Jump to content

Why I Have 32 Guitars


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 96
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

I'm currently at 6... 4 electrics and 2 acoustics. My wife bitched heavily prior to my most recent, and I only got her to calm down by promising to sell one of the other ones. Fortunately, she's since forgotten about them...

 

My issue is that, frankly, I'm a terrible player and really have no business owning even the ones that I own... I really should have only 1 until I get better, but on the other hand, I find practicing to be much more interesting when I can mix up the guitars I use, which helps keep me practicing longer.

 

All of my guitars are also very cheap. Ibanez RG3EXQM1, Mexican Strat (bought used), Xaviere XV-900, Epi Les Paul (bought used - my newest acquisition), Seagull Entourage, and a Takamine acoustic/electric that was way too cheap on Craigslist (used) to pass up. Of all these, none was over $300.

 

Still, I'm contemplating offing the Xaviere... I really bought the LP to replace that guitar, and I really don't use it anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

LOL Jim hit the nail on the head...

My skill level pertaining to the guitar is nowhere in the same league as the quality of the instruments I make "music" with. Touche.

Anyways, I still think 4 is a good number for me : 3 electric / 1 acoustic, with 1 electric constantly rotating in and out of my possession for something new (makes it more affordable).

My conundrum now is that I absolutely love the {censored} out of all 3 of my electrics. And would hate to part with any of them, though I am SG-rich and Shredder-poor currently:idea:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Oh, my guitars are way too good for me, too.
I'm a decent *musician*, but not all that great of a guitarist, if that makes sense.

There are probably 4 elements that have driven my acquisition and buy/sell fervor:
1) Appearance: a pretty guitar just makes you want it, no?
This influences acquiring and keeping the Hamer Stellar 1, the Hamer SATF, and a few quilt-tops; the Hamer Centaura, maybe the Westone Corsair falls under this

2) Just like 60s Fender/Gibson guitars were worthless in the 70s, and 80s MIJ guitars were considered crap until enough time passed for people to realize they were actually made well, I love the idea of finding professional quality guitars for $200 (or less!) that may eventually end up being considered rare classics
This is why I had to try getting both Westones and Vantages, since they are Matsumoku-made and have a good chance of

3) Once I stumble on one example of a good guitar, I often want to try out minor variations to see if I got a "magic" one, or if there is consistent goodness...plus the coolness of having 3 different colors of the same cool guitar is impressive by itself.
That's why I have 3 Vantage AV-325s and several Westones (even if not exactly the same model)

4) Collectibility of rare-ish guitars that aren't being made anymore also attracts me, especially if there are some unique characteristics.
This explains the maple-boarded Hamer Cali, the Epi 935i, the Nitefly, the Peavey Vandy, the Hamer 12-string, the Alvarez Dana Scoop, the Westone Villain Graphite, and the soon-to-arrive Peavey Vandenberg Custom Neckthrough.

They are all good guitars, though. 80% of them are excellent guitars.

I see it as: as I improve, I will never have to feel like I am held back by my guitars.

The reason I have so many is that I literally cannot bear to part with some of them. Every time I consider selling one, I think of how difficult it was to find it at that price in the first place. At least 2 guitars (the Stellar 1, the Westone Villain Graphite) were purchased because I had sold earlier copies and regretted it so much I had to find other identical models to replace them. So I won't make that mistake again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I agree with everything you have said, BF and would like to add that I should have heeded the advice of the gibson.com forumites : DO NOT EVER SELL OR TRADE A GIBSON, JUST BUY MORE.

 

I have broken that rule and realize that I traded off a guitar which I will never be able to reasonably replace (Gibson Blueshawk)... and it depresses me!

 

But that's only one instance of 'sellers' -remorse I have had.

 

In all honesty, different guitars excel at different styles of music : my Gibson's are unparalleled for that awesome vintage-rock/hard rock tone that I love so much; my Ibanez excels more so in heavier genres of music...

 

I never was much into acoustic guitar until I recently played a Collings D-1A and I have to say, I will with 100% certainty buy one in my lifetime!!!... There is a rhyme and reason to owning so many nice guitars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'm at 37 at the moment and I've only bought 3 guitars in the past 2 years.

I'm a sax player and I had to buy a new professional series tenor sax earlier this year and I paid almost $5k for my tenor. Unfortunately, there are no 'Agile ' versions of professional saxophones. I tried one of those $400 made in China saxophones and it was pure junk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Because I think my wife would object at this time to me having 33.

 

 

Obviously because you needed one guitar for every day of the month, (31 day month) plus one extra in case you break a string and have to make a quick guitar swap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I read the title of this thread out loud and laughed. my wife said "you only have 5 or 6 - right? thats not bad."

 

 

And that is why I LOVE guys like Brainfertilizer and BBreaker and can have no hatred for their collections. Because I can point to them and tell my wife that my 13 guitar collection is really not that big of a deal!

 

My collection has no great collectors items, just a variety of players. LP w/hums? Check. P-90s? Check. Semi-hollow? Check. Fully hollow? Check. Strat types? Check. Acoustic? Check. Electric 12-string? Check. A few oddballs for kicks? Check.

 

Sure, I'd like a Tele...and a bass for recording would be nice. But I'm OK for the time being. I will probably peel a couple that I don't play off in the next few months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...