10 Guitars Everyone Hated And Why

[@gerardvalentino]

People only hate a guitar I buy when they hear me play it

[@TomLaPointe]

Me too 😂😂

[@MegaChoo2]

Me too, Lol, I sound pretty damned good for five to six minutes.

[@grahamcurran8744]

Hahaha me three

[@ryanimpink13]

Me four

[@Dilla4life]

Classic!!!

[@erickmartin5667]

I kept my 80's shred guitars. I'm happy to say they still have all their paint on them

[@Bryan-jd7os]

Did you see that KZbin of a guy that acquired a whole storeroom of "Shredder" guitars? Charvel, Jackson, all the good ones, look it up! Its absolutely insane!

[@charlescowan6121]

Sweet! I own a charvel and an Ibanez RG, they have a real Floyd rose and dimarzo pups!

[@ianedmonds9191]

@@charlescowan6121 I have an Ibanez RG570, a Dana Scoop and a Yamaha Pacifica 921. The RG570 is very road worn since it was my main guitar for 30 years but the other two are in extremely good condition. I still think that generation of guitars got the playability of the necks just right. I've never played better necks than those on these guitars.

[@charlescowan6121]

@ianedmonds9191 There was this generation of shredding guitar players that came along on the heels of EVH, Randy Rhodes, Lynch, Demartini. Then virtuoso guys like yngwie, Becker, Vai, Satriani, Gilbert. And these players needed a guitar like never before seen! Wayn charvel and Hoshino Gakki answered the call! Sure, there were still fender strats out there (Yngwie!) But it was a relic at that point, and wouldn't see a resurgence until the early 1990's when grunge came along ever so briefly. What a beautiful time it was!

[@stnwrd]

Just like anything, you buy something and make it your own :)

[@bakstabbath]

You couldn't give a Fender Mustang away until Kurt started playing them. Speaking of Kurt. The Jagstang was dunked on for years and now all of the sudden people love them. 🤷

[@spookybaba]

Jaguars are much better

[@flapjack413]

@@spookybaba I like both, but I prefer the greater versatility of the Jaguar. I've been a big Nirvana fan since they were around, but I hate the Jagstang. At it's core, it's just a Mustang with a humbucker (which I own a couple of), but a really fuckin ugly one! The extended butt, and the way the pickguard and control plate don't follow the lines of the body, just really rubs me the wrong way. Kurt was never happy with his, and barely played it. I see it as nothing more than a cash grab from Fender.🤮

[@seanmckelvey6618]

They couldn't give them away, which was the reason guys like Cobain started playing them. Only for their very use of them to drive the prices through the roof.

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

Ugliest guitar ever made

[@seanmckelvey6618]

@@nocturnal101ravenous6 disagree, but ok.

[@tlabamba7741]

From what I’ve read several times, the Strat was a flop in 1954 when it was released, it wasn’t until 1957 when Buddy Holly played one on the Ed Sullivan show that it started becoming popular.

[@MAX96MENDES]

Very true ! Phillip must have forgotten that detail. Fender should have made a Signature Buddy Holly guitar to honor him.

[@williamrusso3130]

You really don't see footage of players using them until he came around. Other prominent early Strat adopters, like Hank Marvin, Dick Dale, and Buddy Guy all rose to prominence after his death.

[@Ghosy01]

which is insane to me . people went with looks rather than playability I'm guessing once they tried it out they realised the tele is just a block of wook in comparison.

[@joshpointoh]

Buddy Holly was one of a few that played it on TV and it took off, but it was far from a flop until then

[@tlabamba7741]

@ the Fender website basically says the same thing without using the word “flop” but what do they know? I guess you were there

[@seanmckelvey6618]

I've always tried to pick a guitar that I like, rather than what the current trends and forum bros want me to like. We're all individuals with different tastes and different things speak to different people.

[@mertmunson1417]

Absolute best way to be when purchasing a guitar!!!!

[@Trentstone121]

That's how you win this game

[@dennismcquoid9751]

I'm old fashioned. I don't like reliced guitars or store bought faded jeans with holes. Those flaws need to be earned ;-)

[@221b-l3t]

I'm clumsy so my guitars end up reliced rather quickly. That's what I play Flying Vs for. Always bang the wings into something.

[@thisguy2973]

@@221b-l3tthe difference is you made them that way rather than buying a brand new one as dinged up.

[@chriskitchen4772]

Totally agree, one has to earn that.

[@gregb6387]

I started learning guitar four years ago at 56. I don't have the time left to relic a guitar 🤣🤣🤣

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

Its for posers mainly that can not afford a vintage instrument but are too lazy to break it in themselves.

[@ryangriffith7774]

I was expecting the Explorer and Flying V to make the list. Both were huge bombs at launch.

[@EviMlcak]

Along with the Flying-V, the Explorer is another shapeless monster.

[@MrChopsticktech]

Same here. It seems like it took forever for Gibson to get something right!

[@ThePedroDB]

The 80's was the music of my youth. As a result, shred guitars are totally 'my thang'. My 'collection' is pretty much all guitars with Double Locking Trems, loud colurs and pointy headstocks. Some are more 80's than others. Peavey Nitro, Destiny and Vandenberg, Fender HM Strat, Ibanez RGs Jem and Universe, Jackson Soloist.... I'm no shredder but I do love those guitars and own at least one of each. Sitting here with a Jem and Universe at the moment 👍

[@Scottocaster6668]

I had a neck thru Peavey Vandenberg and a Fender Heartfield Talon V back in the day. Sure wish I had them back now.

[@Trentstone121]

I used to own a blacked out Kramer Pacer Carrera. Didn't like it and sold it for next to nothing because I was a stupid kid who didn't know what they were worth. Kept the Elvis strap and beat up case though!

[@danthefatman009]

Peavy Nitro III is so sick.

[@scottakam]

I thought Les Pauls and Telecasters were horribly ugly when I first started playing guitar. They grew on me over time and my Telecaster is now one of my favorites!

[@flapjack413]

Literally the same thing happened to me over the years, haha. I called them old man guitars. Now I'm 45, and I have a couple of each. So, really, I guess I was right all along!😂

[@seanmckelvey6618]

I used to find the tele ugly compared to the les paul when I started playing, but now having played both I'm firmly on team telecaster.

[@jamesc8563]

One day you start liking telecasters. Usually around the time you start having ibuprofen for breakfast and can’t understand what the heck teenagers are saying. 😅

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

The first time I saw a Telecaster headstock I thought it was damaged!

[@MyChannel-uq2ot]

Les paul is, but telecaster looks nice imho

[@GuitarLessonsBobbyCrispy]

Also, synth guitars from the 1980's. I remember Guitar Player magazine devoted an entire edition to synth guitars, and readers/subscribers were so upset that they threatened to boycott and cancel their subscription.

