Re: Is there something I dont get about owning many guitars?
To add to Blueman335's and MikeS's EXCELLENTLY worded points. :fing2:
The same concept applies with many Fenders. Having 4 or 5 stratocasters enables the same concept, but in many cases to an even greater extent. One can own a completely bone-stock '54 Strat, low-power S-S-S, vintage trem, bakelite-based plastics, etc., and yet also own a '57 with 500k pots, three duncan Hotrails, a 5-way switch, 3 ply-guard, callaham trem, etc. At the same time, one can own many, MANY modern H-S-H routed strats and be left with a near infinite level of pickup possibilities ranging from H-S-H with coil-splits, blender pots (neck and bridge pots), S-1 switches to convert parallel wiring to series wiring, mini-toggles, etc. A person with 5 strats can not only have 5 completely different pickup configurations / wiring configurations / bridge configurations, etc., but can EASILY mix and match parts to various strats (so long as the screwholes line up) with a small set of screwdrivers and a soldering iron. This interchangeability and variations that exist in parts, even within the production line (Remember, Fenders were made to be easy to maintain / replace parts on) allowed for the creation of legendary guitars such as Blackie, and in the case of the Charvel "Hot-Rod" copies, Frankenstein (Which EVH stated was him picking out a body and a neck labelled "second" on the assumption that "second" meant they were "second in line to be used" as opposed to "some sort of flaw".
However, back on topic, the reason that most people own 5 Les Pauls, or 5 Strats, or 5 Whatevers is because it makes that interchangeability that much easier. Imagine being at a set with one stratocaster and seven pickguards. You'd have to not only be very quick with a soldering gun, but you'd have to be able to know which pickguard produces what tone within that particular guitar. Having multiple guitars, even if the guitars are the same line / species... for example, having several american deluxes, one with SCNs and stock wiring, one H-S-S vintage superstrat, one vintage S-S-S, and one modern H-S-H. Having the same body style combined with different pickguards means that its owner could swap guitars mid-set with a minimum of lost time (this is why SRV had #1, Lenny, etc., in the event he broke a string or a guitar got damaged, he could swap mid-set, or even mid-song. Furthering this, people have multiple guitars (this is true in particular with strats) because screws can strip out the wood of a guitar over time, and if too many screwholes are stripped, this can compromise the integrity of the Pickguard / Body relationship. Hence, multiple guitars for multiple pickguard wirings to minimize undue unscrewing.
As for MikeS's point. There's a reason why the Stratocaster is copied. It was, at least body-wise, a revolutionary design that shared its name with the contemporary "super-plane" of its day, the B-52 stratofortress. It was the first to have a dual-horned design for easy upper-fret access, and the slightly-offset contours, combined with the aesthetics of simplicity with a minimum of over-the-top body shaping, makes it an icon and a study in industrial design. It's a work of functional, completely usable art, and even within the name "stratocaster", there are variations on the theme, some traditional (50s to 60s evolutions with the body contours, neck shapes, etc.), some not so traditional (LSR nut use, the HM strat's black / graffiti / 8-bit NES graphic), some a nod to the competition (HSS strats), and even special runs that are intended as more obscure variations. The beauty of this art is that owning more than one provides not only different sonic opportunities (comparing a SCN'd AmDlx to an original '57 will yield VERY different sonic, and physical properties that owe to about 50 years of technological evolutions in electric guitars, while acknowledging the greatness of the original design), as well as a perspective on what was considered ideal by players or big business, dependent on what era of Fender we're looking at. These eras bring different building ideologies, (contoured heels, 4-bolts, 3-bolts) as well as what sounds were "the flavors of the day"... particulary 50s and 60s strats, before hotrod companies (Duncan, DMZ) began to market hot-rodded / aftermarket pickups to help cross-breed the "big two" into each other's sounds. So yes, the electric guitar is an artform, as well as a story-teller to what sort of sound was "en vogue" among musicians, and each decade, or even year tells a story as to the state of musicianship and corporatism in the United States, and later on, internationally.
Just my .02
Jason
