What is the nicest guitar you have ever played?

[cherokee747]

An old friends 71 Les Paul was pretty nice. His twin reverb didn't hurt either!!: Mike the Blues Maniac

[marnold***]

Back in the 80s I played what must have been a Kramer-produced Spector bass. It was like buttah. I wish I'd never picked the thing up.

[Plank_Spanker]

A friend's '58 Les Paul with a Bigsby............

Great playing, great sounding guitar.

[Childbride]

a g&l asat...

[wingsdad]

a g&l asat...

If I have to pick 1 that stands out from any I've ever played or owned, it's my G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy Semi-Hollow (with no f-hole option) that I custom-ordered last April ...



... but in good conscience, I can't, so it's in a virtual 3-way tie with these 2 ... my prized '82 Rickenbacker 360/12BWB and '81 Fender STRAT:



The Rick 360/12BWB was part of the 'B Series', along with 320B and 4003SB models, a bastardized attempt to reissue the Beatles guitars in the wake of Lennon's murder, not like the current fanatically faithful vintage spec models. In fact, Rick's CEO, John Hall, has disavowed the legitimacy of the B-Series on the Ric Forum. All I can say is: "Frankly, my dear Scarlet, I don't give a dXXX!"

The STRAT is (was) the first factory hot-rodded production model variant of the Stratocaster to be offered, produced (from '80-'83) at the Fullerton, CA plant before it was closed for the eventual move to Corona. Designed by Gregg Wilson, it sports a hot bridge pickup (branded the 'X-1') and 9-position pickup switching, replacing one of the tone controls with a 2-way switch that adds 4 Series combos (including bridge/neck and all 3 at once) to the 5-way switch's parallel combos. The alder body makes it a freakin' boat anchor, weighing in at almost 11 lbs! Mine was made so early in the run, they didn't even have all the 22K gold-plated hardware yet (i.e. the tuners, trem bar and pg screws). Originally you had 3 finish options: Candy Apple Red over Gold (mine), Lake Placid Blue or Arctic White. By late '81 all the hardware was 22K gold plated and by '82 it was a more limited production model, offered in a slew of custom finishes, including a Walnut body model. They also put the STRAT on a diet and got it down to around 8 lbs.

Maybe I subconciously rank the ASAT 1st because thanks to 27 years of inflation, it cost me more than the other 2 did...combined.:

[TS808]

My 2003 American Series Strat. The most comfortable guitar I've played ever. The neck on it just feels right..

[Suhnton]

If I have to pick 1 that stands out from any I've ever played or owned, it's my G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy Semi-Hollow (with no f-hole option) that I custom-ordered last April ...



... but in good conscience, I can't, so it's in a virtual 3-way tie with these 2 ... my prized '82 Rickenbacker 360/12BWB and '81 Fender STRAT:



The Rick 360/12BWB was part of the 'B Series', along with 320B and 4003SB models, a bastardized attempt to reissue the Beatles guitars in the wake of Lennon's murder, not like the current fanatically faithful vintage spec models. In fact, Rick's CEO, John Hall, has disavowed the legitimacy of the B-Series on the Ric Forum. All I can say is: "Frankly, my dear Scarlet, I don't give a dXXX!"

The STRAT is (was) the first factory hot-rodded production model variant of the Stratocaster to be offered, produced (from '80-'83) at the Fullerton, CA plant before it was closed for the eventual move to Corona. Designed by Gregg Wilson, it sports a hot bridge pickup (branded the 'X-1') and 9-position pickup switching, replacing one of the tone controls with a 2-way switch that adds 4 Series combos (including bridge/neck and all 3 at once) to the 5-way switch's parallel combos. The alder body makes it a freakin' boat anchor, weighing in at almost 11 lbs! Mine was made so early in the run, they didn't even have all the 22K gold-plated hardware yet (i.e. the tuners, trem bar and pg screws). Originally you had 3 finish options: Candy Apple Red over Gold (mine), Lake Placid Blue or Arctic White. By late '81 all the hardware was 22K gold plated and by '82 it was a more limited production model, offered in a slew of custom finishes, including a Walnut body model. They also put the STRAT on a diet and got it down to around 8 lbs.

Maybe I subconciously rank the ASAT 1st because thanks to 27 years of inflation, it cost me more than the other 2 did...combined.:

I knew I should have bought a Rickenbacker :

[Disraeli]

A 1962 Cherry Gibson ES-330. Was heavenly. Not only felt amazing, but it also sounded amazing, and was the prettiest thing ever. The curves on that guitar made the curves of a woman look childish.

[wingsdad]

A 1962 Cherry Gibson ES-330. ....

Thanks for reminding me to regret:

That's a brand new ES-330TDC in my hands (worn up high, John Lennon wannabe-style) in the summer of '64. The only color pics I may still have of it are stored away, 35mm slides I have to figure out how to digitize someday.

I sold it, a '65 or 6 blonde Tele, a '64 Deluxe Reverb (got it with the Gibson), a '66 Tremolux w/ 2x10 cab and a '67 Bandmaster w/ 2x12 cab when I went off to college in '68, thinking I was done with all that stuff and had to get serious about my future; I got a bunch of textbooks and other more important stuff with the money:

C'est la vie.