[@mattbenh]

I didn't want to spend $2000 on a Tom DeLong Strat, so I made one out of a Squire for a fraction of the cost and love it!

[@olebrumme6356]

And it can be just as good too!

[@KyleKalevra]

And it’s more ‘yours’ than any Tom DeLong Strat could ever be.

[@WeeFreeMan78]

Which is the smartest thing to do 👌

[@michaelcarey9359]

@@olebrumme6356 If you put in the neck Invader, and not the BRIDGE model. The neck humbucker has a capacitor filter between the coils... significant difference.

[@MAX96MENDES]

Very good for you! Congrats. I also bought 2 Squier Affinity Strats to upgrade and Mod ! So far, I already upgraded one and its sounding and playing better than my Fender Strat. It only cost me €400 !! - With the money you saved, you can buy yourself a new and better amp and some effects pedals.

[@doogledog1740]

This was a good idea for a video, Phil. A little retrospect gets you thinking. Thanks.

[@phillipewing2406]

I love love love the Ibanez RG model. It's a shred monster. I don't need it as much being a 60 year old but I still need it. Every one I've had has been a budget, 399, guitar. Really want a higher end model.

[@nucleargrizzly1776]

Nearly your age. Converted most of my RG550's to three single coils.

[@bondalero0074]

I purchased a Ibanez RG 550 (NP) “in 2020 just because I dreamed of one in the 80’s as a kid. Now I play the heck out of it. Fender Strat will ALWAYS be America’s guitar no matter what you like. Every rad artist like Clapton, Beck, Hendrix, SRV, Perry, Gilmour, Rodgers, Johnson, & Frusciante make them the most Iconic. I will hurt alot of feelings but anyone that reads it knows the truth. My Fender Strat & “tweed” Blues Jr. sound beautiful together!#🎸🎼🔥

[@shauncarter924]

Phil, you are too humble. We all know that a big reason that cheap guitars are cool now is because of KZbin channels like yours and others. As a kid I was sold on the idea that expensive guitars were better guitars, and it wasn’t until I came across your channel that I began to think differently and I bet that I am not the only one that was influenced by you.

[@captainquirk5141]

One of the reasons that cheap guitars get good reviews these days from people like Phil is that they're WAAAAYYY better built than they used to be. Guitars of all price ranges used to be pretty much hand crafted, which resulted in what's known in statistics as a "wide standard deviation." Unless your guitar was made by true craftspeople, they were prone to all kinds of quality control issues - poor fitting necks, badly spaced frets, misplaced bridges, etc. Today, with CNC manufacturing, companies big and small can turn out inexpensive guitars that have quality build specs. Neck pockets are tight, frets are precision aligned, bridges intonate well. The biggest price differences are now in materials, electronics, finishes and perceived cachet, not in essential build quality.

[@sevenstars004]

I agree with captainquirk 100%. Guitars are made so much better today, there is no comparison. You can get an extremely well made guitar today for $500-$700. Switching out pickups are very easy and not expensive. Even the hardware, like tuning machines, knobs, etc., are so much better and made of better quality materials. Considering $500 today, near the end of 2024 is equivalent to ~$207 in 1990 and today's $500 guitars are better made than many guitars that cost over $1000 _then_ , I'd say we live in a better time than ever before, if you're in the market for a guitar on a limited budget. They don't make 'em like they used to. Thankfully.

[@Trentstone121]

I was raised on cheap guitars. My dad was a luthier. He loved to buy cheap crappy guitars. We'd spend a week modding it out and making it shine. We owned squiers that make fenders look like first act guitars. How much money you spend has a lot less to do with the quality of the instrument than you'd think.

[@Trentstone121]

​@@captainquirk5141nope. Cheap guitars have always had the potential to beat expensive guitars. To this day, the best tele I've ever played was a no name Japanese model I paid $150 for. My current favorite isn't my brand new Jaguar, it's my brand new squier starcaster. I've played other starcasters and I hate them. This one is special though. Something about it just sings to me. My fingers feel alive on the fretboard. My fastest guitar is an old used Peavey Raptor I paid less than $200 for and sanded the neck down on. My fastest used to be my double cutaway Les Paul Junior Lite. It's too expensive to tour with though and the raptor is faster and feels better to me.

[@charlesoliver2535]

Any guitar which stays in tune and intonation is a good guitar. Price tags don't matter regarding that fact. Consistent build quality was associated with names.

[@michaelr.4878]

When the first superstrats with the original, no fine tuners, floyds first hit, there are stories out of several Los Angeles guitar shops where guys actually traded in Bursts for these first superstats. I sounds absolutely insane now. But that's how crazy people were for the superstats when they first started to come out in limited quantities at the retail level. 'Factories' weren't equipped or prepared for mass production...as most weren't even 'factories'...just shops...so overshore production soon started. There was a lot of 'manufatured elsewhere...assembled and setup here', going on.

[@stephen3164]

People commonly were fitting Floyds on to vintage 60’s Strats in the 80’s - which didn’t work out so great given the vastly different radius, but also people didn’t care about a 20 year old Strat being some “vintage and valuable” thing. I admit to modifying some cheap used guitars during the early 90’s - modding stuff from the late 70’s or early 80’s, import stuff, that no one cared about. Now of course, some of those guitars are sought after.

[@johndevries6967]

This is what put ESP on the map!

[@ollieahokas9179]

I grabbed a Rg 550 by accident when I was buying bass trings as the coutner was busy. Little did I know that I woud not byuy the strings but that guitar would follow me home. It made me switch instruments and still those Rg.s still get my attention. Perfect shape for my height and body, well balanced, versatile as they play it all. Over the decade or two, this was my main guitar. And I still own it, though it has its share of wear and tear , still sounding and playing great. It got supplemented by another one, bought cheap as the previous owner tried to put heavy strings on it making the FR rise up like the Empire State. Readjusting and lighter strings it easily holds a note for long time. Over the years I got two more, one is a Rg 570 and a reworked 320 by German luthier with loads of mods. They are alike but not, sounding a little differeatbut able to play it all. Just love them! I never cared for whatever was in fashion in terms of guitar, ergonomics, balance and sound alongwhat I can afford, was on my bucket list.

[@777Lateralus]

Please don’t write paragraphs worth of useless information when you can’t spell or use grammar properly. No one cares

[@JakeGordon-cp7eo]

I used to have an rg 1526. I got it when my uncle passed. When his daughter came of age i gave it back. Now it hangs on a wall

[@Chalepastel]

i got an rg 170 dirt cheap and it has been my main guitar since then. It's exactly what I want on a well balanced, versatile instrument

[@nucleargrizzly1776]

With an RG550 when you get old like me with a custom pickguard, a bit of routing and 3 single coils your RG can get a second life.

