Can we talk about owning many guitars?

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I have a 2 guitars rule, too.

Only my version is, "No more than two electrics of the same make & model in the same color."

Even with that, there have sometimes been exceptions.

[Adieu]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

First, I know the definition of "many" will vary depending on each person's own perception. For the sake of this thread let's say more than 10 guitars is many.

I own a total of 11 stringed instruments. Nine electric guitars, one acoustic, and one bass. At one time I owned only two electrics (a primary and a back up) and it seemed unfathomable to me that I would ever have close to a dozen. I find at this point that my GAS has seriously curbed and when it does surface all I need to do is remind myself how many things I've already got. There's a few pieces I'd really like still but overall I've got all the bases pretty covered.

Now for those of you who own a LOT of guitars, I'm curious about a few things. This isn't a bash or dig on the subject, I'm genuinely asking out of a curiosity.

1. How do you keep track of what you have? I sometimes have trouble remembering if I've got 5 Telecasters or 6 on the wall. When you've got 30 guitars, how does it not become a blur? How do you manage your collection?

2. When you GAS for new stuff does the cheaper stuff still turn you on? Like if you've already got a $5000 Les Paul, does buying a new Indonesian Epi still turn your crank?

3. At what point do you become a collector moreso than a player? Let's be honest, we all could probably get by with one or two guitars if all we were interested in was playing. I'm guilty of it myself. I recently divested myself of some amps because it was getting silly.

4. Do you play them all? When you could play a different guitar every week and not touch the same guitar twice for 6 months or even a year, how do you keep them all fresh in your mind (or hands)?

5. Something I have found as my collection grew is that I don't feel nearly as intimately connected with all of them. Back when I played mostly the same guitar for years, that guitar was like a part of me. I knew it like the back of my hand. Nowadays I don't have that connection with most of my guitars simply because there's so many and I play a different one all the time. I'm curious how those who have even larger collections feel about this.

Discuss!

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

That's certainly not even close to what I would consider "many". That's barely "a few" (can't even consider non-working "parts).
Let us know when you get over a dozen working/functioning/playable guitars.

Ive flipped or traded most guitars Ive ever owned and have recouped every cent spent and then some

[beaubrummels]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

Two guitars is about as effective as a toolbox with only a 1/2” and a 5/8” wrench and nothing else.

As far as “many”, at one point I had enough guitars that I lost one, didn’t realize until a year later, and never found it.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

Had too many...got tired of them all in the long run, sold everything and kept my Seagull acoustic and one Ibanez...got another Ibanez body without a neck...but that is for the future.
Sold the last I did not use much in july.....
I only play at home these days, so there really is no use for alot of guitars, modded my Ibanez to my likings and stopped thinking about it and I just play it now....
In my head it is freedom.

[elelpe]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?



I have only 7 guitars and 1 bass and I'm already overwhelmed.
Been considering to sell some but just can't. They're different model with different pickups
Each of them is somewhat special though I have strong connection only to two of them ( a tele and a hollowbody)
Now I want a headless guitar badly ...

[Discharged]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

In the mind of the average guitar player, "many guitars" usually means "not enough guitars". The very concept of "too many guitars" exists only in the mind of the wife.

OTOH, unfortunately, the concept of "not enough space" does indeed exist.

In most cases getting rid of the wife does partially solve the problem, although in most cases causing an unforseeable number of other completely different problems, though.

Proceed with care.

/Peter

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

^^ Truth.

It took me until wife number three to find the one who would be willing to put up with my guitar addiction.

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I guess I’m lucky. I’m on wife #1 and she has no problem with my guitar/music addiction.
Band rehearsals are in my house and she never complains about it.

[MB_01]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I've been playing guitar now for 12 or 13 years and in that time I've owned 27 different guitars (I may have forgotten some - I only complied the list a few weeks ago and didn't keep track as I went along!).

I currently have 10 guitars and in the last year I've also sold 10 - which have funded buying other guitars, pedals, amps, etc. Of the 10 I have at the moment, I've built 4 of them.

I've flipped so many guitars (and pedals and amps) and usually get back the money on them that I bought them for or make a profit on them. Some guitars I've made over £100 on when I've flipped them, some I lose a little bit of money on but I predominantly buy gear secondhand and often only when it's a bargain.

