Is there a Guitar that changed your life

[Mikeymac]

Believe it or not but it was an Esteban guitar I bought off of HSN about 8 years ago that got me back into playing after a 20 year hiatus.  Esteban is long gone but the passion to learn and enjoy guitars remains strong.

Great story ... you can't make this stuff up!

[L07 Shooting Star]

These are great stories.  Keep em coming.

[Danny]

A 69 Gibson dread in the early seventies, a Korean Goya dread about 17 years ago got me back into playing more.
An old  1970 Fender Sovereign  (Harmony) that a local shop butchered up on a neck reset about 8  years ago. That got me into learning how to repair my own guitars.
       And of course my first Larrivee, a LV-03R. That one got me into collecting guitars and buying a whole lot of Larrivees.

       Here's a line in a song I wrote, "But then he bought himself a Larrivee, now he sings and plays almost every day"

[Yippie]

I am not sure if it changed my life but will say that it got me back into wanting to learn and enjoy playing guitar. I recently bought a Larriviee (D-04W VHS) and it continues to impress me the more I get comfortable with it. I went into my local guitar shop already having an entry level Taylor (D-110) and wanting a Martin guitar because of that melow voice and really wanted a guitar that I would not want to replace later and grow with. Despite the Martin bias, I couldn't get past the quality of the Larriviee I would be getting for the same money and now am only realizing how good of a choice I made. My only regret is that it did not come with a pickup/tuner which I would have got for a similarly priced Martin but considering I am playing for my own enjoyment and not on stage am willing to add one later if I need it.

[L07 Shooting Star]

I am not sure if it changed my life but will say that it got me back into wanting to learn and enjoy playing guitar. I recently bought a Larriviee (D-04W VHS) and it continues to impress me the more I get comfortable with it. I went into my local guitar shop already having an entry level Taylor (D-110) and wanting a Martin guitar because of that melow voice and really wanted a guitar that I would not want to replace later and grow with. Despite the Martin bias, I couldn't get past the quality of the Larriviee I would be getting for the same money and now am only realizing how good of a choice I made. My only regret is that it did not come with a pickup/tuner which I would have got for a similarly priced Martin but considering I am playing for my own enjoyment and not on stage am willing to add one later if I need it.

Truer words could not be spoken as many of we Larrivee discoverers will attest to.  Yes, you can add a pickup system later; one of your own choosing and which best meets your needs and style of playing.  I wouldn't worry too much about getting a pickup system that includes a tuner though.  That will limit your choices considerably.  Get a pickup for it's fidelity.  The tuning part of the equation can easily be accomplished with a basic and inexpensive electronic tuner that clips on to the guitar.  (Snark, Planet Waves, and many other brands).

[rockstar_not]

FIrst guitar was the Peavey Milestone in my signature line with a little 10 watt Peavey Backstage amp.  Actually, I had bought a Washburn strat copy but the neck continually seemed to need adjustment and the shop bought it back from me because they got tired of the adjustments that they promised to make on it.  First guitar and first time I started to fall in love with playing guitar.

My L-03 in my signature line was my first really nice acoustic I owned and the joy of hearing what it sounded like made me want to and actually play more - which we know is one of the ingredients for getting better and getting even more enjoyment from playing.

Then when I bought the Epiphone in my signature line, it sustained so much better than the Strat that I had before the Epiphone that a similar cycle began.

And I have to admit, that the really cheap bass in my signature line, once I got a used Seymour Duncan Bass-lines P-Bass pickup in it, dialed up my desire to play bass as it started to really sound nice.

These have all changed my life for the better.

[eded]

These are great stories...  and they shake loose memories.

I had kind of backed off on playing a bunch in my late 20's...  only playing electric and only by myself at home.  Then when I got together with my wife (to be) in my early 30's, and she encouraged me to play more and get out to play more.  That got me my first acoustic guitar since the Stella I had hitchhiker across country with.   It was an Ovation, and it got me started on my acoustic journey.

Ed

[Teek]

3) A buddies Breedlove myrtle wood/spruce 12 string.  I only got to play it one weekend at a guitar get together, but it still haunts me.  Lol.

Ed

I JUST DISCOVERED THAT TODAY!!! OMG I want the all myrtle wood parlor! I had Oregon property, family there, and have a custom concert uke made from Oregon myrtle that is the sweetest thing. So dang rich for my blood though and I have never even touched a Breedlove.

Changed my life would be my mom's Martin Baritone ukulele. It blew me away, it was what I was looking for and didn't even know it until it was in my hands. Well of course it set me off on this whole huge uke journey (UAS), which then segued into guitars, where I had my first at 16, a plywood POS then a Framus steel string with a tobacco burst that was gorgeous but hurt like a sunofagun to play. That got sold and then in my 20s I was gifted a Goya G-10. That was the first one I could play comfortably that fit me well, so that while not a life changer was my first good guitar.

So far my beat up plain Larry O is my fave, and my Tacoma PM20 that got me into this newer guitars and GAS mess. I do miss my Goya G-10 from 40 years back. It was all finished checked and beat up even in 1976, when I started teaching myself classical guitar etudes. No YouTube, just a book and a Saturday am show I eventually got on tape. I could read the treble clef and actually make some music with that one. I gave it to a kid 20 years later who put his foot in it. Still makes me wince thinking about it.

[Larrivee4me]

In 1966 I was in the 3rd grade and showed an interest in playing my Mom's nylon string guitar.   It was either Christmas or my birthday and we went to Lazarus (Ohio folks know)  and picked out a student sized Harmony steel string guitar. Mom taught me three chords and gave me a couple folk song books.   I remember my finger tips hurting from the steel strings but I stuck with it and learned the basic chords and could accompany myself on simple songs.  Later that school year two of my friends and I entered the spring talent show.  We dressed up like cowboys with two of us playing guitars and won our category singing "Tom Dooley".  