[@michaelcarey9359]

Headless guitars were never "out of fashion" ,as much as out of price range... even then, a used "paddle" Steinberger GP-2 in good shape wasn't going for less than $1000, and if you were looking for a TransTrem (let alone a composite body), it was a couple of paychecks for a lot of people. Nobody made headless at the time, and headless necks just weren't sold, unless as Steinberger replacements.... and they were kind of heavy. And were nevermind double ball-end strings...

[@riverstone5994]

Every guitar is ugly until someone cool enough plays one then they’re not

[@BCarpenter2314]

And some remain ugly even after someone famous uses them (talking about you, headless guitar)

[@jl3573]

Yeah probably right. I own an old 1978 telecaster custom which I love but everyone has always seemed to dislike even though Keith Richards used one. Guess he wasn’t cool enough to make them popular. A humbucker in the neck of a tele just makes so much sense to me. (Cue the haters)

[@Duckeggmike]

​@@BCarpenter2314Hey watch your mouth

[@Win7ermu7e]

@@BCarpenter2314 I just think Geddy Lee everytime I see one. I love the guy but man he's no looker either. Very fitting.

[@bookbm]

Truth The player makes the guitar. It’s stupid to get wrapped up in what brand is the best. A good player can do that on any instrument

[@fingolfen01]

I think the big change for both "cheap" guitar and travel guitars is the technology and quality has gotten better on both of them. A "cheap" guitar today is much better quality than the "cheap" guitar from 20-30 years ago.

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

8:50 80s guitars are pretty much superior to every other guitar, especially vintage Fenders and Gibsons. Why? Lower action, faster necks, more frets, better, more aggressive shapes, more wiring options (series/split/parallel/phase/killswitch), floating bridges (the good ones that stayed in tune like Schallers, OFRs, Ibanez Original Edges, and Kahlers). Occasionally you would have MIDI functionality, integrated piezos in something like a Graphtech Ghost system, hexaphonic pickups, and more. More features + better playability = better, to the point that many of these guitars are more than what most hobbyists need. *In short, you can do everything on an 80s shred guitar that you can do on a 50-70s Les Paul or Strat and more. This makes the 80s guitar better. It's a Ferrari compared to a Ford Mustang.* The problem is the guitar market right now is very conservative. Styles have become boring again since 2010 or so. Same old Strats. Same old Les Pauls. These are safe and they are what sell. *The only way to find true 80s style guitars with aggressive shapes and innovative designs today outside the used market is to either custom build a guitar or buy a guitar made for the Japanese domestic market by companies like Edwards, Grassroots, Grover Jackson, Jackson Stars, Fernandes, and others, and import them.* A rare, interesting guitar shape like a 1985 Hondo Death Dagger was only recently brought back in modern form as a 7 string with Floyd Rose by Ran Guitars of Poland and then ESP for Steffen Kummerer of Obscura. *If there is a legitimate criticism of 80s guitars beginning with BC Rich and later extending to Jackson/Charvel, LTD/ESP, some Ibanez guitars, some Kramer guitars, and Japanese guitars like Fernandes, it is that aggressive body shapes lead to a lack of balance and usually neck drop.* This is pretty much the only reason not to buy an 80s guitar. *That said, garish 80s guitars like the Ibanez Jem shown are a good example of when not to buy an 80s guitar. The colors are terrible (gloss black, red, white, or blue are best for pointies, and not so many bright clashing colors), it is basically just a super Strat, and Ibanez makes it more difficult to upgrade their bridges on their cheap guitars by sticking to their Edge derived bridge designs, which are not always swappable with OFR/Schaller/Gotoh bridges. This is why I stay away from Ibanez, as well as their general conservatism regarding designs. They do not put floating bridges on their Glaive, most Icemans, most Destroyers, and other pointy shapes.* In my view, Ibanez has mostly stopped making interesting guitars. If I want a floating bridge Destroyer, I am better off with the mid 80s X series than waiting on a reissue. That said, *Ibanez basses are usually a very good value relative to guitars because they often feature 6 or even 7 strings for a moderate cost relatively to boutique brands like Dingwall or Conklin.* So bring back 80s guitars. I'm tired of Boomer cherry sunburst Les Pauls.

[@neilpincus855]

There are loads of eighties inspired guitars available new. Jackson, Charvel, ESP/LTD, Schecter, Fender player etc. prices from a few hundred pounds/dollars to thousands of pounds/dollars. Pick a colour.

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

@@neilpincus855 Not if a person wants a truly unique shape with lots of features. If you want an extremely aggressive shape (BC Rich Ironbird, Hondo Death Dagger, Ibanez Glaive) with a quality Floyd Rose or Kahler bridge and lots of electronics options, be prepared to pay a lot of money. You can't even find a Jackson Kelly Star (Rhoads V combined with a Kelly) outside of the year 2000. They have to be imported from the Japanese market. For me, a reasonable guitar price is $800-1200 dollars. Most of these features like a quality bridge will be between $200-300 alone. Add in pickups and accessories. Another $300. Add in a Graphtech Ghost system and you are looking at several hundred more. If you want a neck thru, add on yet more. $2,000 or so is a place to start. And they almost always have to be ordered from the custom shop. Most of the guitars you mention are Super Strat shapes. We're going way, way beyond that to black pointy things with neck drop and ultra thin bodies that do not accommodate lots of electronics well. In short, what I expect as standard for $800-1200 is going to cost between $2k-$3k and be a custom job. That might even include used parts. Meanwhile an ESP EII guitar starts at well above the $1k range. The reason why LTD has surged in popularity since the brand split is it is just a better value relative to EII ESPs. Problems with each brand you mentioned: Jackson--same classic shapes, not updated for decades. Price continues to increase under Fender ownership in return for the same options. A Professional series or JS from the 90s and 00s is a good mod platform. Charvel: Their 2008-2010 Desolation series was excellent. Neck thru, 100% mahogany, Seymour Duncan Blackouts, Floyd Rose 1000 bridges. New they were about $800 or $1200 now. They were taken off the market. Most Charvels today are vintage inspired Super Strats. ESP/LTD: A bright spot in the market currently, but conservative. LTD won't even make an EX series with a Floyd Rose consistently. The EX 401 FR was only offered for 2016-2017. Schecter: Mainly archtop/carve topped Super Strats ideal for the Evertune Bridge crowd. Conservative styling options. Vs and Explorers are about all they do that is radical. Tacky design aesthetics. Fender: Fender Japan in the 80s pushed the envelope for that company. Now, not so much. Ibanez: Great brand held back by conservative design aesthetics. Kramer: Great updates to Gibson designs but still mainly Pacer like Strats and Assault Les Paul copies. I often have to buy guitars from the 80s still in good shape to find what I want. This includes Ibanez X series Destroyers and various Fernandes guitars. I think you overstate the variety out there, especially for price with a sensible profit margin. If you want to have guitars like I like at a reasonable cost, you'll pretty much be building them yourself as partscasters. Edit: Why $800-1200 dollars? Because if you use floating bridges you need a guitar for every tuning. You also need various pickup combinations for specialized tasks. Edit 2: Star shapes, once common, are currently in limited production. These are mostly the EVH models (with only one humbucker and a killswitch in a terrible position) and a Tracii Guns Gunstar signature from Kramer. The Gus G model from Jackson is nice but has vintage rounded edges instead of points. It also lacks a floating bridge. The earlier LTD models were superior IMO. The Sammy Duet custom is nice but is large like a Kramer Voyager. It also only has one humbucker, limiting its versatility.

