A Fearless Guitar is the right guitar in the right hands at the right time. It is Excalibur--but in this case drawn out of a hard case, not from a rock. It has been engineered, modified if necessary, and set up to do exactly what its owner (and its owner's hands) requires and wants. A Fearless Guitar doesn’t fight its player: It enables its player to perform at the peak of his/her ability so he/she can focus on expression, not execution.

How do I find my Fearless Guitar?

1. Realize that, unlike a pocket knife. there is no such thing as the "Swiss Army Guitar. The Fearless Guitar that belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan would have been all but unplayable by Steve Vai. A Fearless Guitar will make the player’s most important sounds and techniques happen easily. It will not, however, be equally good at everything. To be the best at some things means a sacrifice of others. Most players will eventually own more than one Fearless Guitar.

2. Look at the elements that contribute to the experience of playing guitar. The way a guitar fits your body is as important to performance as the wood it is made out of. The pickup load and mass of hardware are also crucial. The neck-to-body joint and the gauge and material of the strings play a big role, and the action, relief and tuning of the instrument are huge. These factors mean that your Fearless Guitar will not necessarily be the same model or have the same tweaks or setup as do your heroes’ instruments.

3. Play a lot of guitars and evaluate their effectiveness for you personally. This is important, and much more fun than simply reading reviews and checking specs.

4. Experiment with the closest thing you have found to a Fearless Guitar. Have the instrument set up and dialed in by a professional tech several times to determine the right action, relief, and tuning. Trying different string types and gauges is part of this process. Consult with your tech about whether any changes to hardware and pickups might be beneficial. After these final refinements are made, you will own a Fearless Guitar.

5. Expect to periodically repeat these steps in order to accommodate all of the different sounds you want to make, as well as to allow for growth and changes in your technique.

This may not be the only way to find a Fearless Guitar, but realistic expectations, education, and experimentation will always work. You can apply this process to a custom-ordered dream guitar, or to your search for your second or third Fearless Guitar.

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