Q for the old farts...when did you realise that

[JohnnyR]

multiple guitars were the ticket and how long did it take you to set up your "basics"?

 

In my teens (I'm 51) I always had one really good guitar be it a Gibson or Fender (what else was there back then) and some kind of Japanese backup that I was loathe to use. It wasn't until my mid 20s that I finally said to myself that I needed more versatility and added a 78 BC Rich Seagull to the armoury to do things the 76 3pup LPC couldn't and for a while all was well, for mere moments in one's individual musical mystery tour.

 

Those two instruments have served me well and still do since about 80 but there was another affliction I suffered in the early 90s...the pang for twang. I had long desired a Tele but not enough to actually buy one until one day when I walked into my local den of financial ruin and there on the wall was a 92 MIM Tele that called out for me to play it. One minute later it was at the counter and $200somethingCdn. after that it was headed home with me to undergo corrective string-through surgery, hardware and electronics upgrades and a highly successful Barden transplant. Would you think this would be enough?

 

Two weeks later I walk into the aforementioned den and on a different wall I see a 10 mo. old MIA 40th Ani. Strat with a MOTS pickguard, Tele knobs and...Bardens! I think I paid about $800Cdn. for it. Those were in 95 and I have not gone nuts for a while excluding a couple of mini-strats a few years ago and and an 04 Taylor acoustic recently. I'm really happy with what I have now and short of a lottery win happening I think I can keep the GAS in check:cop:

 

How did you get to where you are now?

[z28talon]

I started playing at 43, so I figured that I'd make up for lost time. Actually, it was also a matter of being at a place in time where I could actually afford buying some gear. If I had begun playing guitar in my late teens, my lack of sufficient finances would have cramped any desire to increase my guitar collection.

 

It started innocently enough. First I bought a strat and then I saw a nice Epiphone lefty Les Paul Standard and decided to get that. Next, I had to have a tele. Then I ordered a Rickenbacker 12 string and while waiting, was offered a used Ric 360v64 at my local music store......way too nice to refuse. Well, a Gibson Les Paul and SG followed shortly after. Then there was the glorious year when PRS made a run of lefties. I was hooked.

 

I probably averaged a new guitar every year or so. The first 5 years were the "make up for lost time years". In the past 4 years, I've only purchased one guitar and that was my "retirement" guitar.

 

I'd easily trade half of my guitar collection to have started playing much earlier in life. Drums were fine, but very impractical to play in my apartment days.

 

By the way, I can thank my brother for my introduction to guitar playing. He had 2 electrics for years and years and then one day told me he was going to get a Fender Tele. My response was that I'd go and get a Fender Strat. That's how it began.

[roygbiv]

I stopped at pang for twang.

 

That's enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

[docjeffrey]

I bought my first good electric in '83 and my second in '94. Now, I have 21 electrics and I told my wife last night that I didn't intend on stopping buying guitars anytime soon.

 

I'm in a unique position though, because my professional skills are in high demand at the moment, so I get asked to conduct workshops and teach extra classes (beyond my regular assignment at the university). They pay $500 per day, so by teaching a 3 semester hour class over a period of two weekends, I can earn $3000. Also, I get an extra $13,500 if I teach one of our 6-week summer sessions.

 

My son's college is being paid for by his grandmother, and my wife and I both have great retirement plans, thanks to the taxpayers of Colorado (up to 80% of my highest salary plus cost of living bumps for life). We're also putting quite a bit of money into a supplemental fund (VALIC).

 

So I'm pretty free to spend some of my extra cash on gear. It's really what motivates me to do all the weekend and evening stuff, and I try to earmark about 1/2 of the income to stuff I've been gassing for.

 

I'm 52, by the way, and have averaged buying two guitars (good guitars) per year, but every once in awhile I sell off a bunch of stuff that didn't work out for me.

 

Edit: By the way, I could probably afford some really expensive gear like $7000 one-off custom shop guitars or boutique guitars and amps, but I've chosen to stick mostly to off the shelf gear or main stream custom shop stuff. That's what I see most pros playing (with obvious exceptions), and I just wouldn't feel right tying that much cash up in a single item. Plus, when you get into the $5,000+ range, you've severely limited potential buyers when it comes time to sell an instrument. $3000 is my absolute max for a guitar or amp. $2000, plus or minus a few hundred, seems to be the level where you start seeing some pretty good guitars.

