Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

S

Silver

New member
Lately I've come to think that I should sell my herd of mid-level guitars and just get one high end guitar. As it stands, I own about 6 mid-level guitars that have a range of hardware, pickups and woods.

The benefit of having a variety of guitars is of course, a variety of sounds. But since none of the guitars I have are high end, and since my playing time is split between a variety of scale lengths/radii/neck profiles, none of them quite feel like home. I see all the famous guitarists, and they all tend to settle on one kind of guitar and they just learn how to make it work for them (although I'm sure they own a large variety).

For example, Slash has his Les Paul, Gilmour has his strat, Angus has his SG, Vai and Satriani have been playing roughly the same Ibanez' for years. And so on. I got to thinking that if Gilmour or Satriani can cover the whole of their music catalogues with just one kind of guitar, then why can't I?

Sadly, I can't say there is any guitar out that that has all the things I would want in a guitar, but then there's always luthiers who can build something from scratch.

So then, discuss. One guitar luthier built to you exact specification, or many different mass-production guitars?
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Now why would you do a fool thing like have only one guitar?

The best thing about being a guitarist vs. being in a relationship with a woman is that as a guitarist, you do not have to be a one-guitar man.

Though I suppose you could choose to if you really wanted to. It's like choosing to have only one bite of a kobe beef sirloin cooked to a perfect medium rare. Shameful, at best.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

The deal is after buying that number 1 guitar, later on you would find yourself wanting another one.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

The thought has crossed my mind, but nah..I love too many different sounds- 335, P-90 les Paul, Strat, tele, difefrent pickups, tonewoods.Rather have many good tones than one great one- well, unless you werer to drop a 56 Les paul, 59 Dot neck, or 58 Custom in my lap, then maybe.
 
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Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Why not have SEVERAL high end guitars?
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Funkfingers said:
Why not have SEVERAL high end guitars?
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I have 1 high end guitar. For every type of guitar that I enjoy. :P

One high end strat, one high end Les Paul, one high end ES, one high end SG, and one high end acoustic. Maybe one day I'll have a high end tele, but I doubt it.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

The problem is just because the 1 guitar that you buy is expensive doesn't guarantee that it is "the one". In fact very little in the very expensive ones makes that even more likely.

Gilmour and those folks didn't go and buy something expensive. They all have main guitars that at the time were, wait for it, medium priced guitars :)
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Its like the Lay's Potato Chip slogan for me... "No one can have just one"... :D
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I personally think it's a very good idea, if you've played some guitars by whatever builder you're looking at, and you have a very solid idea of what you want, and you find yourself returning to a certain type of guitar again and again.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

My approach to wanting new guitars is always: "What does the new guitar give that I can't already get with my #1, and will I use it nearly as much?". This has tamed so much gas for me. I have a locking tremolo equipped guitar, I have humbucker-equipped guitars, I have a single coil tele with all the switches I'd ever want, and I have my bare-bones #1, Amira. I'm only really wanting a P-90 equipped SG for the playability and distinct sound, but in the mean-time I can flick a few switches on my tele and I'll venture slightly into P-90 sound territory.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I have several high end guitars (although you can always find some cork-sniffer who would claim "production" guitars are for pleebs :rolleyes: ), but honestly, I can seriously enjoy playing my MIM Tele, which was dirt cheap, but kicks. The state of overseas guitar production has progressed eons in the past 10 years or so.

I don't believe in an everything in one package for guitars, although some can do everything I need very well. The important thing is to have good materials, hardware and fretwork, and last but not least, a pro level setup. I've never regretted having pros setup my favorite guitars. Even though I might get to 85 to 90% of where they end up with my own setup, the extra 10% is well worth it! A lot of guitars have a "good", but rarely awesome setup from the factory. That can close the gap between price levels immediately.

Also, if you have a very expensive guitar, you tend to start treating it with kid gloves, even to the point of it becoming a case queen. There's no point in doing that IMO unless you are more of a collector than player. I did that to an extent with a very nice Custom 22/birds I once had, and eventually ended up selling it because it was too valuable to scratch!
 
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Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

Silver said:
For example, Slash has his Les Paul (...)
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More like a roomful of Pauls. He does have a green double neck Guild and a red BC Rich Mockingbird, both quite stunning guitars dare I say... Vai is known to have a wall of guitars (was it two hundred something?)... Didn't Yngwie Malmsteen sell his Goldtop not long ago?

The forum has spoken, and this is a rare occasion when I agree with every answer posted.

Silver said:
So then, discuss. One guitar luthier built to you exact specification, or many different mass-production guitars?
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Neither. I try to find the best quality instruments that I can still afford. A guitar needs to be played and enjoyed with peace of mind. Buying something way beyond your financial comfort might drive yourself crazy about putting a scratch or dent in it, and putting yourself in such a stalemate situation is pointless, isn't it?

