Why is 1 Archtop Guitar Not Enough?

[oldane]

Einsteins theory of relativity is well known with it's E = MC2 equation.

A equally fundamental equation is: Needed guitars = N + 1 where N=the number of guitars you own at present.

[tomvwash]

Being true to one archtop means being untrue to all the rest.

It's not a wedding vow.

[Peter C]

Two is good: one strung with flatwounds, the other with roundwounds.

[Greentone]

I could honestly play just my 2001 Heritage Super Eagle. I'd just have to have a force field for when bar gig patrons get too close. The guitar is almost mint.

Main thing, though, is that it sounds superb and plays like proverbial "buttah."

[Llacrobat]

One is enough. My 15 other guitars are just there to keep the first company when I`m working....

[Doug B]

Why? Because you can't have enough of a good thing!

[Irishmuso]

The bare minimum for playing jazz guitar is:

Carved solid woods

1. 17" acoustic. Maple (AAA preferred) back, spruce top, ebony fingerboard. Choose carefully. This is the guitar you will be buried with.
2. 18" acoustic. Same woods as 17". Of course it's too big to hold. But that sound..
3. 16", 17", or 18" with mahogany back/neck. Woody tone. Nothing else like it.
4. 17" electric. One or two built in humbuckers. P90 may be substituted. Can't tell it's solid/carved plugged in but that has nothing to do with it.
5. 17" sort of electric. Floater or Rhythm Chief. Can also be your acoustic archtop if on a budget.
6. 16" or 17" oval hole. Or a Ribbecke halfling of not on a budget.
7. Gypsy jazz guitar(s)
8. Something overpriced that stays home because jazz history

Not carved solid woods

1. Arched, inexpensive and reliable (modern, often Korean made, under $1500) for dubious locales and weather
2. Gibson ES175 or similar because Joe Pass and because they actually work pretty well.
3. Gibson ES335 or similar (Heritage 535, something Japanese, older Ibanez, et al)
4. Any one of the many versions of a plank of wood with a pickup on it

Less than this, you simply don't have enough.

I'm sorry. I now realise I have been slacking and have a lot of ground to make up. I'll get right onto it.

[Gitfiddler]

Einsteins theory of relativity is well known with it's E = MC2 equation.

A equally fundamental equation is: Needed guitars = N + 1 where N=the number of guitars you own at present.

Offering a slight adjustment to your equation: Needed guitars = N + 1 x W.

You neglected the "Want" factor.

[pcsanwald]

I don't personally understand the psychology of collecting guitars but hey, a lot of people find it fun! nothing wrong with that. Life isn't always about getting by with the bare minimum of what you need.

I've only ever owned a single archtop at a time, a sadowsky jim hall. I also have a telecaster that I love, and a nylon string. I can't imagine ever actually playing more than these. A lot of pretty famous players use one archtop for long periods: Peter Bernstein and his Zeidler, Jesse Van Ruller, Jim Hall, Miles Okazaki etc. Even Metheny used his old 175 for a lot of his career.

[wzpgsr]

I was the kid who would pick up food I dropped on the floor of the mall food court and eat it because I felt bad for it. Think I can easily part with a guitar?

[Spook410]

I don't personally understand the psychology of collecting guitars..

Hmm.. though I have maybe 30-35 guitars, I don't see myself as a collector. A collector is a respectable sort of activity concerned with the providence of a guitar or guitar type. They study history and keep it alive while maintaining the things that speak to times that were important to the music and the instruments that helped make it. No.. I'm more like the shallow end of the pool embracing the avarice of acquisition and a bit of guitar ADD. Guitar is such a great hobby.

[sgosnell]

Jesse Van Ruller has been seen with a number of different archtops over the years. I haven't kept up with the exact number, but it's much larger than one.

[tomvwash]

You said it yourself. You're hoarding. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Nothing, besides taking solace in the fact that a lot of others here have many more than I do! I'm with Spook410 and going for broke! Love his thinking.

[Tal_175]

I've only ever owned a single archtop at a time, a sadowsky jim hall. I also have a telecaster that I love, and a nylon string. I can't imagine ever actually playing more than these. A lot of pretty famous players use one archtop for long periods: Peter Bernstein and his Zeidler, Jesse Van Ruller, Jim Hall, Miles Okazaki etc. Even Metheny used his old 175 for a lot of his career.

There are the guitars they gigged with. But that doesn't mean they didn't own any other guitar.

[pcsanwald]

Jesse Van Ruller has been seen with a number of different archtops over the years. I haven't kept up with the exact number, but it's much larger than one.

Early in his career he played a Levin consistently for a long time. I believe someone accidentally ran over it with a car.

[pcsanwald]

There are the guitars they gigged with. But that doesn't mean they didn't own any other guitar.

true enough, but my point is that one guitar is plenty good enough for some of the best players in the world. I'm not implying that someone like Metheny doesn't also probably own tons of guitars. Peter B though, I've seen Peter live more than a hundred times and taken a couple lessons at his apt, and I've only ever seen him with the Zeidler.

[grahambop]

Early in his career he played a Levin consistently for a long time. I believe someone accidentally ran over it with a car.

Yes, I believe it was Jesse who reversed his car over his own guitar!

[ccroft]

One archtop is not enough simply because each is different from the other one!

I have 3 total. 2 are identical spec. One is open and airy and the other is more thunkish and woody. I like both. They bring out different things in me.

[citizenk74]

Horde and hoard are different words.

Yes they are. Twenty plus may not be a vast number, but it's more than a few, so I used the word "horde" with comic intent. Let that be a lesson to me.

[Irishmuso]

Yes, I believe it was Jesse who reversed his car over his own guitar!

Well it wasn't my car, but in 1975 someone reversed over my Strat (a '63!). It didn't even put it out of tune. Leo Fender was onto something.