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The Perfect Guitar
What makes a guitar truly great? Obviously, the answer is going to be different for every player. It is highly subjective matter that depends largely on the style of music you play and your personal tastes. Certain types of guitars seem to work best for certain types of music. For a jazz player it may be an ES-335 or an L-5. A rock player may prefer a Strat or a Les Paul. A country player may favor a Tele. A bluegrass player will likely want an acoustic. This is why there are so many different models of guitars. The “One Size Fits All” approach simply doesn’t work. However, great guitars do share several common traits.
The Makings Of A Great Guitar
There are many factors that go into a good guitar. The right combination of these factors can make a good guitar great. The most obvious place to start is tone. A great guitar needs great tone. Again, this is subjective. A jazz player may want a fat, warm tone, and a country player may want a crisp, bright tone. But both want good tone. Finding a guitar that provides the tone you are looking for is the first step in finding a great guitar.
Construction is the next step. A great guitar will have few physical flaws. If a guitar has rough fret edges, or a warped neck, or weak electronics, it will detract from the playing experience. A guitar doesn't have to flawless to be great, but it should be in good working order. A guitar also has to play well to be a great guitar. The neck needs to be the right shape to fit your hand comfortably. The guitar needs to feel right when you hold it and when you play it. A guitar that is well built and enjoyable to play is the second part of the equation.
Looks are often considered unimportant, but I disagree. A beautiful (or even a beat-up) instrument can inspire you to play. And when you are inspired, you play better. I feel guitar building is part mechanics and part art. You can have one without the other, but unless you have both, you can’t have greatness. This doesn’t mean you have to have flamed maple tops, abalone inlays, and deluxe bindings – I often find great beauty in many of the simpler designs. I’m just saying looks, rough or refined, are a factor.
The Favorite Guitar
While many guitarists play a variety of different guitar models, most have a particular model, be it a Martin D-42 or a Fender Stratocaster, that they always seem to go back to. Over the years, this has become their guitar of choice.
But even those who prefer a particular model will often have a “favorite” instrument of that model. Eric Clapton played the same Strat for years, naming it “Blackie.” Jimmy Page used the same Les Paul throughout the Led Zeppelin years. B.B. King has his “Lucille”, and Larry Carlton was known as “Mr. ES-335” for his devotion to a single guitar.
So what factors turn a great guitar into a favorite guitar? This is where that indefinable “X” factor comes into play. How do you define cool? What makes you prefer the looks of one guitar over another? Why does a particular guitar just feel right when you play it? What give one guitar a better tone than another of the same model? A favorite guitar has something you simply can’t define, but it’s there nonetheless.
My Favorite
I started out on a cheap acoustic guitar when I was 12. I quickly started bugging my parents for an electric. For my 14th birthday, my parents took me to the local music store to buy an electric for my birthday. I knew nothing about guitars or what I wanted, so the salesman suggested a Fender Mustang, which was in the price range my parent were willing to spend. I liked the Mustang because it was an electric, but I never really developed an attachment to it.
As I got a little older and started learning about guitars and discovering what the guitar heroes of the day were playing, I started longing for a better guitar. Around this time, a music store in a shopping mall near our house put a Les Paul Custom in the display window. However, this was no ordinary “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom. It had a natural Maple finish. I had never seen a Les Paul Custom with a natural finish before and, honestly, I thought it was the most beautiful guitar I had ever seen. Of course being a teenager, it was way beyond my means. Still, I stopped and stared at it every time I went to the mall.
Fortunately, God blessed me with a mother who realized, without me saying a word, that this was my dream guitar. To my shock and utter delight, upon graduation from high school, I received that very guitar from my parents as a gift. Perhaps it was the reality of actually receiving the unattainable, or the great way it sounded and played, but that guitar instantly became my favorite guitar and still is today.
Final Thoughts
In all honesty, a great musician can play any guitar and make it sound good. But when you find that perfect melding of art and mechanics, along with that indefinable “X” factor, it will inspire you when you play. And when a guitar inspires you to play, you have found the perfect guitar.