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

@@neilpincus855 My reply to you was needlessly removed. My reply to you was--the market does not offer that much choice in aggressive shapes with advanced features without requiring a custom shop or the user installing features. The brands listed above offer mainly Explorer, V, Les Paul, and Strat shapes. Jackson, Charvel, ESP/LTD, Schecter, and Fender all offer somewhat standard offerings, with their good deals taken off the market within a few years because of cost (the upper end of the Charvel Desolation series from 2008-11 or so comes to mind). One guesses contracts with factories in China, Indonesia, Korea, etc., expire just after a few years. This is strange since Cort builds most guitars anyway, but I'm sure the brands must be licensed. Fender Japan made great instruments that combined 80s advancements in guitars with traditional Fender designs. They also had their interesting spinoffs like Heartfield from 89-93. But again you won't find these on today's American Fenders. Charvel has taken on that role mainly. There are Jackson Dinkies, yes, and LTD EXs and F Types, yes, Ibanez X series guitars (occasionally), and so forth. But most of these are traditional shapes with standard features. Many even lack quality floating bridges to keep things at a lower price point, much less piezo equipped bridges, Sustainiacs/Sustainers/True Temperament tuning systems, MIDI capabilities, hexaphonic pickups with dedicated outs for each string, and so forth. I do not often even see 7 string single coil pickups, much less a hexaphonic pickup for 7 string guitar. Few of these brands offer all the features I expect at a price I find reasonable ($800-1200). The reason for the modest cost is the need for multiple tunings with floating bridges and hardware configurations. H/H won't do what an H/S/S will and so on. The solution is partcasters and some wiring/luthiery knowledge so the profit margin pad is taken out as much as possible and the guitars are built as close to cost as possible. As an example, one doesn't see the features of an upper end 2 humbucker 5 string Stingray with parallel/series/split/phase wiring or a JP Ernie Ball guitar with its unique piezo saddle floating bridge in a budget instrument. Often when feature laden models like these are on the market they are removed after just a few years, as the market quickly saturates and these cannot be build profitably. When one pays thousands for these instruments, one is essentially paying for the features requested, and the luthiery skill needed to install them at the factory, plus a hefty profit margin. One guesses in such a case that OLP production was ended years ago because people were modding them to be like Stingrays, eating into Stingray sales, and Ernie Ball did not like this. Becoming skilled with a router/band saw, doing one's own fret jobs, and knowing how to install complicated electronics is a good place to start. Applying polyurethane paint, however, is much more difficult than nitro as the paint is almost liquid plastic. Poly often requires a special booth and equipment instead of being applied by brush.

[@neilpincus855]

@@AAAA-lt9hq they build what sells unfortunately. In 1986 they'd sell every one of the shred guitars they built but now the market is different. Look out for used ones. The big factories aren't going to start churning them out unless there's a huge hair metal revival. It's a bit like old school two stroke dirt bikes. A few companies still build two strokes but it'll never be like the nineties.

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

@@neilpincus855 The problem is the market does not move on from what sold in 1957-1975 or so, generation after generation. BC Rich really changed things in the late 1970s. I don't see many modern shops doing that now save Aristides and some others doing aluminum/carbon fiber multiscale headless bodies and so forth. Arguably, they are just reviving the "synthetic/high tech" guitar designs of Steinberger and Parker. Additionally, people are mostly fine power chording on $200 guitars that will barely stay in tune, and a way to avoid a lot of overhead cost and headache is to not bother with a floating bridge. I think this is one reason for kids gravitating toward Evertune bridges and Fishman Fluence pickups in recent years. Or as I call Evertune, "Kahlers for fixed bridge people." Often the guitars are very simple--just two volume knobs for the Modern line and maybe a tone. As far as the designs, I think an HH Strat is about the most boring design a rebellious heavy metal kid can pick these days, and putting the headstock on upside down ruins the symmetry. But there's no objective accounting for taste.

[@shanewalton8888]

Relic guitar popularity is a testament of how gullible people are. No poser guitars for me.

[@jerrywatt6813]

After years of gigs and travel around the world my guitars are like brand new the whole relic fad produced a bunch of guitars that will have negative resale in comeing years I'm sure it's so phoney !

[@FireflySecurityPro-oi9og]

I bought a Peavey Mystic around 1984 and played it for 40 years. No chips in the finish except a few belt buckle rubs on the back.

[@mineralt]

Amen

[@fredstevens799]

@@jerrywatt6813 yes, you can take care of nice things, even well-used - not that difficult! As John Bolinger once observed, success in music is based in authenticity - if you can fake that, you've got it made!

[@Imnotthevillian77]

I personally wouldn’t buy a relic. BUT I think it would be cool if ONLY the neck were broken in. That being said, the neck on my tele is breaking in from use and THAT is how to relic: from ACTUALLY PLAYING THE DARN THING. lol.

[@kevincrozier8625]

I have been buying cheap guitars for over 35 years. I always frequented the pawn shops, flea markets and yard sales. Yes there was a lot of junk but there were decent guitars also. I am 65 and none of my guitars are over $300. Most I bought for $150 from a pawn shop. If they weren't in really bad shape, I would replace parts. I have a music room full of guitar parts. To me, it was just as interesting working on them as it is playing. And I am a weekend warrior/home player. Plus the fact is that a lot of cheap guitars now are made better than years ago.

[@fivepiece]

The cheap guitar game changed when CNC machines got seriously involved in production. Now you have a MUCH better chance of finding a cheap guitar where the neck heel makes a solid fit into the pocket, creating a more reliable and affordable platform for personal experimentation.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

Shoutout to Hartley Peavey and Chip Todd, the first two to ever do it

[@alecfraser1928]

What impressed me with Ibanez and Hamer in the 80s / 90s was that they were trying to make a better guitar when other brands were in a 30 year (now 70 year) rut. But I never really bonded with those I had and they have all moved on. I'd be prepared to give the Hamer Diablo another go if I can find one in oiled finish.

[@Trentstone121]

My first electric was a Hammer. I still have it. It's a PoS though. Won't intonate because it's 24 fret neck isn't the right neck for it. Came out of the factory with the wrong neck. I'm not impressed with them and I'm not surprised they aren't around anymore.

[@ronj9448]

I have a Hamer Standard from 1983. Great guitar and has that early 80s tone from those pickups.

