Worst guitar ever?

[headsup]

Starting a thread on crap guitars anyone has owned.

Just a discussion for discussion sake- and to share a dumb guitar story.

no need to slander a brand- maybe just a dud you once had, and despite various attempts, just couldn't justify keeping it around.

what happened to it? tossed? donated? smashed? campfire starter? what ever....

and......

go......

[unclrob]

Mostly late 60's Gibson's 67 Southern jumbo,Squire shoulder J50,J45 and couple og J200's.I was really wanting a Gibson acoustic.I did get one finally a 94 Vintage AJ which was based on the 1935 played 50 or so Gibson till I found that one.Had to sell it to pay bill's.

[DaveyO]

Had a fender acoustic some yrs ago
Awful high action and sounded dead
It was before I learned about solid wood and acoustic guitars in general

[carruth]

A Maton guitar. It just sounded dead.
One thing about Larrivee Guitars, is that Jean uses the best wood.
A great place to start if you are a guitar builder.

[headsup]

I bought an old (1969) handmade classical (German ) in need or repair- had a big crack on the side and needed tuners.
when it was on my bench, cats knocked it off, snapping the headstock.
made the repairs- headstock as well.
put good strings on it, tuned it up- sounded like crap.
gave it to a friend- who gave it back, said it sounded like crap.
put it on a famous on line sale site.
Was very honest with pictures about it's condition.
sold it for $200.


to.....


Pete Townshend.
yup the same one-
crazy story with a LOT of tangents, making it even crazier.

but that's for another time.

worst guitar I've ever owned- but I got a few great connections and stories out of the deal.
worth every bit of the dumb circumstances....

[eded]

A Charvel acoustic...  I believe the finish was thicker than the wood.

Ed

[Mikeymac]

My first electric (around '73): a Teisco del Rey. Sorta Strat shaped (sorta) and it had FOUR pickups...and they sounded awful! Weak and tone-dead. Bought it from the Montgomery Ward catalog and it was shipped to me overseas (lived in Madrid at the time; dad in USAF). It cost $149.99 back then and came with a crappy little solid state amp - head and cab - which was probably all of ten watts and the cab had two speakers in it that were probably 5 1/2 - 6 inches in diameter (if they were round, can't remember).

What a piece of sonic crap. I will say, it was playable, and I learned a lot on it, but it sounded awful. But I got lucky - because I played left-handed, it looked dorky for me to play it, so the other guitarist in our band switched guitars with me for awhile, and let me play his much nicer German Framus 335 copy (with natural finish). That was an awesome guitar!

The Teisco del Rey and amp are one of the few that I have no memory of selling, trading or giving away - I honestly can't remember when or how I got rid of it...

[tuffythepug]

Had a fender acoustic some yrs ago
Awful high action and sounded dead
It was before I learned about solid wood and acoustic guitars in general

My experience with a Fender acoustic years ago was also very disappointing. 

[Mikeymac]

My experience with a Fender acoustic years ago was also very disappointing. 

This is going off topic a little, but it relates to awful guitars... why do companies try to get into parts of the market where they have no experience? Why does Fender think they have to sell acoustics and Martin (in the past) try to sell electrics? Are they that greedy for more market share? Just because some companies cross that line with some success (Gibson, Guild), why do others think it will work for them?

I suppose we could also use Larrivee as an example of that, but I think their recent RS-4 and RS-2 models were stellar; it just wasn't the best time to try to get into the market (bad recession). In the 80's, electrics kept Larrivee alive until acoustic sales came back, but why do other companies try it in good times?

[jpmist]

I'll play. . .