[L07 Shooting Star]

In 1966 I was in the 3rd grade and showed an interest in playing my Mom's nylon string guitar.   It was either Christmas or my birthday and we went to Lazarus (Ohio folks know)  and picked out a student sized Harmony steel string guitar. Mom taught me three chords and gave me a couple folk song books.   I remember my finger tips hurting from the steel strings but I stuck with it and learned the basic chords and could accompany myself on simple songs.  Later that school year two of my friends and I entered the spring talent show.  We dressed up like cowboys with two of us playing guitars and won our category singing "Tom Dooley".  

Another great story.  Looking forward to hearing more.

[ryler]

My first guitar changed my life.  A Takamine dread.  My smallest guitar, a OO-05 allowed me to keep playing when my joints became intolerant of this position, that size, etc.  I'd get rid of all the others and keep it if I had to.

[CycleBob]

It was an inexpensive Johnson dreadnought bought for me on 9/6/2001 by a guy I knew at work who had been playing for 30 plus years. He told me to not spend a lot at first as he thought I'd never keep up with it. I  brought it home that Thursday night after work and strummed my first chord,  a  D chord. Thought to myself, wow, cool. I continued to learn another 4 chords over the next 5 days until I went to work on Tuesday 9/11/2001 when everyone's world changed. I  didn't pick up the guitar  for another 3 weeks as I spent every free moment awake watching TV. I eventually picked up the guitarnand spent another few days re learning the  chords again from a book I bought (KISS, keep it simple stupid guitar) I tuned the page to a new chapter asking me to play the chords in progression and it was like (please forgive the analogy) a first orgasm! Ive been hooked ever since. No where near the player I should be after 14 years, but Im hooked..........

[ollaimh]

happened twice. when i was around 17 i had been playing the worst harmony. bleeding fingers action, terrible sound, for three or four years. i met a guy in the city near my small town with a guild f 20 1967(this was around 1969/70)  he wanted to sell it for 150 bucks. i sold my hand made chess set, 20 bucks, my hand knit sweaters, 20 bucks each(total 40), busked the bars that night 30 bucks.   already had 20 so i was at 110. i went over to my best friends place and he wasn;t much richer than me, but he loaned me the rest.(his student loan had just come in)  next day bright and early i bought it. it played great, sounded great, and turned me into a guitar player.

it was stolen in 1990.   a few months later i found it in a junk store and when i was calling the cops they gave it to me(there might have been a few stolen things there). by then  owned a few guitars.  i met a kid who was eager to play. he was pretty good for someone who didn't even own his own guitar. so after a few big gulps--i gave it to him.   we are still good friends.

[Mikeymac]

"Is there a guitar that changed your life?"

Don't we always hope it will be the next one...?

Anyway, that's what I'm expecting when I get my custom Larrivee L-05 (hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks)!

[Paraclete]

You might think it was that LSV-11 I bought recently.  But no.  It was 1987, a cheap plywood Franciscan classical, probably made in Korea.  It was the first guitar I ever played.  I was a total classical violin geek who was desperately in love with Chet Atkins' playing. It was the only guitar I had until I got my Charvel electric some years later.  It set me on the path of playing really a lot of different instruments.  But it was also the first thing I had any say about, musically speaking.  And yes, it was a horribly crappy guitar with a thick neck, horrible intonation, thin sound.  But it was all mine, and my opportunity to finally learn guitar.  You don't get much choice when you are 13 with no money in a small town and dependent on convincing your parents it is a good idea.  My mother hated the idea, didn't want anything to distract me from violin.  I think she was dismayed to find out that I took to guitar as naturally as breathing.  When a friend of mine passed away in 2008, I bought that Ramirez listed in my sig from his widow.  He never learned to play, much as he tried, but clearly had expensive taste in everything.  I sold the Franciscan to a college student in 2010 for $60.  No reason to keep something I never play.  That Ramirez, by the way, is a dream of a guitar.

[leftync]

As I think about it, I guess it was a lefty Seagull M-12. I'd already ordered an M6 from Chuck Levin, after switching around strings on a cedar-topped Takamine. I saw the 12-string for a very good price on ebay, and it came several weeks before the M6. I'm not much of a player either way, but this first real lefty felt right. I rarely picked up the M-12 after I got the M-6, but I wish I hadn't sold the 12.

[LoMa]

My Francisco Navarro Model B blanca flamenco guitar along with Juan Martin's flamenco method book. That was a lot of years ago!

Then came along my Martin 00-28v and then a Larrivee hogtop parlor and then another Larrivee and another Martin, etc., etc.

[songman2]

Of course ... my first guitar, some nondescript classic guitar the name of which I do not remember and which is long long gone. Can't imagine now not playing guitar.

[ducktrapper]

How absurd. Guitars are tools. Only that which is played on them can change anything and a cheap Yamaha will do that very nicely. So yeah, my 1971 FG-180 with which I learned how to play acoustic guitar.    

[mike in lytle]

How absurd. Guitars are tools. Only that which is played on them can change anything and a cheap Yamaha will do that very nicely.   

It is not absurd. I had a (used Larrivee) guitar arrive on Friday that changed my life.
Since it arrived I have played the snot out of it for many hours. I would have otherwise spent the time playing my other Larrivees, or planting seeds in the garden, or vacuuming the house, or training our youngest dog, or something else. Since it arrived, I have not been pining for another Larrivee.
Therefore it has changed my life. A minor change, but still....
Mike
C-05 (awful ugly pickguard)
C-05 (real purty)