JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Guitars and Guitarist Forum Any guitars that you hate?

I, for one, cannot STAND Ovation acoustic guitars; not the way the feel, not the way they sound. That bowl back just pulls me away, instead of drawing me in. The sound is as artifical, to these ears as the rosin back (or whatever it is). Neck is just nothing special.

Rickenbacker electrics sound pretty for certain things, but the neck just doesn't feel right in my hands. The finish is too slick and my hand sticks; can't slide around as much as I need them to. Also, it's not condusive to bending strings, for some reason, for me. (Basses too.. great sound, lousy feel -- for me.)

Apologies to you Ovation and Rick players out there, but hey... you're not me!

Any guitars that you simply cannot stand playing? Aside from the fea market cheapies, of course.

Me thinks you should give up the guitar and take up the Sousaphone. That you can get a grip on.

Hey PoPTodd,
I'm with you on the Ovation. Never liked em. Don't even like to pick one up. But then again, I've never enjoyed the Gibson acoustics either. Go figure. Love the sound of a Ricky on the right song. That being said, I'm a barely passable guitar player. For me, Martin for sound, Taylor for playability, once in a while you find a good Takamine and Alvarez/Yiari.

By the way, loved your latest post on the MP3 board. Great band. Lot's of fun. Great name, too. Big Dr. Suess fan from way back.

I once had a Goya Rangemaster in puke green with an assortment of vegematic buttons and four pickups - each pickup covered three strings. I wanted to love it - I really did, because it was so bizarre and odd looking. Incredibly light and it had some amazing pickup combinations. But the way I play, I was always hitting the OFF vegematic button. Yeah - stupidly placed right where your hand naturally swings with the pick. If I anchored my hand, I'd still be using that as my signature guitar. But one stupidly button ruined it for me. An OFF button. Ridiculous.

Yeah man! Me and Ovations are diametrically opposing forces. Their back is rounded and my gut is rounded, makes em feel like they are farther away than they realy are. They are good guitars for someone else though.

I'm not a fan of Taylor but I've played a few that would make a liar out of me.

I'm with Todd on Ovations...I sent my last one back to the factory in a shoe box in splinters after it cracked down the middle for the third time.

Back in 1990 I decided to treat myself to an acoustic guitar, up until that point I had only ever owned an electric. I had sort of decided that I was going to buy a Fender. When, I got to the store I tried a few of the Fenders, all very nice. Then the sales assistant suggested trying an Applause (a lower priced Ovation). I wasn't sure about the roundback both in texture and shape, but the tone blew me away, it sounded so much more pleasing to the ear (well mine at least). I bought the guitar and the rest is history, it is my main writing guitar and I play it everyday. I also have a Takamine and a Taylor but the Applause is still my main man. I recently recorded a 1+1 (1 guitar, 1 vocal) track with it (you can listen here) and I think it still sounds good, maybe I was lucky who knows.

So that m'lud is the case for the Ovation defence

Going back to your original question. There is not particular brand or style of guitar that I don't like. I find it is more how the guitar is set up that influences me. For example if you played a few Epiphone Les Pauls, you will notice that they will vary vastly, yet they are (in theory at least) all the same. I am definitely more of a 'how it plays' than a 'how it looks' person.

Cheers

Nige

Don't like Ovations, either. Do like the 12-string Ricks...a lot! And here is a heresy alert: I have never played a Martin that I would buy. Not that they are BAD, mind you, but you would have to tie me to an ant hill to get me to trade my old Guild jumbo for any Martin I've ever played.

When I read the subject title, I was ready to post the exact same thing. =)

I think Ovations shouldn't really be classified as acoustic guitars - they are somewhere imbetween electric and acoustic. They don't have that woody sound that we've come to expect from an acoustic. They do however, have their own unique tone.
If you want to hear an Ovation played well, listen to anything from Adrian Legg.
That's all I have to say about Ovations. I now return you to the hatred post. :-)

Back in the day I bought an Ovation Balladeer (sp) circa 1970's. I had no money and spent $170 (a fortune)for it.

In it's defense, compared to the import acoustics at the time (Yamaha comes to mind) it sounded way better. Plus Cat Stevens played one.

Reciently I bought a Taylor and have not picked up the Ovation since.

