Can we talk about owning many guitars?

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I currently have 60 instruments, and over my career have owned a total roughly 20 more.

I keep an equipment checklist. It is a four-page document listing almost all of my gear used for gigging...guitars, amps, lighting and PA gear. The fourth page is a checklist for common personal and household items needed for travel/overnight gigs.

Three guitars needing repair are not on the list, but are included in the totals. There are 19 G&Ls, 14 Gibsons, 13 Martins, 4 Ibanez, 2 Takamine, 2 DanElectro, a banjo and a bass, et. al.

At one time or another I have gigged with all of them. My collection has some very expensive guitars, and I have a few that are bargain-basement finds. The most I have paid for a guitar is right around $3,000 USD. I love them all. Some I've bought cheaply, but most have increased in value over the years, doubling or tripling in value.

The band I have does a very wide range of material; I have taken as many as seven guitars to a gig and used them all.

In the last couple years I have moved more to the collector side, as some health issues have popped up...and I've gotten older. And now one of my bandmates is facing some neurological issues, and may not be able to ever play again.

About 30 years ago, I was really able to define exactly what features I like. I've owned a Leo Fender designed guitar all of my career, and Martins and Gibsons right behind them. So I buy what I like, and pass on what I don't like, so I have a lot of duplicates. It really isn't about the price. I would love to add some other classic Gibsons to my collection, but the SG, Explorer, Vee and Firebird are not models I would play often enough to justify the outlay. Someday I might opt for an Epi version. Ditto for Jazzmasters and Jaguars.

I realize that I have too many guitars and there are a few that I'm ready to let go. Honestly, I HATE selling stuff. And since all the G&Ls are setup the same, and the Gibsons are as close to each other as they can be, I do have a closeness, a bond, to all of them. Call me the guitar whisperer...I can almost sense when a guitar is SPECIAL. I've given names to some, but that's mostly a short-hand code between me and Miss Leslie, my paramour and roadie.

I do have favorites. I could easily let go of 5 of my 11 Les Pauls, and probably the same number of G&Ls, but most of them are still appreciating in value so I'll hang to them a little longer. Even then, I would miss them.

I just rotate through them. I'll play one for a couple of weeks and then grab the next one.

But EVERY time I open a case it's, "WOW!" Leslie says I have better inventory than Guitar Center. Believe it.

Bill

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

In my opinion... If you don't have a pressing need, why sell? If I tire of one and sell one month, I usually want it back the next. Then again, I've never bought a guitar for more than I thought I could sell it for (quickly,) on purpose.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I’m struggling with this myself. I recently made a spreadsheet to track them all with strings, tunings, etc. It seems to have gotten excessive. No matter how many guitars I get I still only play 3-4 of them. I’m thinking a modern and classic Strat, nice Les Paul, either a Tele or 335, my Martin and a Bass should cover everything I’d ever need.

 

[Ben1962]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

No comment? HAHA Cmon Chris, man up. How many you have? I am a newer player, and if I had really expensive guitars, I would never take them out to clubs . I will take a $500 hit but not 3 grand

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

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?

Make - Model - Specs. e.g. Fender Stratocaster rosewood veneer large headstock. Fender Stratocaster maple small headstock. Each was bought for a reason, and makes a specific sound. None of them was acquired easily. Each has deep memories.


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?

Price is never the issue. Specs and sound are always the issue.


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.

A collector buys an instrument full knowing he'll never play it or really use it and bought it for the full purpose of it's intrinsic value and what he hopes to recover when selling it. A player who hasn't had an opportunity to use all his guitars lately is still not a collector.


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)?

Each was bought for a purpose, for a sound or certain types of music. So which get played is largely dictated by the gig. If I'm not playing certain guitars, I just need to get into a position to do music suited to those guitars.


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.

Sometimes, picking up a guitar that hasn't been touched in a while is like the feeling when you first bought it. There's a rush of fresh excitement to play it for hours, making new music. I feel as connected to those guitars as to my workhorse daily players, which is why I haven't sold them by now. I didn't acquire them to sell them. They are tools in the toolbox. I don't offload my good tools because I know when I get called on to use them, they won't let me down.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I have guitars for different occasions
If I'm going to the creek
I ain't taking my Martin , it's gonna be the $179 Hummingbird

If I go over to a friend's to jam, I'm taking the Peavey VIP2
It's a Swiss army knife amp

I probably have too many guitars
My neighbor thinks I live in a store, he keeps asking if he can buy one on time

 

[Mincer]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

For someone who makes his living with a guitar, I don't have that many. I have about 5 electrics, and 3 acoustics. I think it is because I hate switching guitars at shows, and I tend to get the sounds I need from each individual guitar. I've never really thought 'oh, I need a Tele sound, and oh, I need an LP sound.' No matter what I play, it ends up sounding the same anyway.

 

[dave74]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

For someone who makes his living with a guitar, I don't have that many. I have about 5 electrics, and 3 acoustics. I think it is because I hate switching guitars at shows, and I tend to get the sounds I need from each individual guitar. I've never really thought 'oh, I need a Tele sound, and oh, I need an LP sound.' No matter what I play, it ends up sounding the same anyway.

That's what I'd call a nice usable collection.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I like playing in ways that exploit the differences in gear. Hence many guitars, pickups, amps, pedals. Strings and picks, too.

 

[TVFV]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

What it's like owning multiple guitars?

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I have guitars for different occasions
If I'm going to the creek
I ain't taking my Martin , it's gonna be the $179 Hummingbird

If I go over to a friend's to jam, I'm taking the Peavey VIP2
It's a Swiss army knife amp

I probably have too many guitars
My neighbor thinks I live in a store, he keeps asking if he can buy one on time

My brother said I could start a Pedal store. Needless to say, those are getting thinned out as well.