[@rongroves9620]

I have to comment again. Number 10 is me. Graduated HS in 1985 and have been looking at shred guitars lately! That is so funny that you would catch that in your video.

[@Fast2Whls]

Class of '85 too. 15 of my guitars are pointy Ibanez and Jacksons with Floyds. I catch so much crap over it but don't care; they play better than anything else.

[@karmaceutical3963]

@@Fast2Whls ya aesthetics aside, ide rather play the guitar with a low action fast neck designed around ergonomics, rather than a clunky ass les paul or strat just to fit the image of this or that genre

[@detroitfunk313]

class of 85 !

[@ItsaCatsLife]

No, I'd still never buy a pre-damaged guitar. That's just nuts.

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

Yep I still go to stores and talk about prices and people are just insane, its a f&*king used guitar and there are hundreds of this model on the market, yet you are trying to sell it for more than its MSRP new. kindly go F&*K off!!!!! Your used shit isn't worth what you think it is.

[@Allie-w1l]

Almost a year later, the finish on my first guitar is absolutely pristine, and I dread the day it gets its first scratch.

[@Trentstone121]

​@@Allie-w1l😂 I play my guitars and I don't worry about how pristine they look. I'm always happy when they first get scratched or nicked.

[@Allie-w1l]

@@Trentstone121 I actually wish I felt that way. I didn't set out to buy such a handsome guitar. Plus, my Dad was a carpenter among other things, so stains and varnishes are in my soul.

[@nucleargrizzly1776]

Unless it was pre damaged by the original owner playing the Bejesus out of it.

[@jasonm.donovan8097]

5:58 A cheap guitar is not a badge of shame- but the sunburst on that Squier IS

[@joseywales7930]

I thought that same exact thing lol.

[@detroitfunk313]

word. thats like a turdburst finish !

[@jemsar2]

Word

[@martin-1965]

Great list and point being made here Phil - just wish you'd warned us to put on sunglasses before you brought out the neon orange Ibanez 😂😂😂

[@jcfromlongisland5943]

Love the channel, and I love that you acknowledge Morbid Angel. Probably the most important American Death Metal band there was.

[@claudiajay8291]

I love the bright orange Ibanez guitars …I loved the 80s … I hope they get popular again ❤

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

I mean the RG genesis has kind of been mostly sold out, so wish granted.

[@ThePedroDB]

Ibanez RG565-FOR (Fluorescent Orange) is a fairly recent reissue that you should probably check out!

[@betadevb]

There are at least 5 active Ibanez models and 20 older models, that I would prefer over any other 6 string guitar. Sure, they other make great guitars. But the overall playability of the Wizard neck is hard to match. I have literally played cheapest Gio guitars in stores and they play better than guitars that are over 10 times the price. Of course, these are personal preferences. It suits my playing style (more shred).

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

@@betadevb Schecter has better TBFH(I played the wizard necks until I played the Evil Twin I only kept the 80's and 90's Ibanez I have and got rid of all the newer stuff other than maybe 3 newer that I liked), and even then not everyone likes a wizard neck in fact its a bit too thin, also that GIO was probably 250$ with a 150$ setup to make it that playable because almost every JemJR/Ibanez cheap guitar is not setup from the factory no offense but I have never played an Ibanez under $500 that I didn''t think was fairly terrible, that said everyone has different experiences. As for the 10x the price, not a chance while there is diminishing returns on spending higher amounts for a guitar to even say an established brand is selling a sub $300 guitar that is better than anything in their $2k-3k range in quality and playability is asinine Other than a very very very few instances this is a tired played out trope that simply in 90% of cases isn't true. I would literally put any PRS against your case any day of the week(keep in mind this is like PRS's thing where they excel next to the guitars looking like artwork).

[@betadevb]

@@nocturnal101ravenous6 You don't need to pay $150 if you buy $50-$100 worth of tools and learn to setup a guitar from the internet. If you have been playing for more than a few years, it's a skill worth learning and tools worth owning. I like a super low action, and I use alternative tuning often. So for me, it was essential to learn it up. Both PRS and Schecters have C shaped neck, unlike the Ibanez D. Even the Ultra Thin Schecter C doesn't have the same feel as even the Gio D Neck. I do like quite a few Schecters. They are the closest imo to Ibanez, but for the same price I always seem to find a better Ibanez. All the Schecters that impress me, cost as much as a Prestige and usually more than the Genesis (or the Premiums). PRS, Les Pauls, Fenders and all the classic guitars look great. But they are simply not my thing. Granted, for my style (predominantly 80s and 90s inspired metal), I couldn't really care much about the tone of the wood or if I can get a good baseball grip to strum chords because I don't strum chords or ever use the clean channel. I play riffs and solos on highest possible gain and do palm muting. I like thin neck, low action, 24 frets and the bridge humbucker. Everything else is secondary. A $300 guitar will feel cheap compared to an expensive one. But if you don't care about the cosmetics, I don't see why the $300 couldn't better suit one's needs. There are $5000 guitars with 22 frets, thick neck and high action. For me and many other players, these are deal breakers. Most Ibanez fans will tell you this. That the #1 reason we love Ibanez is the neck. It is just easier to have a low action on these guitars. Yes, even on a $250 GIO because it is a similar neck profile (although just 1 piece). In terms of sheer consistency of the guitars, it is hard to beat an Ibanez. It's simply economies of scale and the knowledge the company has w.r.t. guitars. From time to time, one could get a lemon. But if your #1 priority is lowest possible action for fast playing, the Ibanez RG, RGA and S series are very very hard to beat. I have heard great things about Harley Bentons. But I don't live in Europe, so I have never played one. But some of the guitars look great.

[@TiagoMorbusSa]

I absolutely love my RG550 and it's super versatile, it goes from jazz to metal in an instant if you know how to. And the Wizard neck is HAAAA!!! So freaking good!

[@ardmoremooney4222]

I like lighter guitars but don't like the accompanying neck dive

[@kwantoon]

I have always loved the 80s guitars. I always wanted one of those flashy, borderline tacky guitars because they're just freaking cool. Without a doubt my favorite 80s guitar was Paul Gilbert's Ibanez, inverted headstock, F-Holes and the whole bit.

[@ValiRossi]

I have an original 1987 Ibanez RG 550 road flare red that I bought new in 1987. Mint condition. I don't play it much anymore but I still love it.

[@samisabell6555]

Dig the list. I like the non standard stuff, and even with the popular brands, I've owned weird ones. I've always told students to get something that sounds good unplugged and feels good in their hands, the other stuff is secondary.

[@PMofKhanadah]

I do not care what everyone thinks about my guitars. When they hate, I play! It usually shuts 'em right up. But that's just me.

