[Unknown Doodl3.2]

I think that for the amount of time I've played guitar, I've owned a pretty good amount of mid to high end stuff, 6 and 7 strings. But I just can't seem to be able to just connect and/or dentify myself with a guitar and stick to it, with only one exception: my first ever guitar, an Ibanez gio GRX20... its all banged up and stuff, and It doesn't play THAT well, but I have a blast playing it. I mean I've been playing this guitar mostly for the past 2 weeks while my jem and S7320 sit in their respective cases and stands. I find this frustrating...

I'd love to find a guitar that's a joy to play... something that plays very well and if possible in a price range that won't make me go OMG everytime it comes within 3 feet of something that could potentially scratch and ding it. I was thinking of maybe a player UV7BK, but I'd like to hear all the suggestions beforehand... keep In mind I love Ibanez, but I'm not limiting myself and a thin neck is not THAT much a necessity.

I don't have much right now but I'm planning on selling both my guitars (jem and S) to get one nice 6 and a nicer 7 if necessary...

[djpharoah]

Dude I know exactly how you feel. I have found my custom Rg7620 to have the perfect amount of mojo in it. I just love to play it. I really havent owned any high end guitars, but having one that you love to play no matter what condition its in is one of the best feelings man.

If the jem and s7320 arent doing it for ya, sell them and try some other Ibanez models around. You might find the ONE. Hell see if you can get a players condition UV or even an RG7620.

[MF_Kitten]

i know the answer to that one... own less guitars :P

id you´re gunna own alot of guitars, make sure each and every one is unique, so they don´t sound alike, because if you don´t notice any difference in playing them, then you´re not going to care about it...

so yeah... make sure every guitar has it´s own thing going on, that´s basically what i´m saying... i only own two guitars at the moment, one six string ibanez and a 7 string schecter, and i must say, they are quite different, and do quite different things!

[Michael]

I agree with MF Kitten. Right now I only own one guitar, which I love and can't see myself ever selling. But, I used to have about 7 or 8 guitars, all middle-range. There was always one or two guitars I'd favor over all the rest, and all the others would just sit there collecting dust.

So like MF Kitten said, "own less guitars". Find one that fulfils all your needs.

[Randy]

I have 5/6 diff. guitars, and they're all in different tunings, so they all see a certain amount of action, depending on what kinda songs I'm playing. That seems to help keep the "mojo" for me.

[Pablo]

Well, in my book it's pretty straight forward: if it doesn't work... it doesn't work - and it's no use trying to force it!!!

We shouldn't waste our lives trying to make round pegs fit into square holes and if your S7320 and Jem don't put a big fat grin on your face when you play them, you should simply find something that does!

IMHO the all important "mojo" isn't as subjective and emotional as people tend to make it out to be... in my own experience "mojo" is more akin to baking a cake - even if we unaware of it. I think most people's "mojo" recipe is a little something like this:

2 ounces of features (bridge, no. of frets, PUs, scale length etc.)
3 table spoons of ergonomics (body shape, neck shape, weight, ballance, finish etc.)
4 pints of tone (bright, dark, defined, mellow, sustain, attack etc.)
1 3/4 mouthfull of aesthetics (we are all vain bastards!) and
1 pinch of emotional value (first guitar, gift from girlfriend etc.)

Obviously, these various aspects are decidedly intertwined and thus you need to find as good a compromise between the various qualities of an instrument as possible.

My idea with the cooking recipe, is that if one ingredience is off, the entire cake will begin to fall apart. I.e. even if the objective quality is there, our subjective preferences can make us not apreciate the culinary experience.

Luckily you already have a guitar that actually pushes the right buttons with you... Now all you need to do, is to figure out why and then find a guitar that improves upon what you already like about your GRX20 - sort of reverse engineering what works. Start by noting the main differences between the instrument that works for you (GRX20) and the ones that don't (S7 & Jem) eg.:

Features: Bridge vintage trem vs. double locking
Ergonomics: Neck shape round C-shape vs. flat D-shape

This is obviously just an example, and I might be totally off the mark in your case, but it's how I figure out what I like in an instrument... and even if it takes a while (and quite a few guitars) to figure out what works, the journey is a LOT of fun and the reward when you find something that really jangles your chain is simply grand.

Cheers and enjoy your quest!

Eske

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Originally Posted by levelhead86

I have 5/6 diff. guitars, and they're all in different tunings, so they all see a certain amount of action, depending on what kinda songs I'm playing. That seems to help keep the "mojo" for me.

I think keeping the balance between that and MF kitten's point about havign less guitars would be a good Idea... I own 3 guitars right now... and I need atleast 2 (a 7 and a 6)...

I think I will end up selling the jem, its an amazing guitar... but it's steve vai's guitar... not mine lol. and I'm starting to outgrow the glamourous vine inlay work.

what about you guys, what guitar(s) do you guys have that you would never even contemplate letting go because your hands have molded themselves to that particular guitar?

Originally Posted by Pablo

My idea with the cooking recipe, is that if one ingredience is off, the entire cake will begin to fall apart. I.e. even if the objective quality is there, our subjective preferences can make us not apreciate the culinary experience.

Luckily you already have a guitar that actually pushes the right buttons with you... Now all you need to do, is to figure out why and then find a guitar that improves upon what you already like about your GRX20 - sort of reverse engineering what works. Start by noting the main differences between the instrument that works for you (GRX20) and the ones that don't (S7 & Jem) eg.:

Features: Bridge vintage trem vs. double locking
Ergonomics: Neck shape round C-shape vs. flat D-shape

This is obviously just an example, and I might be totally off the mark in your case, but it's how I figure out what I like in an instrument... and even if it takes a while (and quite a few guitars) to figure out what works, the journey is a LOT of fun and the reward when you find something that really jangles your chain is simply grand.

Cheers and enjoy your quest!

Eske

Thank you for that! succinct way of putting things into perspective! Apart from the few personal modifications on my GRX (sanded neck, scartches/dings, math homework used as a trem block ) I think the fact that this guitar has been with me for a little while and has history behind it makes me enjoy it just that much more. I agree that the process of getting there is a massive amount of fun...

I really just need to keep trying various guitars... given that the last few guitars that have come and gone (RG1527,K7, RG8127) all had very similar features... and, refering to your "cake recipe" idea, had I thought of this beforehand, I woulda kept that K7 and refinish it, ALL of it... maybe I coulda have had something there...

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by Unknown Doodl3.2

...and what about you guys, what guitar(s) do you guys have that you would never even contemplate letting go because your hands have molded themselves to that particular guitar

I have two instruments that I'll NEVER sell: my crappy Vester J-Bass copy given to me by my parrents when I graduated highschool (purely emotional value) and my cream YJM Strat, that I've modded to hell - to me virtually everything's perfect about this guitar except that it's not a 7-string and only has 21 frets - I (think I) need 22

My list of guitars:
Ibanez HRG72 with PAF7 and Blaze Neck
Fender YJM Strat modded to HSS with an Air Classic in the bridge
Fender YJM Strat - Stock, save for my custom wiring
Ibanez RG2EX2 with Air Norton and Steve's Special
Homebuilt Custom with my own wicked HHS setup (DiMarzio)
POS COPY of MusicMan EVH
POS Vester J-Bass

Cheers

Eske

[sakeido]

Well if you are going to part with your S7320, I'd be interested in buying it off you

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Originally Posted by sakeido

Well if you are going to part with your S7320, I'd be interested in buying it off you

Interesting