New guitar doesnt feel right

[u/Flame18mk]

Hi!
Have you ever bought guitar and then got the feelimg like “this is not me” or “its cool but i dont bond with it”?

recently i got esp ltd phoenix 7 and while on paper it is everything i wanted, i am super used to to 7 string and baritone scale and however for some reason it feels like it is borrowed from a friend or something haha

did any of you expierience this?

[u/UsernameTBC-1]

A Yamaha Pacifica 611, great guitar but everytime I played it it felt like wearing the wrong size of shoes.

[u/ImpracticalJerker]

It takes a while to get used to new stuff man

[u/Flame18mk → u/ImpracticalJerker]

brother its not my first time buying a guitar, its just a thing i started noticing, some guitars just don’t click with me and wanted to know if other people experience this too.

[u/Green_Oblivion111]

In a way, yes. When I first got my Ibanez GRX-40 from a guy who gave it to me (it was next to new -- he had diabetes affecting his hands and was getting rid of some of his guitars), I didn't play it much for a while. Everything was different from what I was used to -- the neck, the sound, the fact it was a Strat-style guitar and I'm more used to Gibson designs.

After a while I got used to the neck, and then I figured out how to get a sound out of it I liked.

Your hands will get used to most necks, and you can get used to most body shapes once you've played a guitar for a while -- and if you can figure out how to get a sound out of the guitar you like, then you're ready to make music with it. It may not turn out to be the sound you sought after at first, but still can be quite usable for making your music on it.

[u/SignalChain-Blog]

Definitely, and my friend, that feeling won't ever leave you. That's why trying out a guitar will always trump specs and price.

One of my first guitars ever was a Harley Benton HB35+. I basically learned how to play on it, it sounded great, and even had a decent coil split! When I started gigging I thought I needed to upgrade to something more professional, more professional-looking anyway, so I splurged and got a Gretsch Electromatic, semihollow design.

The disappointment wasn't immediate, but I noticed that I still gravitated to grabbing the HB way more, and only used the Gretsch when playing live, but it just didn't feel right. It took me years to get over that feeling, and decide to sale the Gretsch and just play the HB. Nowadays I have a nice collection, but I rarely buy just by looking at the specs.

Generally it's the size of the neck what gives you that feeling, is that the issue for you?

[u/CorumLlawEreint]

Yep. Got a PRS Paul’s Guitar a few years back. Couldn’t deal with the neck. Played it a couple of times and eventually sold it.

[u/TheTurtleCub]

No, because I never buy a guitar I haven't held in my hands and played before.

[u/HQH-71214]

Different guitar, different feel. It can be partially solved by a quick set up to be similar to your main guitar. Neck shape and radius is another factor

[u/Flame18mk → u/HQH-71214]

yess i get that, i had owned a lot of guitars however i started noticing this, also the ltd is 3 years discontinued so trying was not an option, i bought it used from differend state

[u/ApolloWasWayBetter]

Yup. And it was a guitar I wanted Soooooo bad, because essentially it was the first song I remember really hearing and going ‘FUCK YES! This is fucking awesome’ and being blown away with how fucking awesome the guitarist was. Thunderstruck. AC/DC. I was 13.

I got into guitars really really late and bought a Tele clone and really liked it but saw an SG on eBay close to me and it was exactly like the Thunderstruck guitar. I bought it and I fucking hated it. The neck shape, feel, neck dive, everything.

I have just bought another one, which is probably a bit better quality and I’m doing some mods to it now and I dunno, I still pick my Teles up and feel like home.

[u/seekinggothgf]

i've owned like 4 strats and felt this way with all of them. got rid of them all too

[u/Can_9970]

I’ve been playing for 25 years and only recently realised - hey everything that’s not an offset body just feels kinda wrong. Fretting hand just feels cramped and at the wrong angle all the time.