[Wayward Son]

I'm 47....in 78 I traded in a Mansfield SG copy for a new Antigua (sp) Strat. It was my only guitar until a couple of years ago. I played a fair when I was younger and single but when the family thing came about the strat sat in a closet for many years.

A few years back I was asked to host a weekly jam at our Legion, so the strat came out once again. Since then I bought a Fernandes Revolver Elite because I wanted something with some growl. Then almost a year ago a dream came true. I've wanted a doubleneck forever just to play Hotel California properly so I finally bought one....quite by accident. Searching Ebay for some graphite golf clubs turned up a bunch of guitars from a Canadian company called Dot on Shaft. I bought a really nice double neck from them. I might have to get another one they call the 2B1 next.

Now I'm reading all these amp threads.....look out.

I might actually learn to play these things if I'm not careful.

[Chairborne]

I had a Univox LP copy for years that was my only electric guitar.

 

Then a buddy gave me a pawn shop San Dimas Charvel as a gift.

 

For several years I had two electric guitars.

 

Then that shop in San Diego ran some killer deal on the Gibson Faded SG. Had to have it. And eBay really started to take off. From then on, I went nuts.

 

Selling off a few of the surplus more recently though.

[docjeffrey]

 

In the past 4 years, I've only purchased one guitar and that was my "retirement" guitar.

 

 

Pics?

[GAS Man]

I got a crappy Framus Acoustic as a present in '66

Bought my first crappy MIJ electric around '71 ?

Bought my first good electric in 84

I sold that MIJ back in the early 80s

and then by somewhere in the early 90s I had 5 guitars

Then I went nuts and I now have 70.

Makes no sense.

Someday I'll figure it out.

The clutter is starting to get to me.

My wife is very patient with my obsession

I'm thinking about starting guitar lessons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually #70 arrives tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weird thing is, I LIKE THEM ALL - just some a lot more than others.

[z28talon]

Pics?

 

 

It's the one on the left. A Fender American Deluxe Strat. The guitar on the right is my G&L Legacy. I liked the black shell pickguard so much on my Fender, that I got one to replace the white pickguard on my G&L.

[docjeffrey]

^^Wow! Nice pair. That would keep me busy for a long time.

[Wayward Son]

Very Nice z28talon

I agree on the pickguards

[Wayward Son]

 

I'm thinking about starting guitar lessons

 

 

I hope you mean giving lessons

[sylvesterlowery]

Started with a 35.00 Kent pawn shop special. Traded, hunted, and worked my ass of for what I have today(see sig). I like playing in different tunings and as I got more guitars, I started to enjoy not having to retune all the time. my collection may not be much to someone with a lot of high end guitars, but they are all like children to me. I like what I have and feel fortunate to own as much as I do. I frequently go into my music room and think to myself "dammit I'm lucky to have this much stuff. As a kid, I dreamed of having many guitars. Now I'm living that little dream.

[mike.sartori]

Geez, I'm only 23; and I'm working on LP #2. I already have one, plus a strat, a tele, and a flying v that is really a strat. - plus upgrading my tele's body means I need to make a junky one out of the old one; so by christmas time, I should have 5 electrics (warmoth strat in the spam thread) and 1 acoustic - then I need to get another Ric (had to sell it to pay credit card bill + $500 delay pedal) and I really feel like I need a Gretsch billy-bo jupiter thunderbird. I might build one though.

[GAS Man]

I hope you mean giving lessons

 

Actually , I'm thinking about giving lessons after I figure out the finger positioning for that darned A chord!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding.

[inkblot]

Hasn't hit me yet, but lots of time to go. Lately I've actually been getting increasingly satisfied with the tone from my Agile LP, Barber Direct Drive, EQ, and Hot Rod Deluxe.