I think the 2 electrics idea is a really good one *but* I don't know whether I'd ever actually be able to do it. I love building guitars, i love playing different guitars - some I have to gig with and to beat up, some I have to play in church or because they're beautiful instruments...

Sadly I'm having to sell 4 or 5 of my guitars to fund an MA I'm studying this year but I'm already planning what I'm gonna build/buy to celebrate graduating...

Sent from my LLD-L31 using Tapatalk

[Mincer]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

Never had an issue with the wife/gf here. I am in her band.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

In the mind of the average guitar player, "many guitars" usually means "not enough guitars". The very concept of "too many guitars" exists only in the mind of the wife.

OTOH, unfortunately, the concept of "not enough space" does indeed exist.

In most cases getting rid of the wife does partially solve the problem, although in most cases causing an unforseeable number of other completely different problems, though.

Proceed with care.

/Peter

I love it!
Right on buddy.

[Slamundson]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I owned over 30 guitars at a point but within the past year or so have thinned it down to about 10. The 10 I have left there’s a lot of redundancy in them, but I know what I like in a guitar so I kept all the ones I will probably never part with. I def still get GAS every once in awhile but remind myself I don’t need anymore. However there is one model im still looking to aqcuire which will eventually fall in my hands at some point I’m sure. I’m def more of a collector than a player now, but I still manage to get some time in weekly to play, and I will rotate the guitar I’m playing usually.

Guitars I’ve kept:
86 Kramer liberty
87 Kramer stagemaster deluxe I
88 Barrington BRG-884T/C
89 Charvel 750XL
90 Jackson soloist archtop pro
91 Yamaha Pacifica 1412
91 yamaha Pacifica 1421
91 Charvel fusion deluxe
91 ESP horizon custom
Early 90s charvette thin line tele acoustic

Project guitar is a 90 Charvel 750xl that I’ll probably sell off before I finish it

[ehdwuld]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

Oh Gas

I saw a Dave Grohl with LEDs in in the F holes

Oh I want that

Dont need it for.sure
But I want it


Oh and a Taylor T5
I want one of those too

Need?
Nope

All want

[Adieu]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I owned over 30 guitars at a point but within the past year or so have thinned it down to about 10. The 10 I have left there’s a lot of redundancy in them, but I know what I like in a guitar so I kept all the ones I will probably never part with. I def still get GAS every once in awhile but remind myself I don’t need anymore. However there is one model im still looking to aqcuire which will eventually fall in my hands at some point I’m sure. I’m def more of a collector than a player now, but I still manage to get some time in weekly to play, and I will rotate the guitar I’m playing usually.

Guitars I’ve kept:
86 Kramer liberty
87 Kramer stagemaster deluxe I
88 Barrington BRG-884T/C
89 Charvel 750XL
90 Jackson soloist archtop pro
91 Yamaha Pacifica 1412
91 yamaha Pacifica 1421
91 Charvel fusion deluxe
91 ESP horizon custom
Early 90s charvette thin line tele acoustic

Project guitar is a 90 Charvel 750xl that I’ll probably sell off before I finish it

Buy good insurance and tell us where you live

[ItsaBass]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

First, I know the definition of "many" will vary depending on each person's own perception. For the sake of this thread let's say more than 10 guitars is many.

I own a total of 11 stringed instruments. Nine electric guitars, one acoustic, and one bass. At one time I owned only two electrics (a primary and a back up) and it seemed unfathomable to me that I would ever have close to a dozen. I find at this point that my GAS has seriously curbed and when it does surface all I need to do is remind myself how many things I've already got. There's a few pieces I'd really like still but overall I've got all the bases pretty covered.

Now for those of you who own a LOT of guitars, I'm curious about a few things. This isn't a bash or dig on the subject, I'm genuinely asking out of a curiosity.

1. How do you keep track of what you have? I sometimes have trouble remembering if I've got 5 Telecasters or 6 on the wall. When you've got 30 guitars, how does it not become a blur? How do you manage your collection?

2. When you GAS for new stuff does the cheaper stuff still turn you on? Like if you've already got a $5000 Les Paul, does buying a new Indonesian Epi still turn your crank?

