Too Much Gear: Consolidation Time!

[NSJ]

I'm in the process of selling, trading, and/or consolidating my guitars. I have/had too many of them, many of the cheaper variety (bargain hunter/deal maker).

At the end of the process, I'm going to be down to three:

Gibson L5
Sadowsky Jim Hall
Fender Telecaster

It covers everything I need in terms of sound. Simple, elegant, and easier to maintain.

Basically, I came to the conclusion that if I'm not playing it, it's going. And having had the chance to play some nice guitars, what's the point of keeping/playing something of lesser quality?

Quality over quantity. Play it, don't collect it. That is my mantra, now.

[derek]

I came to the same conclusion this past year. At that time I had over a dozen guitars. Now it is;

Strat & Tele for rock/pop gig
ES175 & Forshage Ergo for jazz gig
6 & 12 string acoustic
MTD bass

I cut my herd in half. I am down to 4 amps (ss for teaching, 2 tube, JazzKat, and Hartke bass)

Next on my list are a bunch of pricey effects pedals that aren't on my board.

[hot ford coupe]

Wow, I just realized I'm not alone. In 2004, my area in Northwest Florida was hit by two major hurricanes in less than a year. I had already been through a number of hurricanes before including Andrew. Before then I must have owned about 30 guitars including some really good vintage classics. I got so tired of not being able to take the instruments with me during the evacuations that I did a major consolidation and now I'm down to 4 guitars. (I would be down to 3 but no one wants the extra one I have. It's not very good) . Do I miss the ones I got rid of? Not really. I had a good chance to play some historic instruments and hear what they sounded like. That's really all I wanted. None of them sound any better than the ones I kept and they're working just fine. I'm down to a 1939 refinished D'Angelico Excel , a 2000 Vestax D'Angelico New Yorker and a 1999 Gibson 355 reissue. The one I'm stuck with is a 2001 Vestax D'Angelico New Yorker which sounds lousy and plays lousy.

[mr. beaumont]

i have too much gear too, but it's nice to have extra stuff on hand for impromptu jams.

truly, all i need is my main tele and my polytone. well, that, and maybe the epiphone emperor regent for an "acoustic." but i'll hang onto the other stuff, gonna have kids someday.

i think the key is not the limiting of the amount of gear you have--it's not getting caught up chasing "tone dragons." anything that makes you play more is a good thing, but if you're constantly thinking "that guitar, that pickup, that amp, that'll get me there" it's probably better to spend that time playing...and we've all been there.

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

i have too much gear too, but it's nice to have extra stuff on hand for impromptu jams.

truly, all i need is my main tele and my polytone. well, that, and maybe the epiphone emperor regent for an "acoustic." but i'll hang onto the other stuff, gonna have kids someday.

i think the key is not the limiting of the amount of gear you have--it's not getting caught up chasing "tone dragons." anything that makes you play more is a good thing, but if you're constantly thinking "that guitar, that pickup, that amp, that'll get me there" it's probably better to spend that time playing...and we've all been there.

I have to agree about those *tone dragons*. And anything that makes you play more is a good thing. I think we're saying the same thing, in a sense.

Be happy with what you have. If you're happy with having the extra stuff around for those occasions that may require it, that's cool. too.

[Squint]

I've got mine down to 16 from 20.

I just bought a larger car for the wife so we'd have room. I can replace clothes, but almost every guitar is still a "keeper" for now.

And who doesn't have that "one you can't get rid of"? Mine is a Washburn EA20-12 that needs a neck reset. (Actually it really only needs to have the very thick bridge shaved and the strings ramped...) but it's at the bottom of the priority list. I still record with it, though. We just had a blues instrumental picked up by a music library that I used it on.

My problem is that I seem to have collected an "ark's" worth of guitars... TWO D'Aquisto Centuras, (one in the process of being fitted with a floating pup), TWO Washburn Cumberland jumbo acoustics, one 6 and one 12-string, TWO Washburn J9 Washingtons (one for jazz and one for rockabilly/country), TWO Washburn EA20's (One 6 and the above mentioned 12), TWO vintage 1977 Electra ES335 clones...

I'm still gonna need a bigger boat!

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by Squint

I'm still gonna need a bigger boat!

In that case..


