Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

[lex666]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

But not mine.

You can have a sweet as hell car, LOVE IT TO BITS and be real happy with it. And drive it all the time.

But it doesn't mean you won't like a less good car better.

Sentimental value, maybe it fits you more, maybe it's just... got more mojo.

I think we're on the same page, just saying it differently.

I never said there's anything wrong with loving a car or axe of lesser value. Sure it can be your #1, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

All I'm saying is that the OP has stated he's got one heck of a sweet axe. Its a shame if he doesn't get out there and show the world what it can do... Just like a fast car. A fast car isn't a fast car when it parked all the time... you've got to take it out to truly appreciate what it can do. If his axe was a cheapie but his fav, I'd still say get out there and show it off.

peace :14:

 

[Pierre]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

Alright. I for me am just saying that your best guitar isn't always your main... I don't see why it has to be at all. Your main is usually either your favorite, either the most adapted to whatever you do with it.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

I think maybe some think that I only play these 'coz of what they are? This is not true, I play them and use them because they the ones I gel with... like alot of you guys I do have a couple of other cool (IMO) guitars.. Legacys,ASAT,Wolf,Yamaha... a Custom shop D.C Pro with P90's and wrap around stop tail... but these 2 feel like home... particularly the B.B... I've tried gigging without it... and you know what? It hurts....... that's why they're my favorites... and 'coz they're my favorites, for me that makes them my best, regardless of the name on the headstock.

 

[ParameterMan]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

I think a guitar can also be a "nice thing"(for lack of a better term) as well as anything else. Something you keep tucked away in pristine condition just to come look at once in a while. I talked to a guy who owns a Lamborghini Murcielago. He gets more satisfaction out of keeping it perfect and coming to gaze on it, show it to his friends, fire it up to hear it rumble etc., than he would using it up as a hot rod. Just knowing he has an immaculate Murcielago sitting in his shop is worth as much as seeing people's jaws drop when he pulls past them at a stoplight.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

My best sounding guitar is my main guitar. It cost me less than $500 total in parts when I put it together. It's been played a lot over the years and I still go back to it no matter what else I have in my arsenal. Yep, good ol' Franky hasn't let me down. I like to rotate through them from time to time but Franky still gets first dibs.

 

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

I think a guitar can also be a "nice thing"(for lack of a better term) as well as anything else. Something you keep tucked away in pristine condition just to come look at once in a while. I talked to a guy who owns a Lamborghini Murcielago. He gets more satisfaction out of keeping it perfect and coming to gaze on it, show it to his friends, fire it up to hear it rumble etc., than he would using it up as a hot rod. Just knowing he has an immaculate Murcielago sitting in his shop is worth as much as seeing people's jaws drop when he pulls past them at a stoplight.

Exactly. If I owned a Ferrari (which I no doubt will, unless I die first), I would get more fun out of sitting and looking at it than braving it on the streets of LA.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

I've not read all the replies on this thread so I may be covering old ground.
All I'll say is guitars are meant to be played, that doesn't mean gigged.
If you love playing a guitar at practises or recording but you don't want to risk gigging it then don't.
But if it's not getting played then that's a different matter.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

Can I trash the tubby for you??

 

[Metalblaze]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

In passing, I'd say that music is greater than all of us, and our guitars, and our buddies, and their guitars, and all of the musicians who have ever lived, put together.

I completely agree! I'm not a musician (I just try to play and write some) but I happen to be a person REALLY "mad" about music.

"Music" is another word for "Magic". Aren't they also quite alike?

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

Guitars are meant to be played. Your best guitar is the one that's meant to be played the most.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

i always bring two guitars, just in case. i play in a variety of situations as im sure you do as well, probably even more so. when im doing a swing gig, i like to hear a certain tone. when im doing a rock gig i want a different tone.

i always sound like me no matter what. it doesnt matter if im playing a tele with buckers, a strat or a sg or even a hollow body it still sounds like me for better or worse.

Most guitarists feel this way- I just don't. I never really cared much if I was playing a blues or jazz or fusion gig, or what those 'traditional' guitars and sounds are- I use the same basic sound. I understand people don't play certian styles on certain guitars- that method never worked for me. I guess its like Steve Morse- uses the same guitar in vastly different situations.

 

[veryhungrycaterpilla]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

I'm not a LP fan-can't stand the scale length and neck carve.

IMO, your main guitar should be what you bond best with. Gigging should always take into account keeping your favorite guitar safe.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

As a player, I tend to worry less about midline guitars, but I'm finding that my favorite Les Paul is the one I've sworn away from using, for fear of damaging a $4000 Les Paul. In addition to that one, I just use $800 US Strats. I'm afraid of causing fretware and dings on my 35th Anniversary 89 Gibson LP Custom Black Beauty. It's always been kept mint in a safe. However, it's the best guitar I'll ever own in my lifetime, and I'm thinking of throwing caution to the wind and just making it my number one.

I realize I'll be gigging with some pricey stuff, and in the past I usually didn't roll out the goodies, but I figure you only live once......might as well do it in style.

Hey mang, that's pretty cool, launching a new band & all... writing material... dig it.

Let us vote on the t-shirt design ok?!


Anyway...

Yeah, I think one guy a few posts in kinda nailed it, and it's a really universal question I think... would you rather be known as a guitar player, or a guiar collector?

I've got friends who gig with all kinds of expensive & rare guitars... Pete from Hero Pattern... he tours with a pair of '70s Les Pal Artisans.

Who the hell has EVER seen one of those, let alone own two?!

One's a brown 3-pickup & the other's a black 2-bucker. We made the whole 'Cut You Out' record with the brown one & a bunch of overdriven fenders of various vintages...

Anotehr guy goes out with a cherry '60s block-neck 335 & a '61 ES-330 that are in great shape... AND a '65 super 'verb too. And PEDALS.

