• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

Most important factor when buying guitar

  • Playability/Feel

    Votes: 41 71.9%
  • Sound

    Votes: 11 19.3%
  • Looks

    Votes: 3 5.3%
  • Price

    Votes: 1 1.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • Total voters
    57

DR5Guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2010
Messages
140
Location
Chicago, IL
I was curious what is the first and most important consideration for you when buying a new guitar. For me personally playability/feel comes first, followed by looks/sounds and finally price. Twice I made a mistake to buy solely based on looks and was left down in both cases.
 
Last edited:

the24thfret

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
2,458
Build quality should be an option in your poll. As should resale value (ask Fing).
 

leftyguitarblue

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
4,053
Location
Planet Erf
+1

If there is not an EBMM logo on the headstock, then why are you considering it?

I absolutely love my cherryburst JP. Best guitar I've ever owned. I got lucky with feel, look, playability etc, but there are other quality brands out there as well. It's all about having choices.
 

Roubster

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
2,639
Location
Crooklyn, NY
To be perfectly honest, they ALL play a part in purchasing a guitar...other than price. If you want quality, you have to pay for it. However EBMM covers ALL these areas perfectly and the value for that is much better than most other companies. Of course there are options out there, but again for me EBMM covers the quality, playability/feel, looks, tone and price at the same level. When I pickup my Y2D or Silo Special, I dont want to play anything else and its a joy every single time I pick them up or look at them.
 

ScoobySteve

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2008
Messages
3,309
Location
Busan, Republic of Korea
I come from a classical music background in piano and trumpet. As those instruments were designed primarily with sound and tone in mind there was little left for ergonomics. Add in rigid positions and strict posture and you have a background in music that barely recognizes comfort as a priority at all. The player is expected to adjust to the instrument not the other way around. With that in mind my preference always and I stress, always lies in sound and tone. If the instrument I want can't produce what I'm looking for what's the point? It's like shopping for a clarinet but buying an oboe instead because it felt and looked better to you. Comfort and playability have always been a luxury for me and will never be a deal breaker or even a purchasing factor. Same goes with aesthetics. An instrument that you love is a lot like a woman. There may be things that you don't get along with or have difficulty adjusting to. But if you love 'em youll find a way to make it work.

My .02
 

Chaka5150

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
198
Location
Great White North
I agree big time with the statement about EBMM logo on the guitar is a sure bet on all categories listed. Really I am a sucker for a pretty looking guitar but the most important thing for me is playability/feel all the way. Price is not necessarily a big driver for me as i don't buy many guitars but will make it count when i do…so I am willing to pay the premium for a quality instrument..again EBMM is a winner here. (i don't work for EBMM btw--i only wish) The feel/action is what attracted me to EBMM in the first place. The nice thing is that their guitars also look sweet:)
 

straycat113

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
2,506
Location
Born and bred in Brooklyn NY
I would like to say sound but keeping it real it would be feel/playability as I can always tweak to get a good tone or even mod, but it has to feel and play good in my hands. I have 8 EBMM guitars and everyone of them were impeccable tone wise, so if I know what I want I have no fear at all to order it without hearing it first.
 

metalmarty

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
453
Location
the Netherlands
Is has to feel and play right, you can't mod that without reprofiling/refretting/recontouring neck and/or body etc. Sound can be worked on. A bit of sustain and resonance should be there, but there are such an amazing amount of pickups out there that you can get in practically any ballpark you want. Price is relative, if you can't pay for new there's usually always second hand. That is, if you haven't went to college for the last 5 years and not having a dime for strings ;). Looks are important of course, but I've played complete dogs that sounded perfect and played like heaven. Not the be all, end all. So feel/playability it is :)
 

cm_17

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
182
Location
Boston, MA & Zurich, CH
One more crucial point - technical details.

I recently almost pulled the trigger on a US-made super-strat style guitar. It played wonderfully, looked the part, and sounded great. Till I realized that any truss rod adjustment would require removal of the neck, as the rod was only accessible from the heel. Fail.
 

mb99zz

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
1,765
Location
Commonwealth of Virginia
Tough one....I'm tied between Sound and Playability/Feel. There are guitars I've LOVED the sound of, but passed on them because they weren't comfortable to play (e.g. playability/feel). I guess that answers the question then :)
 

phatduckk

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
8,145
Location
San Mateo, California, United States
i gave a superficial answer: looks

on many occassions i've bought the better feeling or sounding guitar over the "pretty one". but every time i've done this i've ended up w/ buyers remorse...

more or less, for me, if i don't like how a guitar looks or have regrets i end up not bonding w/ the guitar so it just sits there & doesnt get played
 

MikeVt

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
Messages
1,663
Location
Vermont
i gave a superficial answer: looks

on many occassions i've bought the better feeling or sounding guitar over the "pretty one". but every time i've done this i've ended up w/ buyers remorse...

more or less, for me, if i don't like how a guitar looks or have regrets i end up not bonding w/ the guitar so it just sits there & doesnt get played

Hehe...I was the other one who voted looks. I was embarrassed to do it, but the truth is, the look is what gets me in the door...after that, then it's all about playability.

Mike
 

shredhed

Well-known member
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
212
I have 17 guitars ranging from super thin necks and big, fat 50s neck Gibbys, so feel isn't a big deal to me.

Looks are important, but if a guitar looks sick and doesn't sound good I won't keep it.

So I voted for sound
 
Top Bottom