[@FromThePagesOfTheBoys]

This video makes me very happy. Phil surely loves what he does. I wish I had watched this much sooner, before I had to leave 😢

[@lewolf2884]

Johnny Winter, as he got older, started road-housing with a headless Erlewine Lazer guitar... and the music was still as sweet as when he played it with his Firebirds! 🐺

[@angellesambre1]

Spot on as usual, Phil. I wish I had kept a number of the guitars I had back in the day.... Kramer early model Voyager ( rounded, not sharp "arms") with custom paint job, and a Floyd with a serial number in the 5800s? Yes. Kramer Stryker ( Floyd, no lock nut) production model? No. My SG and Ibanez Destroyer with custom silver/black paint job and active EMGs? Yes. But I miss my Aria Pro II, and old Hondo II LP copy as well... replacement costs IF I can find these on EBay or Reverb? "Insane"

[@WeeFreeMan78]

I wouldn't buy a car that came with dings and scratches from factory. I'd never buy a new pair of shoes bursting at the seams. I'd never wear a shirt with yellow stains in the armpits because it was sold like that. So why buy a guitar that looks it's been through hell and at a premium price? It's just stupid

[@pinballrobbie]

What about jeans with rips in them!

[@Taxevader-gk9ms]

@@pinballrobbie it's cheaper to buy jeans and rip them yourself so also no

[@WeeFreeMan78]

@@pinballrobbie Nope, not ever. I don't like the "I walked through a pack of wild dogs" look 😄

[@tobsixi6702]

The difference is: in a car, a pair of shoes or a piece of clothing, dinks and scratches would negatively influence said object over a longer period of time (ie. Make it more susceptible to rust or make it less durable) with a guitar thats obviously not the case and eventhough I am also no fan of the aesthetics of a relic job, I do have to admit that they often times feel more comfortable and broken in than brand new (none reliced) guitars

[@WeeFreeMan78]

@@tobsixi6702 I see your point but for the sake of argument, won't a relicked guitar be affected more from moisture, temperature etc? I keep my guitars in pristine condition, even those that I've played the nuts out off. I want every dink to have a story and that story to be mine. That's my view but I get what you're saying

[@FlameFlickers]

Now do a video of 10 guitars that everyone should love!

[@SolamenteVees]

I’m on a pretty long hiatus from playing but still enjoy your channel. Thank you for delivering consistently-good content, Phillip.

[@spookybaba]

I loved, and still love, the shape of those ibanez shred guitars. They're beauties. I never got one, and I can't justify having a fourth guitar. My 88 charvel is my shredder, which I've had since new and was my one and only for 30 years until I acquired two absolute beautiful Yamaha SG models from the early 80s.

[@daveh7945]

I love my 80's shred guitar a 1987 Ibanez RG560 in carotene with all original parts. I moved away and left it at my mom's, 5 years later I picked it up and it was still in perfect tune

[@damagedave]

Yesss Floyd-phobic players crack me up. Occasionally someone will ask me about the edge being a pain to set up (original deeert sun yellow RG550)and I’m like yeah it’s terrible I have to tune it twice a year lmao

[@daveh7945]

@@damagedave way back when I first got it, it had 40's on it. I liked 42's with with a 9 high e. it was a pain to readjust everything but 30 years later it's still set up perfect

[@rongroves9620]

That was a great video and a cool idea. Thanks!

[@dirkdigglerxxxx]

Great video thanks. There's a lot of love in the comments for mid to late 80s shred guitars, speed and hotter sound aside, mine could deliver beautiful sparkly clean sounds... I don't play much now but had to keep mine and yes the prices are definitely soaring. Thanks again.

[@DookyShoes1]

Man I frickin HATE a jazzmaster! It’s irrational how much I despise them, I can normally find something good to say about any guitar but those are just…bleh

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

I prefer the Jaguar to be honest over the jazzmaster, but the main issue with both is you need to have them set up properly, like really properly other guitars you can kind of get away with the setup being off, but not that bridge and tremolo.

[@Irkennalpha]

I love that I can play Van Halen on a Jazzmaster, it’s always a huge surprise factor for the audience, doing it live. If you set the trem?/vibrato correctly, it’s really on par with any other non locking bridge.

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

@@Irkennalpha Yeah in General a Jaguar and Jazzmaster has to have and be set up properly otherwise they play terribly and most people that have played them that don't like them have never played one that was properly setup, although the Jagstang and mustang are the ugliest goddamn guitars I have almost ever seen they are just so awkward looking and was never comfortable playing them and I like oddball guitars.

[@Irkennalpha]

@@nocturnal101ravenous6 Yeah Jagstang was the joke Kurt played on Fender, couldn't me more horrendous. I don't know yet who buys those guitars

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

"You don't play rock on a _Jazzmaster."_ -- John Fogerty

[@RobertNolan]

I bought the 70th Anniversary Antigua Strat, suffice to say... It is a very polarizing color choice. I absolutely love it.

[@flyingaxeman7343]

Wanted a Gibson Les Paul for 25 years and couldn't afford it , finally got one and hated it.

[@alexallen6286]

Not quite 25 years but same. A les Paul was the first new guitar i ever bought as an adult. I own at least a dozen guitars now, and none of them are les pauls. I'm not a Gibson hater, i have a hummingbird (and an Epiphone dove) I play the shit put of. I've tried a few different les pauls in music stores through the years, but none of them ever spoke to me.

[@skeeterbodeen8326]

Great video. You looked at so many different dimensions; That an "Overnite Sensation" is almost never an over night sensation (Les Paul), Guitar Voodoo de-bunked (Weight), price point snobbery, and trends that seem illogical take-off (relics), whilst logical evolution and expanding the bounds of the instrument are shunned until an Artist shows us the light (7-str & shreds)...

[@DynaMike804]

I have a 1993 RG550 in purple, and I love it. I don't even shred, but that edge trem is hard to beat comfort wise

[@jamesc8563]

When I started playing guitar I liked SGs, Explorers, Ibanez shred and metal shhapes, and Vs. My first electrics were an Ibanez Destroyer and an Epiphone SG. And I wanted something with a Floyd, although I never ended up getting one. The more my back started hurting and the less I could understand what teenagers were saying, the less I liked anything aggressive-looking or too flashy, and the more I started liking Teles, Gretsch hollowbodies, and ES335s, preferably with Bigsbys on them.

[@7of9kids]

I love my Ibanez RG550. It is stock except I added a Roland GK2a hex divided pickup for MIDI guitar stuff. It rocks and I can play almost any genre of music on it. It has great action and is light and very comfortable to play, and gets great sounds!

[@mikal]

FYI, the audio in your main shot is panned off to the side. It becomes stereo when you cut away, like around the 8 second mark.

[@SapperRJMorgan]

I dislike certain headstocks. I also dislike overpriced guitars. Some of the ones you showed are absolute beauties. I love when people say… “do you like it? Does it inspire you to play? Then it’s a good guitar…”

[@johnnyteres]

Recently picked up an Ibanez RG 565 Genesis "Vampire Kiss" and I'm madly in love with it. May 80's shred machines never die.