Guitars I hate. Hate is the wrong word but when I bought the Taylor I actually wanted a Martin D28 or D 35 or whatever. But I went to 7 music stores multiple times each and I swear to God the vast majority of Martins had dead strings! I'm going to risk a couple of grand on a guitar with dead strings. I don't think so.

All the Taylors had Elixir's and I could at least tell what the guitars actually sounded like.

Tom

I'm sure I'll offend someone, but I really don't like PRS guitars. To my ears, you need to replace the stock pick ups on any model to even start to get them to sound decent. They also feel odd to me. To each is own.

I don't know if there are any guitars that I really hate, or simply cannot stand; but I do have strong preferences. I really have liked the 3 Fender Telecasters that I have owned. I like both the tone and the neck of all of them, although they were/are three different models (1) An original '54 Tele (2) Thinline Tele (3) FMT HHH, which i currently own and use. However, do not like the feel of the Strat at all. They sound okay, but I have never picked one up that felt comfortable in my hand.

My favorite guitar that I have ever owned, from the point of playability and feel, was my Gibson ES-175...it was a '66 model.

I lived in Germany 12 years and there is a German guitar that I like real well called Hoyer.

But, the best answer for your question is the Fender Strat...don't hate it, just don't like it nearly as much as many of the others. Good question!

Al

How do all,
I'm with that guy that sings:
"Just who do they think they are,
Breaking a perfectly good guitar?"
I ain't never met a guitar that I didn't like, if'n it's set up right and doesn't have dead or rusted strings...I will get some joy from it.
I gots several guitars that range from free to $3,000 plus. Each one brings something different to the table. And if'n y'all ever get in a rut, where everything starts sounding the same, try using a different guitar. Or, maybe that's just me
Just my
BillA

Les Pauls. My first electric was an LP and my back hasn't recovered yet.

Ovations...I like mine. The sound is different but that can be a good thing or bad thing depending on the application. (jazz, yes; bluegrass, no!)

Got an old Harmony used that was made in the sixties.
Have played other peoples guitars.
I need that guitar I can dig my fingers into and has a warm sound to it.
The Harmony I have is not a Penny's special.
Harmony was in competition to Fender at the time mine was made as a cheaper alternative.
Outside of a few scuffs, it is still in pristine shape.
There are guitars that barely have to be touched to play, especially after the one I have played, and sound too mechanical.
I guess the guitars I hate are the ones that are as easy to play and mechanical sounding as my synth.
I like a synth to be a synth and a guitar to be a guitar.

Matt

Howdy, All!

I am a lefty, so it is a bit more of a chore to find "that" guitar. I do not like PRS guitars, since they decided NOT to manufacture Left Handed Guitars. I agree with y'all on the Ovations -- they never felt like they fit well. I have a Taylor 314 CE, lefty, that plays like an electric, and practically melds with me when I play it.

Mike M

Nah I'm with ya on this...They alway seemed like a Les Paul alternative to me,and for the money I'll pick a real Gibson any day of the week.

Also agreed.

That be John Hiatt

Guitars I hate ? ESTEBAN guitars. I would suggest busting up every one you can get your hands on !!!!!!!!

Probably not. Some are easier to play, obviously (and that's why I have the ones I have).

I did get to plink a little bit last night on an old (maybe '60s) Stella that a girl had brought to the open mike. She said she'd got it for $15.95, and a luthier I know had put a new bridge on it--that was it. The thing is literally made out of varnished and painted cardboard (I think that's why it had a truss rod in the neck). But it fingered okay, was not hard to play, and had an unbelievably raunchy sound that was perfect for blues. She got a good deal. Came with a case, too--made out of the same gauge cardboard, and it can double as a portable percussion section. Robert Johnson would have felt right at home.

If I had something like that, I'd be taking it to Pineyfest instead of subjecting my J-200 to the vagaries of Homeland Security and the latest bankrupt airline. But I didn't tell her--she'd have probably wanted more'n $15.95 for it, and I didn't want her to get a swelled head over its value.

Joe

I also do not like PRS guitars, although my experience with them has been very limited. They are beautiful looking, but I hate what comes out of them. I know the amp has a lot to do with it, so I will concede that it could have been the particular combo.

Ovations are on the top of my list of most annoying guitars.

Emily