Greentext

The key is "he loves it. I take from him without him knowing", whyyyy?

Is Anon George Lucas?

So many arguments in this thread with so little information. Ah, the internet.

He probably just thought it didn't sound the same any more, and he probably preferred the old 'crappy' sound. "They say she's the same [Becky], but she's not the same [Becky]."

Beat up old guitar in need of refurbishment:

Don't fuck with people's shit without asking wtf. Life isn't like TV, not every surprise is going to be appreciated.

Asshole: no.

Misguided: yes.

His reaction isn’t unreasonable. Misplaced well intentioned actions likely will not end as intended. Ultimately, she didn’t get it. She misunderstood what he loved about the guitar.

Depends how it was “fixed” If the pro tuned it to make it sound perfect that’s great. But probably anon got the damage repaired, taking away its charm and character. Of course anon doesn’t even know the difference between these two things.

I for one don't like people touching my shit. Especially shot that I've already put effort into myself. Ask first before you do something like that.

Yeah, you don't fuck with shit a person is that attached to because you think it "looks rough"

fake: 4chan poster has a husband

If you have to ask the internet if you are an asshole then it's either because you are definitely an asshole, or because you are karma farming - in which case, you are an asshole.

Electric guitars are little more than a piece of wood, metal strings, and a transducer. For a lot of musicians what matters most is the sentimental value of their model. What she did was basically rob the owner of that.

It's like taking someone's tried and true Windows 7 machine and upgrading it to Windows 11.

Oof, this is a rough one. While I appreciate the gesture, that's a personal thing. That's like taking someone's favorite pair of jeans and getting them hemmed because they'd frayed at the heel. Sometimes the wear and tear is what we value.

I fucking hate people who think they are 'helping' me or 'fixing' things for me.

They tend to be condescending assholes who think they 'know better'.

Like no, bitch, I know what I like and I have chosen this deliberately.

Can't tell you how many people like give me shit about my home, my kitchen, my pantry, my bikes, my car, etc. These people tend to think nothing is worth anything unless it's the latest, greatest, trendiest, most expensive version of a thing. Like, apparnetly if I don't own a Tesla, live in a grey-white box, and own $10,000 bicycles or $1000 knives, I am 'struggling' at life or something

I also love how people like this insist that you must perpetually be in therapy and/or have a personal trainer... or you are 'not doing the work'. Just because you're a lazy loser who exercise or be mentally health without paying someone to do it for you, doesn't mean the rest of us live our lives that way.

A worn appearance is often desired on old guitars. In some cases, it can even increase its value.

That, and the OP probably did what would be considered finishing someone's puzzle for them.

God damn, yeah, you are unfortunately.

Depends what “fix” means, but if you didn’t get ripped off for $200, yes.

Getting it professionally tuned isn’t unreasonable imo, especially if the neck/pegs are misaligned, but in no world should that cost $200 (and don’t try to fix a misalignment).

Once you start making changes that can’t be undone, you’ve crossed the line. Get it tuned, get a nice strap (with mounting hardware, if needed), get a polishing kit or nicer case, hell, even get a replacement bridge/pegs and tools for working with a guitar, but don’t make permanent changes yourself (or have anyone else do so). All of those together could be well over $200, but you’d describe that as a tuneup and buying accessories, not taking the guitar “to a pro to fix it.”

Caveat that some people don’t like non-musicians or anyone else even touching their instruments, but I’d like to think that would be obvious to a spouse, even one who might have assumed that permanent changes to an instrument they don’t own are okay.

I’m a non-musician and my husband has a somewhat beaten up, but favored instrument that he learned on, so I’ll send this to him to see if my instinct is right (for my relationship, which does not mean it would be right for anyone else).

Though tbf, even thinking it might be okay, I got my husband a new instrument instead of messing with his beloved one, just because it occurred to me that he might react like the husband in the OP, and I didn’t want to risk it. Of course, he could also have then felt guilty about using the new one because it’s not the one he loves and felt guilty about using the old one because I gifted him a “nicer” one. I was lucky in that he’d already branched out into related instruments and the new one could fill a new niche, so wouldn’t compete with the old, making me less worried about him feeling conflicted [I'm so sorry about that sentence, I’m imagining trying to structure it in German without nominalizing any of the clauses and… woof].

anon: congratulations, you're being rescued

guitar: "..."

anon: please do not resist

Yep. Literally all anon had to do was talk to him about it first. Communication is so fucking important. I would know because a lack of it was what ended my almost decade long relationship. Talk to your fucking partners, even if it's uncomfortable in the moment. If you don't you will be MUCH more uncomfortable later when everything explodes.