What is a must in a guitar?

[Spivonious]

Inazone made a post in the rr24 thread about how he doesn't like it because it has MOTO inlays. This got me thinking about what really matters in a guitar.

What are everyone's thoughts? Personally as long as the guitar is comfortable to play, has a nice strong tone, and is well made, I couldn't care less what materials it was made out of, or what "extras" it has.

So for me, tone+playability+quality > fancy woods, nice flame/quilt/paint, inlay shape/material

Don't get me wrong, those extras are nice, but if it's going to drive the price up, then leave them off.

[CharvelRocker]

Build quality. If its the best built, playing, and sounding guitar in word, I don't give a crap what it looks like. Appearance is very low on the list for me, and is simply a plus in a guitar, rather than anything near a deciding factor.

[levantin]

Sound. I don't care about inlays, binding, rosewood vs. ebony, bolt on vs. neckthrough. If it sounds good it is good.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

sound 1st. playbility second.

[sully]

how loud it is acoustically is something that i look for, but don't always make buying decisions on. it's a good sign when the guitar is resonant before you plug it in.

sully

[Alvin_Wilson]

how loud it is acoustically is something that i look for, but don't always make buying decisions on. it's a good sign when the guitar is resonant before you plug it in.

sully

I agree. If I am buying and have the opportunity to play the guitar before I purchase, I ALWAYS play it first w/o plugging in. I have bought most of my guitars this way.

[yard dawg]

The feel is 1st to me. If I cant play it comfortably then I cant make it sound good. Tone is next. Its got to sound great to my ears. Next is price then looks. Looks is last .

[sonicsamurai]

tone and playability, how the neck feels, how comfortable it plays on the body, and construction are all up there for me. tuning stabiity too. tho usually these days i don't touch lower end guitars, i go straight for the US and Jap models. looks matter in some respects, but not past the paintjob and the colour. don't care about inlays. one thing i love about my fender is the way it vibrates. u can put ur ear to any part of he body and tap it and its just so resonant. it amazes me

[fett]

+2 on what Sully said. That and how the neck feels. You can dick with the electronics, but a neck is a neck.

[Norton]

Anything you buy(or get), you take a look at it first. Guitars, cars, girls, guns....


Looks are always important. If I like the look then the sound and playablity of a guitar, then I buy it.

[jacksoncsplayer]

On a high dollar guitar, everything has to be appealing to me. Looks, build quality, sound, and playability. On lower end axes, I care about sound and playability, looks are important but I will compromise on looks if the sound is there.

[Nuclear Vampire]

The most important thing on ANY guitar is tuning and intonation stability. If you can't properly and accurately tune the fucking thing what's the point?

[Bengal]

Tone comes first but neck shape can trump tone. I don't care if it sounds bloody fantastic, if I can't get with the neck it's a moot point...

[sonicsamurai]

The most important thing on ANY guitar is tuning and intonation stability. If you can't properly and accurately tune the fucking thing what's the point?

shouldn't be an issue on a decent guitar tbf. thats not gonna be the first thought in my head when i pickup a prs for example. i wouldn't expect to find anything less than stable tuning on any guitar upwards of a few hundred.

[Endrik]

fuck the neck... it's all about the tone