bob]

Get a new one but keep the old one. You won't get that much money for it and besides .... you'll spend the money and then you'll have nothing.

[philboyd studge]

If you plan on playing guitar the rest of your life you should keep your first guitar if possible, even if it's a piece of junk.

I don't know what became of my first guitar, the oldest is my fourth from around '64 or so and would never be sold, but that has more to do with it's Viet Nam history. As for the rest of them I'm like Jimistone and regrets have more to do with selling price than attachment.

[orson198305]

If you are going to sell it do it on ebay, don't sell it to any music shops - they'll give you a rediculous amount back & probably sell it on to someone for new.

[orson198305]

Originally Posted by philboyd studge

If you plan on playing guitar the rest of your life you should keep your first guitar if possible, even if it's a piece of junk.

I don't know what became of my first guitar, the oldest is my fourth from around '64 or so and would never be sold, but that has more to do with it's Viet Nam history. As for the rest of them I'm like Jimistone and regrets have more to do with selling price than attachment.

I wish i kept my first guitar, studio les paul, i then became a fender freak, am i evil?

[Bill Furnett]

I smashed my 1st guitar (A Global- Motgomery Ward Strat Copy) and if you ever "played" one you'll understand i do not regret it at all!

I've given several beater acoustics away for Karma, but always keep at least one around which I'm quick on the draw with when the inevitable non-guitar friend or relative is about. ( Oh don't touch my other one dude, I just GLUED something on it )

Take note young rockers- Drugs will make you think it's a good idea to trade a '73 SG w/ case for a POS 10 year old cassette 4 track.


-Oh the humanity!-

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by Gorty

In my household, "Guitars are Bought".......Never Sold!!!

Amen to that Gorty, mine is the same!

[marshall409]

Originally Posted by arcaxis

Every once in a while I think about the wife this way

haha....ingenious .

anyway, thanks guys. ive decided to get this old guitar setup as well as i can and then decide if i really need to get something else. id love a nice acoustic.....hahahaha now im in to a whole nother topic. this whole music thing is going to cost me alot of money in my life. im sure it'll be worth it.

Adam

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by marshall409

this whole music thing is going to cost me alot of money in my life.

Adam

It will probably cost you a marriage and house as well etc etc.............

[travelin travis]

Originally Posted by Gorty

If he is willing to take that guitar off you after the attachment you have with it has been known to him then he is not a real friend!!!

Thanks for clearing that up for me.