Reading some good feedback at another guitar forum I got interested in Pono guitars. This was part of the years long search for an OO sized 12 fret with an all too rare cutaway. Sure enough one popped up on eBay and I jumped on it. It was a really nicely made guitar which I was able to set up to my liking and wanted so much to like it but it basically sounded like a cigar box guitar. Sorry and apologies to any Pono owners reading this, but having my ear tuned to the OOs I've had for years, the Pono gave me nothing but deep regret. I tried 3 different sets of strings on it in desperate hope with no luck. If I had to guess I attribute the boxy tone to way too thick a finish and maybe not enough experience by the designers on how the soundboard should be braced. Pono is better known for ukes, so maybe the luthiers didn't get the memo on how a bigger guitar might have different sized braces.

Of course that's what you get when you buy sight and sound unseen. Had I played it in a store I would have put it down in 10 seconds. The vast majority of all the guitars I've purchased were sight/sound unseen and  there's nothing I can do about that unless I want to buy a Martin or Taylor. I count myself lucky with the ones I've kept, but my batting average isn't all that great.

Only 3 weeks or so ago,  it got shipped off to some poor eBay buyer who probably read the same stuff on the other forum as I did. I probably got several karma points deleted off my account, but ya never know, the guy might really like it.

[Mikeymac]

Only 3 weeks or so ago,  it got shipped off to some poor eBay buyer who probably read the same stuff on the other forum as I did. I probably got several karma points deleted off my account, but ya never know, the guy might really like it.

Yeah - he might put a pickup in it to use on stage and be happy as a clam. 

On a related note, I just sold a Gibson J-45 under similar circumstances. The guitar sounded great, and it played easily - BUT - I just never felt like I could get it in tune up and down the neck, even after a set-up about a year ago. It was very frustrating. I could play some stuff on it and be perfectly fine, but start playing up and down the neck, and I'd start hearing sour notes...

...hoping the person who got it is happy with it. I didn't want to spend the extra money on it to fix it because 1) Gibson should have got it right in the first place, and 2) I have a couple other guitars coming in, so the extra cash really helps.

[lkjjr]

First guitar (at age 12) was a Silvertone archtop purchased off a pawn shop wall in downtown Atlanta in the summer of 1963 for $12.50.  My "lessons" were taught one hour a week for about 5 or 6 weeks by a guy who played trumpet in the high school band. Learned a few chords from the Mel Bay chord book.

The action on this was pretty rough, heavy gauge strings with plenty of air between them and the fretboard. Years after that I got to know more about "playability" and recall this one as "the meat grinder" for the way it made my fingers feel .  Kept on playing though and traded it in about a year later on a cheap Tiempo classical just to get some relief.

This picture isn't that one, but pretty much the same model.

[lkjjr]

to.....


Pete Townshend.
yup the same one-
crazy story with a LOT of tangents, making it even crazier.

but that's for another time.

worst guitar I've ever owned- but I got a few great connections and stories out of the deal.
worth every bit of the dumb circumstances....

OK my curiosity is killing me, when can we hear the story?

[unclrob]

First guitar (at age 12) was a Silvertone archtop purchased off a pawn shop wall in downtown Atlanta in the summer of 1963 for $12.50.  My "lessons" were taught one hour a week for about 5 or 6 weeks by a guy who played trumpet in the high school band. Learned a few chords from the Mel Bay chord book.

The action on this was pretty rough, heavy gauge strings with plenty of air between them and the fretboard. Years after that I got to know more about "playability" and recall this one as "the meat grinder" for the way it made my fingers feel .  Kept on playing though and traded it in about a year later on a cheap Tiempo classical just to get some relief.

This picture isn't that one, but pretty much the same model.

That was my first guitar too.

[jpmist]

Yeah - he might put a pickup in it to use on stage and be happy as a clam. 

Ya know, I go a long way to rationalize keeping a guitar I'll seldom play considering what a PIA it is to offload them to someone else. The pickup scheme might have worked if I played out at all, but the loathing I felt for the darn thing was too much to overcome . . . 

[tuffythepug]

Ya know, I go a long way to rationalize keeping a guitar I'll seldom play considering what a PIA it is to offload them to someone else. The pickup scheme might have worked if I played out at all, but the loathing I felt for the darn thing was too much to overcome . . . 

