View Poll Results: Practice most with your most expensive gear?
- Voters
- 207. You may not vote on this poll
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Of course
163 78.74% -
Not quite
11 5.31% -
50/50
33 15.94%
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I generally practice with my favorite 16" guitar, whichever that happens to be, unless I specifically want to be plugged-in or unplugged, depending on context. Or if it's a really long practice day (VERY RARE NOW!) then I will spend some time playing a smaller body guitar for at least part of the time to keep myself injury-free. If I'm transcribing at a computer chair then I will also tend to use a smaller guitar so I have more room to maneuver.
But for good measure I had my Andersen Vanguard laminate re-fretted by Steve Andersen a few years ago with stainless steel frets, so the frets should last forever anyway. At the time I was practicing hours every day and was worried that Steve would retire soon.
I should also mention my experience with wear to the finish on the back of the neck: I've never experienced that, but then again I am mostly a thumb-behind-the-neck player.
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02-04-2019 05:27 PM
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The only way to fly (IMO).
Originally Posted by coolvinny
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I think there is a big difference between abuse and honest wear. A 30 year old L5, for example, that has been well played yet also well cared for should appreciate or at least hold its relative value just fine. I guess you need to ask yourself if you bought the expensive gear because you love it, or as an investment. If the former play the crap out of it, or you will one day regret never honestly enjoying it. If the latter, keep it cased under your bed, take it out occasionally to tune it and gaze at it longingly, then put it back under your bed until it needs to be tuned again. Then when your playing days are done you can look back with great pride at how that space under your bed or in your closet got to house such a fine instrument, but if someone asks you to describe what it was like to play it for hours on end you will be at a loss...asad and very unfortunate loss. Originally Posted by p1p
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My 85 year old L-7 gets more play time than any of my other guitars.
My 2014 J-45 is a close second -- but it is more my social jam player, rather than a practice alone tool.
It's loud and proud with plenty of bass !! (which gives me a decent voice in a room full of guitar strummers)
But I must admit I spend more time on flute these days and I am somewhat neglecting guitar.
Flutes makes guitars seems rather like a good economic deal !!!
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Yes for me, but mostly because I have a limited selection of gear after I sold everything but one guitar (a cedar-topped Seagull) several years back and had to start over. I wish I could get that back, along with my late 50’s Fender lap steel and my Larriveé Parlor model (from when they were still made in Vancouver). I used that Parlor for a lot of slide though, and this Godin 5th Avenue is pretty good for that too. And it’s nice because all I have to do is loosen the strings a couple turns, raise the bridge, and re-tune. And when I want to go back to normal playing, I lost lower it back down until it buzzes and raise the bridge knobs one-half to one full revolution.
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I practice with the same gear I'm going to gig with.
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I play whichever guitar seems appropriate or enjoyable, or is at hand, without regard to value. This includes practice, playing for pleasure, and teaching about 20 hours a week. Life is too short to play lesser guitars
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Well, honestly, I practice on whatever guitar I feel like playing at the moment.
Some things translate better to certain guitars too...if I want to practice fingers-only playing I'll grab a nylon string...if I want to practice django-style stuff, I'll grab the SelMac copy...
But I would say I play my most expensive guitar the most.
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I don't have anything particularly expensive, but fear of wearing out an instrument does not come into the picture. All of my guitars are different from each other (a flattop, an archtop, a semi, and a solid body); the one I play is determined by the sound and feel I prefer at the time and/or is best suited to whatever I'm playing. I would not want to own instrument I was afraid to play.
John
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I only have one main guitar, and it's the most expensive one, so yeah, it gets hours upon hours a day. The others are a strat and an acoustic, but they're for gigs that call for them.
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The apartment we're living in right now has "acoustic insulation" issues so, at night, I play whatever is least likely to be heard by neighbours. That would be my unplugged 80s I-need-a-fret-job MIJ Squier Strat. Surprisingly resonant with 12-50 gauge strings on it. Otherwise, I will usually pick up my best guitar - that's what I got it for!
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They aways say to make sure you prepare for the marathon race in training and then do the same thing on race day. Do not make changes at last minute! I suppose you can figure the anology but if not I have a wild story to prove it is true.
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I can see reasons for not gigging with the most expensive guitars, I don't see a reason not to practice with them.
Of course if you're famous and selling tickets to people who come to see you in glorious venues you gotta gig with them also.
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The guitars I have were acquired to be enjoyed. While I have some older, vintage stuff and specialty guitars that rarely get played, I try to play the archtops on a very regular basis. While I don't use any kind of rotation system, I play my Wes Mov and my Johnny Smith a great deal and don't worry about fret wear. Granted, I am not practicing 5-8 hours daily, but for the couple of hours a day I do spend, I don't worry about the frets.
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I have a 51' Gibson Super 300 - 18" carved solid archtop - they made under 200 of them. I play it every day because when I bought it , I bought it because it was the exact guitar I wanted to play every day. I play it sitting on my deck on summer evenings , take it to friends homes and let others play it if I feel they respect what it is - a very nice somewhat rare old guitar! . I have a great luthier in town who I have full confidence can resolve any issues that might arise from my playing the guitar. I can't imagine leaving it sitting in a case it was meant to be explored as an instrument , cared for with respect , played with passion and someday passed along on the next stage of its history. Why on earth would I not play it??
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Will
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- At home? Absolutely.
- Do I take my prized archtop to a crowded orchestra pit or a rough club? Nope. Maybe the former if I ever make it to a high-paying orch, but I'm not even close on that one yet!
- To a combo rehearsal? Not the archtop, but my solidbody guitars are all OK for that kinda thing, even the ones that are are in excellent condition cosmetically. As Deacon Mark says, I play the guitar that suits the gig, both at rehearsal and on the gig.
All my axes are "expensive" ... even the one that is not as pretty as the others because its previous owner probably didn't know how to care for it or didn't try to care for it. But I still care for it as carefully as I can, because it plays like a dream and I want it to stay that way. At the other extreme, my 44-year-old archtop has a delicate nitrocellulose finish that hasn't seen any abuse, just a little honest wear. I think the previous owner did keep it under his bed, and I love how well-preserved it is - I do stop and look at it now and then cuz it sure IS pretty!!! But I bought this axe to PLAY it, and play it I do.
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Hot take: the people who "dont take their best instrument to a gig" dont have a gig to take them to.
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Never saw George Benson take his D'Angelico or Buscarino Virtuoso to a gig, but then his Ibanez contract wouldn't allow.
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... says the guy whose amp was stolen off the car seat. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Originally Posted by starjasmine
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It took me 50 years to wear down the frets on my '68 Stratocaster. (I played the heck out of it.)
I do practice with my most expensive guitars. I love them too much to let them sit. BUT, I rotate the guitars so that they share the fret wear. Thus, even my '38 Gibson still has acceptable frets.
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Yeah, but it was his cheap amp, so let that be a lesson. Originally Posted by starjasmine
John
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I practice with a guitar that is slightly more
difficult to play than the guitar I gig with ....
i recommend that ....
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Absolutely! A guitar needs to be played. However, if you are just a collector then perhaps not to avoid unwanted dings etc.
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