Topic: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

I went to guitar center today and tried out epiphone(didn't like the sound), tried out Ibenez(kinda liked the guitar but it was really used and display only), and tried the Takamine GS330S. I really wanted to try the Seagull S5 but they didn't have it. My price range at that store was 300.
Well here's my problem. I have a guitar(sounds really bassy but is cheap and got broken). I bought the guitar home and I am having trouble with chords on this guitar. On my other guitar I would not accidently mute the strings when I play. And now this Takamine has good strings and seemed ok but there's constant ringing and chords sound out of tune. It sounded ok when the salesperson played it for me but once I brought it home it really sucks.
Now I feel like I should have got the exotic wood Ibanez there.
I feel like I would love the Seagull. Should I go to a different guitar center and try out the seagull? Does anyone own it?
Sadly my parents paid with credit card I can't return it myself and they don't want to drive me 1hr there to return the guitar. I'm so bummed.
And i've realized it a 150 dollar Yamaha didn't have as much vibrating wierd stuff going on as my guitar.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

The Seagull S5 is a good guitar, but so are many other guitars.

If the guitar is making buzzing sounds when you play it, but didn't when the salesperson played it, the problem probably isn't with the guitar.  This guitar is probably set up differently from your old one and you may need to learn how to make the adjustment to how this one plays.  Be sure that your fingers are close to but not on the frets when you fret your chords.  Make sure your strumming hand or forearm aren't resting on the strings. 

If you've got those under control, it is possible that the setup is too high or too low. Too low will frequently cause buzzing problems.  Or you could have just one fret sticking up or something like that. 

I'd recommend being very careful about how you finger the chords to be sure that you're doing it the way THIS guitar needs you to rather than the way the OTHER guitar did.  If that doesn't work, then you need to talk to your parents.  I'll tell you as a parent, that I'd rather drive the hour again to get a guitar that you'll play and enjoy than stay put and have spent $300 for something you don't appreciate or like. 

Also, be sure that YOU play the guitar at the store.  Take along your chord charts or whatever you've got to do.  It could be a terrific guitar, but if it doesn't fit your hands and your style, then it might not be a terrific guitar FOR YOU. 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

suckybeginner - I didn't catch how long you've been playing, but here's my thoughts on your issue.
First is that even a really good guitar sounds bad if you're not playing it at least half decently, and a pretty crappy guitar can be made to sound pretty nice by a really good player. So how is the beginner to decide what to go for in a new guitar?

Well I have been playing for over 20 years and have had many guitars in that time. Currently I have 5 guitars and one of my favorites is the Ibanez PF-10 that I bought for about $250 when I was learning. Maybe I got lucky, but that guitar has just never let me down. When I was shopping I compared it to more expensive guitars and many guitars that people told me were "better" but after a good couple of weeks of looking at and trying other guitars I kept coming back to that Ibanez. Does that mean every beginner should get a low cost Ibanez? No, of course not. But every beginner should get advice from someone unbiased (ie. not the salesman, although some salesmen are great) and should take their time in selecting a new guitar.

This is important because if you make a bad choice, in my experience nothing will discourage learning more quickly that a guitar that takes way too much skill to get a decent sound out of.

These days there are several really nice, low cost guitars available. Personally I don't care for the Seagull because I find them too stiff, but Samich, Takamine and Ibanez are all good choices. I think Fender has come to rely on their name a little too much and allowed quality to slip in the lower end of their market, Yamaha I am not too familiar with but they do make some really fantastic sounding guitars.

In the end, buy for the action and feel of the guitar, not the looks and if you're a beginner don't get into thinking too much about the sound. What's most important is the action and feel - sound will come later. Like I said, there are several good choices available in your $300 price range. Also, it could be that the Takamine you bought is fine but you haven't adjusted to it yet. I know that each of my guitars plays a little differently and I have to make certain adjustments to my fingering depending on which one I am playing, so that's worth considering too.

