ShortScale.org

Ever notice how everyone on guitar forums seems to think they picked 'the one'?

"Oh yeah, most Mexi Strats suck, but I managed to get a great one out of the bunch. It blows the Custom shop I played out of the water!"

"I must've got one that was super resonant."

Or a recent one:

"I just cannot believe how good it sounds. Each note fuckin' sings and makes your ears tingle. There isn't one situation where it doesn't sound fucking unreal. I played about 20 Les Pauls and this one, far and away was way better than all the others. I dont actually know which specific model LP it is. It's an 08 and it's a Standard, but it's got the 50s neck on it and it certainly doesn't feel chambered. It was reduced from 5.5k down to 2.8k (HOLY SHIT!) and all the 08 standards I saw went for about 3.5k. Either way, this guitar is just unbelieveable and the only time I haven't been playing it is when I've been taking a picture of it or when I've been sleeping."



I know that there are duds out there, and sometimes there is one guitar that's just a little bit better than the others of its same model. But I find it very hard to believe that almost everyone has 'the best' guitar of their particular model.

I have played many, many production-grade guitars in my day. Numerous Les Pauls, Stratocasters galore, tons of Telecasters. Some sustain a little bit better, some play nicer, and some are lighter or heavier, but the reality is... A guitar is only as good as the components it's made out of. While some pieces of Alder or Mahogany might come together more 'nicely' than others, things like hardware and pickups are essentially the same across models.

I am not deluding myself into thinking that I somehow picked the best guitar of its type the day I bought it. No, I picked it because it played nice, sounded good, was at a reduced price from list, and was in the color I wanted. I don't gush about how superior it is to others of its make and kind because... I've played others of its make and kind. And it's similar. Maybe not the same, but very similar.

After all, when you buy a Strat, wouldn't you want it to sound like a Strat? Sometimes the 'weakness' of a guitar is what gives it its unique character and sound. Part of the appeal of Mustangs, Jaguar, and Jazzmasters is their relatively short sustain and quick attack. Having one that somehow 'sustains' more would be a deviation from their expected value, for good or ill.

Does anyone else think guitar-related hyperbole is out of place?

People think that the sound of Jag-Stangs suck and I've played one at a Guitar center that sounded like crap. The Jag-Stang I own though is the ONE and ONLY Jag-Stang that sounds good. Not really, but I like it. It can sound really nasty and Shellacy sometimes.

I feel the same about our Mascis Jazzmaster. Robroe says it cuts hands, but I think everyone in swing hailey has metalcore fingers or something because the neck feels comfortable to rochelle and me. The Squier CV Duo, I think, is one of our best playing and sounding guitars.

But you do have a good point. I think its the faults of the guitar that can be more appealing sometimes. Unique timbers and all that. Some people really hate jags and jazzies just because of their tremolo systems, which happens to be my favorite system.

i think its funny that people refer to how a guitar "plays" in general, when in reality every guitar is radically different. even a mexi strat compared to the one right after it on the assembly line will "play" differently, but thats just becuz stock setups suck and who knows where its going and what the next owner will do to it.
i LOVE my jagstang. i have modified it a bit tho. but then again, no stock guitar is to my liking,(cept my old avri jaguar, i miss that guitar)

It could also be on cheaper guitars some are just plain set up better than others. Case in point the CV duos and we all bought a few months back, some received shitty parts, and others got crappy frets, or some just got a decent out of box guitar.

damienblair17 wrote:It could also be on cheaper guitars some are just plain set up better than others. Case in point the CV duos and we all bought a few months back, some received shitty parts, and others got crappy frets, or some just got a PERFECT out of box guitar.

Definitely more than decent. I'd put it up there as one of my favorite guitars.

I blame eBay.

I think the only guitar where I ever tried out multiples of the same model was my one parlor acoustic. There were 2 - one had nicer action, but the other sounded more open and sweet. I chose the better sounding one. It was a minuscule difference, though.

one hyperbole-ish word that stuck in my mind was one that you yourself said.

Aeon wrote:More complexity,

see i can appreciate that, while alot of the words we use to describe certain sounds don't quite make sense, a sound being "complex" just confuses me. isn't every single sound hideously complex unless it's just a sine/triangle/sawtooth/whatever wave?

not really. theres basically the fundamental and harmonic frequencies...

still, what makes one guitar tone "more complex" than another?

one specific guitar can be more complex than the other if it has more harmonic content. That can be based on several things such as wood, string gauge, pickups, (especially) bridges among SO many other minute things including the finish. Harmonics are why one instrument can sound different from another whether its the difference between a drum and guitar or even one guitar to another.