YouTube - jaws clip: "You're going to need a bigger boat"

[hot ford coupe]

Chasing Tone Dragons. That's the best term I've ever heard for what we sometimes do to ourselves. That's exactly why I got into collecting guitars. I knew that if I could just get that one next instrument, that would be the one to complete the entire collection. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have saved myself a bunch of anxiety, guitar lust, sleepless nights and cash.

[Little Jay]

Yep the tone dragons... or thinking that it's the guitar that limits my playing, so I need a better/another one.... been there, done that.

Here's the cure: lend your guitar out to a good player and conclude that he does sound good and can play very fast at your instrument...... so it's not the instrument. Been there and done that too.....

Just put your time into mastering your instrument!

That being said, I think it's a guitarplayer's faith to have more instruments, especially if you play a lot of different styles. So the working musician is doomed to have:
- a classical
- a steelstring
- a strat or tele
- an archtop
- and maybe a semi
to create the classic guitar sounds.

Once you specialize and you only play jazz, you could in theory have only one good archtop, semi or tele I suppose.

[Banksia]

I have 10 - 5 archtops, 1 semi-hollow, 2 Strat copies, 1 electro-acoustic and 1 straight acoustic. I could justify 1 jazz, 1 solidbody and 1 acoustic. My biggest problem is the most expensive one, an Ibz AG95. I never play it, but I couldn't convince myself to part with the only current model with any real resale value. I know my local pawnbroker so I might just hang them all in his shop and let fate decide.

[lpdeluxe]

This is an ongoing struggle. I have winnowed close to 20 at one time (and a few more than that, overall) to 10: two acoustic flat tops (one, my first guitar, heavily modified/upgraded over the years, two, a custom-made jumbo with butterfly inlays); two resos (a Dobro tuned to G and a '30s Regal tuned to D); two fretted and one fretless bass; and the electric Gibsons (Les Paul, 335 and SG). The SG could go, but I'm planning to put a Bigsby on it, so I'll keep it at least until I work that out.

Amps are down to 6: a modified Pignose G40V for harmonica, a '63 Silvertone Twin Twelve (my first amp, another permanent member), a tweed Fender Blues Jr, a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight, a Fender Band-Master VM I bought to go with a Hartke 115 cab that "really" goes with a Hartke HA2500, now coupled to a 210.

Gone are all the pawnshop prizes, cheapos, and any piece of gear over 50 lb (I had a Music Man head I used for a bass amp with a Hartke 410 cab: 132 lb! and an Ampeg B15N [about 2-1/2 lb per watt]) and others.

The guitar/bass cases all sit at one end of my office in a PVC pipe rack I made, and the amps are all lined up nearby.

The Tone Dragon is still out there, somewhere, but I'm getting pretty close.

[fast1]

Originally Posted by NSJ

I'm in the process of selling, trading, and/or consolidating my guitars. I have/had too many of them, many of the cheaper variety (bargain hunter/deal maker).

At the end of the process, I'm going to be down to three:

Gibson L5
Sadowsky Jim Hall
Fender Telecaster

It covers everything I need in terms of sound. Simple, elegant, and easier to maintain.

Basically, I came to the conclusion that if I'm not playing it, it's going. And having had the chance to play some nice guitars, what's the point of keeping/playing something of lesser quality?

Quality over quantity. Play it, don't collect it. That is my mantra, now.

how much are you getting your fender for? a good price?

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by fast1

how much are you getting your fender for? a good price?

Already got it, it was new from GC, traded it in, my old 96 Tele plus cash. It's a '52 replica. The other two guitars I already also have--it's rest I've gotten rid of or in the process of selling. Three more to go.

I may eventually expand my 3 with a 4th, a semi. We'll see. Basically, I've decided that I don't need to hunt down any more tone dragons--I'm happy with what I have.

[rio]

I wish I had kept old gear, kind of the opposite. I am trying to not ever sell a guitar again.

[JohnW400]

I've had stuff that I'm sorry I let go. The main one was a 1989 Byrdland. Then I had a 1985 Tele in natural and an ES335 in Blonde. I sold them to buy a Heritage Golden Eagle with a neck mounted pup. Biggest mistake I ever made. The other big mistake I made was to sell my Polytone Tarus model. Man I miss that amp.

But no more. I'm holding everything whether I play it or not. The way the economy is going it looks like my Super 400 will be part of my retirement funds

[TieDyedDevil]

Originally Posted by NSJ

...

Basically, I came to the conclusion that if I'm not playing it, it's going. And having had the chance to play some nice guitars, what's the point of keeping/playing something of lesser quality?

Quality over quantity. Play it, don't collect it. That is my mantra, now.

I wholeheartedly agree. I've always tried to keep my gear to a minimum. (Well, almost always. Let's not talk about that time that I had more Mesa/Boogie amps in my living room than the local dealer had in stock... That was years ago.)

For a long time I followed the rule that gear that didn't get played regularly was out after a year. Now I'm even more aggressive about weeding out gear that I won't use.

FWIW, I found that it's good to have a goal for the gear I own. That seems obvious to me now, but for a long time I thought of the gear as providing "colors on a tonal palette." The more variations, the more complexity, the more buttons and knobs, the better - right? Eventually I woke up to the fact that how I played was at least as important as the gear I played. I began to focus on the attributes of the instrument that I found most important to me. I got rid of the guitars that didn't fit my needs. Eventually I knew enough about what really works best for me that I felt confident to commission a custom guitar.

I have three guitars now. My selection is kind of like the "basic tonal groups" of pickups - humbuckers, P90s and single coils. They're all quality instruments, but more importantly they're all instruments that are comfortable, familiar and reliable.

I have a small collection of pedals that get infrequent use; I hang onto these despite my "must use" rule, realizing that it's better to have a pedal for the rare occasions when I need it than it is to go through the whole cycle of research and evaluation to find the pedal I need. None of my pedals are from boutique builders. They're all commodity pieces available at most music stores. When I've put so much effort into guitar selection, why would I choose such "pedestrian" pedals? It's because the guitar is the instrument, responding to the nuances of my touch. Pedals just alter the sound.

Ditto with amps. I used to seek out subtle difference in amps. I was a hard-core "tube guy". Now my amp choices are based upon convenience, clarity, consistency and "carryability". You can always add dirt to a clean amp using a pedal. You can never go the other way...

There's a tendency among guitarists - it seems - to always be in search of a new toy. This is exacerbated by the relatively low cost of so many of the available products. This can lead on into an endless cycle of distraction, obsessing about nuances that not even someone with dog's ears would care about and justifying our obsession with arguments about intangible and unquantifiable properties.

As Pierre is fond of reminding us: time on the instrument is what's important. Get out there and play!

[lpdeluxe]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

Eventually I woke up to the fact that how I played was at least as important as the gear I played. I began to focus on the attributes of the instrument that I found most important to me. I got rid of the guitars that didn't fit my needs. Eventually I knew enough about what really works best for me that I felt confident to commission a custom guitar.

There's a tendency among guitarists - it seems - to always be in search of a new toy. This is exacerbated by the relatively low cost of so many of the available products. This can lead on into an endless cycle of distraction, obsessing about nuances that not even someone with dog's ears would care about and justifying our obsession with arguments about intangible and unquantifiable properties.

As Pierre is fond of reminding us: time on the instrument is what's important. Get out there and play!

Well said. I find that concentrating on a limited selection of instruments makes me dig a little deeper in achieving musical goals: when I can't simply trade off to another guitar or amp, the result is better music.

[RAQ]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

... There's a tendency among guitarists - it seems - to always be in search of a new toy. This is exacerbated by the relatively low cost of so many of the available products. This can lead on into an endless cycle of distraction, obsessing about nuances that not even someone with dog's ears would care about and justifying our obsession with arguments about intangible and unquantifiable properties ...

You haven't been peeping into my soul by any chance? I agree there's a real danger in just grazing through gear - like thinking the answer to playing well is to buy just one more book on method.

On the other hand - I've set off into a retriement project of jazz guitar with, at first, a nice old classical guitar I've had for years; but then got hooked on electrics (hollow, semi and solid). I could have just bought myself a pointlessly flashy new car, or set off on an expensive holiday; but I've explored the world of guitars instead. The guitar is such a varied instrument, and I reckon the only way to learn about it is to play a few - providing this doesn't distract from the playing itself. I've got a Gibson ES137 and an American Tele to improve my credability, but the rest are carefully chosen modestly priced examples of various styles. How else do you really learn about 17" archtops without playing one for a few months - reading a book on them won't do, that's just secondhand knowledge. It's also refreshing sometimes to tackle familiar pieces, but on a diiffernt instrument.

Maybe, eventually, I'll settle down to one or two specific types and begin shipping the others out. In the meantime, owning a few guitars is not necessarily a bad thing. And if I haven't convinced anyone else about this, it doesn't matter - providing I've managed to convince myself.

[TieDyedDevil]

Originally Posted by RAQ

... I've set off into a retriement project of jazz guitar with, at first, a nice old classical guitar I've had for years; but then got hooked on electrics (hollow, semi and solid). I could have just bought myself a pointlessly flashy new car, or set off on an expensive holiday; but I've explored the world of guitars instead. ...

You'll notice I said nothing about how much money I've spent to reach this state of relative equilibrium and enlightenment.

My point is not that it's counterproductive to explore gear, but rather that it's important to explore gear with a specific goal in mind. If you want to make music, you can't spend most of your time on gear. At some point one must recognize that gear acquisition doesn't advance the quality of one's music-making, say "This is a good place to settle down, gear-wise", and focus on the music for an extended period.

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

You'll notice I said nothing about how much money I've spent to reach this state of relative equilibrium and enlightenment.

My point is not that it's counterproductive to explore gear, but rather that it's important to explore gear with a specific goal in mind. If you want to make music, you can't spend most of your time on gear. At some point one must recognize that gear acquisition doesn't advance the quality of one's music-making, say "This is a good place to settle down, gear-wise", and focus on the music for an extended period.

Exactly. Well put and thanks. Interestingly, you are the one from here who may have turned me on to some gear recently (a Phil Jones Cub amp) I didn't get rid of, that I'm keeping for sure. I've got two amps I use, and that's pretty good by me--Cub and Polytone Minibrute IV. Don't need anything else in the amp department.


Except, of course, to get rid of the Flextone digital amp I've had for years but never use!

[RAQ]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

You'll notice I said nothing about how much money I've spent to reach this state of relative equilibrium and enlightenment.

My point is not that it's counterproductive to explore gear, but rather that it's important to explore gear with a specific goal in mind. If you want to make music, you can't spend most of your time on gear. At some point one must recognize that gear acquisition doesn't advance the quality of one's music-making, say "This is a good place to settle down, gear-wise", and focus on the music for an extended period.

Perhaps I should post 'irony warnings' on anything I post.

Yes - by all means, please let's leave cost out of it; although all hobbies and pastimes involve some outlay; and the enjoyment and experienced gained should not be overlooked.

As for the rest, yes of course I agree; particularly your points about having a goal and knowing when the time has come to change direction. Maybe I've reached, and probably passed, the point to settle down and concentrate on the music. The musical journey, with all its twists and turns, is an intersting and worthwhile one though, isn't it.

[Squint]

While I can understand the the "minimalist" approach to guitars, after decades of not having any cash or credit to be able to explore the gear, I am really a bit of a newbie to all the amazing "colors" that new gear provides. I went from the "minimal two guitars" to 20 and now down to 16. For me, a new toy is a HUGE source of inspiration. But I can honestly say that while I can see the danger of "tone chasing", there is now not ONE axe in my stable that does not speak to me on a purely metaphysical level. And I also enjoy the challenge of finding that perfect mix of value to cost in finding that new "paintbrush" that fits in with the rest of the stable. Collecting also keeps me interested when the creative batteries are recharging to a large extent, but not to the point of distracting me from that creativity.

I know plenty of guitarists who spend more time taking lessons than they do performing or writing. I can see where spending too much time on any one aspect of guitars can be detrimental, but if one keeps in mind the goal, as someone wisely mentioned above, then they're going to spend more time playing regardless. Moderation in all things, I guess...

It's really a personal choice and often dictated more by opportunity than desire. At least in this stage of my development it is. I have spent far too long being far too ignorant of the instruments out there, so if I take a few years to learn the "whys" of these living, breathing instruments, I'm ok with that. BUT, I also know enough to not get seduced into just "collecting for collecting's sake".

I can tell you that getting married will fix that in a heartbeat!

I'd also like to thank everyone for their wonderful opinions in this thread. Seeing how someone else handles the minutiae of the guitar universe, really helps keep my own view in perspective. Seriously, y'all are great!

Strum on!

[TieDyedDevil]

I'm enjoying this thread immensely. It's good to see the different viewpoints and experiences.

Originally Posted by RAQ

Perhaps I should post 'irony warnings' on anything I post.

Not at all. I just wanted to be sure that no one got sorely mistaken impression that I arrived at this state of "gear nirvana" in one step. Man, I made a lot of ill-advised and regrettable decisions along the way... If I had known where I was going to end up, I could have saved enough money for a really nice sports car.