I guess now you have to convince the parents that you need to reconsider your first choice... maybe.
Good luck.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

I would look for Alvarez guitar. Mine was in $300 price range (they go much higher) but was on sale for only $180. Just basic dreadnought, but it sounds phenomenal! Check them out. My guitar teacher, who works on guitars, too, recommended Alvarez and I could not be happier. I sound ten times better than I ever have, and much more expensive guitars don't sound as good to me.
Good luck!

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

Walk your ax back to the store, and ask the salesperson what's wrong.  Then you'll know.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

it is deffo to do with the change in setup, when i changed guitar i was so used to the other 1 i got my finger placement all wrong, frets different distances apart, neck wider, strings thicker..... all these things contribute to an awkward change, keep playing it and you will get used to it, or it may just not be the guitar 4 u

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and alcohol!

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

Go back to the GC, and exchange it for the Ibanez Exotic Wood - you won't regret it - best acoustic I have ever had, and that includes some pretty pricey Martins & Gibsons.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

I own a Seagull S6. I love it. I am fairly new myself and I was told it was one of the top guitars for beginners in the $300.00 or less price range. My guitar teacher says it is a great guitar and wouldn't mind having one himself and he has a ton of em. He loves the sound. I have since had a Fishman Eclipse VT pre-amp/pickup professionally installed and it sounds really good pluged in. The guy that installed the pick said it was very good quality guitar and that it had great sound. I have an Alvarez RD20S that is not bad. I use it as my campfire guitar.

Learning to play the guitar is easy. Converting that knowlege to sound like music is hard!

9 (edited by Quantum_1 2008-10-16 04:41:14)

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

hehe -

It's in the right tuning.... I've picked up three cheap guitars that friends were griping about and tuned them by ear, and made some minor adjustments to the registry and now they sound like the much more expensive guitars and even hold their tuning much longer.

Sometimes slight tweeks like this come by changing the guage of some of the strings, especially the higher (thin) strings that are not wound (ie) B and high E.

There is nothing wrong with mixing string guages, but it is something one has to experiment with on individual guitars.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

When you say buzzing and muted strings I can't believe no one ponted out the fact that guitars have different nut widths. Sounds like you bought one with a narrower nut than you had before.  Sounds good when the guy in the store plays it because he probably has skiny little spider fingers like a lot of guitar players have( damn you all ).  I am graced with monster fat fingers and 1 11/16 nuts just do not work for me but a 1 7/8 nut works like a charm.  Want to test it out without a long drive put a capo on the second or third fret and see how it plays  ....if you don't have a capo  a smooth pen or pencill with a couple of rubber bands will do for the test.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

I've had an Ibanez for years, LOVE IT.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

If you have bronze strings on your Takamine as I suspect, take $15 and go back to GC and have them restring with Elixer Custom Light gage NANOWEB strings.  They'll be more supple and you'll like that their a little less "bright".  If you already have Elixer strings tell the staff at GC your problem.  They've always been real helpful.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

I have a Takmine and I really like it. It sounds like it's a setup issue and better strings would probably help too (I as well am a big Elixer fan). However, if your heart is set on a Seagull or Ibanez, I would buy one of those instead. It sounds like you will always question whether you bought the right guitar and your relationship with your ax will always be strained. I used to do the same thing when I would shop for new golf clubs. If the store didn't have the club I wanted, I would still buy a different club. It was always in the back of my head that I would hit that Taylormade better and the Ping just wouldn't work for me. Are Taylormades any better than Pings? Absolutely not! But you have to be comfortable with your purchase before you can truly enjoy it and get the best out of it.

"Do or do not, there is no try." Yoda

14 (edited by destiny_driven 2009-05-11 18:10:07)

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

One mistake that many beginners make is that they purchase CHEAP guitars with high action and then they struggle with learning to play on it.  This is setting yourself up for failure.  Fail to plan, plan to fail is the old saying. 

If you are committed to learning to play the guitar, save your money and buy a good guitar.  The odds of you sticking with it are immensely greater, as the lower action will give you a fighting chance to make it.  Better sounding instruments also will provide inspiration to continue practicing.

My recommendation is that you continue to suffer with your current guitar, while saving your money.  If you can save another $400 to $500, you can get a really fine guitar on eBay.  Recently, I was able to pick up a Takamine Supernatural series guitar that usually lists in the low to mid $2000 range. 

