how long does it take a guitar to settle?

[Floating Seeds]

How long does it take a guitar to settle in? I have this fender which I believe is a 2005, I got it as a present. I hadn't played guitar in quite a few years when I got I guess it was 3 years ago. It was very uncomfortable for me at first, and it kind of lingers in my memory when I think of it it was a love-hate relationship with this guitar. The strings were tight and the action was uncomfortable as hell. I learned on a Les Paul style guitar and this is very different, and the stretches really made my hand hurt. But I worked on it quite a lot to lower the action and experiment with the setup. I didn't want to bring it in when I didn't know what to tell the guy other than I wish it felt like my les paul did lol

But now I picked it up today and notice it is much nicer playing than I remember, I am thinking it may be coming into its own now finally. It's taken a seat to some old beat up Charvel model 3 lol because the model 3 is just more comfortable, probably because it has seen alot of play and settled in so even with higher gauge strings, the action is just more comfortable to me plus I don't have to worry about it getting scratched because it has tons of dings and chips on it

[Rsmacker]

Do they settle in on their own? You have to play them in, or get shot of them if you don't get on with them.

[Endrik]

I think with experience you can play with any instrument without much hassle.

When I was much younger I sounded good with my own guitars and gear but with other guitars and amps I often was pretty sloppy because I didn't had much control over those strange things. But then over the years I played with tons of different style guitars and amps and now I don't much of a problem sounding good with an instrument which I have never touched before.

[Floating Seeds]

I think definitely you should be able to pick up any guitar and play it well but everybody always has their favorites.

All I know is I am finally starting to like this guitar it is no longer tight and uncomfortable as it used to feel but maybe I am just getting better at playing lately from practicing so much. Also I now have more guitars so maybe playing others has helped, this was my only guitar for a long time. I am also not finding it hard to stretch on it anymore. I wonder now why I used to think stretching 5 frets was so hard on this. I am stretching maybe 7-8 frets with ease now.

The charvel necks seemed huge compared to this or the ibanez when I first got it but they are pretty much the same except for how they fit your hand really, but the ibanez was mad flat and the charvel seems fat for some reason. Wtf I really don't know enough to describe it any other way.