[@NK-nk3xe]

Not even the 90s, I was able to pick up old 80s Ibanez RG550s even in 2018 for about 250 bucks. Now, there are at about 1250 bucks. Crazy.

[@lewolf2884]

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Guitar in my arsenal is my Fender AVRI ('65) JazzMaster... very much loved! Great video... Thanks, Phillip! 🐺

[@RevGerryRM]

I have a Jackson i put P90s in and it sounds great.

[@Yardbird68]

I found this topic quite interesting to say the least. I will admit, never knew LP were NOT popular when they first came out. I remember when the 1st headless guitar came out thinking. If I bought one of those, I will feel like I bought an incomplete guitar.

[@GhibliNova]

Absolutely, everyone Ive spoken to hates the EVH Wolfgangs, but I freaking love mine. Best guitar Ive played

[@countzero5150]

I really liked the one I had. It was a tone machine, felt and played great. I plan to eventually get another one, just waiting on them to be in stock again.

[@Gliese710_]

I’ve liked the ones I’ve played in shops, but not enough to buy one

[@ThePedroDB]

The Wolfgang is a phenomenal guitar. I owned a couple of the original Peavey models and now have two of the early (Fender) eVh branded guitars. I think the neck profile on the latest eVh models are possibly slightly nicer but those Peaveys were absolutely bullet proof!

[@MAX96MENDES]

Great for you! Congrats! I also have an EVH Wolfgang Special, which I bought for half the price - €750 !! and its one of the best guitars I have ever played. Amazing sound. Its great for all types of music, not only for Van Halen or Heavy Metal.

[@GhibliNova]

@@MAX96MENDES awesome! Mine is the base version, so not as good as yours but one day I'm getting the full phat USA sunburst version 😁

[@depopsalator_6448]

Fun face these guitars were actually meant to have a higher string and not a lower with a 7 guage past the high E

[@christophersimpson397]

Thank you, Phil I thought the list was great

[@michaelgass497]

Wow! Great list. It could have gone a lot of directions but you made a lot of sense. Thanks for the prospective.

[@m.a.l4879]

Still love the shred guitars especially the the ones from the 80s, they dont make them like that anymore. Brighter the color the better.

[@lar57jsy]

I've been happy with cheap guitars except when the pots are noisy, the loose tuners slip and the nut cuts grab the strings. ;-)

[@Taylort3b]

Many years ago as a teenager in high school I worked at Toronto’s biggest music store. We were the Fender, Gretsch, Martin, Rickenbacker and Goya dealer. We sat directly across Yonge Street from The Brown Derby and The Hawkes Nest. Customers included Robbie Robertson, David Clayton Thomas, Dominic Troiano, and numerous blues bands from Chicago. Relic was simply not a thing. In fact the closest we came to having a relic guitar was when a thief grabbed the Gretsch Country Gentleman from the display window and ran down Yonge Street before dropping it. Fortunately the back pad saved it and our repair shop cleaned up the scuffs on the headstock. I’m almost 80 and have and had a collection of guitars that are older than the majority of viewers on your channel. I just don’t understand why anyone would purchase a deliberately damaged new guitar. It makes as much sense as ordering a deliberately damaged Lamborghini. Before ordering a Fender Strat that a belt sander has made love to, learn to play one first.

[@richarddhu8452]

The thing about the sears guitars to me wasnt the label but the high action and painful playability..cheese slicer. My first electric in 1979 was a sears silvertone...I almost quit guitar due to the pain of playing that slicer. Thank goodness I finally was turned on to light gauge strings and continued to play until I could get better quality instruments. high end guitars from those days played so much easier. Fortunately now, even cheaper guitars arent to horrible to play out of the box

[@rockinchairboogie3222]

I love the 80's guitars, I get so sick of seeing the new dark, drab colors. I'm all man and I like the pinks, yellows, purples, the flashy colors. In the 80's I picked up the guitar by the name of Ibanez and it was green and on the back of the guitar, it was signed and numbered by some guy I never heard of " Steve Via". It was around $800. dollars with an hardshell case, if I could only go back in time!

[@justinvzu01]

I'm a Didn't player, but still half of my hypermodern guitars are brightly colored. I love pink and purple especially. Thank God for Ormsby.

[@poopoo-qz7sw]

Great episode thank you for your hardwork 😊

[@stevewoodyt]

10:00 I have a 91 rg770 and a 20th anniversary reissue rg550. They are two of the best playing instruments I’ve ever held. Light but not too light. Thin necks. They sound like doodoo and I love it ;)

[@JamesWalshBristolKids]

Near as I can tell it’s the pickups that make a difference , at least to my ear… and the setup is paramount. If you enjoy the guitar and it has a particular sound to it that we love then I will adapt my playing. I think that a diff GTR makes you play different . ❤🎉

[@ronl3793]

I still HATE a relic guitar🙃. I simply view as a totally faked guitar that is trying to be something that they are truly not.

[@spookybaba]

Cringe guitars, and the owners of them.

[@kevintaylor5079]

I agree .You have to be crazy to pay good money to have a guitar beat up anf fake aged .But to each his own . As a wood finisher it pains me to see beautiful finishes defaced .

[@fawkesandhound]

@@spookybabathere’s a way to say you don’t like something without being an absolute shit to others in our community. I don’t know why Phil allows this kinda negativity to be thrown around. I do t like headless guitars personally but I got nothing to say about those that like em.

[@aidantod33]

Great vid Phil, and good points. Thanks

[@CallousCoder]

The SuperStrat is the by far, the best guitar! I hate Les Pauls, always have always will! And as a kid working in a music store the only guitars with broken head stocks were Gibsons and especially the Les Paul's with their insane neck angle. But I always adored Telecasters and SuperStrats. The Telecaster because of it's simplistic robust design and the SuperStrat for it's ingenuity of keeping something in tune when it was never ever intended to be done when the gitaar was invented 100s of years before. The great thing about those RGs was, we would sell them like hotcakes, together with the "Distortionator" that I had designed. And the customer would come back once for the free setup, we'd set it up to the customers wishes and they would never need a setup again. We'd see them in 93/94 come back and trade in the Ibanez RG for a Strat or a PRS. We could only give then a 100 bucks for it because they came back in such vast numbers and nobody would buy them from us.

[@barnettg66]

I've been on a 5-6 year late mid-life crisis odyssey trying to find the perfect guitar for me. I started playing guitar in the mid-1970s with a knock-off Harmony Les Paul (from the Sears catalog), then on to a Japanese Fender Strat (with the dreaded System 3 temolo -- worst contraption ever built)...then to a real Les Paul, then real Strats, Ibanez RGs, and even a PRS. And then a few years ago (god help) me to Warmoth builds hoping to find the magic moment where the heavens opened and IT (yes, IT in the form of a miracle guitar) arrived. I got very close with the Warmoth 7/8 S-Style, but still not quite IT. Thousands upon thousands of dollars later, I grudgingly concluded that my Fender Player Strat and my trusty old Gibson Les Paul beat them all. They always work, they always sounds great, and they fit like a glove. Turns out that heaven is right there where its always been, waving at me from the guitar rack.

