[Xtremevillan]

The first thing I look at is the price. Sorry, guys.

Second thing I look at are the looks. Superficial much, right?

Third are the actual hardware functions, like body wood and neck set and stuff like that. I try to go for Mahogany but will be trying Alder.

Last are the pickups, because we can switch'em out.

[Metal Ken]

build quality, playability, price.

[budda]

Originally Posted by WillingWell

What draws you to a guitar? Playability, look, how many other people have one, sound, etc. or any combination of these things or whatever you can think of.

Personally I think sound and playability are a given, but a really important thing to me is looks. I need a guitar with zazz. It's hard for me to settle on a 7 string or 6 string because there's not a lot of guitars that really grab me with the appearance. Same goes for signature guitars that are really unique. The Ernie Ball Petrucci sig is pretty ambiguous for a signature guitar, it doesn't scream crazy unique and locked to that artists image like some.

So what do you guys look for in a guitar?

I look for sound, playability, it cant look Terrible, and it's nice when i can actually afford it. i go over a guitar to see how it's set up when i test it out. if the shop doesnt care enough to have it set up well, why should i care enough to buy it?

the most important thing for me is playability these days. It has to feel comfortable, and i want it to be as near effortless to play well as possible. When a guitar is really enjoyable to play, then my playing improves. I believe it is the C neck that i prefer, not 100% sure. my LP studio has an incredibly comfy neck, comfiest guitar i own.

2nd thing is tone. do i like how it sounds on bridge and neck? do i find the clean tones to be voiced well for what i want? up to this point, i've never switched pickups in a guitar - none of them have needed it. unfortunately, im pretty sure my Tokai has microphonic pickups. the real kicker is, my JB/59 set never showed up. I like a guitar that does clean, low gain, and high gain equally well. so far, all of my guitars deliver that.

looks: not a HUGE deal for me. I find most guitars look good. flame/quilt tops are nice (my tokai has a flame maple top), but they arent a necessity. solid finishes, trans finishes, i like 'em both. 3/4 electrics i own are solid finishes, and 2 of them are black haha.

I hope that answers your question.

[Cancer]

Price and playability, also availability. Like I could prolly be talked into getting a custom, but anything over a 6 month wait would kill me. "Uniqueness" is another thing I look for. Obviously with production guitars thats really difficult, but even the "illusion of uniqueness" will suffice. For example, take my Carvin V220, clearly other people purchased that guitar, but I was only one in my area (at least the only one playing out), so when people saw they would usually go "That's Tony
s guitar".....

I got the Agiles for, at least partially, the same reason.

24 frets is a rule nowadays, as I literally have not owned a 22 fretter in like 15 years.

Mojo: the special sauce that only certain guitars have, 2 of the same model could have completely different mojo. I know mojo has been achieved when I play a new guitar and I start coming up with riffs on it, or I've lost track of time.

[Rick]

Look, price, neck.

[String Seraphim]

Playability comes first and foremost followed, in order by tone, options, looks, and finally price. I will probably never go above a $2500 cap for any one guitar either save, maybe for a custom. I'm also have an odd obsession these days with 3 pickup configs primarily 3 humbuckers. I've been jonesin' for a 3 pickup gibson les paul custom w/bigsby for years now so I guess thats the reason.

[ibznorange]

I mostly just look at the win factor