[milosch]

I'm 42. In the 70's I had my uncle's J160 Gibson to fiddle with. Once I started playing seriously, I added a lovely used Silvertone acoustic. Nowhere to go but up. In 81 or 82 I bought my first real guitar, the Sonex 180 Deluxe. Around this time I also picked up the Farfisa and the Fender Amp for about $100 each. The Sonex was a decent guitar but I got bored with it and traded it for some old strat copy that was really awful. Then in 89 I thought I might start collecting and got the Ibanez thinking I had to have one guitar with a whammy in case I needed it. I have cursed at that thing for almost 20 years. In the meantime, the crappy fake strat was traded into the Gretsch. Better, but not quite there. Only recently have I had the spare cash to really start collecting, but maybe I really don't need any more at this point. Like in the troll thread, it's about practice. You're going to sound about the same on any guitar you pick up, so find a couple you like that actually work and aren't pieces of crap and play play play.

[docjeffrey]

Do any of you think that without the Internet, your lust for gear might not be quite as severe? I mean, I used to visit guitar shops a lot, but with all of the information and all of the gear outlets online, it's almost like you can find something on any given day that you can start gassing for.

[nuke_diver]

Without the internet I wouldn't have bought the blowout deal for the Tele...or hear about Reverends. So I'd only have 3 guitars instead of 5.

[milosch]

Not to mention that there's no salesperson staring you down or otherwise annoying you. I kind of got the bums rush recently at a local shop when I picked up a Sheraton off the rack. I thought that only happened to kids I always hated going to the high pressure POS guitar shops back in the day. Fortunately, we had Heights Guitar back then. Great shop.

[Rand-O-Monium]

I'm in my early 40's,all I'll say is I dig the Imports...

 

Can't afford anything over $500ish/new maybe once a year,but I've acquired what suits my "immediate" needs,but I'm trimming & thinning.

Got "some" of my "Ultimate" guitars in some way shape or form/stage of project,for the time being...

Also some surprises in there,too,namely an older MIJ Fender & late '80's MIJ Squiers..

I gig pretty often,too,so spares/back-ups are good ideas,esp on the cheap!!!

[HKSblade1]

Started off with crap LP copies. credit wasn't happening in the early days so I saved my pennies for only good gear. Bought my first Custom with Snow shoveling money. Hard labor and $1200 later had my Neil Schon LP! Big war going on with Strat vs LP for a while. Then I bought a Strat in 77. Played in about 4 bands in HS and college and used the $ for more guitars. SG, 335 and a Mockingbird. I add on every 2-3 ys when I get a bug up my a$$.

 

Now recording has dampened my guitar fest for the last 8 ys. Wife is really cool about it. I just save $50 a week or so. Use change from the pockets just like old days. What's left in the laundry is mine too!! She meets with gf's for lunches and I buy gear every once in a while. Found an Alp White LP Cust at a garage sale for $350 with a Fender Vibroluxe. That was b4 the interwebz.

 

I miss those deals. Ebay and Interwebz makes it hard to find impulse sellers that have no idea what they are selling. Don't see too many gear specials at garage sales and flea markets anymore

[Mkoris]

In the olden days my only guitar was my LP Costum, i played in bands for quite some years but the bands broke up due to lifes quirky and twisted ways and it got parked in the case and closet for years.

Then as it happen to even the best and the worst of us, i aquired a family of my own and the LP had to go due to dire straits in a fiscal sense.

 

I didn't play for many years at all but when i became single again and had a lot of time to myself i started playing a bit again.

At first i just played my old acoustic guitars but then i found out how much guitar you can buy for a very decent amount of gold these here modern days and i started getting the GAS and there were no other way to control it than to make a deal with the evil guitar mongers of the modern world and here i am, owner of two very nice guitars that didn't cost me more than 15-20% of what a LP Costum equal to the one i once owned would cost me today.

 

BTW, i am 42 and a

[Minitruth]

Two words-

 

"Cheap Guitars"

[_pete_]

 

Do any of you think that without the Internet, your lust for gear might not be quite as severe? I mean, I used to visit guitar shops a lot, but with all of the information and all of the gear outlets online, it's almost like you can find something on any given day that you can start gassing for.

 

 

Yep.

I completely blame Harmony Central.