For a long time, I really wanted to buy that strat. I thought that if it was built to Mayer’s specs, it’d probably play and sound great. Unfortunately, it’s pretty rare to see signature strats at my local music shops, so I could never really test it out. The idea crossed my mind to just order it online (as I did with my red strat), but not at that price point.

Since I got my koa strat set up by my local guitar guru a couple of months ago, my red strat didn’t get much play. Something about the maple fingerboard, and the finish on the back of the neck slowed down my playing. The koa strat’s satin finish neck was faster to move around on, and the “C shape” versus the “modern C shape” was more comfortable in my hands—the “modern C” felt too thin, and it seemed to get thinner as you moved to higher numbered frets. Since it’s a shame to let a guitar sit unplayed, off for sale it went.

In early 2009, Fender introduced the Road Worn series. Back in February, while waiting for my red strat to ship, I got to play one in my local shop for about 10 minutes before my lesson started. I thought this thing was remarkable—a totally beat-up guitar that felt so comfortable in my hands! How on earth!?

I played the sunburst model, and it was especially worn. It had terribly rusted out saddles, extremely browned fret markers, etc.—not particularly attractive. Also, a grand for a beat-up guitar—and “Made in Mexico”?! Yikes.

Well, that experience stuck with me, and with the idea of replacing the red strat in my mind, I passively started checking out guitars again (since lessons had me in the music store weekly). I played another sunburst Road Worn Strat at my regular music shop, but again was turned off by the over-rusted saddles (seems more likely I’d break a string), and the setup was pretty bad on it. However, the neck was still very fast, and it felt great in my hands.

I went to my other local shop (yeah, there are only really two here in town) to drop off the red strat for sale on consignment. While there, I found an olympic white Road Worn 60s Strat, and I was instantly taken by its appearance. I plugged it into a Hot Rod Deluxe, played a few of my favorite tunes, and was really digging it. It played very well, had only a few small setup issues that I could correct myself, and the relic job was perfect—the fret markers looked old yet still white, and the saddles were not at all rusty where it mattered most.

However, there was a small wrinkle. On the same wall of guitars hung another olympic white strat—the John Mayer signature model.

Crap.

“I’m going to pull this thing down, play it, and fall in love,” I thought. “I have to sell off some serious gear to make up the money that it’ll take to get this home.” I was GASsing pretty hard.

Thoughts of purchasing this strat swirled through my head as I “asked for assistance” and got someone to carefully retrieve the guitar off the wall for me. After months of searching—even going as far as visiting some guitar stores while visiting family in Colorado—I finally got to lay my hands on the guitar I was sure I wanted.

At least, until I played it.

The neck was too thick (Mayer’s strat has a “thick C shape”), the finish on the neck was just as ‘sticky’ in my hands as the red strat was and, in terms of all the strats I’ve played, it was really nothing special. When I played it plugged-in, I used the words of Mayer himself—“it sounds like a strat.”

I was stunned. And relieved.

It wasn’t all bad, though. I genuinely enjoyed the Dunlop 6105 “tall jumbo” frets, the combo of olympic white with the mint green pickguard, and I really liked the vintage look of the neck (truss rod adjustment at the body end), vintage tuners, etc. But all this stuff was on the Road Worn Strat, too! Of course, there are some notable exceptions—it’s beat to hell (read: extremely comfortable), has tex-mex pickups rather than big dippers (big whoop), a 7.5″ fingerboard radius, and it’s Made in Mexico. Oh yeah, it also costs less than half of what the signature series sells for.

I got the Road Worn Strat back into my hands again, just to make sure something hadn’t happened to me—extra sweaty palms, nervous playing, a change in the atmosphere. Nope, I simply didn’t like my “dream guitar” after all. I’d play a few licks on the Mayer strat, then change back to the Road Worn—no matter what I’d play, I preferred playing it on the Road Worn strat.

This all went down about 3 weeks ago, when I started the process of selling my red strat. Just this week I finally sold it (on my own, which worked out better in the end), and I grabbed the olympic white Road Worn 60s Strat that the store held for me (for much longer than they said they would). I also got it for a decent price (about $200 off the lowest price on the tag, and $100 less than what the other shop sold them for), and I ended up with the exact one I played and liked. Score!

