Biggest blunders/pleasant surprises in guitars purchases

The SE guitars were a pleasant surprise to me. I had preconceived notions about Asian-built guitars when they first came out, but the Santana SE changed my mind. I've been impressed with all four SE guitars I've owned, especially the bang for buck of buying used ones at low bids on eBay.

I built a dud of a Strat clone once. I went through a couple different necks, pickup sets, and bridges. All high quality stuff, but it was never quite right somehow. I eventually gave up and sold off all the parts.

Don't know if I'd necessarily call it a blunder, but I do have some regret about buying my S2 Singlecut Standard in 2015. Fantastic guitar and fantastic value. It was the most suitable LP proxy for my tastes at the time. However, I of course had no way of knowing the McCarty 594 was coming in 2016 to rock my world. It was like having a great girlfriend you could see yourself making a future with, when in walks your (near) perfect dream girl and she's totally into you. :confused: S2 models take a huge hit at resale, so it sucks to buy new and then sell. But on the flip side, snagging a used S2 at a bargain price has surely given plenty of buyers a pleasant surprise.
 
2005 or so, G&L ASAT Classic. I played one in a shop and was blown away, but didn't have the money for it at the time. By the time I had my money saved, the shop had sold that one, so I ordered another one exactly like it. Waited like 6 months or something. Ended up with a guitar that somehow had both high action and fret buzz, and the bridge pickup squealed microphonically under moderate amounts of gain, same level of gain I use now and have never had an issue with another guitar. Shop wouldn't take it back because they custom ordered it... so stupid since they had the exact same thing in stock however many months before. I sold it for exactly half what I paid.

Worked out well in the end. The money that was left over went towards my current Custom 22 several months later.
 
LSchefman said:
No, but when you reach 150,000 you get a PRS logo button. I've only got a hundred and thirty three thousand six hundred eighty to go!
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Dang-it Lesteban!!, you know that's not what I wanted to hear:mad:, I was hoping for a decoder ring or something:(.

......but mad props for "I've always bought USA made guitars & amps"........................that made me almost tear up.
 
John Beef said:
2005 or so, G&L ASAT Classic. I played one in a shop and was blown away, but didn't have the money for it at the time. By the time I had my money saved, the shop had sold that one, so I ordered another one exactly like it. Waited like 6 months or something. Ended up with a guitar that somehow had both high action and fret buzz, and the bridge pickup squealed microphonically under moderate amounts of gain, same level of gain I use now and have never had an issue with another guitar. Shop wouldn't take it back because they custom ordered it... so stupid since they had the exact same thing in stock however many months before. I sold it for exactly half what I paid.

Worked out well in the end. The money that was left over went towards my current Custom 22 several months later.
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Ouch. That must have been really painful to reconcile the reality of a poor playing git with something you were so excited for. I don't even like hearing it. i have always heard that G&L had great QC.
 
Biggest surprise...first PRS SE custom 24 30th anniversary. I bought it just to have a trem guitar. Totally blown away at how well it played. Continues to be my go to despite several Gibsons, Ibanez & 1 Fender Tele & Squire Strat (a MIM guitar I set up for a friend & told him to never let go of it. He eventually sold to me for $75 because he wanted a "Fender" It's mine now).
Biggest Blunder...Thought I could upgrade my Squire's ceramic pups (which I love the sound of) with a custom loaded pick guard with 69's pups (which I don't like). Dumb...if it ain't broke...
2nd blunder...Fender Strat. I really wanted to like it too. It collected dust & was subsequently sold.
 
Silverman said:
Ouch. That must have been really painful to reconcile the reality of a poor playing git with something you were so excited for. I don't even like hearing it. i have always heard that G&L had great QC.
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I have a G&L Nighthawk that I bought new in 1983. Great guitar.
 
I've bought some dogs in my time, and some I even tried in the store before buying. Just shows how blinkered I can be if a want to like something. Best examples:

1) 2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio. I just couldn't live with the neck heavy effect of the chambered body. And the paint fell off if you even looked at it.

2) Kramer with a nude lady paint job - gorgeous looker and good player, but the wife hated it.

3) Ibanez RG550 in snot green - poor construction and poor pickups. Varnish came off maple fingerboard very early.
 