One more note: if your instruments are what keeps you from doing a better job making music, by all means upgrade your gear. Otherwise upgrade your practice habits.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

MetalManiac said:
The thought has crossed my mind, ut nah..I love too many different sounds- 335, P-90 les Paul, Strat, tele, different pickups, tonewoods.Rather have many good tones than one great one.
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+1. I like to rotate thru my guitars, depending on the mood I'm in. Different tones, bodies, & necks inspire more variety in my playing. I always take two to gigs, and not the same two twice in a row. I used to have one guitar decades ago, and NEVER want to go back to that again. I cringe at the thought.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I have never been tempted to do something like that.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

I've considered it. I have 6 pretty nice electric guitars right now. Nothing too flashy. Some upper-end production-model USA stuff, some nice (but not CS) Gibsons, etc.

I've toyed with the notion of selling most of them and commissioning a be-all, end-all one-off from Suhr or Koll or somebody, but I always back away from the idea. I think it's because I'd invariably try to make it be some kind of super-versatile machine that would do all the things I want an electric guitar to do, and it could only result in a guitar that did lots of things not quite as well as the individual, more specialized instruments I already have.

You know, do-everything things never do any of the things as well as the individual things specifically designed to do specific things. That's 5 things in one sentence. I probably would have done better with 5 individual sentences.
 
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Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

sosomething said:
I've considered it. I have 6 pretty nice electric guitars right now. Nothing too flashy. Some upper-end production-model USA stuff, some nice (but not CS) Gibsons, etc.

I've toyed with the notion of selling most of them and commissioning a be-all, end-all one-off from Suhr or Koll or somebody, but I always back away from the idea. I think it's because I'd invariably try to make it be some kind of super-versatile machine that would do all the things I want an electric guitar to do, and it could only result in a guitar that did lots of things not quite as well as the individual, more specialized instruments I already have.

You know, do-everything things never do any of the things as well as the individual things specifically designed to do specific things. That's 5 things in one sentence. I probably would have done better with 5 individual sentences.
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I hear ya. As much as I'd love to have, say, Will Stinnett build me a custom one-off rock/metal guitar perfectly to my specs, it's not gonna stop me from wanting a really good Tele, you know?

I tend to be dissatisfied "jack of all trades, master of none" type guitars and amps. I prefer to ballpark it with the gear and then get the rest of the versatility from my fingers.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

B2D said:
I hear ya. As much as I'd love to have, say, Will Stinnett build me a custom one-off rock/metal guitar perfectly to my specs, it's not gonna stop me from wanting a really good Tele, you know?

I tend to be dissatisfied "jack of all trades, master of none" type guitars and amps. I prefer to ballpark it with the gear and then get the rest of the versatility from my fingers.
Click to expand...

I hear you. I wasn't born understanding that concept and went through a lot of swiss army stuff getting there though.

These days, especially with amps, I'd much rather have a 1-trick pony with a mean effing trick.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

If you're a player that plays a lot of different genres, there's little chance you'll be able to cover it all with one guitar. If you know what you like, know what your style is and want a really nice instrument, then why not? I wouldn't recommend selling off anything for an expensive guitar without playing it first (and I realize that kills going the custom guitar builder route). I've learned over the years that it all comes down to the individual instrument so unless you get a really good deal online or deal with a company with a generous return policy then there's a good chance you'll be losing a lot when it comes to unloading it.

I don't like having a ton of choices. I had around 6 guitars simultaneously at a few points in my life and it was always a question of what to use for what. Having one electric made that a lot easier, especially when it's an instrument that can cover a lot of territory with just a different pickup and a tone knob adjustment. However, every time I've ever said I was done, G.A.S. comes around (it doesn't matter how good the instrument is). Expenses change that, but I've entertained having a second nice electric around (mostly so that I can designate one instrument for studio and one for playing gigs). I'll never see myself hoarding gear again though. It's liberating just plugging in and playing and overcoming limitations.
 
Re: Every been tempted to just settle for one high-end guitar?

One of the reasons I started thinking about this is because all too often, I find myself fiddling with/modifying equipment and GASing for something new instead of just playing.

It made me think about when I first started playing guitar. I had a tele, and a peavey transtube (SS) 15w amp. I played everything on that setup, from Dire Straits to Metallica. If I needed a particular sound then I just had to make do with what I had and the result was that I grew an affinity to that guitar that i've had with none since. I learned to coax sounds out of it, y'know? These days, if I want a certain sound that I don't immediately get out of my current guitars, I just GAS for a guitar that will give it. I enjoyed guitar much more in those days, when it was just a case of picking up my guitar (no choosing, as it was my only one) and plugging in.

I think of the diversity that artists tend to get out of their guitars. Sure; Knopfler used a Les Paul sometimes instead of his Strat-type guitars, Gilmour used teles and p-90 loaded LP's, Slash used a BC Rich, etc. But for the most part, the legendary guitar players have gotten a huge array of sounds from their main guitar. So I'm convinced that I don't really need a wide range of guitars to enjoy playing guitar. Furthermore, I can't help but think that we lose a bit of our musical identities when we can't pin down one sound as our own.
 
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