How many guitar are enough? Interesting article...

[DonK]

http://www.acousticguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=7766

[Stackabones]

Neat article.

 

I have a hard time believing that any of those pros only have one instrument. Maybe they use just one for shows, recordings, etc. But only one?! Just one, no more, nothing in the closets, storage rooms, studios?!?!?!

 

Fess up, fellas!

[lauren]

too rational. I mean, take shoes for example, well maybe women and shoes, there is always a reason why you need another pair and it's usually an irrational one, different colour, different heel height, different material, sparkly, simple, tough, flimsy, it just goes on and on and never stops and life is not complete with just one utilitarian pair!

[Terry Allan Hall]

The short answer: There is no "enough"...you can never have too many.

Smart addition: Never tell your wife/GF/Significant Other how many you have!

[Freeman Keller]

Neat article. I have a hard time believing that any of those pros only have one instrument. Maybe they use just one for shows, recordings, etc. But only one?! Just one, no more, nothing in the closets, storage rooms, studios?!?!?! Fess up, fellas!

 

 

One of the funniest scenes in the Leo Kottke movie Home and Away is when he takes you down to "the room where bad guitars go" and shows you the baritone 12 string that he cut the headstock off because it wouldn't fit in a case (making it a 10 string) and the holes in the back where he kicked it during a concert.

 

And Don, looking at your sig, whatcha think - is one guitar enough?

[Freeman Keller]

too rational. I mean, take shoes for example, well maybe women and shoes, there is always a reason why you need another pair and it's usually an irrational one, different colour, different heel height, different material, sparkly, simple, tough, flimsy, it just goes on and on and never stops and life is not complete with just one utilitarian pair!

I used to argue that every sport I took up required a new pair of shoes - hiking, climbing, rock climbing, road bike, mtn bike, kayak ski, .... but now I realize that each sport requires a different helment too. Makes the whole guitar thing seem simple.

[Glenn F]

I have 11. I feel so inadequate!

[lauren]

5 but I'm working on it.

I have 11. I feel so inadequate!

[flatcat]

For myself...I have a bunch of them. Most of them inexpensive guitars for a particular sound in recording - for example, I own a Danelectro 12 string electric for that particular sound.

 

In terms of acoustics - I have a Martin D-35 that suits the way I write and play guitar in my own music. That's the perfect guitar for my musical "voice". No other guitar I've ever played "works", to my ear, for my songs. It's just...a really good match for my playing style, my singing voice, and so on.

 

But. I also have a number of credits (and get a lot of work) as a studio musician and side person, and the D-35 is *not* the best choice for, say, acoustic leads in all circumstances. I'm still shopping around for the right guitar for that - I had a Taylor 314, but it really isn't doing it for me. I tried and fell in like (not love) with a Martin 000C-16 that might be just the ticket for those gigs and recording needs. We'll see.

 

Lastly - I have a Seagull S6+ Folk model that was inexpensive used and sounds great. That's my "beater". I won't necessarily take the D-35 to the beach - but I'll take the Seagull. Especially where I'm hopefully getting a job where I might not want to bring my best guitars with me (long story), I'd be OK if the Seagull was stolen or destroyed. I'm not sure I'd feel the same way about the D-35.

 

It is an interesting article. Depends what you're doing.

[drnihili]

 

Iconic player and composer Pierre Bensusan

[Michael Martin]

I guess at some point the maintenance would become overwhelming--or you'd go broke buying strings. Currently I have 6 acoustics, 1 electric, one electric baritone project under construction, and a borrowed electric--but three of the acoustics get 99.8% of my total playing time: the 'bird (home guitar) the Yammie (stage guitar) and the Fender (camping trip guitar/bedside inspiration guitar). I like having the others around, but they mostly gather dust. So I guess my minimum is 3--but I'd love to have roomfuls, just for variety...

[lauren]

because shamefully, i change my strings about once a year, if anything goes wrong i take it to a techie, the only problem is money to buy more.

I guess at some point the maintenance would become overwhelming--or you'd go broke buying strings. Currently I have 6 acoustics, 1 electric, one electric baritone project under construction, and a borrowed electric--but three of the acoustics get 99.8% of my total playing time: the 'bird (home guitar) the Yammie (stage guitar) and the Fender (camping trip guitar/bedside inspiration guitar). I like having the others around, but they mostly gather dust. So I guess my minimum is 3--but I'd love to have roomfuls, just for variety...

