Trading/buying/selling guitars... how often do you switch it up?

[some_dude]

Re: Trading/buying/selling guitars... how often do you switch it up?

I average 1 every 3 years.

1993 I was given my first guitar (Fender H.M. Strat). It's all I played from '93 until '03.

I bought 2 in 2003 when I got back into guitar (Fender Strat and Epi LP). These guitars ended up heavily modded as I learned to hot rod on them and I wouldn't sell them since they're worth less than the parts that are in them. I haven't really used either in years as both lie in pieces as I took them apart and lost interest in them before reassembling them.

I upgraded my main guitar in 2006 (Gibson Les Paul Standard).

Upgraded it again in 2008 (Gibson R6). I had a friend who worked at they dealer who swung me a price I couldn't refuse.

In 2009/10 I picked up three guitars because I had this idea that a well rounded guitarist should own a Strat, Tele, Les Paul and an SG. What I learned from the experience is that I'm not well rounded. I gave away the Strat, kept the SG, and realized that I preferred Gibsons before paying for the Tele, so I bought an Explorer instead.

In 2012 I upgraded my main guitar again (Gibson R9).

The R9 was a gas killer. It sounded better than I had imagined and nailed all the sounds I'd been looking to achieve when hotrodding previous guitars. I haven't had any real interest in other guitars since getting it. I'd happily thin out the herd except that most of the guitars I'd be willing to part with aren't worth selling and the ones that are worth selling aren't worth selling in today's market.

That said, I would like to acquire an ES-339 some day so I can have a P-90 LP, PAF LP, and a semi-hollow LP. I figure that if I'm going to be one dimensional in my preferences I might as we'll be classy about it.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Trading/buying/selling guitars... how often do you switch it up?

Buying and selling guitars doesn't necessarily have anything to do with self-respect, or respect for guitars. People by and sell guitars for lots of reasons.

Some people actually put a lot of thought into their purchases and acquisitions. The fact that they're different than you doesn't make them "idiots," or "mad men."

+1. Just because you hang on to guitars doesn't mean you're somehow more intelligent or picked the world's best guitars to begin with. There's always better guitars out there, and there's always something you have that you can give up when one of those becomes available. Some of the guys that never sell guitars may not play some of them very often, if at all. They may not like what the local music store will give them for it, they may not have any shipping boxes, or may just be too lazy to sell them. No inherent virtue in hanging onto guitars for decades.

You should have what you like best, and that often means playing a guitar for a while to see if you bond with it. No one can predict with certainty what your interest in each of your guitars will be 5, 10 or 20 years from now. You may not end up selling any of them, but maybe you should have.

 

[JOEBACCA]

Re: Trading/buying/selling guitars... how often do you switch it up?

Never...respect yourself and your purchases. If you sell off like a mad man then you're probably buying like an idiot.

The same statement above can be said about the Dallas Cowboys trying to build a dynasty around Tony Romo

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Trading/buying/selling guitars... how often do you switch it up?

unlike my bandmate and brother I switch it up OFTEN every few months I change my main guitar but I'm pretty satisfied with my Tele Deluxe and ES-339 Ultra now but I always say that. I'm most likely not goanna keep the ES-339 and get something with a fast playing neck and lower output pickups.

I got my eyes on the new Fender Starcaster and the pawnshop mustang but I wanna try out a whole bunch before my next purchase

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Trading/buying/selling guitars... how often do you switch it up?

I like to buy, sell, and trade alot. I get to meet new people and play different guitars that I normally wouldn't. Sometimes you make a buck, other times you don't. But its still fun to So I'm definitely in the 5+ category.

As of right now I only have one guitar I will never sell–my dad's original 80's Charvel Jackson. He's the only one to own it and he passed it down to me. Not worth a whole lot in terms of money, but I have memories of my dad playing live with that guitar as well as his band's CD that used the guitar on.