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

[Spikezone]

OK, my turn...I'm 50 now, and started playing guitar in grade 7 when I was about 12 years old...after 2 years of piano lessons and peer pressure, I jammed out of playing the keys and my Mom let me try out the guitar...I got my first electric (a Raven copy of a Mosrite) in 1970 (grade 8), then a Mansfield Les Paul copy in 1971 (grade 9)...I traded the Raven to a friend for an old Sears Silvertone (in other words, Danelectro) with lipsticks in 1973 (grade 11), then promptly started disassembling it in High School to use the neck in a guitar of my own design (which I never finished until about 1980)...my brother and I were in a band with some friends all through school, and I finally bought my first 'real' guitar, a '75 tobacco sunburst Les Paul Standard, brand new in 1975 (I still have it and use it regularly)...it was the first time I ever paid back every cent of any loan my parents had made me...once I moved to where I live now in 1979, I got in a pretty serious cover band and decided I needed to get a Strat to compliment the Les, so I bought a tobacco sunburst Strat from a friend, but it was a bit of a wreck in need of serious fretwork, and I didn't want to pay out the cash to have that done, so I traded it to the former owner's brother for an old Gibson EBO bass (I was playing a little bass in the band I was in), which I ended up hating and lost a bunch of money selling it on consignment in a music store...that was it until 1997, when my wife and friends got together and bought me a black G&L Legacy Standard that I had been GASsing for for my 40th birthday (I still have and play that one, too)...then in 2005 I was diagnosed with cancer and after going through all the treatments successfully, I decided to celebrate life by building another guitar, which turned out beyond my best expectations...then finally (at least so far anyway), once again my wife bought me a black Yamaha SA500 (which I now play more than all the others) that I was in love with for my 50th birthday. That's it for electrics so far: my Les Paul, G&L Legacy, Yamaha SA500, and 2 home-made jobs, and I love them all.

And also somewhere along the way my parents bought me a nice Yairi classical guitar (which I don't play enough and needs some brace buzzes fixed), and my wife bought me a Yamaha APX-6 back in the early 80's.

My wife and my birthdays have been good to me along the way...if it wasn't for them, the expense of bringing up three children would have totally prohibited me from having even the guitars I have now...I can totally live without any more, but could see me wanting to add a Tele or ASAT and maybe a guitar of some sort with soapbars eventually and a nicer acoustic/electric like a Yamaha CPX-8...
-Mikey

[dewees]

I'm 51 and I have GAS.

This is just like AA meetings:)
QUOTE]

This is the opposite of AA meetings. At AA meetings they don't encourage eachother to drink!

[dewees]

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.

 

 

 

This forum and eBay have played a large part in feeding my GAS. Living here in rural New Hampshire, there aren't many stores around. I buy plenty of used stuff just to try it out. Often, I figure I'll be reselling a guitar even before I get it.

 

I have 12 electrics, three acoustics, and two basses. Ultimately, I'd prefer to have fewer guitars. I have a notion of what would comporise the three ideal guitars I could live with. But nobody makes them.

[Wayward Son]

Being really new to this site I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all the stories in this thread. I've probably learned more about guitars and guitar playing in a few days on this forum than I have in the last few years.

It's good to know there are other.... "old farts"....out there that are still gigging or sitting in the basement strumming and picking and having as much fun with these wonderful instruments as we did as kids.

I toast you Gentlemen....ooops and Ladies.

[Sauntman]

I would have loved multiple guitars when I was 18, but I couldn't afford them. Now, at age 41, I have a much larger disposable income so I have 5 electrics and 1 acoustic. I have flexibility with a Strat, Tele, LP, Jackson DK2 and my cheaper Epiphone SG 310. I don't have a semi-hollow though.

[favata5]

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?

Guitars to me are what shoes are to women ..you gotta have many!! or..look at it this way...some guys get stuck with one women in thier life and thats all..others,like me have to shuffle through a few to find what we need...in my case,still looking for that magical broad,,,LOL:p...and before the ladies here put me down and want to chop my balls off,,,Im only joking!! I dont really call women broads LOL:p

[De-bone-air]

I'm my father's son.....which means I'm a flea market/yard sale junkie.