This instrument was factory refurbished, meanng that upon final inspection, something was found that needed to be repaired before it coulc be sold.  I did an extensive inspection, but couldn't find what they fixed.  Other than the stamp on the back of the head stock saying USED, it was like a brand new instrument.

Any way, I purchased the instrument for $700 with free shipping.  When it arrived, I was ecstatic, as this instrument sounds awesome.  It has low action and is extremely easy to finger.  Chords are very easy to change.  For an extra $400 over what you have already, the additional value that I received was immense.  I will never buy retail again.  You just don't get the same bang for your buck.

The additional quality level could make a HUGE difference in how progress as a student or as a guitarist.  Go to eBay and see for yourself that you CAN get a tremendous buy on a much better guitar.

Call the manager at Guitar Center and tell him that you are unhappy and want to return the guitar, then go to your parents and explain to them that you made a three hundred dollar mistake.  Explain to them that a one hour trip is much better than a $300 loss.  Be sure that you have your receipt and anything else needed to return the guitar, so that you don't have to make mulitple trips.  Also, put out of your head the imagined fascination with the Seagull. Three hundred dollars retail, isn't going to buy you much.  It is simply another cheap guitar.

However, I can assure you that if you are purchasing a quality instrument valued at $1500 to $2500, you will be happy with the value you receive.  You simply do not get much for $300.  Get you a part time job, save your money and buy an instrument that you can really enjoy and build on.  I know this for a fact.  I suffered thru lots of cheap guitars and I didn't improve until I got something that made it easy for me to learn and play.  It is tough enough to learn the guitar without having to fight your instrument tooth and nail every step of the way.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

To each their own but my first guitar was a Takamine Jasmine that i paid $100 for 10 years ago. It hasn't been through any other set ups other that lowering the action and changing the strings. I still choose to play it over my New Takamine that costed 5 times more and it actually plays better than any Martin or Gibson i have tried. Like i said  though to each their own but a cheapy guitar can be a really good friend if you treat it right.

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that you can learn easier on an expensive guitar. However every guitar has its own characteristics and a cheap guitar that fits you is fine too. The problem is their are so many variables.

1. Check you are tuned to concert pitch
2. Look at the difference between putting your first finger and thumb around the neck of your old and new guitar - this tells you if you have bought a guitar with a radically different neck feel - and you have to get used to the new width.
3. Look at the set up at 12th fret, too low you buzz and its set up for fingerstyle, too high it's a problem to use at higher positions - although if you are a beginner you probably not got that far.
4. maybe the strings are heavier than you are used to.

Hope that helps!

I am playing all the right notes - but not necessarily in the right order! [Eric Morecombe]

Re: Bought new guitar and i'm very unhappy

sumelton1 wrote:

I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that you can learn easier on an expensive guitar. However every guitar has its own characteristics and a cheap guitar that fits you is fine too. The problem is their are so many variables.

1. Check you are tuned to concert pitch
2. Look at the difference between putting your first finger and thumb around the neck of your old and new guitar - this tells you if you have bought a guitar with a radically different neck feel - and you have to get used to the new width.
3. Look at the set up at 12th fret, too low you buzz and its set up for fingerstyle, too high it's a problem to use at higher positions - although if you are a beginner you probably not got that far.
4. maybe the strings are heavier than you are used to.

Hope that helps!

I agree, money doesn't mean quality.
The best guitar that I have ever owned sold for 150.00 at the height of it's popularity thus far.
It originally was sold by fender for 70 dollars.
Yep, you guessed it...the "Squier '51".

This guitar beats out every expensive axe I ever bought just because it plays like silk and the action is so perfect. Everything on the guitar is easily adjusted or replaced and it's a tinkerers dream.

AND...it didn't cost me a fortune to play better than I've ever played.

When you find the right guitar...you will know it. There will be absolutely no doubt that it is the one for you.
When my '51 found me I sold everything I could to get it including my silverburst Agile les paul and haven't looked back once.


=]
Dm

"Talent instantly recognizes genius,
but mediocrity knows nothing more than itself."

-Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle