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I am not a collector or a hoarder but I am impulsive. I see a beautiful guitar and I pull the trigger 1st and ask questions later. I have 11 guitars and play them all but want to get down to 5. Trouble is which 6 do I off. Every time I play one I say this is my favorite. I started this post really to justify my own insanity. Trouble is I really enjoy my guitar madness except when they all need new strings.
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06-11-2017 07:04 PM
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But if you love different styles, say you play electric.. a les paul, a strat, a tele, they all have distinctly different voices, and can really sound authentic at different styles of music in a way no other guitar can. Same thing for a semi hollow, and a hollow body guitar. Then there's acoustics, a dreadnought and a small fingerstyle guitar are two different animals, a 12 string, a beautiful resonator guitar, a gypsy style guitar if you like that style. Then there s nylon strings. A classical and a flamenco are two different guitars, so is a small or no acoustic body nylon string for loud live playing.
We are already at about 13 instruments - i m kind of describing many of my guitars there
- and that without adding a second one on each style (say a Martin AND a Taylor acoustic ).. i can easily go up to 25-30 guitars staying strictly at a players perspective, as i couldn't care less about collecting and owning instruments personally, i just enjoy the playing and the music each one brings. I think you cannot really compare the guitar musical world with that of most other instruments..
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I think I have 14 or maybe 15. But as I said I'm a hoarder. I have two acoustics. Both Taylors. I know one of the owners of Taylor so I got a deal on my first. Then the 2nd was in trade for studio time. I also have an acoustic Martin backpacker. Does that count? My main guitar is the ES-355. But for electrics, you have different needs and different voices. Sometimes I'm a session guitarist so I need the right voice. The Gibson wouldn't be the best for a funky or R&R or country type tune. My strat, LP or Tele copy. Different sounds. a bass, a few strat copies or Frankensteins. But I'm a hoarder. When traveling for a nonmusic gig I might take one of my less important guitars just to practice on. But you know, it's more than just having one acoustic and one electric.
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Alter,
You rational makes total sense. I find learning a new style certainly encourages me to purchase a guitar for that need.
I'm in the process of learning some Gypsy Jazz, and or course I went out and bought a nice Dupont- and I'm enjoying the journey.
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Plenty of other instrumentalists own multiple instruments, e.g., many sax players double on multiple other reed instruments and flute; most of the trumpeters I know have multiple horns; lots of drummers have multiple kits, cymbals, and snares.
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Yes, but not many own 10 tenor saxophones. They'd own one, maybe two. A flute, soprano, alto, bari, clarinet.
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My Archtop guitar obsession has labeled me a nut bag according to my wife but here at JGF I find justification. Here I am just a cashew in a big bowl of mixed nuts. :-) Nice !
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Ha, this thread is timely.
I'm a hoarder.
But I hoard broken things with a view to fix or scavenge for other fixer-uppers.
Today I committed 4 acoustics to the trash after I canabalized them.
All these bits and Bob's have been given to me by people wanting them repaired only to find out from me that the cost of repair is more than the net worth of the guitar.
Ocaisionally I find a rotten old thing for pennies and repair it back to its former glory, and then bloody well keep it!
At the moment I have, um, 18 or so. 10 in disrepair and the rest playable.
So once I get through repairing I'm either selling or gifting the ones I do not want.
And then there's the amps!
Shit on a stick......
I want rid of the onus of burden.
Help?
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i have a very good technique to stop from hoarding guitars and buying gear, it's called checking the bank balance.
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Seems like guitar obsession started in the 80's, before that most had one guitar maybe two, electric and acoustic. Then working guitar players starting have backup guitar. Then players started getting into to play song X I need guitar Y and GAS started developing with help and encouragement of musical instrument manufacturers and big chain music stores.
My name is DocBop and I'm a guitar/music-aholic I've been sober for 90 days now. Hello Docbop? I own too many guitars and basses and miss the days of only have one or two.Last edited by docbop; 06-12-2017 at 01:24 PM.
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Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
For me, the answer is I love Guitars. I do use them, they are not just show pieces. I have 14 guitars and 7 amps. The collection is ever fluid. If there is a guitar or an amp that I am not using, I will gladly sell it to someone that will use it. I hate it when someone says, i've had this guitar in a closet for 20 years. That is NOT where guitars belong.
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So I've owned way over 500 guitars since I was 12 years old till now at age 60. But rarely owned more than 2 at a time till I was well into my my late 30's . And I've found even as a Professional musician my entire life, when I don't use a guitar I never play or use as a tool to gig with I end up selling it. I'm presently at 5 electrics including an Elferink Archtop, Godin Midi Classical, ES-335, ES-339,Tele Partscaster and acoustic Martin OM-21 Special flat top.
I'm a Gear Addict for sure, but I still find that owning guitars just have them never played to actually make music is very sad!
Even John McGlaughlin gives many of his past guitars away free to other deserving guitarists to make music. He feels it's a waste of a totally good guitar.
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I'd love to get a chance to try that 19" New Yorker. How did it compare to the others? Originally Posted by deacon Mark
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You know that it's an addiction when you search for guitars more than play them. That's the line that gets crossed. I crossed that line about 35 years ago. And never looked back. A full fledged addict. And I still suck playing the darn things. As Jim Carey said in The Mask,"SOMEBODY STOP ME!".
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I would not be surprised if you were right on this one. MTV and VH1 brought music to the forefront. And it was the decade of excesses so having multiple guitars and gear goes right along with the theme of that decade. Originally Posted by docbop
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Another thought - 30 plus years ago we didn't have the internet or the access to thousands of guitar for sale . Back then we had to wait for a vintage guitar magazine or visits to guitar shops to see instruments.
Today, we have visual stimulus 24/7 and these selling platforms just draw you in - and the availability is both exciting and overwhelming - leading to superfluous consumption.Last edited by QAman; 06-11-2017 at 09:50 PM.
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Here is my justification. When buying used EVERYBODY wants the guitar to be in MINT condition. If you only had one guitar, you would wear it out and couldn't get your return investment. That is why you buy more of them and several of the same model so you can rotate the wear and tear on each one. The more you have, the less wear and tear and it is likely you will get more money when you try to sell it because it will be in good shape. Who's with me?
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I have one electric. A strat.
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I'm not a guitar addict, but I certainly understand them being "objects of desire", like fishing poles, guns, cars, and golf clubs are to other men
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Why not?
Anyway, false premise--several horn players in my big band have large collections of instruments. One trumpet player has over sixty and many of the others have more than ten. All the sax players have at least one of almost every sax (not including the weird stuff like the contrabass,) plus flutes, clarinets and piccolos. Most of the trombones have five or six.
One thing to consider is that winds and brass tend to be very uniform--one trumpet looks much like any other and metal is metal. There's much more variety in guitars, since even two of the same model can be substantially different. Don't ask me how I know.
Danny W.
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I think some that is regional. On West Coast you'll hear them say they are a Reed player and mean they play and probably own all the main reeds and maybe a double reed too. East Coast they tend to pick a main horn like tenor, then probably have alto and maybe soprano since those are called for a lot. it's a hassle because they hear think a pitch and finger go to a fingering, but when they switch from main sax what they hear and fingered note is different. So having multiple reeds can be a pain. Originally Posted by Danny W.
Why not?
Anyway, false premise--several horn players in my big band have large collections of instruments. One trumpet player has over sixty and many of the others have more than ten. All the sax players have at least one of almost every sax (not including the weird stuff like the contrabass,) plus flutes, clarinets and piccolos. Most of the trombones have five or six.
You may not see the differences, but to a horn player there are lots of differences in horns, mouthpieces, and reeds. There are student grade horns, pro level, and like guitars vintage horns. I remember back in school hanging with horn players and them talking about mod's done to horns and then wearing out pads, air leaks, and mechanical problems. Whole lot going on for horn players too. Originally Posted by Danny W.
One thing to consider is that winds and brass tend to be very uniform--one trumpet looks much like any other and metal is metal. There's much more variety in guitars, since even two of the same model can be substantially different. Don't ask me how I know.
Danny W.
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But that's what I was saying in terms of horn players. Most own at least one of each reed. It's not like owning 12 of the same. You might have someone who owns two tenors. Or two flutes, but not often. That's more like us owning an acoustic, electric, uke, Lute, baritone guitar, tenor guitar, 12 string, banjo, mandolin, nylon, zither, viola, violin, gambon.
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I find when I have 2 of the same model guitar i.e. Tele, 335,etc. They tend fight it out and one wins out and the other has to go. Just like Eagle Chicks that kill one another LOL! I thought then I'll just have one of every model, and that was a disaster as well. The lesson learned for me at least was to not be so greedy, and spend more time on music!
P.S. I'm still learning that lesson!
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Well - - when you are a successful artist like those you mentioned with a warehouse worth of guitars
the answer is obvious - they have value plainly stated , better than money in the bank - sell it and no
bank records of tax's for profits or sales .
I have worked with some really successful artists who are guitarists - they go through guitars like you can
not imagine . To these guys I know , all those guitars are not play things or collector's prize pieces ( although some
are prized more than others for obvious reasons ) to gawk at or show off .
One guitar I was going to get was [ stolen ]
before I could buy it because the artist who owned it and they guy who made it was that popular - It was an acoustic rosewood cut-a-way made by Ari of Ibanez - 
I wanted it sooooooooo bad ! ! ! I was willing to throw down a little more than most for that guitar because of who made it and who was selling it to me - that one hurt .
They are like money in the bank if you are a lucky and are a smart judge of guitars ( acoustic and electric )
They sell them and trade them and generally are in the guitar trade business as a second means to make $'s .
When you are a well know quantity you can sell your guitars at a lofty high price .
Or just gawk at them alone or show them off when you can if you are not paranoid of them being stolen heh heh heh .
EZ :
HR
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Six guitars here.
I played the same Peerless Epiphone archtop for more than a decade.
I found another for a very cheap price so i grabbed that too. Never played it though, didn't sound as good as the other.
I bought a strat to have a solidbody around. Played a lot on the couch.
Still have my first acoustic.
All I play now is a 50's Baja Telecaster and Gibson ES-350.
But hey, life is very short...
own and play all those guitars that you want. As mentioned above, purchased wisely they aren't bad investments considering how much enjoyment they bring you and hopefully others.
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