Just like him....I can NEVER pass up a bargain/deal!?

I bought my first electric guitar at age 16.....a 1969 Teisco E-110.

Now....almost 40 years later....I've guitars up the yin-yang!

Many of these old, budget, MIJ, yard sale/flea market guitars....are now considered el-cheapo collectibles?

Teisco, Conrad, Heit Deluxe, Norma, Decca, Kent,.....go figure?

[musicman65]

Now I may be the oldest poster (60) on this thread! My first electric was a Danelectro (just like the '59 copy out now) bought used in 1960 from an older kid. Bought a new Jazzmaster in 1964 or 65 and sold the Danelectro.
Wish I had kept it! Looking at the reissues now before they are gone. Just for old times sake. I'm retired now (in Sept.) and have been doing a lot of playing and recording, and buying cheap guitars!

[C-4]

I started taking lessons in 1955 on a $29 Clover acoustic guitar. After six months the guitar would not play in any type of decent tuning, so my father bought me a Kay with a DeArmond pickup. Next year, he bought me a Gibson and a Fender Tweed Princeton amp. In 8th grade I got a Guild Stuart X-500. In sophomore year HS, I got a custom made 22 fret Gibson Super 400, after having ordered a DAngelico from the original man himself. He died five numbers before my guitar was to be built, hence the Super 400.

I have had, borrowed, or played all the original desired Gibsons, Fenders, Martins, et. al.
I used to have about 40 high-end guitars at a time, but have purchased about 250-300 guitars (mostly high-end ones from Gibson, Fender Custom, Deusenberg, Martin, Gretsch, etc.) , but only played on 2-3 of them regularly, except when I was being called constantly for studio work.
I paired that down to two very fine Gibsons, and a Yamaha beater, just recently.

I recently sold off a lot of guitars to help finance my wife's new business. This made me realize that even with having all the great guitars I had, that it was a waste of money to keep buying new stuff just to have it. I did have it, enjoyed them all immensely, but don't need all of them now, or I would have kept what I needed. Besides, I can always buy one when I want too.

I am totally satisfied with my Gibsons and unless something major happens, I just plan to keep my current GAS under control....Yeh right! Haven't we all said THAT before?!

[orourke]

I'm 50, I started playing when I was about 12. When I got my record deal with RCA back in 1984, I owned a '69 SG a ''79 Strat and a cheap Harmony archtop. A year later I picked up a G&L Superhawk to have a back-up on tour. Even though I was a pro, I was happy with those four guitars.

When I "retired" from preforming in the 90's I became acquisitive, I started buying guitars. The mental illness has not abated, I've got 22 guitars now. Though I did come out of retirement to justify my collection. Did a gig last night, it was good.

[Johnny Z]

My first electric guitar was a St. George, made in Japan I think and a Silvertone combo amp, before that I had an accoustic Harmony F-Hole. Later I went to a Guild Starfire III I traded that for a new '64 Strat, played through a '64 Super Reverb, I traded for a Twin Reverb a few years later which I still use today. A few years later I got serious and started to learn Jazz so I sold the Strat and bought a used ES-335 ('66) from my Teacher, played it for over 30 years. I've had a few back up guitars, such as my LP and a Ibanez AF 85VLS, an SG and a few other Strats and Tele's I still own most of them. Today I'm sizing down a little. I only keep what I use and expect to sell of some stuff in the next few years. Lets not even begin to talk about the 35+ amps I have or did have.

[Brian Krashpad]

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.

 

 

I think this is a big factor.

 

Through the 70's and 80's I had one main electric and maybe a second or third as a backup. Over the last 10-15 years or so I've been able to see what's out there and at what prices, and now I've got 18 electrics and a couple basses.

