Re: Not using valuable gear...
Those are collectors, not players/musicians.
I think this is a misconception, because playing and collecting isn't mutually exclusive, unless you're talking about a non player or untalented guitar dude who buys because he can and thinks it's a thing to do.
I really think collecting and playing are two different things that intermingle.
I was always a player first, being most concerned with sounding and being professional. That meant giving up a lot of things teens do and spend their money on, to pursue music seriously.
Then, there's the side of it that's a hobby, where collecting get's put into it's own category, where you know the value of precious collectibles. That doesn't mean you can't use them. It just means that you have to protect an investment.
For that reason, a collector/player has to make a decision on what role certain pieces will have.
Players who are still at first or second base in experience have the perspective that you always play your favorite gear.....because it's the best you've afforded.....and it IS the best. That may be a couple thousand.
But after awhile, you may find yourself with some 'once in a lifetime' pieces that can't get dinged or thrashed in a musical environment. Sure, you'll still pull them out, play them, record with them, clean them and put them away, but you'd be sick if a headstock got chipped or something else tragically expensive.
Eventually, it's not about playing them or selling them, but allocating them to rare useage so they stay pristine. After all, there's dozens of other great guitars you've bought that do the job and are equally good as everyday instruments.
It may be different for those lucky few like Joe Bonamassa, Joe Perry, or Peter Frampton who can use 50's guitars with tons of insurance and roadies who act like personal security. Great for them!
That's a special privilege they have, being rich and never worried about money at the level of gear.
I've always been a guitarist first, and a gear aficionado second. And I've never been so snobbish about gear that I'm embarrassed to show up with a $400 guitar. The guitars I use in constant rotation at real gigs (and yeah, I've played thousands, and a lot at big venues) are pretty much divided between $2000+ guitars and $400 guitars that are dialed in.
At home are the 35th Ann. LP Custom, mint 2000 PRS McCarty, flametop CS ES-335, Marshall Jubilee stack, etc.
Most of the others make it out of the house. And with amps, all of them can be gigged as long as they have Tuki covers on them when getting moved.