I don't travel 'light' with the recording gear & mics on remotes either...

Seveal $1000+ dollar mics + other odds & ends.

We all have a common thought...

You can't worry about it.




Carry insurance.

Specialized insurance doesn't cost a whole lot...find a company that specializes in music gear & pay the couple three grand a year for $100,000+ full replacement coverage.

If the band is an LLC or something then it's a business expense anyway... so like, why wouldn't anyone do that?!

Besides that, what's the point of owning a KILLER guitar if it's never played? Hang it in a glass case...

Get a chair... sit there, look at it... think about what a great guitar it is that your NOT playing?!

:dunce::disappoin

I guess from a pure investment standpoint, $4k in a mutal fund or well played stocks is always gonna have a bigger return & be a safer place for your bucks.

Gee'tars are nothin' but tools... hammers & chisals... just bits of wood & wire.

Just so happens that some of 'em are a whole lot nicer then others.

Living so to NYC through my whole life I've been lucky enough to vist some really, super hi-fi guitar shops (mostly gone now) & was able to sample some real 'vintage' or just "old" instruments WAAAAAAY before Scam Cash & GuiTarget took over the whole scene... Being 'round metro Cali areas I'm sure you can relate...

Before the whole "faux rel'ic" craze came about too...

It always seemed to me that out of all those various "old" guitars, the really cool ones... the ones that always had a 'voice' to them & played great...

They weren't the cherry mint guitars.

Those were usually dogs. Too heavy. Too bright. Mushy dead spots... wouldn't stay in tune for nothin...

The really hip ones WERE the ones that were played. Someone picked it up & thought something like, "Man this is a killer instrument. I'm gonna play it".

And they did... and they usually had some nicks, spots worn down... almost always an odd spot on the horn or "play" area from where they're pick or fingers wore through the lauquer... other odd dings & dents & maybe a new part or two down

Or they were pretty well destroyed ones too... but they were always cared for & never had much of a "story" behind 'em, maybe a couple owners.

Point is, someone played 'em.

Peace.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

Exactly. If I owned a Ferrari (which I no doubt will, unless I die first), I would get more fun out of sitting and looking at it than braving it on the streets of LA.

That's not where 'ya drive a car like that.





OK.


Maybe it IS sometimes.




But if 'ya get off on driving... then it's WAY more fun to drive the thing on an open road.

Check out the Gumball Rally... or that old movie Cannonball Run.

Driving coast to coast in a few days... or through 14 European countries in 4-5 days, open desert roads...

Someplace you can REALLY drive... open it up.

When 'ya get to the point where you can afford "toys" like that, you've got enough money that it's generally not an issue.

Gas, maintence. Parts. Stuff like that.





Nobody buys a $200k sports car with a top MPH to match as a daily driver.


That's why they have a couple BMW's or something...






I'm drivin an '05 Mazda, so...

HA!

There 'ya go!

 

[BlueSky]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

The point of owning a guitar is to play it. If it gets worn the closer it will be to you personally. Its like people who have money, but never spend it. Pointless.

 

[Hoss]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

The more i thought about this thread the more i saw the other points of view...

now granted, my Schecter is not a "vintage" piece per say...but it is pretty rare and harder to come by than most guitars!? maybe someday, when i find another guitar that i like playing just as much as this one (haven't found one yet!), i could see maybe only breaking it out for special occasions/gigs etc.

but that would definitely hinge on the big "if" of finding a guitar that played and sounded as good as this one!

i can't predict the future...but i'd say this guitar can only go up in value as time goes by?!

but in the mean time...:headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

This thread does make you think doesn't it? The only guitars I WOULDN'T play daily are ones that had an illness! i.e if the finish on the neck had worn right thro' ala Angus's SG and the wood was going soft etc. That probably would have meant that guitar was a favorite/ best guitar at some point... he would have to go into retirement/ semi-retirement I guess. It's also just dawned on me... Imagine how some of these players must have felt at first when they knew that they would have to stop playing a guitar they have cut their teeth on and probably bled all of the fret board! I guess once you've been in that situation you would probably vow NOT to let it happen again? I have LOADS of respect for p[layers who can play all the different types of guitars...'coz I struggle to change from say an L.P to a Strat type to a Tele type... I'm more comfortable with an L.P type.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

I'm never selling that LP or Bogner....ever. Others might be a revolving door, but not those 2.

Joe, if that's the truth throw caution to the wind and play the finish right off of it.

Luke

 

[wahwah]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

Imagine how some of these players must have felt at first when they knew that they would have to stop playing a guitar they have cut their teeth on and probably bled all of the fret board! I guess once you've been in that situation you would probably vow NOT to let it happen again?

That's similar to what I was facing when I was told by a couple of luthiers that my old Strat couldn't be re-fretted because there wasn't enough rosewood on the fingerboard. It has been my main guitar for 26 years, with the exception of 1989 when I bought a PRS Custom and spent a year trying to convince myself it was a worthy replacement! I've since sold the PRS because it was just soulless compared to the Strat. Fortunately, I found the right guy to do the job.



Cheers................................wahwah

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Should your best guitar be your main guitar?

That's similar to what I was facing when I was told by a couple of luthiers that my old Strat couldn't be re-fretted because there wasn't enough rosewood on the fingerboard. It has been my main guitar for 26 years, with the exception of 1989 when I bought a PRS Custom and spent a year trying to convince myself it was a worthy replacement! I've since sold the PRS because it was just soulless compared to the Strat. Fortunately, I found the right guy to do the job.



Cheers................................wahwah

YOU'VE WORN THE FRET BOARD AWAY??? WOW.... so does the board now seemed sort of scalloped? Now I guess that guitar has MOJO!