Once upon a time, in the dim and distant past of my youth, I was a classical guitar student. Five years of lessons, scales, and “Romance de Amor” on repeat. I reached a modest skill level, the kind where people at family gatherings would politely clap and say, “That’s nice, dear.” But adulthood arrived, bringing with it responsibilities, distractions, and an annual ritual: dusting off my old guitar, playing a few bars of something half-remembered, and convincing myself I wasn’t that rusty.
However, while years piled to decades, one thought consistently gnawed at the back of my mind: if only I had a better guitar, I’d surely be motivated to practice more and probably one day become the virtuoso I was meant to be.
The eBay Bargain
Fifteen years ago, I decided to act on this delusion. I found a shiny guitar from a reputable brand on eBay for €1000—a bargain, I thought. It arrived, pristine and impressive, like a Ferrari parked in a garage where the driver is used to operate a VW Beetle. I strummed it eagerly, expecting instant magic. But alas, the sound wasn’t the revelation I’d hoped for. It was different from my old one, sure, but was it actually better?
In a moment of clarity (or buyer’s remorse), I realized my old student guitar, handcrafted in the 1970s by a local luthier, wasn’t half bad. My parents had bought it for my lessons, and it had faithfully served me through countless hours of plucking and fumbling. Suddenly, I appreciated its humble warmth. Still, the dream of a “better” guitar lingered.
The Guitar Shop
Fast-forward to now. Armed with the wisdom of past mistakes, I swore not to buy another instrument sight unseen. I ventured into a proper guitar shop, budget set around €2000, determined to find the one. Cue the testing phase: plucking strings on half a dozen guitars, each with its unique voice, none quite the stuff of dreams.
After three hours of „speed-dating“, I eventually settled on the guitar that (in that moment) seemed to have the nicest tone within my price range. It wasn’t love at first strum, but it was undeniably an upgrade. I know all too well, that a great guitar doesn’t make a great guitarist. And a great tone does not come all by itself, even with a high quality instrument. It takes skill—skill I hadn’t truly cultivated in years. The guitar wasn’t the problem; I was.
Lesson learned
So here’s the punchline: my new guitar is lovely, and it will likely serve me well for years. But I’ve realized that the quest for a „perfect“ instrument is pointless if I don’t commit to practicing and develope the technical skills to really make use of it’s potential. For now, my new guitar indeed motivates me to play and to practice, and it won’t hold me back – and that’s good enough.
Will I one day pursue an even better guitar? Probably. But not until my fingers can justify it. After all, it’s not the tool—it’s the fool behind it.
However, a fool with a bad tool might remain a fool simply because he is not allowed to hone his skills on a better tool…
If it ever comes to buying an even better instrument, another thought provided by David Russel, a schottish guitar virtuoso, would need attention: He said in an interview, guitars offered in shops tend to be second choice. The really good ones the luthier will keep for himself or his special friends, or if not, the owner of the shop will do so. So probably you should see the luthier in person, or even let the guitar be build on order…