[Brian Krashpad]

I'm 50, I started playing when I was about 12. When I got my record deal with RCA back in 1984, I owned a '69 SG a ''79 Strat and a cheap Harmony archtop. A year later I picked up a G&L Superhawk to have a back-up on tour. Even though I was a pro, I was happy with those four guitars. When I "retired" from preforming in the 90's I became acquisitive, I started buying guitars. The mental illness has not abated, I've got 22 guitars now. Though I did come out of retirement to justify my collection. Did a gig last night, it was good.

 

 

Congrats Steve! Pics?

[ignatz]

I'm 43 and I guess I still haven't realized that I need zillions of guitars. For years I made do with one strat and one acoustic (70s hardtail oly white and 80s Guild D35, respectively), and I sold the strat about fifteen years ago because I wasn't playing rock very much and I hate having instruments around that I'm not playing. (Heh. I typed "fifteen tears ago" by mistake just now. What a giveaway.) I spent a long gig-heavy period owning just one acoustic guitar.

Now that I've rediscovered electricity, I've bought a few cheap electrics, but I'm selling them or giving them away as fast as I buy them. My goals are still to have as little gear as I absolutely need and to get the most out of what I do have. I've still got the Guild, and I'm going to hang on to the P-90 Xaviere because it just {censored}ing rocks, and I'm still shopping for one really good two-humbucker guitar. Then I'll be pretty much set.

[stormin1155]

When I was 19 (back in the mid 1970's) I had a 1960 ES-345, a Les Paul Custom (Black Beauty), a 1967 SG (before it was called the Agnes Young model), and a 1969 Stratocaster. I played them through a 1973 Twin Reverb and a 1957 Tweed Twin. Unfortunatelly they are all long gone. Now I play on guitars I have built myself from the ground up or modded cheap guitars.

[z28talon]

My brother had only 2 electrics for many years and when he was 43, he decided to get his first Fender (a tele).

Right then, I decided to buy a strat and learn how to play guitar. I wasted no time making up for all those years when I didn't play. I started almost immediately building my collection, which has grown to 14 guitars in the past 14+ years. (and that doesn't include the 3 that I traded in to get ones I have now).

My brother and I have been adding guitars since then. He currently has me beat by at least 2 or 3 (not including acoustics, which I have never bought or wanted). Mine are all lefties and his are all righties, so we don't even have the option of trading or sharing our collections.

If I had started younger, finances would have made collecting so many guitars nearly impossible. Beginning later in life and at a time when my job could easily support my "habit", adding to my collection has not been as difficult.

Adding to a collection can start very innocently. Hmmm....I have a strat. Why don't I get a Les Paul? After that comes a tele, then a Ric, then an SG, then a Flying V....and eventually you need another strat or tele or Ric......... Now we're talking 'collection'.

I do feel sorry for you righties though. You are constantly tempted by what you see when you walk into a music store. Most of my guitars have been ordered, because most music stores do not carry a decent collection of lefty guitars. I can walk into a music store and not be overwhelmed by all the tempting guitars hanging on the wall. You righties.....wow....talk about having to have will power!

[musicman65]

Well, the first guitar I actually played was a platic 3/4 size Elvis Presley guitar I got for Christmas in about 1957 (I was 10 yrs. old). It came with nylon strings and an Elvis Presley songbook. A family friend tuned it up for me on Christmas morning and I figured out how to play it by looking at the chord diagrams. I actually chorded songs on that thing!

My parents then bought me an acoustic archtop from a family friend and he gave me a small book that was a cheat sheet for musicians. It had just chords patterns of about 200 old standards. Just chords and measures written. Like G/// C7/// D/. Over the years I lost that little book, but it was really nice to have. Wish I still had it.

After that archtop I got the '59 Danelectro and then the 64 Jazzmaster.

I did have a really nice archtop that my first wife's father gave me in the late 60's before he passed away. He had played in the original Sons of the Pioneers with Roy Rogers. He later used it on a live radio show he had done in Pennsylvania back in the late 50's and early 60's. I gave it back to the first wife a while after our divorce. I thought she should have it for sentimental reasons.