Deciding on gear before asking for suggestions

[Eric]

Anybody notice how most people seem to get a bug up their rear about buying a particular amp or guitar, then somewhere in there they decide ask for recommendations? Seems like that point when the question is asked is usually well after the person has made up his or her mind as to what he/she will be purchasing.

I know I've generally been like that with the guitars/amps/pedals I've purchased. Wondering if you people have noticed the same sort of thing. For all I know, there's a term/acronym for it.

 

[wingsdad]

Could be a couple of terms for that tendency to seek post-mortem affirmation, but 'Buyer's Remorse' comes to mind first.

Actually, I find it most peculiar how often a decision is made to buy a guitar with a predisposition to change its pickups, pots, caps or some bit of hardware before it's even made its arrival.

"I just ordered a [insert guitar make & model here], but it's not going to be good enough, so I'll need to spend even more money so I can make a $300 guitar into a $500 guitar. I could've just saved the extra effort and bought a $500 guitar straightaway, but then, I'd have to make it a $700 guitar."

Imagine that: planned disatisifcation.:whatever:

 

[deeaa]

LOL yeah that's exactly right wingsdad, you hit the nail on the head!

I wonder it it would help if you could order your guitars like cars; just tick off the features you want special.

I guess it's just that often there isn't the combination you want available, and you have to do modifications to get it the way you want. I can relate to that as there aren't any factory made guitars I like either.

I'd like a Gibson but they are a tad big and heavy, and I want an asymmetric V neck and the colours I like, plus maybe a maple fretboard, EMG's. So I could get me a Zakk Wylde Paul and change the 81 into 89 and swap them around, shape the neck some, route it lighter and smaller and re-finish the whole guitar.

I'd like a strat but they're a tad big and heavy, and I want an asymmetric V neck and EMG's and on a strat I'd need to change the pickup selector place/style and move the vol knob lower----

For me it took about 15 years to find out what I like in guitars, and before I did, I just bought the next best thing available, and then lived with the imperfections the best I could.

Basic strat and LP designs for instance, well, they're 50 years old and full of shortcomings IMO, but there seldom are newer designs that would improve the old designs...usually they just _look_ different but still only repeat the mistakes made in the original designs.

 

[markb]

"I just ordered a [insert guitar make & model here], but it's not going to be good enough, so I'll need to spend even more money so I can make a $300 guitar into a $500 guitar. I could've just saved the extra effort and bought a $500 guitar straightaway, but then, I'd have to make it a $700 guitar."

Imagine that: planned disatisifcation.:whatever:

And "this is a great amp as long as you change all the tubes, the transformers, the speaker and the cabinet".

:whatever: :whatever: :whatever:

PS: this gesture has a slightly different meaning where I come from

 

[deeaa]

And "this is a great amp as long as you change all the tubes, the transformers, the speaker and the cabinet".

:whatever: :whatever: :whatever:

PS: this gesture has a slightly different meaning where I come from

I was wondering what was it trying to say too...but I figured it suits the theme.

There's a term used here for aquiring new gear all the time and tweaking them to the max and then trading again: gearwanking.

I have a friend who openly admits to being a gear ******. But he told one day he visited this other guy's apartment and he has like a dozen Mesa amps and two dozen guitars there, and he told me that 'I was amazed at that, and I realized I'm not a proper gear ****** after all - I'm just a ******. THAT guy was a proper gearwanker!" :whatever:

 

[wingsdad]

...
I wonder it it would help if you could order your guitars like cars; just tick off the features you want special. ...

Well, d, you can with certain 'less-than-mass-market' manufacturers.

(Well, maybe not you, per se, in Finland...)

But nowadays, when you count Squier product, MIM, MIA(sia) and American models, Fender markets about 30-40 varieties of the Stratocaster, and maybe as many Teles, and Gibson, if you consider Epiphone to be like Squier is to Fender, offers LP variations up the wazoo.

That's why when I decided I wanted to get a Tele (again), I went for a G&L.