I hope to get some videos up with the new strat after I get over this cold I’m fighting. It’s a real joy to play, especially since I threw some new strings on it, and polished up the frets with some 0000 steel wool.

However, as with all decisions in life, it’s wise to first consider the experience of others who’ve gone before you. Then, form your own decision, and prepare to pass your wisdom to others. Here comes the wisdom…

Learn to play a little before you shop.

Borrow an old guitar from a friend or family member, or rent a guitar from your local music shop. If you enter the shopping experience with no idea how to hold or strum a guitar, you’re starting off on the wrong foot.

Taking an experienced friend is helpful, but you could get stuck choosing a guitar based on their playing preferences and not yours.

Buy the guitar you want to play.

If you sit down at your local music shop with a guitar in your lap, and you really aren’t digging the experience: put it back. You’re not going to enjoy your practice if you have to spend hours staring at something that you compromised on.

The fretwork/detail will bug you. The ugly woodworking will bug you. The color will bug you. The fact that it’s not quite as nice as your friend’s guitar will bug you.

I’m not advocating that you start out by spending a few months’ income on a signature series guitar from your favorite artist—just don’t make your decision based solely on saving $100. I guarantee that you’ll regret it later—you’ll lose more money when you give up and trade/sell the guitar.

Stay away from the cheap stuff.

Spend at least $3-400 on an acoustic or an electric guitar. Pay attention to the craftsmanship (if it feels cheap, it is cheap), and try to get your salesperson’s honest opinion about the guitar. (I like to ask the salesperson to tell me why a guitar’s worth more than another, or ask if he’d buy it as a travel/beater guitar.)

The price above doesn’t include pack-ins such as a case, or an amp. That’s the guaranteed path to regret.

Take your time, but check the return policy.

Try and buy a guitar that you can return. Especially when you’re starting out, you can’t really play it for a reasonable length of time in-store.

When you get your guitar home, try and learn a few simple chords, and put a few hours of practice into it. Don’t give up on the guitar until you’ve put at least 6-8h of playing into it.

While the guitar is in your possession, take very good care of it. Your music store is doing you a huge favour, so don’t be a jerk and try to return scratched up merchandise.

Electric, or acoustic?

I cannot answer this for you. Choose the guitar that most resembles the kind of music you’re trying to learn to play.

I used to agree that one’s first guitar should be an acoustic. It strengthens your fingers, blah blah blah. I no longer subscribe to this theory, as I endured many months of frustration when I got my first electric—I fretted notes way too hard, tried to compensate with a heavier string gauge, etc.

Playing an electric guitar has made me a better acoustic player, and playing an acoustic guitar makes me a better electric player. I could have started on either one, and the transition to the other would have taken time regardless.

If starting on an electric, I think you’ll start to see results a little faster, especially when learning your first barre chords. If you do plan on getting an acoustic, you might want to step up your string gauges for a few months first.

And finally

Don’t sweat it too much. Some folks keep their first guitar forever, and some (like me) sell it with no remorse.

What you like today in music isn’t necessarily going to be what you like 5 years from now. The same goes for guitars—your taste will definitely change.

So get out there and start shopping!

It took a few takes to get this, but that’s the fun of TapeDeck! You hit record, play the guitar, and be prepared to repeat yourself until you get a take you’re pleased with. Once you’re happy, use the ‘Send to YouTube’ feature to share what you’ve done!

If you want to participate, grab a copy of Capo and TapeDeck. If you don’t already have it, get your hands on “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits, and see if you can figure out the riff using Capo. If you already know how to play it, that’s fine too…

Finally, record yourself in TapeDeck, and send your recording to YouTube. Post it as a response to my video, and they’ll all be gathered together for all to see. It doesn’t have to be an accurate rendition like the one I did, either. Pull out your acoustic guitar and make a cover, perform the whole song on a piano, or even sing! Pick your poison…

The trial versions of both applications will allow you to join in on the fun, so anyone can participate! I’ll be sure to post my favorite responses after the weekend.

(I’m going to try and do these ‘challenges’ fairly often, because it’s a lot of fun, and I need to learn new stuff almost every week for my guitar lessons anyway. Also, it’ll hopefully keep Capo users on their toes, learning new material by ear regularly.)