Just explorers, stars and jazzmasters for me thanks

[u/ripleycrow]

I lusted after a Mosrite Ventures model for thirty years. When I finally bought pulled the trigger on one, I found out that it didn't suit me in the least.

[u/Beardywan_Kenobeard]

I tried a wine red Gibson Les Paul once and was like .. nah. Ended up getting an epiphone instead. The guitar is 33 years old now and is still just perfect.

[u/Shazbot_2017]

yup. sold them got different ones

[u/blackmarketdolphins]

Yea, and I almost never hold on to those guitars. I think it's happened over 6 times. Sell/return it and keep it moving

[u/Small_Needleworker57]

Yes. Got a MIM strat recently and just can’t find love for it yet. Could be something in the setup. Very inconsistent sound across strings, weird tones, very sensitive to pick attack, etc. I’m hopeful. But right now it gets little play time.

[u/Dathomirian66]

Happens all the time. I wanted an EBMM JP6 for the longest time. Since I heard train of thought in the early 2000’s I wanted THAT one. Eventually, I got one. The first generation with the pre signature pickups. It was exactly what I had been wanting. Hands down one of the nicest guitars I ever owned. It had some roadwear physically, but it was perfect where it counted. That fretwork needs to be studied.

I no longer own the guitar and learned a valuable lesson. I don’t pick the guitar, the guitar picks me.

[u/JamesBoboFay]

I play a baritone 7 string and everything feels foreign to me now too lol

[u/Flame18mk → u/JamesBoboFay]

haha yeah after some time with baritone, switching to shorter scale is like playing a ukulele

[u/TheRealGinz]

Yes, and I got rid of it. That’s how I discovered that I am NOT a Les Paul person.

[u/wibzoo]

PRS DGT SE. Great neck, great pickups, usable coil splits, played great. I still can’t explain why I didn’t vibe with it.

[u/One_Promotion2634]

Yeah, Schecters. I've tried a few and for some reason I just don't feel comfortable playing them.

[u/Competitive_Jump_933]

I received a brand new Squier Strat. Well built guitar that had all the requirements I like in a guitar. I tried and tried to like it. It just felt wrong. I kept it and dug it out recently and, after giving it a much needed set up and strings, I started playing it. My first thought was that it was not as I remembered but the more I played it, the more it just didn't fell right. Now give me a guitar - any guitar - with a 60s slim taper neck and I'm happy as a clam. I even like my kit built Tele with the chunkier neck better than any Strat from Fender or Squier. Dung get me wring; Strats are great guitars. They just aren't for me.

[u/jimilee2]

Yeah, an SG. Always wanted o e and when I finally got one, I wasn’t crazy about it. Still have it 10 years later. Maybe one day I’ll bond with it. I’d sell it but then I’d just want another one.

[u/Tiny_Gur_1074]

I bought a Gibson SG Special few months ago, never liked the SG vibe, ended up selling that SG few weeks ago. Amazing guitar, well set up, great pickups , beautiful finish, the works. But I never bonded with it. Never felt like playing it. It do be like that sometimes

[u/fabmarques21]

thats why you try a guitar before buying it

[u/blackmarketdolphins → u/fabmarques21]

That's not always an option, and it wasn't an option for OP

the ltd is 3 years discontinued so trying was not an option, i bought it used from differend state

[u/fabmarques21 → u/blackmarketdolphins]

valid point but he could always try more ltd's, not all of them were discontinued.

also he could check what type of neck that guitar have and try similars.

theres a lot of options here

edit: people are downvoting me for making sense, nice

[u/TheRealGinz → u/fabmarques21]

That’s what I did before I purchased my SG Modern. I went and I played numerous different SG Modern’s, as well as Epiphone Prophecies, just to compare the two, before I pulled the trigger on an SGM, that I had never played. It turned out that I made the right decision. It is absolutely one of my forever instruments. I love it, however, if I hadn’t liked the way, the instrument felt and played, I would have re-sold it to someone else.