 

[PS412]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

The worst thing about many guitars is many cases. Where the heck do you put all the cases. My wife God bless her looks at guitars like art work. She bought stands so they can be displayed in the living room and family room. She hates the closet full of cases.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

The worst thing about many guitars is many cases. Where the heck do you put all the cases. My wife God bless her looks at guitars like art work. She bought stands so they can be displayed in the living room and family room. She hates the closet full of cases.

Case storage is turning into a problem at my house as well. I typically take only 2-3 guitars to a gig so I’ve been considering NOT getting cases for my new arrivals unless I don’t already have something that will fit.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

That’s great that you can display them!

Here’s what I’d like to do:

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

What it's like owning multiple guitars?

It’s not entirely unlike owning one guitar. The main difference is that, when you find yourself wanting a different feature or sound from your instrument, instead of modifying or selling it, you might choose to buy a new one or simply pick up another that you already own. The key for me is freedom from the need to have one guitar do everything.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

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?

I own over 80 guitars. I just stopped caring. I don't know by heart what is in the racks and what is gone or what is parted out. My main rig is always there and I feel like I lost my left nutsack when a few are gone for the demo. I also know instantly when something is off. I have a guitar of a customer in the racks and that guitar does NOT belong in THAT location!!!! Crazy stuff, I know

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?

I am a curious case I guess since I absolutely do not care about high or low end. I only care about unique stuff now. Handmade, hand crafted stuff, made locally or by Americans I trust. I stopped caring about labels but I do care about my own local economy and helping friends. That's more important to me than anything now. So nah.

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.

I could get by with one acoustic and perhaps a handful electrics (one with pure single coils, like a strat, one like a tele, one with p90's and one with medium humbuckers and one allrounder with a Floyd Rose and odd ball pickups like the Tosin Abasi Fluence set). I don't NEED What I own but each is a different flavor in the pallette of (making) music. I just like timbers, they inspire me.

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)?

Oh hell no. I haven't touched some guitars in YEARS. I own a set of two les pauls; brazilian rosewood necks, ebony boards, one has a 5A flamed maple top, the other 3A figured koa, both have Seymour Duncan Zephyr pickups. You'd imagine I'd play them. Right? nop, Haven't touched them since '14. I own my dream guitars with Star trek inlay. Haven't played them in over a year. I just don't care about them. When it comes to it, all boiled down, I have a couple of crappy, ****ty prototype guitars that I play because they just WORK for me. No reason why. they just feel like home. I put elixer strings on all my guitars, so if I wanted to play them I could just pick them up, wipe off the dust and they'd feel fresh and new

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.

I hinted at this earlier. I simply like the woods, the figures or pickups or sometimes just the story. What I don't play or even have parted out are the ones I simply don't care for. and it's not a finish thing or playability thing. it's a story thing.

I had a guitar: carved front 2 piece ash body, bolt on maple neck. tele setup. I flattened the body, added a rosewood neck from a guitar I scrapped earlier, added a trem, F holes and 3 humbuckers. I gave it a white tiger finish. I loved it!! Played it weekly (for me, that's a lot cause I don't play that much anymore). Then I decided to add a coat o gloss finish to it. Now, I don't care about that guitar anymore. It's not MY guitar anymore. Or so.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I inspired this, didn't I? In the hanger thread....so here's my thoughts:


1. How do you keep track of what you have? I don't have a list like some. I have them sort of mentally indexed by brand, style, color, purpose. I also have a "spot" for everything.

2. When you GAS for new stuff does the cheaper stuff still turn you on? . Cool knows no price boundary. Cool is cool period. Now - that said, I do have a couple of very nice guitars, so I don't need another. I am a fierce bargain hunter. I hit pawn shops every week, book mark repeatedly on eBay, etc. I love projects too...But I LOVE a price-performer. For a run of the mill Epi to get me going, it had better be an amazing player (I mean amazeballs amazing), really cheap (like you stole that cheap), or something unique (like that cool silverburst V...)

3. At what point do you become a collector moreso than a player? When you buy them with the intention of only displaying them, or for their investment value, or some other weird fetish. I have play every guitar I own, and have gigged with my Gibson Aged Budokan.

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)?. Yes I play them all. Frequency may vary. I might not play one for a year or two, and then it hits a stand and gets played daily for months. Some I play more frequently, others less so. If I get a serious Jazz mojo going, I get my LP studio or my Dot. If I'm blessing hard, then my Kramer Start, the Dot, or a Les Paul. VH - Neon yellow Kramer. Style, mood, and unknown factors drive the choice. There is no pattern. I definitely have a few "band" guitars that are obviously for that purpose and get a lot of mileage there.

5. Something I have found as my collection grew is that I don't feel nearly as intimately connected with all of them. . There are a few I am intimately connected to period. There are a few that are the goto great players. There is overlap there, but not total.

I think BTMN said it best - I just love everything about guitars. Playing them, working on them, modding them, listening to them, looking at them.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

What it's like owning multiple guitars?

All honesty - best things, in order:

#1 Having one tuned in E and Eb on demand
#2 Never having to wait to keep playing because of a busted string
#3 Not worrying about being unable to play if something happens to one

 

[orpheo]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

I have build two identical guitars. one for E, one for Eb. same specs. They're build so similar, same body, same everything. but still... one of these sounds better in E, the other in eb. hence their tunings. They feel different too, despite it all.

that's what it's like to have a collection.

 

[DonP]

Re: Can we talk about owning many guitars?

1. Excel

2. Yes, but a lot less frequently. It is increasingly rare when I can go into GC or SA and see something I desire.

3. I don't understand. I have guitars to be played.

4. Yes

5. I don't understand.

I have about 70. It's like going into a candy store and being able to eat anything you want.