Have your most hated guitar features ever turned into your favorites?

[amv]

I was a rosewood-only kinda guy for years. Maple fretboards always looked bland and anemic to me, and on more then one occasion I'd come across my "dream Fender" but hold back because it was only available in that dreaded, plainest-of-all-woods.

It seems that years of internalizing this preference, however, somehow managed to reverse it. Much like a religious schoolchild told to stay away from sex or drugs or rock music at all costs, my revulsion gave way to intrigue, and my intrigue to infatuation. Suddenly, it was the sheer wrongness of maple that got my attention, making rosewood feel safe and conventional by comparison. Fast forward to today, and I only play Strats and Teles with maple boards. My dogma has been overwritten by its opposite.

Now, I find myself on the verge—if only tentatively—of a similar shift with regard to block inlays. They're fine on Gibsons and guitars of that ilk, but they've always struck me as a total betrayal of Fender's understated aesthetic. Like a Bentley's hood ornament on a Honda Civic. As much as I love the idea of late 60's and 70's offsets, for example, the blocks have always kept me away. But here too, perhaps inevitably, my distaste is beginning to flirt with the faintest glimmors of appreciation. Even as I type this, I find myself wondering if—or perhaps hoping that?—the snowball will continue to grow.

So I ask you, OSG, not how often your preferences have changed or evolved—we're all works in progress, hopefully—but how often has your most hated feature become your sudden favorite?

[Singlebladepickup]

I used to not be able to imagine owning a guitar without humbuckers, now I have no need for them whatsoever. Might be because my guitar interests changed from the rawk/jazz of my youth

[AstroGhast]

The S-1 switch... I cringe with hatred from the depths of my mortal being every time I see or use one of those things. I do NOT like buttons on guitars. Switches and sliders are fine but do not give me buttons...

I also used to dislike Fender's with maple necks. Now I love em!

[prospect]

Tremolo/vibratos. 10+ years ago I hated them and thought they were cheesy. I used to associated them with Eddie Van Halen cocky rock type of playing - which is not my thing. Then, after doing some nice pitch swells with reverb (like surfy stuff), I'm obsessed. Now I can't a guitar without a trem. It's to the point where I sacrificied the beautifully resonant vibrating top of a Gibson hollow body, with a big heavy ol' Bigsby on it. The Bigsby muted the spruce top a bit, and added a lot of weight to what was once a very light hollow body. But the trade off was worth it to do subtle vibratos at the end of chords.

[sunburster]

I never used to like Strats. Now I have an AVRI62 and I love it. Other than that I'm pretty set in my ways (=jags & JMs). I can't stand maple fretboards. Hate how they look. Only rosewood will do for me.

[Stephen_42]

Yes, matching headstocks. Used to think they look weird, now I want them on everything ...except pastel colours or black. I think OSG is at least partially responsible for that.

Things that I dislike now that I can see changing in the future:
- Maple fretboards. I don't actually have anything against them, but for some reason I've never played one that I've liked.
- Strats in general. I can appreciate that they're objectively good guitars, but their ubiquity makes them boring. Maybe I'll become less of a guitar snob as I get older.
- Strat volume knobs, specifically. I always end up hitting them with my strumming hand. Maybe one day I'll become a better guitarist who appreciates them being in a easy reach for volume swells, but for now they're an obstacle.

[TeenageShutdown!]

Tremolo/vibratos. 10+ years ago I hated them and thought they were cheesy. I used to associated them with Eddie Van Halen cocky rock type of playing - which is not my thing. Then, after doing some nice pitch swells with reverb (like surfy stuff), I’m obsessed.

Exact same thing for me too. I never liked the Strat trem, but it wasn’t until I got a JM that I found it useful, especially with reverb.

[NewKId]

Here’s what I’ve learned from 30 years of playing golf: your mind doesn’t process the word “no” or “don’t”. If you have a water hazard to get over you can’t think “Don’t hit it in the water” because your brain interprets that as “Hit it in the water!” It must work the same way with other negative thoughts like “I hate maple necks” that your brain interprets as “I love maple necks!” Eddie Murphy had a great old joke/observation that went: don’t hate certain types of people because they will absolutely end up in your family.

[wooderson]

Sunburst finishes - lately I've been really wanting a '59-style anodized guard sunburst.

[Ceylon]

This might just be growing older or whatever but I've always thought that Telecasters are the ugliest guitars conceived of and sort of given them a pass for that since they were in essence the first solidbodies. Can't get it right the first time, I figured. The skinny headstock, the bulbous yet clunky body shape where the control plate and the square bridge and the weirdly curving pickguard don't feel as if they're working together at all, ugh. They really seem like a sore thumb compared to the sleek, aerodynamic, curving Jazzmasters and Jaguars where the pickguard and the chrome echo and amplify the lines of the body shape. The Stratocaster is sort of an in-between thing in that if you look at it too long you can tell it's not as sleek and sexy as it makes itself out to be. The symmetry isn't as nice in real life as it is when you picture a Strat in your head, but somehow it still maintains that illusion.

But, and this is largely down to G&L's new takes and Frank Black's patronage I think, I'm starting to come around to Teles. I can tell they'll never be my favorites, but now I could sort of see myself having one, you know? The pieces are starting to come together into something more coherent and I can imagine a place where the Telecaster would, aesthetically and iconically, fit and with that my resistance is kind of slipping away.

[bubba899]

When I was a teenager I remember watching The Who on TV and seeing Pete Townshend playing a Strat. I said to my dad it was sad that when people get old they end up playing fenders...

Always thought the Jag was too much. Too many plates and all too compact. Now It's my go to guitar and I'm considering selling my Jazzmaster.

Also used to hate Green and Blue guitars, in any shade. Then I got a green Reverend and have been obsessed with those custom colours since.

[Kent]

Sunbursts and humbuckers. I still find 3-tone bursts to be ugly though. It has got to be the 2-toners.

[601210]

I never really liked rosewood fretboards, but I've been playing one for years cause you don't exactly have a lot of choice with Jazzmasters.

Still much prefer maple, though.

[Larry Mal]

Not sure if this counts as a feature, but I used to always find Gibsons to be very clunky for me, unpleasant to play, I never could enjoy them as much as Fenders.

Now I love them. Maybe it's the flatter radius, which used to trip me up, I was a rabid 7.25" player. Now I don't care whatsoever.

[DesmondWafers]

Big necks. My favorite guitar in the world is an avri 62 tele with a tiny little toothpick neck. After I got that guitar, I actively avoided big necks for years. Last year, I picked up a 52 reissue tele with the giant ass boat neck and fell in love. I'll also echo maple necks as well.