What big name->mid level brands have you never owned guitars/amps/gear/whatever from

[Greg McCoy]

You know how it goes. Even people who have owned every brand under the sun have like, one or two big brands you will mention and they'll be like, "Never owned one", and you'll be like, "Seriously? That is like, the most mainstream brand ever, everyone has owned their shit, owning something with their name on it is the history of like, every guitarist ever, and you go through tons of gear but you haven't owned one of those?" and they'll be like "Yeah, I've gone through more gear than I can remember, but I've never owned anything from that brand". Try to keep it to brands that aren't some really obscure thing. Mostly extremely storied "big" established brands founded, let's say, pre 1990. The kind of brand where you think "everyone who has ever been playing guitar for a decade or more has owned something from them at some point". They don't have to be the biggest if it's an interesting omission in your ownership history people would never guess, but at least mid level. Try to be honest too. Even though I know it's tempting to pretend to be Mr. Connoisseur, but there is no point in having the thread if you are like "yeah, not me, I've owned every brand ever". Also no "well, that is their $100 product, it's not a real (insert brand here)". No one likes that level of cunty elitism. Try keep it to the kind of brands involved in the thoughts that will just randomly pop in your head when driving or whatever like "fuck, how have I never owned a single product from them? how is that even possible?". You can also mention an unbranded item category if it's something interesting like a slide or a capo commonly thought of as an "everyone has had one of those at some point" item.

*Also I know modelers are cool. But I'm not including them in my list. Not that interesting.

Personally
-Marshall (yes, I have never owned a single Marshall product, not even a sticker or a shirt or keychain or whatever, biggest omission by far)
-Dean (not really sure I regret that one)
-Rickenbacker (this one is true for a lot of people, one of the least widely accessible mega old brands, albeit pushing the criteria since they don't have any cheaper products, nonetheless always been on my list and anyone else who started playing bass)

[Naren]

It'd be easier to say which brands I have owned than which ones I haven't since I do tend to buy a lot of stuff from the same brands. For example, I've owned something like 10 Ibanez guitars and basses by now (not to mention the Ibanez effects pedals and so on), but no I've never owned anything by Fender (guitar, bass, amp, pedal, etc.). I've owned 4 Mesa Boogie products, but no Marshalls, ENGLs, Oranges, Peaveys, and on and on (list goes on into eternity).

Why? Because I have my personal tastes. Yeah, a Fender strat would be nice to have, but I don't want to pay for one.

[Greg McCoy]

Peavey

This is the only one I am shocked by for anyone in North America.

Fender isn't actually that weird to not own for guitarists. I did bass before that though, you won't find anyone there who hasn't owned a Fender.

The only Fender guitar I've owned (not counting Fender era Jackson or another brand owned by Fender as "Fenders") was an HM strat. Those fucking rule. Never owned a traditional V trem Fender strat.

[metalheadpunk]

Marshall is the big one for me.

[Bohmer]

Fender- no real reason, just not a fan. Music Man,- would love to get my hands on a JP6 baritone. Rickenbacker- I'm a horrible bass player, lol, but would still love one!

[DonBot]

Fender and Dean come to mind first for me. Never owned a Yamaha either. Not for lack of wanting one. The Blues Saraceno plaid Yamaha would be a killer find.

[7 Dying Trees]

Never owned:
- Fender amps
- Vox amps
- Hughes and Kettner amps
- Orange amps
- Blackstar amps

Guitar wise, jackson, schecter, dean...probably some others.

[Markus]

Still think it's easier to list what I've owned than what I haven't.

When it comes to guitars, I've owned Ibanezes, an ESP, a PRS, a Tokai, a Jackson, a Fender, a Greco, a Seagull and a Taylor. So I guess no Gibson is the biggest one I haven't had, perhaps?

I've only ever owned 4 amps, Kustom KGA10 (worst amp ever), Flextone 2 (good enough for a long time), 6505+ 112 (great sound, but WAAAY too loud for an apartment), and my current Laney.

