HEAVENandHELL
08-22-2008, 07:13 PM
Lately I've been wondering what difference there is between a good guitar, of which I have several, and a great guitar like a Suhr or Tom Anderson. Yesterday I found out there is a local shop that carries Suhr guitars called The Guitar Boutique so today I left work early to go check it out. Shop was easy to find, small but cozy, and staffed by a great owner, Chris.
After chatting for a minute, Chris invited me to play the Suhr guitars that I had come to check out. I played 3 Suhrs today and I have to say that each guitar sounded stringy and articulate. Fantastic! Of course I was playing through a $3000+ CAA amp so I'm sure, and Chris confirmed, that had something to do with it!
The 1st was a strat looking guitar with a C shaped neck and an H-S-S configutation. Awesome sounding guitar but I just couldn't get comfortable with it. I think it was because the neck was so fat!
The second guitar was in the pro series. It had a thinner neck and an H-S-H config iirc. It was also the least expensive Suhr. This guitar sounded as good as the 1st, to me. I liked the feel of this guitar better but I still got an overall impression of newer Ibanez guitar necks as I played it. On to guitar #3.
The 3rd guitar was some sort of limited edition and, as such, was extremely expensive, for me anyway! I told Chris that I had an Ibanez with a Wizard neck so the thought this guitar would be close to that for me. This guitar had the "Modern" neck on it and it was the thinnest of the bunch but I still couldn't get comfortable with it. Guitar sounded fantastic, as did the other 2, but something just wasn't working for me yet.
All of these guitars had a great neck/body joint that gave easier access to the upper frets. Now that I'm home playing some of my guitars, I think what may have been different is the edges of the fretboards. I thought I read here earlier today that Suhr offered "rolled" edges or something like that. That may have made all the difference to me as my guitars feel better at the edges. Some are just rounder or some have binding but they just feel better and I believe that is where.
I was wondering if it was worth the money to purchase 1 "great" guitar over keeping the several "good" guitars that I have and I don't think I have my answer just yet. All 3 guitars were beautiful and the 1st 2 were not ungodly expensive but still would take a real commitment from me to purchase. I liked the sound of the guitars but the feel wasn't quite there. However, if my guess from above is correct, I could order my guitar the way I want and that would fix that. Plus the idea of ordering ANYTHING on the guitar just like I want it is very cool!
Another great thing about The Guitar Boutique, and Chris, is that when I told him how tough it is to get a feel for such a guitar, with the giant commitment it would take, he said I should just bring in my rig and all my guitars and A/B everything so I could get a good idea. Now that's great customer service! I will take him up on his offer someday!
Thanks for listening.
After chatting for a minute, Chris invited me to play the Suhr guitars that I had come to check out. I played 3 Suhrs today and I have to say that each guitar sounded stringy and articulate. Fantastic! Of course I was playing through a $3000+ CAA amp so I'm sure, and Chris confirmed, that had something to do with it!
The 1st was a strat looking guitar with a C shaped neck and an H-S-S configutation. Awesome sounding guitar but I just couldn't get comfortable with it. I think it was because the neck was so fat!
The second guitar was in the pro series. It had a thinner neck and an H-S-H config iirc. It was also the least expensive Suhr. This guitar sounded as good as the 1st, to me. I liked the feel of this guitar better but I still got an overall impression of newer Ibanez guitar necks as I played it. On to guitar #3.
The 3rd guitar was some sort of limited edition and, as such, was extremely expensive, for me anyway! I told Chris that I had an Ibanez with a Wizard neck so the thought this guitar would be close to that for me. This guitar had the "Modern" neck on it and it was the thinnest of the bunch but I still couldn't get comfortable with it. Guitar sounded fantastic, as did the other 2, but something just wasn't working for me yet.
All of these guitars had a great neck/body joint that gave easier access to the upper frets. Now that I'm home playing some of my guitars, I think what may have been different is the edges of the fretboards. I thought I read here earlier today that Suhr offered "rolled" edges or something like that. That may have made all the difference to me as my guitars feel better at the edges. Some are just rounder or some have binding but they just feel better and I believe that is where.
I was wondering if it was worth the money to purchase 1 "great" guitar over keeping the several "good" guitars that I have and I don't think I have my answer just yet. All 3 guitars were beautiful and the 1st 2 were not ungodly expensive but still would take a real commitment from me to purchase. I liked the sound of the guitars but the feel wasn't quite there. However, if my guess from above is correct, I could order my guitar the way I want and that would fix that. Plus the idea of ordering ANYTHING on the guitar just like I want it is very cool!
Another great thing about The Guitar Boutique, and Chris, is that when I told him how tough it is to get a feel for such a guitar, with the giant commitment it would take, he said I should just bring in my rig and all my guitars and A/B everything so I could get a good idea. Now that's great customer service! I will take him up on his offer someday!
Thanks for listening.