3. At what point do you become a collector moreso than a player? Let's be honest, we all could probably get by with one or two guitars if all we were interested in was playing. I'm guilty of it myself. I recently divested myself of some amps because it was getting silly.

4. Do you play them all? When you could play a different guitar every week and not touch the same guitar twice for 6 months or even a year, how do you keep them all fresh in your mind (or hands)?

5. Something I have found as my collection grew is that I don't feel nearly as intimately connected with all of them. Back when I played mostly the same guitar for years, that guitar was like a part of me. I knew it like the back of my hand. Nowadays I don't have that connection with most of my guitars simply because there's so many and I play a different one all the time. I'm curious how those who have even larger collections feel about this.

Discuss!

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

1. I keep track in my head. It isn't that hard, because they all mean something to me in some way, and the collection was built gradually over a period of decades.

2. Cheaper stuff is less and less interesting to me as the years move on. I've been playing since 1988, and buying and selling instruments (mostly buying – not much selling, really) since about 1995. I didn't really get into it until probably 2001 or 2002. Since then, and especially in the past five years or so, my collection has morphed into being primarily U.S.A. made stuff (not that this means high end U.S.A. made stuff). And most of the import stuff that is there is far from being import stuff of the total crap variety.

The import stuff I still have is: 1) two Mexican Strats, neither of which are going anywhere. I am the original owner of both (bought one in 2005 and one in 2012), and have modded them to suit me over the years. 2) three Japanese Fenders (two Strats and a Tele), none of which are going anywhere either. I'm the original owner of one of them (bought in 2004), and my late father was the original owner of the other (bought in 1994). The other (the '85 MIJ I mentioned above) was my first guitar, aside from being excellent, so it's staying for good too. All are excellent guitars, as well as being very sentimental to me. 3) A Chinese made G&L Tribute Jerry Cantrell signature model. This is one of the best guitars I've ever played. It's not going anywhere. 4) Two Indonesian made guitars – a G&L Tribute Ascari GTS and a Dean ML 35th Anniversary). The Indonesian ones are the ones that are not set in stone in my collection. They are the worst quality, so they get played the least, pending mods. But they are also the lowest priority to mod, so they largely sit. If anything gets sold, it will be these two. I got the G&L because I generally liked the way it looked, I don't have any guitar like it (Les Paul-esque construction with Strat-esque form), it's a somewhat "historic" instrument, being G&L's first set neck, and thought it would make a decent modding platform. I got the Dean for looks, and it also happens to be a very good sounding guitar, bone stock. It just has the usual cheap-o import issues (bad fret work, bad nut, bad bridge, bad tuners, etc.).

The answer the question more directly, I don't really have much desire to get a cheap Squier, MIM Fender, or Epiphone and soup it up. Now I have a decent, steady job, so I can save up for a nicer guitar a lot quicker than I used to be able to, and I know how to make my own bodies and finish them at home. I'd usually rather buy a nice guitar outright, or take my time and design my own build from the ground up...or buy a lacquer finished guitar that is easy to strip and refin, and give it a refinish and maybe a few mods. I'm generally not into anything with a poly finish any more. I just don't like the plasticky look and they way they age less than gracefully. So, for the most part, I'm pretty done with most lower end guitars. (I still want to get one of those Yamaha Pacificas with the single P-Rails, though.)

3. I would consider myself a collector if I insisted on keeping everything in mint condition, cased up and untouched, and/or did weird crap like buying a new line of guitars in every available color, just to have them all. I consider myself a hobbyist, which is halfway between being a pure player and a pure collector.

4. I can play them all, with no qualms. That is, nothing is there just to sit. It's either ready to be grabbed and played any time I want, or it's in some state of disrepair, waiting to be fixed so that it can be. Do I get to all of them equally all the time? No. That's largely because I don't play nearly as much as I'd like in general. Lots of work hours, and when I am off, I try to decompress. Logistically, living among other people, that can't be via music all the time. I play a few [unplugged] notes on bass every day, but getting to all the guitars is hard.

5. I have no problem "connecting" with any of my guitars, even if they've literally sat for years.