[Ryan]

Jackson is probably the biggest one I can think of for guitars, they don't really do much for me to be honest so I can't really see myself ever buying one. Outside of the USA Soloists they've never blown me away.

In terms of amps, I think I've owned something from most of what I'd consider the big brands (for metal at least) - Marshall, Mesa, Peavey... would ENGL count as a big brand? Maybe a few years back I guess, don't see a lot of people with them these days. Maybe Diesel is the biggest one I can think of that I've not owned anything from but again, I have little desire to own an amp like that these days, I'm more thinking about getting an AC30 than I am a multi channel midi controlled monster high gain amp.

[Greg McCoy]

Still think it's easier to list what I've owned than what I haven't.

When it comes to guitars, I've owned Ibanezes, an ESP, a PRS, a Tokai, a Jackson, a Fender, a Greco, a Seagull and a Taylor. So I guess no Gibson is the biggest one I haven't had, perhaps?

I've only ever owned 4 amps, Kustom KGA10 (worst amp ever), Flextone 2 (good enough for a long time), 6505+ 112 (great sound, but WAAAY too loud for an apartment), and my current Laney.

I've never owned anything PRS either, not really that worried about it.

I actually completely forgot about them, but I guess they are one of the really big brands.

I've never owned a Kustom, but they aren't what I would consider a massive established brand. There's obviously a bunch of smaller more obscure brands I haven't owned shit from.

[Iron1]

I've never owned a Mesa anything... feels wrong, but it is what it is. And, don't see myself ever buying one unless I get some crazy deal. If I'm shelling out big bucks for an amp these days, it's gonna say "SOLDANO" on it - another of which I've never owned, but purely due to $$...

[Überschall]

Peavy (unless you count PA gear)
BC Rich
PRS
Fender (Amp or Guitar)
Dean

[Greg McCoy]

Soldano is kind of a word of mouth boutique brand, so I don't think it's weird to not have owned anything from them. I was kind of thinking more "multiple full page glossy ads in guitar magazine issues massive and/or long running everyone has heard the name" kinds of brands.

It's definitely a little weird to not have owned anything Mesa though. Especially in these parts. Marshall is probably still weirder to the general guitar playing population though.

[Greg McCoy]

It looks like the only brand shaping up to take the title of "literally everyone has owned something of theirs somewhere along the line" is Ibanez.

[Naren]

Soldano is kind of a word of mouth boutique brand, so I don't think it's weird to not have owned anything from them. I was kind of thinking more "multiple full page glossy ads in guitar magazine issues massive and/or long running everyone has heard the name" kinds of brands.

It's definitely a little weird to not have owned anything Mesa though. Especially in these parts. Marshall is probably still weirder to the general guitar playing population though.

I'd only say it's weird if you're a 60 year old cover band guitarist who has a collection of various amps, guitars, pedals, and so on so you can cover all your bases.

I mean, otherwise, why would it be weird if you've never owned a certain brand? You thought it was weird I've never owned Peavey. But why? I've never once in my life ever considered for a single second buying something by Peavey. That's not a knock against the brand. It just isn't something I've ever considered buying.

I remember when I was 18, I went into this guitar shop to buy some strings and this dude there tried to sell me on buying a PRS and spent the entire time trash-talking Ibanez. At the time, I had never owned an Ibanez or bought anything by Ibanez and I wouldn't buy my first guitar by Ibanez until 4 years later and I wouldn't even play an Ibanez until about 2-3 years later. But at that time, I saw zero appeal in PRS and I saw a ton of appeal in Ibanez. Nowadays I can see appeal in PRS too, but I doubt I will ever buy a PRS. I also doubt I'll ever buy a Jackson, an ESP, a Dean, a Washburn, a Charvel, and on and on. I'm sure I'll never by a BC Rich or a Gretsch, for example.

So, although I have owned several things by Mesa, it's not "weird" to have never owned anything by them.

[Greg McCoy]

I meant "weird" in the "casual low stakes off handed gear ownership conversation" context.

Not in the "not having owned anything from Marshall is the same level of stigmatization as a man with abnormally webbed hands and feet eating stray cats whole" context.