To start with, they have about a dozen or so 'standard' 'ASAT' models, they make some short stock production runs, and dealers otherwise can custom order them as either they think they'll sell, or as their customers want them. Going thru my local dealer, I custom ordered it as I wanted it. Picked the neck style from 5 options (profile, shape, f/b width), fingerboard (maple, glossed & tinted...coulda picked no tint or no gloss, coulda had the headstock finished to match the body), opted for no f-hole on a semi-hollow swamp ash vs. alder body, the body finish, natural wood binding on the front edge (vs. plastic on front and/or back), and the pg color/material. It took about 5 weeks to come in (they originally estimated 13), and it cost me less than a Fender Custom Shop model.

Heritage the company started by ex-Gibson factory guys almost 30 years ago with the old original Kalamazoo, Michigan Gibson factory, is another company you can do this with. My (same) local dealer is also a Heritage dealer. You want a 'Les Paul' or 335 as you like it? This is the outfit. And it's more 'old school' Gibson than Gibson. I've had my guy spec out a couple for me in the past, but...well, I'd have to pay as much as (maybe a little more) I would for a stock Gibby and wait 2 months to have one just the way I want it instead of settling for an assembly line model off the shelf at a Guitar Center. Gee...why would I want to do that? If I had $2 or $3 Grand, I would.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Carvin offers several different types of guitars with lots of options. Although I see lots of returns in their "Guitars for Sale" page. It is hard to know exactly what a guitar will sound like until you actually have it in hand.

It is the same with partscasters. You can have Warmoth or USACG make you parts to your specs, but until the guitar is bolted together and strung, you have no idea if you will like it or not. You might end up with a keeper, or as some have found, you might end up with a dead-sounding but very expensive collection of parts. Partscasters are very bad for resale.

Well, d, you can with certain 'less-than-mass-market' manufacturers.

(Well, maybe not you, per se, in Finland...)

But nowadays, when you count Squier product, MIM, MIA(sia) and American models, Fender markets about 30-40 varieties of the Stratocaster, and maybe as many Teles, and Gibson, if you consider Epiphone to be like Squier is to Fender, offers LP variations up the wazoo.

That's why when I decided I wanted to get a Tele (again), I went for a G&L.

To start with, they have about a dozen or so 'standard' 'ASAT' models, they make some short stock production runs, and dealers otherwise can custom order them as either they think they'll sell, or as their customers want them. Going thru my local dealer, I custom ordered it as I wanted it. Picked the neck style from 5 options (profile, shape, f/b width), fingerboard (maple, glossed & tinted...coulda picked no tint or no gloss, coulda had the headstock finished to match the body), opted for no f-hole on a semi-hollow swamp ash vs. alder body, the body finish, natural wood binding on the front edge (vs. plastic on front and/or back), and the pg color/material. It took about 5 weeks to come in (they originally estimated 13), and it cost me less than a Fender Custom Shop model.

Heritage the company started by ex-Gibson factory guys almost 30 years ago with the old original Kalamazoo, Michigan Gibson factory, is another company you can do this with. My (same) local dealer is also a Heritage dealer. You want a 'Les Paul' or 335 as you like it? This is the outfit. And it's more 'old school' Gibson than Gibson. I've had my guy spec out a couple for me in the past, but...well, I'd have to pay as much as (maybe a little more) I would for a stock Gibby and wait 2 months to have one just the way I want it instead of settling for an assembly line model off the shelf at a Guitar Center. Gee...why would I want to do that? If I had $2 or $3 Grand, I would.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

For all I know, there's a term/acronym for it.

Seeking validation.

It's a time-worn human activity that has come into full bloom on internet forums dedicated to obsessed and detail-oriented activities.


...I'm correct aren't I? Please tell me that I'm right.

 

[just strum]

...I'm correct aren't I? Please tell me that I'm right.

Let's take a poll!

Seeking advise on a forum can leave you right where you started, unsure if you are buying or bought the right thing.