[lauren]

different picks, different straps, different cases, i could go on....

QUOTE=Freeman Keller;23882114]I used to argue that every sport I took up required a new pair of shoes - hiking, climbing, rock climbing, road bike, mtn bike, kayak ski, .... but now I realize that each sport requires a different helment too. Makes the whole guitar thing seem simple.

[dblazer]

You can only play one at a time, and I think that in some ways having several is a distraction. I'd worry about losing "the one" or having something happen to it when I was on the way to a job if I was working at music. I can't imagine being on stage with no alternative.

I've got a self-imposed (with the help of my lovely wife) six guitar limit, which is VERY reasonable for someone that's a total dilettante in regard to the subject, both of the acoustics get a fair amount of playing time, the electrics pretty much are case/closet dwellers except for the rare occasions when I get to play out.

I've had my Callaham Strat for a couple of years and haven't yet been able to fall in love with it, absolutely beautiful, great sounding guitar but I'm thinking the shorter scale on the Gibson style guitars might be more to my liking.

I've got a new one on the way that might stimulate more frequent practice . . . hope springs eternal.



Oh, and from the article, I met Pierre Bensusan a couple of times, when I worked for a black and white photo lab in Oakland we used to print for his photographer and the photographer also worked with Michael Hedges. I think that they all were affiliated with Windham Hill records at the time. Nice guy.

[Hudman]

too rational. I mean, take shoes for example, well maybe women and shoes, there is always a reason why you need another pair and it's usually an irrational one, different colour, different heel height, different material, sparkly, simple, tough, flimsy, it just goes on and on and never stops and life is not complete with just one utilitarian pair!

 

[flip333]

A beater

A resonant full-sounding dread

A parlor or 000 folk size guitar





That would cover lots of ground!

[Hudman]

I have owned as many as eight at one time and as few as one. I went over the past 3 months with one. Now I own 2 guitars thanks to the fine people here.

 

I have a Yamaha FG-413S dread (solid sprice top, laminate nato sides & back) and a forum donated Larrivee OM-03R (solid spruce top, rosewood sides and back).

[valleyguy]

How many guitars are enough? Well, one, but finding that one is real difficult, and I can't let go of the ones that aren't quite "perfect", just like I couldn't let go of a child that's not perfect.

Seriously though, gotta have one rosewood, one mahogany, one OM, one 12 string, and then electrics.........

[kwakatak]

I have owned as many as eight at one time and as few as one. I went over the past 3 months with one. Now I own 2 guitars thanks to the fine people here. I have a Yamaha FG-413S dread (solid sprice top, laminate nato sides & back) and a forum donated Larrivee OM-03R (solid spruce top, rosewood sides and back).

Yup, that about sizes it up for me as well: a cheap MIJ dread and an OM-03R.

Pay no attention to the plywood cheapie and the two electrics behind the bedroom door, though!

[Cripes]

"...a song in every guitar..." Looks like I'm doomed to only 3 songs.

[riffmeister]

a little voice in my head keeps repeating this mantra:

"You are only one guitar away from TRUE happiness!"

.

[DonK]

One of the funniest scenes in the Leo Kottke movie Home and Away is when he takes you down to "the room where bad guitars go" and shows you the baritone 12 string that he cut the headstock off because it wouldn't fit in a case (making it a 10 string) and the holes in the back where he kicked it during a concert. And Don, looking at your sig, whatcha think - is one guitar enough?

 

 

No way!

[T.B.]

too rational. I mean, take shoes for example, well maybe women and shoes, there is always a reason why you need another pair and it's usually an irrational one, different colour, different heel height, different material, sparkly, simple, tough, flimsy, it just goes on and on and never stops and life is not complete with just one utilitarian pair!

Exactly! What women doesn't have the same style of shoe in different colors? That was my advice to guy I jam with who's wife was busting his chops about owning so many guitars. I told him, "Tell her it would be no different than you insisting she could only own TWO pairs of shoes and irrespective of what she wore, the season of year, the occasion, those were her only choices." He thanked me.

Trina

[Cowboy in Idaho]

I once had someone give me an answer to this eternal question "All is enough."

[rjoxyz]

How many guitars is enough? Might as well ask if a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Or as I see it: "If a tree falls in the woods and Jean Larrivee is there to see it fall, can he yield sufficient pieces of straight grained wood to make a guitar I can buy?"