Wow! This is a difficult question to answer.
I more or less agree with GWS'. You need to play the field a little bit. If that boar of yours was going to ever get good it would be there today. Don't judge all boars by that brush. Boars are quite good once broken in. Except for yours it seems. By now the tips should be quite soft.
In affordable boars that will break in almost immediately are Omega. Google them; you can get a good omega for under $10. I'm serious. The handle might not be super duper, but the knot will be quite useable after the first lather that you use to clean the brush anyway. After that it just gets better. Of course there are other boars but you can't go wrong with an Omega as long as you don't require a $20 handle.
There is horse, but if the boar you currently have isn't up to snuff I doubt that you'll like a horse. So play it safe and move on.
Synthetics today are superb, and yes they are all quite different. The Plisson is quite soft and I describe it as having no backbone. When I first got mine I mentally commented "You HAVE GOT to be kidding me!". I almost didn't even lather it, but I did and found out what a great brush it is. BTW, you'll read that word, or others like it, over and over as I discuss synthetics (if that tells you something. It should). If you want to save a bit of $ and can glue a knot into a handle the The Golden Nib has very reasonably priced synthetic knots and handles. A bit of glue and you're in business. Their knots are very good with soft tips and backbone, but different from any others because they achieve those qualities by other means than the others do. From there I jump to Simpsons which is a huge step up in price and IMO quality of the fiber in the knot. There synthetic knots have gel like tips, soft with fantastic backbone. The smaller brushes (Classic 1) won't break the bank, but their best IMO is the Chubby 2. Get it in a 54mm loft. It'll be a special order, but they don't charge extra for that. It is simply the best synthetic available IMO. It covers all the bases and is fantastic in every category. The Muhle is a good synthetic but by far the best IMO. I don't really know why. Understand that I'm only comparing it to other synthetics. If I was to compare it to other brushes it would stand proud. Franks Shaving had reasonably priced synthetics for the quality at one time, but the brush I bought for $60 now goes for much more and IMO it's not worth that. I have no idea what the entire line sells for.
If I was a beginning shaver today that had a bit of money I'd move into synthetics and maybe never move out of them. They are that good today. If you had asked me just a few years ago I would have turned my nose up, but they have changed that much in that short a period of time.
Badgers are the traditional brush for many of us. I use them and enjoy them, but they simply don't have all of the qualities that I want wrapped up in any one brush. Synthetics do that because they make the fibers to be what is desired. I can only tell you what I have and have little experience with other badgers. I did have a Shea moisture brush that someone acquired from Target or some such store. It was junk, but it wasn't my first badger. I PIFed it out with full disclosure. It sprayed soap and water everywhere until lather began to develop. My badgers are Simpsons (many) and Rooney (1). The Simpsons I have in the cabinet are all their best badger and I either bought them on a b/s/t or new and I asked as to the face feel (one huge benefit of buying used). Simpsons best can be quite good and I suggest it, but have it hand picked for the qualities you want. I had one Simpsons lower quality badger , I can't remember what it's called IT was a Special pure badger), and it was scritchy. I knew that going in and wanted to try the same brush in both knot qualities. The lower quality knot has been sold. My only Rooney is a Super Silvertip and is as good as my handpicked Simpsons Best badgers. If you go badger be sure that you know what you're getting for a knot. They can vary widely and there is no standard. There are just "bins" that overlap. You want to ask the previous owner or get a handpicked brush to your specs. I may have made you misunderstand. Badgers are fine brushes, but they must use what the badger grows for hair and there are limitations to that. The badger couldn't gives a rats patot what we want for brushes he just wants to be mean and ornery, and he only thinks girls, food, mean, sleep, then does it all over again. We humans take the fiber we can get that is given to use for badger brushes.
But why bother with Badger at all? If I was starting today I'd go with synthetic and never look back. They have enough diversity to force one to choose, and they have really fantastic qualities that natural fiber doesn't have and it's all in one brush. They don't rot or mold, they dry seemingly before they're put away (if you do your part, or so it seems), and I have never had one shed even one fiber, ever! Oh, and they are quite reasonably priced.
But don't forget boar brushes! They are very good and a quality boar isn't expensive.
What do I have? At last count something near 30 brushes of all of the above varieties, including Horse. But I love variety. Each brush gets used in it's turn and I'm about ready to move out of synthetics and into badgers. Then I start all over with the boars, the one horse, synthetics, badgers, and on and on. But I'm me and you are you. With that you have everything that I can give you.
Noremac258 and
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Brian. Lover of SE razors.