Gibson Les Paul Goddess. It had what I wanted. A single wraparound bridge and an ebony board. I modded it to a 54 Jeff Beck model. It just refuses to be a good guitar. Many different pickups, string gauges, and changed tuners to try to keep the heavily chambered body from being too neck heavy. It's a conversation piece now.
 
Silverman said:
Ouch. That must have been really painful to reconcile the reality of a poor playing git with something you were so excited for. I don't even like hearing it. i have always heard that G&L had great QC.
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Unfortunately, I had a couple bad G&L experiences...ordered a couple 5 string USA basses and both came with poorly slotted nuts...especially on the low B string....pretty nice basses, otherwise.
 
Biggest blunder was a Strat. I used to think that a well rounded guitar collection should have a Strat, Tele, Les Paul and 335, and a Strat was next on my list. In hindsight the writing was on the wall before I even paid for it when the salesman tried to tell me that I'd sound better on a Les Paul. I ignored him because I already had one and I wanted a Strat. Within two weeks it became a closet queen and a couple years later I gave it to my brother-in-law.

Biggest surprise was my McCarty. I wasn't looking for it when I played it, and initially walked away from it because I was looking for something complete different (24 frets, high output, whammy bar). But, I couldn't stop thinking about it and I found myself comparing everything to it. A couple days later I caved in, drove to the store and bought it.
 
Lee B. said:
I had a black OLP hardtail with a maple neck that I got in 2003. Two buckers and a single volume control, cost me $150 new at Guitar Center. It actually played really, really well, and sounded way better than a $150 guitar had any right to. I had a cherry Gibson Faded V at the time, one of the original series with the ebony board and the crescent moon on the 12th fret as the only inlay. I honestly gave the OLP equal playing time with the V. It almost sounded Tele like. Wish I hadn't gotten rid of it.

I got my daughter a sparkly purple Daisy Rock Retro-H that I found minty fresh on eBay for $125, Grover Rotomatics and a TonePros wraparound (don't get me started... great sound, but the worst bridge to restring in the history of ever). It has one razor fret jutting slightly out on the treble side around the 14th fret, but otherwise it plays like a dream. Great rhythm axe with perfect decay and just a bit of jangle from the firebird style pups. I still contend with this little pipsqueaky voice in my head trying to talk me into getting it a Pigtail and a set of Lollars...
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Aside from my new 245

Probably the best thing I ever bought was my lawsuit strat. 1980 Fernandes "revival" (62 copy)


imageupload


At the time I wasn't really up with the lawsuit stuff, but most people weren't (I must have owned it for 8 years now?). I was looking at a cheap fender - I usually shop at one particular store, it's a second-hand trading joint - but I wasn't really digging them considering the price. I tried an Ibanez lawsuit era strat copy that was interesting but pretty knackered (frets worn etc), and then I saw this. Same price as the fenders but my god the neck on it is incredible. It sounded pretty good, I could tell I would need to work on it, but the feel of the neck alone sold it. It has perfect fretwork, nicely rolled edges, nitro finish I suspect as it has largely worn off. The slab of rosewood is some of the nicest I have seen on a strat (can't tell from the photo).

It did have an off white guard ala 62 strat. I have since added a fender trem block, fender trem, the black guard of an older fender, new pots wiring switch etc, shielding, shielding plate under the guard, etc. It's now wired just with the first volume, and the tone pot nearest the jack works as a blend knob for the bridge pickup that is always on, so no matter your pickup combination you can blend in the bridge. Achieves convincing tele tones, I think, and allows all 3 pickups at once. The pickups are the factory ones... I had budgeted for duncans but after the trem block upgrade and new pots it sings.

Also a shout out to an Ibanez acoustic I bought for half price at a sale on a whim... I have played it every day for like 6 or 7 years. I have written a lot of music on it. It's my "grab and go" guitar for when I get home or want to practice etc.


As far as blunders go... my LP is a great axe but back in the day when I bought it I wasn't as fussy as I am now about fretwork. The frets are very low, like gibson fretless wonder low. It will need a refret soon and those are very expensive here, more than 50% the price of this axe in the first place. You live and learn.
 
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