We all do it, ask opinion and we usually get 20 or 30 suggestions from people that are knowledgeable and not so knowledgeable. Whether it be amps, guitars, stomp boxes, picks, strings..., the questions have no right answer.

It makes for good threads, but leaves a person still trying to figure out the answer to their question.

 

[Eric]

Seeking advise on a forum can leave you right where you started, unsure if you are buying or bought the right thing.

We all do it, ask opinion and we usually get 20 or 30 suggestions from people that are knowledgeable and not so knowledgeable. Whether it be amps, guitars, stomp boxes, picks, strings..., the questions have no right answer.

It makes for good threads, but leaves a person still trying to figure out the answer to their question.

Exactly! I don't think that's WHY people do the decide-then-ask thing, but it is part of the whole dynamic. More than anything, those what-gear-should-I-buy threads help people (sometimes outside observers) get their feet wet, and it is part of the learning process. Not necessarily good for definitive answers, but useful nonetheless.

 

[wingsdad]

Seeking validation.

...I'm correct aren't I? Please tell me that I'm right.

Seeking post-mortem advice? Yep. Why else?

 

[oldguy]

I learned to ask questions at an early age when taking Christmas toys apart to see how they worked, then discovering I couldn't put them back together again.

 

[jpfeifer]

I work in a sales organization for my job. I remember one sales training class that I took a long time ago where they explained how people make purchase decisions and it was really enlightening to me because I could definitely see it in my own buying behavior.

"People often make emotional buying decisions for rational reasons" I might have mis-quoted the idea, so forgive me if this doesn't make sense. But the general idea is this:
- People will often make an emotional attachment to a product they want (like falling in love with the look of a new guitar), then justify it by gathering all the data in favor of the decision they have already made. People need to know that it is more than their emotional attachment that is guiding them to buy that one product, but the emotional attachment may be the strongest reason.
You can see this idea in the way they advertise cars. Car commercials usually showing the emotional side of owning the car in the first part of the commercial (shots of the car going through winding roads in the country side, handling great, etc). Then at the end of the commercial they give the "rational" reasons for owning the car such as the MPG rating, safety features, etc. This helps people to justify owning it for non-emotional reasons.

--Jim

 

[Eric]

I work in a sales organization for my job. I remember one sales training class that I took a long time ago where they explained how people make purchase decisions and it was really enlightening to me because I could definitely see it in my own buying behavior.

"People often make emotional buying decisions for rational reasons" I might have mis-quoted the idea, so forgive me if this doesn't make sense. But the general idea is this:
- People will often make an emotional attachment to a product they want (like falling in love with the look of a new guitar), then justify it by gathering all the data in favor of the decision they have already made. People need to know that it is more than their emotional attachment that is guiding them to buy that one product, but the emotional attachment may be the strongest reason.
You can see this idea in the way they advertise cars. Car commercials usually showing the emotional side of owning the car in the first part of the commercial (shots of the car going through winding roads in the country side, handling great, etc). Then at the end of the commercial they give the "rational" reasons for owning the car such as the MPG rating, safety features, etc. This helps people to justify owning it for non-emotional reasons.

--Jim

That is too funny.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

Anybody notice how most people seem to get a bug up their rear about buying a particular amp or guitar, then somewhere in there they decide ask for recommendations?

It's seeking validation. I've done my share of research online to gather info on something I'm looking at, but I don't look back after I pull the trigger.

A lot of young players do this, and I can them being confused even after the fact based on the torrent of information and opinions offered online. Some post to seek the approval of their peers in a thinly disguised "looking for advice" thread. Peer approval is much more important to the young guns than it is to an old player like me.........................I'm set in my ways and can honestly care less about what people think of my gear.

 

[oldguy]

That is too funny.

And yet, if you read it through, you'll see it works..........time and time again.

 

[kiteman]

And yet, if you read it through, you'll see it works..........time and time again.

JPF's on the money on this.