[playstopause]

Dean, G&L, BC Rich, EBMM, Gretsch comes to mind as "big name" guitar brands.

[Greg McCoy]

Dean, G&L, BC Rich, EBMM, Gretsch comes to mind as "big name" guitar brands.

I left Gretsch off my list on account of this being a metal forum. Long running historical brand for sure.

There are probably like, 1-2 dudes on here who own a Gretsch though. Even that would be surprising.

[Naren]

I meant "weird" in the "casual low stakes off handed gear ownership conversation" context.

Not in the "not having owned anything from Marshall is the same level of stigmatization as a man with abnormally webbed hands and feet eating stray cats whole" context.

I mean, it would be weird if I found out my uncle doesn't own a Rickenbacker considering he's got Fenders, Gibsons, Gretschs, Heritages, Martins, and on and on and on and on. But... just "kinda" weird. Not shocking, I guess. For someone in this forum, it might be weird if someone... didn't... have... an electric guitar... though I'm sure there are some folks on here who only have an acoustic (though I guess that's more accurate about mg.org or ss.org since this forum was just established a few days ago).

[Tony]

Peavey, engl, diezel, orange, Dean & washburn.

Never really like their products other than the red stripe peavey bandit but I never owned one just borrowed one for a year or so.

[Mike]

I've never owned a Rick, a Vox anything (not even a wah!), an Orange, a Blackstar or an EBMM. Otherwise, damn, have I owned a lot of shit in my life.

[Greg McCoy]

I mean, it would be weird if I found out my uncle doesn't own a Rickenbacker considering he's got Fenders, Gibsons, Gretschs, Heritages, Martins, and on and on and on and on. But... just "kinda" weird. Not shocking, I guess. For someone in this forum, it might be weird if someone... didn't... have... an electric guitar... though I'm sure there are some folks on here who only have an acoustic (though I guess that's more accurate about mg.org or ss.org since this forum was just established a few days ago).

History of the word weird:

Old and Middle English 14th century: Derived from wyrd, which itself was derived from even earlier words with mystical connotations used to refer to a supernatural shamanic medium who communicates with spirits using bizarre rituals inexorable and frightening to most people. Might have powers of prophecy.
21st century: Usually used to refer to mundane slightly out of the ordinary things like forgetting your car keys when you leave the house.

Guess who was the only one here who thought I was using the "rambling lunatic in the rich tradition of Druidic Hermeticism practiced in the British isles when it was still known as Albion" definition?

Even in metal maybe like, 5% of the people know it can be used as a title like, "The Lord Weird Slough Feg" or as a verb like "weirding".

I'm reasonably everyone else knew I was using the "I forgot my car keys" modern definition and not the extremely archaic "arch druid eating eyes crushed with a mortar and pestle in his hand hewn ritual eye crushing bowl to absorb the memories of the dead speaking in tongues in his smoke filled hut constructed out of twigs and mud deep in the part of the forests the other less cool druids consider 'the bad part of the neighborhood/wrong side of the tracks' " definition.

[Leah]

None of the following:
-Gretsch
-Gibson (though my stepdad has an SG)
-BC Rich
-Carvin/Kiesel

Think I've had at least one thing from most other major brands.

[RevDrucifer]

I avoided Schecters like the plague for YEARS, then a few weeks ago I played a few newer models at GC and was REALLY impressed. I just have memories of the 90’s when they started putting out 7-strings and the necks were fucking HUGE. I played a bunch of them around then as the music store I worked at was a Schecter dealer and I hated every single one of them. I can go the rest of my life without seeing that red model with gold hardware and over-the-top tree of life inlay ever again and be more than happy. But every guitar I picked up a couple weeks ago played REALLY damn good and everything seemed to be on the up and up with the finish/fit.

Orange amps. Not my thing. In my last band, both guitarists and the bassist were using Oranges and they sounded pretty good but I just never liked their aesthetic and they’ve always felt/sounded very dry. Not in a wet/dry context, they just remind me of cardboard.

[zepp]

Most of them.