Regarding guitars I've been disappointed in:  I've rationalized in the past that, "oh well, I can always stick a pickup in it and open tune it for slide playing where it's ok to have high action and the intonation is primarily dependent upon where you lay your slide.  But in the end I've sold them, telling the buyer that I just never bonded with it... and also gave the buyer the opportunity to send it back if they weren't satisfied.  never got one back

[rockstar_not]

No-name cardboard acoustic with a painted fretboard.  I won it in a white elephant party.  Tried to set it up.  Nope.

[Blues]

First guitar (at age 12) was a Silvertone archtop purchased off a pawn shop wall in downtown Atlanta in the summer of 1963 for $12.50.  My "lessons" were taught one hour a week for about 5 or 6 weeks by a guy who played trumpet in the high school band. Learned a few chords from the Mel Bay chord book.

The action on this was pretty rough, heavy gauge strings with plenty of air between them and the fretboard. Years after that I got to know more about "playability" and recall this one as "the meat grinder" for the way it made my fingers feel .  Kept on playing though and traded it in about a year later on a cheap Tiempo classical just to get some relief.

This picture isn't that one, but pretty much the same model.

The Silvertone you pictured is the exact same guitar I received for Christmas in 1963 and at the same age as you. I learned some basic chords and being self taught I had no knowledge of guitars although I did play trumpet in the school band so I did understand somewhat the workings of music in general. The strings were high, the fret ends were sharp, and the sound was dull, but I kept after it. My undoing was when I moved the bridge and not understanding the concept of intonation the guitar sounded horrible. That coupled with my butchered playing attempts prompted me to slide the guitar in its cheesy cardboard case under my bed after which I have no memory of its whereabouts. I have a notion my parents finally unloaded it on an unsuspecting neighbor child or relative with which to mutilate his hands and eardrums. I do wish I would have hung on to that Silvertone and made it a wall hanger to remind me of the humble beginnings of a life long love of all things guitar.
My next step was to obtain a fair quality electric archtop with tube amp. I faired much better and have since been playing my whole life having had many guitars (acoustic and electric) and amps come and go some with regret!
Lately I have been immersing myself in jazz playing and with that comes my Jonesing for a quality acoustic  Archtop. So Yesterday I brought home an Eastman AR610 CS. Carved solid spruce over carved solid Hog with floating humbucker. I like the mellow tone of Mahogany in an acoustic archtop for jazz and I already have a ES335 with spruce/maple to satisfy my undying urge to "Grab the slab and grind a pound of Blues" as Billy Gibbons has said. I'm loving the clean sounds this guitar both unplugged and also through an acoustic amp.
So I guess I've come full circle in my 67 years of life. From not understanding a cheesy acoustic archtop to owning and actually knowing how to play a quality acoustic archtop. Yet there is much to learn!

Low & Slow,
Blues

[jpmist]

So I guess I've come full circle in my 67 years of life. From not understanding a cheesy acoustic archtop to owning and actually knowing how to play a quality acoustic archtop. Yet there is much to learn!

Great stuff thx.

My second guitar I got, oh, 50 years ago (YIKES!) was one you might have liked. An old 1943ish Gibson ES-300. Fat, fat neck with nice thick maple plywood top back and sides, but a lovely rosewood fretboard with killer parallelogram inlays. Had an early version of a P-90 in it but I never plugged in. The first of several Grand Concert sized cutaways eventually kicked it out of the harem to someone who appreciated it more and could fix up my abuse of it.



Oh, yeah, pics of the new Eastman would be nice, here's my former guitar of my youth. . .

[lkjjr]

... Yesterday I brought home an Eastman AR610 CS. Carved solid spruce over carved solid Hog with floating humbucker...

Eastman makes gorgeous instruments (including some beautiful mandolins). Have always daydreamed of owning one. Congrats on your acquisition. Any recordings we can hear?

BTW, as awful as those old Sivertone archtops were to play, have you noticed how much they bring these days?