Originally Posted by Squint

I know plenty of guitarists who spend more time taking lessons than they do performing or writing. I can see where spending too much time on any one aspect of guitars can be detrimental, but if one keeps in mind the goal, as someone wisely mentioned above, then they're going to spend more time playing regardless. Moderation in all things, I guess...

It's really a personal choice and often dictated more by opportunity than desire. At least in this stage of my development it is. I have spent far too long being far too ignorant of the instruments out there, so if I take a few years to learn the "whys" of these living, breathing instruments, I'm ok with that. BUT, I also know enough to not get seduced into just "collecting for collecting's sake".

Good points. One must give consideration to the availability of time and resources as well as the need and practicality of having a large collection. If you're a full-time musician playing sessions and clubs and tours all the time it makes more sense to have a large collection of musical tools than if you're working a white-collar job for fifty or sixty hours a week and only have time to study and play music on the weekend.

Collecting for the sake of collecting is another matter altogether. Some people collect instruments for sentimental reasons. Others collect with an eye toward financial appreciation. (The owner of a large local music store is heavily into collecting as an investment. He told me once that his retirement fund is stored in a warehouse.) I have no complaint regarding either scenario. It's important to realize that collecting in either of these senses is completely separate from being a musician.

Originally Posted by Squint

I can tell you that getting married will fix that in a heartbeat!

I have to tell you that Mrs. TDD has more instruments than I do. It wasn't like that before we got married...

[RAQ]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

I just wanted to be sure that no one got sorely mistaken impression that I arrived at this state of "gear nirvana" in one step. Man, I made a lot of ill-advised and regrettable decisions along the way... If I had known where I was going to end up, I could have saved enough money for a really nice sports car.

Now that's more like it - this is what I wanted to hear. Cheered me up no end. Good point too about collecting - there's a subtle difference here somewhere between someone who collects 'things' and has a guitar collection, and a musician who loves the things and has a collection of guitars.

[RAQ]

Squint - well said lad.

[FWBO]

You know how sports car enthusiasts can join a club for a fee and then drive a certain number of cars for a specified number of days per year - guitarists should do the same with guitars and amps.

Save money and having the house cluttered up with 20 guitars!

[bkdavidson]

I think FWBO is on to something.

[lpdeluxe]

As with many other things, it's not the destination but the journey. I'm always a little suspicious of players who get an instrument and never experiment with anything else...but then, part of it's temperament, too. I was notorious during the term of my last band for showing with a different bass every week.

But, after having gone through about six basses, I settled on THE ONE, which then was my bass for the rest of the life of that group (a couple of years) and which will probably remain my bass from now on.

Even having decided to downsize my herd, and to use the most rigorous criteria in determining which were keepers and which were not, I find myself tempted by the new (for a long time "the new" was guitars, then basses, now Fender amps).

I recognize the acquisitive impulse for what it is, and yet...

...oooh, a new tone color, a new feel, a new new new!

At least, as someone already pointed out, it's a relatively inexpensive disease (pity the souls who collect Les Pauls!).

And I am slowly, slowly circling the Tone Dragon, getting ever closer....

[RAQ]

Originally Posted by bkdavidson

I think FWBO is on to something.

Absolutely - what a brilliant idea. Playing a guitar for even an hour in a store is like taking a test drive ... unless it's a real 'no no', what can you learn? Taking a test drive is just a sales device to tempt you into ownership. There are schemes to rent instruments - often brass or reed though - but not so many that I have seen for guitars. FWBO has the solution for those of us who have 'exceeded our needs' in guitar ownership - we can begin renting them out for weekends and holidays ... until we've made enough to get that sports car.

[mangotango]

Well we've all been to "Guitars I should never have sold", and most of us to "How do I justify all of these?"

In the former, I would put a 1978 ES355, a 1979 Tele and an early 70's Fender Jazz Bass.

As for the current stable:-
Washburn flat-top acoustic
Epiphone cutaway electro
Yamaha nylon string "silent" guitar
No-name Resonator guitar in G tuning


SG Melody Maker set up for slide
Squier Tele in G tuning (for Stones songs, etc)
Fender Strat Plus
Ibanez Semi
Epiphone Joe Pass
D'Angelico NYL-5

and that's probably too many, but the majority of them are cheap and worth beans, so I'm loath to go through the process just to recover a very few £££'s.