Aeon wrote:
"I just cannot believe how good it sounds. Each note fuckin' sings and makes your ears tingle. There isn't one situation where it doesn't sound fucking unreal. I played about 20 Les Pauls and this one, far and away was way better than all the others. I dont actually know which specific model LP it is. It's an 08 and it's a Standard, but it's got the 50s neck on it and it certainly doesn't feel chambered. It was reduced from 5.5k down to 2.8k (HOLY SHIT!) and all the 08 standards I saw went for about 3.5k. Either way, this guitar is just unbelieveable and the only time I haven't been playing it is when I've been taking a picture of it or when I've been sleeping."

Ha I saw that on Something Awful too. That guy was the goofiest motherfucker.

I think it depends hugely on what the guitar is too. I've been assured that a lot of Squier '51's are awful. Mine is lovely, and I understand that quality control is pretty poor, and I can see how there might be variation between different examples.

I played a lot of Gibsons in America. Most were absolute balls, the occasional one was nice. House of Guitars had two 1962 LP/SG jrs, one was great playing and sounded nice unplugged, the other was shit in both departments. They were in similar condition and looked near identical. The neck shapes were the same and from pictures you would have no idea which was the nice one.

I think it mostly comes down to setups. Also people like different things in guitars, and some people don't care about others. For example, someone may be particular about fret ends, whereas someone else might be particular about a low action. With two similar guitars they might both think they had the gem amongst the medicore guitars if one had medium action and neat fret ends and the other had rough frets but low action.

When it comes to things like paying $2.8k for an over-priced guitar, the only way to make it seem rational is to convince yourself that you got a beauty. Especially in an environment like internet guitar forums where everyone is saying they found the Squier that competes with custom shop stuff.

I have a Japanese Squier Jazz Bass. I think it's worth well more than I paid for it, and I only played one Fender that I liked better than it in all my American guitar shop visits. I don't think I have some sort of magical one though, I just think the Japanese stuff from the mid 80s to early 90s is very good and competes with what Fender USA puts out today. The fact it says Squier just makes it a steal to buy, I'm fairly confident the others from the same series will be as good.

Squier silver series right?

my guitar costs me $200 and plays absolutely perfect. Its not because I got the special one out of the factory, its because its a good guitar. Yeah there can be small differences but if you play a guitar and you like it then get it. I've noticed what your talking about a lot. people always get the special one. I wonder if people are ashamed that they play a MIM strat or whatever. I don't really care what it says on the head stock, as long as it sounds good to me and I like how it feels then who cares?

If you like it, who gives a shit. its your guitar, not theirs.

The ironic thing is that the guitars I like the most, and the ones I've favored for the longest time, have all been bought on eBay.

I remember when I first opened up my '57 U1. It had a set of 9s on it and hadn't been maintained much. I plugged it in and it made some truly terrible noises. Heavy strings, up'd the action, new saddle, set intonation, clean the electronics, adjust neck angle, de-burr nut, etc. Now I don't really want to play anything else. Setup is everything.

With most guitars I find that once I put on some heavy strings, raise the action, and set the intonation they become quite good-sounding. To that extent, I think setup preference has a lot to do with things. I've played very few guitars that actually sounded good with 9s or 10s and a low action, yet most sound great with 11s or 12s and a high action.

I really hate my MIM Strat, but when I did set it up correctly and new strings it sounded better, still want to change the pickups but thats a different story.
The quality of the guitar is pretty good..

I think tuning is way overlooked. I have often said that if stores would just tune their guitars, they would sell more of them. If I have to fight with tuning the guitar, I usually move on. I agree with the comments on setup. Guitars that with crappy setups and out of tune will not feel as good . When all that stuff comes together, people think they have found the one.

The best guitar in the world will still sound shitty if it's out of tune.

Interestingly, though, my Dano actually sounds OK out of tune. If my mustang is even the slightest bit off it sounds terrible, but the U1 sounds OK. Sometimes I'll be playing and wonder "hmm, why do all these chords sound off?" Then I'll check it and find the 3rd string is like 10 cents sharp.