How important are looks?

How important are the looks of a guitar to you when considering a purchase?

If a guitar sounds and feels amazing but you do not like the way it looks would you buy it or even consider it?

Are looks a dealbreaker for you?

Have you bought a guitar on looks alone even though it sounded and felt terrible?

 

I didn't think looks were important but then I grabbed a great Esquire in my least favorite color because it was a good price. Never felt like picking it up and recently sold it for a loss just so I wouldn't have to look at it.

 

Do we have ugly guitars ?

 

When you start guitar this has to be #1 because you want to hang it there where you can see it and want to pick it up and play it. That is half the battle to pick up the thing and play. Later on, you might become enough of a cork sniffer to select something with an unbelievable tone that looks meh. Something tells me though you can get both worlds in one if you search enough.

 

I haven't bought lots of guitars, but the ones I have purchased have not been butt ugly. In fact, I like the looks of all of them. But I played them first to see if I wanted them. If they sounded like crap, but looked great, I would pass. Too many good sounding and playing guitars out there that also look good. No need to settle for an ugly one.

 

I didn't think looks were important but then I grabbed a great Esquire in my least favorite color because it was a good price. Never felt like picking it up and recently sold it for a loss just so I wouldn't have to look at it.

I am curious what color that is. I personally could not own a guitar that was bright orange (like the color of traffic cones) although I am fine with the natural finish of my mahogany guitar which is almost orange.

 

A guitar is a tool, an instrument to make music with.
What is looks like is really secondary to what it sounds and plays like.

 

Aesthetics are every bit as important to me as performance specs like neck shape, nut width, pickups, etc.

I don't settle on a look, style or color just because I like a particular guitar's specs -- I'm gonna get the color and configuration I want, and if it isn't available I won't buy it.

 

If she fugly I don’t mess w her

 

Looks are king to me. If it looks crappy I won't want it even if it feels and sounds great. I'll just find a guitar with all three qualifications.

 

If it looks ugly to me, won’t even consider it as it would bug me constantly. Plenty of good playing guitars out there that fit individual tastes. Might just have to be patient until you come across it.

 

I am curious what color that is. I personally could not own a guitar that was bright orange (like the color of traffic cones) although I am fine with the natural finish of my mahogany guitar which is almost orange.

Two-tone burst with a black guard and maple board. I absolutely hate the contrast of a dark body/pickguard with a maple board.

 

Looks are very important initially. We are in an age in which we buy so much online. That's all on looks. We don't know what it will sound like, feel like, etc...

 

A black Les Paul custom is a pretty thing.

 

Just like wtih dogs, you can find something to love in every guitar, even those that aren't conventionally pretty. But the things that make it ugly for me are more like headstock shape, very angular body that's not easy to play sitting down or standing, neck heavy droopers on a strap, overly pimped out tops with super figured maple, obviously fake relic-ing, some colors that are not my cup of tea.

 

I think it depends on how awful it looks. I don't like reverse headstocks, yet my main guitar has a reverse headstock. Some things I am happy to overlook if the rest of the guitar is right for me. Having said that, there are some lines I won't cross. I simply won't have a Dean due to their hideous headstock. I won't ever buy a new guitar with a relic finish. I won't buy a pointy guitar except a proper Explorer shape.

 

It's kind of like picking a girlfriend...

 

I've always been a function over form person in general. I never even really paid attention to inlay & the decorative elements of a guitar in the first 15 years of playing/buying. My decisions were always based on feel + price. Its only in the last few years that I've even noticed how little bling some of my guitars have. So with that realization, I've picked up a few guitars recently that appealed to me on both levels.

 

I prefer to own guitars that I like to look at, but it's not a prerequisite for owning one. I've gotten a few ugly guitars over the years with the intent to flip them that were just too good to let go. My favorite among those is probably my Hamer Special. It looks great in pics, but in reality, the color is less TV Yellow and more baby crap green.

 

I think they're the most important thing initially.

You have to want to pick it up in the first place, the feel and sound become important after that first hurdle.

For me, guitars are a piece of artwork as much as they are an instrument. If looks didn't matter, every guitar would look the same.