[@ThePedroDB]

I'm kinda surpised the Parker Fly didn't make this 'top ten'. It certainly has polarising looks. I love mine but they're certainly not to everybody's taste...

[@JAL-cc8jd]

I am definitely a single cut lover with my favorite being the Gibson Les Paul. I love Telecasters, too, but for some reason the Les Paul seems more elegant and refined and the Tele more utilitarian and simplistic. But in the right hands (not mine, sadly), they can both make incredible sounding music. 🎶

[@bshingledecker]

Jackson, Kramer, Charvel, and the many other pointy head guitars that fell into the shred category, always had to have the Floyd, or equivalent. The hotter the pickups, the better. Dark, Bright, Glowing, or otherwise. I miss those days.

[@vdcg2010]

Me too!! I still have my Charvel from 1988

[@bshingledecker]

@@vdcg2010 I had a Black Model 3A that sadly was stolen from my home along with a Kramer in maybe 1990.

[@Allie-w1l]

You make a great point here, about people often "hating" something new. I struggle to not be narrow-minded about guitar appearance, but right now I'm failing. I try to remember that it is just my opinion, and I might be wrong about pointy bodies, or headless guitars, but will I ever learn to like them?

[@WildTreeFun]

Please don't use AI generated images in your videos. They really cheapen your brand and presentation, which is a huge shame.

[@cattleprods911]

Fun video. I had a Squire Bullet. It was cheap, sounded so so, but played well and I learned a lot from it. Since then I've very much enjoyed "good value" cheap guitars, Washburns, lower level stuff that plays well. It is so satisfying to me to own and play them. Love live the budget instrument. Thanks for the vid!

[@vita-girl4345]

I’m willing to bet that the N4 will be a hated guitar after Nuno leaves the scene. That said, the Jason Becker Numbers models will live on forever.

[@Rahn1975]

Great video Phil. I can tell that you put a lot of thought into this one.

[@thatbenbro]

Can't wait for that MGK Razorblade guitar to be the new cool thing

[@vvevv88]

Thanks for the validation re: Squiers. I hated them when I was young. Had a friend that played a PRS while I was stuck with my strat. 20 years later it's all I wanna play.

[@nellayema2455]

I really enjoy videos like this. While I like the sound of 80's shred guitars, I really don't care to have one. I think that the super thin necks and fussy trem systems turn me away.

[@Beatyzass]

Try a RG 550 and you will be blown away!

[@Gliese710_]

I love Floyds but hate the tiny necks. Give me a baseball bat please, makes it much easier to play fast for me.

[@the_hippykiller22]

​@@Gliese710_Not all superstrats have blade thin necks, most ESPs for example have necks that are closer to a 60s style Gibson neck

[@BigJohnnyMoe]

The first guitar I bought was a road flare red Ibanez RG550, but it never suited me. I was younger and still very much under the impression it would INSTANTLY make me sound and play so much better. While I don't own it anymore I do have one photo of it, (and the receipt) and for me I suppose that's good enough. The one lesson I've learned about your gear making you sound and play better is to make sure whatever it is, that it's well set up. It's the platform. The magic is in your discerning ear, and playing anything that isn't well set up takes your focus away from that more important thing, that magic.

[@stephen3164]

Something to remember about relics - guitars used to have a nitro finish that would wear easily and quickly. If you played your guitar daily for a few years, it would show. It didn’t need “40-50 years” to look worn. Starting by the 70’s and 80’s, many electric guitars were finished in poly. You could can play a poly finish for 20 years, and the guitar can still look new. Today’s players weren’t being “visually rewarded” with finish wear they earned by time put in to playing guitar - so the desire to relic came about. And then of course you have people that want a guitar to look like it’s been played a ton, and toured the world. I’ve been playing for over 35 years. I keep my guitars in good shape. Many look like new - even ones I’ve had since the late 80’s. And that said, I can appreciate a relic’d finish on a newer guitar. My body is road worn in appearance, why shouldn’t my guitar match? 😉

[@dietergoldschmitt9651]

I still use my Univox phase IV It was one of the cheapest guitars to buy at the time when I was a kid but still has that distinctive awesome sound. And since I paid for it with my money back then it still looks the way it did back then except for one scratch on the back when a string snapped . I rarely took it out of the house. It is still one of my favorite to use now.

[@leegreco_guitar]

I'm that guy that bought an RG-550 because I always wanted one when I was a kid but couldn't afford it. Now that I have it and it's set up with SD pickups and has a good setup I don't think I could ever let this guitar go. It just plays great, stays in tune, and sounds great. They are legit great guitars that can do so much more than just 80's hairband metal. I love it just as much as my American Strat.

[@DanIvyOffical]

Relic jobs are an art in themselves. A good one is not easy to do. It also really does add to the feel of the guitar.

[@JordyJayHomer]

I borrowed an old Steinberger with the normal body. I can't remember the model, but it had active EMGs; I guess they all did for a while. It wasn't my favourite guitar, but it sounded fantastic, with a unique punch/cutting sound that's hard to describe

[@resington]

Phil you are great at these types of videos, more please!

[@quicksesh]

I have an Ibanez RG550 from the early 90's ... most of the paint is missing, highly modded but it still is a functional guitar, change the pick-ups and you can get some sweet sounds out of them.

[@nicholaswilson598]

Does anyone else see the blue streak effect from his studio lighting on the relic strat. Looks so cool!

[@rexdarvog]

I personally like the Jazzmaster just not dressed in a traditional Fender design, I would purchase one if it had humbuckers and either a TOM or string-through hard tail. I know Jim Root has his Jazzmasters but I always liked offset bodies before he had those.

[@NoThankYouReally]

Cheap guitars are more accepted now because of the internet. Used to be you’d pop the case and see something or someone else was playing it and the only thing you knew was it’s inexpensive. Now people talk enough about something online and you can get a sense that hmmm maybe something is going on here. Recently pulled down an old strat copy; was my first electric. My kid wants to play it so ok great. It has not been played or re-strung in probably over 30 years. Brothers and sisters, IT WAS IN TUNE and pulling on those ancient Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9s felt great. Pots seized up and the output jack is shot; has a cracked nut which is what got it put in the case all those years ago. Parts are on order and WE SHALL SEE!

[@mikemcintosh9933]

Thank you Phillip! The only strange one to me is the relic guitars. Purely cosmetic.

[@stavrosk.2868]

The stupidest trend is these factory aged guitars. I have two Fenders and a concert classical guitar and try to keep them as pristine as possible. All marks come from REAL use.