A dumb guitar metaphysical question

[misterwhizzy]

We've all heard about how none of our body's cells are the same as they were seven years ago, etc. but we stay the same person.

What if we apply this to guitars? What does it take in terms of replacement parts for a guitar to be considered a different guitar?

My initial answer is the body. You can change the neck or pickups or strings or bridge or nut or tuners, and I still think it's the same guitar. But if the body is swapped out, that's a different guitar.

And yes, I realize it's a dumb question.

 

[jeremy]

if i call a guitar hank and replace all the parts, but still call it hank, its still hank.

 

[GuitarStv]

You're talking about a ship of Theseus problem. This has been a philosophical thought experiment forever and there are multiple established schools of thought as to the solution. Jeremy has just proposed the 'constitution is not identity' solution. [h=3][/h]

 

[RanchManSandy]

yeah, ship of theseus, OR "Kevin's burger" (buy a burger each day and remove one ingredient; by the end of the week, boom free burger)

 

[Securb]

If I replaced the body on one of my Fenders, I would still consider it the same guitar, even if the body was a different color.

 

[GuitarStv]

I like the 'continued identity theory'. If I replace the parts of a guitar little by little over years I'd consider it the same guitar - even if every single part of the guitar eventually gets replaced. But if you replaced every part of the guitar all at once, then it wouldn't be the same guitar.

 

[Seashore]

I dunno, one time I took a guitar in for a new nut and the luthier gave it a deep cleaning while he was working on it and I swear it was like a whole new guitar when I got it back.

 

[NotDemanic]

My coffin lid guitar literally only had the neck remaining from the original guitar. And maybe some of the wiring.

 

[Wattage]

if i call a guitar hank and replace all the parts, but still call it hank, its still hank.

What if you call it Chinaski instead?

 

[jeremy]

thats a different guitar man, hank is special! always has been. even though ive replaced every little thing

 

[Aceman]

Theseus is very interesting when applied to consciousness....

As for the guitar, I say Body or Neck = a different guitar. The rest are accessories.

 

[Chistopher]

If you have a guitar Hank and someone steals the neck and pickups and you have a guitar Norbit and someone steals the body but leaves the pickups and neck, what happens when you combine the two into one guitar?

 

[Securb]

Theseus is very interesting when applied to consciousness....

As for the guitar, I say Body or Neck = a different guitar. The rest are accessories.

Don't agree. My Strats have a certain mojo and the electronics are designed with me in mind. If you put a SSS setup in my Strat I would never touch it again. But if you put my setup in a different body it would feel the same to me. The switching of the layout of the knobs, tone, and ergonomics...all the same

 

[Artie]

As for the guitar, I say Body or Neck = a different guitar. The rest are accessories.

Yeah. I'm thinking body and neck make the guitar. The rest is/are options.

 

[PS412]

I have a guitar I just put a new neck on. It's a whole new guitar even though I still refer to it by the original manufacturers name.
In fact, when I first swapped the pick ups in the same guitar I would say it sounded like a whole different guitar.

I have a 24" Crescent wrench with a 4lb sledge hammer head welded to one end. It's just the same old wrench that has an improvement.

 

[GuitarDoc]

But what if you have two identical guitars...is it just one guitar?

 

[GuitarDoc]

On a guitar like a Strat, you can choose a neck ("C", "D", sharp "V", soft "V", etc) to make THAT guitar more comfortable for you to play. It is still the same guitar.
You can change the pups, pots, etc. to make it sound the way you want. It is still the same guitar.
You can change the color to make it prettier to your taste. It is still the same guitar.
But if you change the body or the scale length, I think you now have a different guitar.

 

[GuitarStv]

Theseus is very interesting when applied to consciousness....

You have about 36 trillion cells in your body and replace about 33 billion every day. Which means about every three years you've replaced all the cells in your body. Are you the same person? : P

 

[Seashore]

If you have a guitar Hank and someone steals the neck and pickups and you have a guitar Norbit and someone steals the body but leaves the pickups and neck, what happens when you combine the two into one guitar?

After you put it together, you track down the person who took your stuff and hit them in the shins with the newly assembled instrument. If it's a right-handed guitar, it must be called Harbit, and if it's a left-handed guitar, Nornk.

 

[GuitarStv]

After you put it together, you track down the person who took your stuff and hit them in the shins with the newly assembled instrument. If it's a right-handed guitar, it must be called Harbit, and if it's a left-handed guitar, Nornk.

This is the way.