How Many Guitars is Enough?

Somehow I just find it hard to be waiting in a guitar store without falling in love with something.

Maybe that's just it.
I can't give my heart away that easily.
Ken
I guess I'm just a slut... a dirty rotten tramp.

Somehow I just find it hard to be waiting in a guitar store without falling in love with something.

Maybe that's just it.
I can't give my heart away that easily.
Ken
I guess I'm just a slut... a dirty rotten tramp.

LOL!!!!

That's okay.

In my younger (less prudent days), my friends and I had a saying (or maybe more of a maxim)....
"Tramps have feelings" & "Sluts are people too"

Ken

Somehow I just find it hard to be waiting in a guitar store without falling in love with something.

Maybe that's just it.
I can't give my heart away that easily.
Ken
I guess I'm just a slut... a dirty rotten tramp.
LOL

That was a great quote from that book CitizenNoir. I'll have to check it out someday maybe.

Well, sorry to have to move on from all this syrupy sweetness.... :D

There is something about most of the posts on this thread that I'm having a hard time grasping.

It seems to me that quite a few of the major offenders regarding 'Consumer Correctness'
are also the ones that keep tauting the whole -
"All the Tone is in Your FINGERS" bit.

It would stand to reason that if you truly did believe that, then why the need for so many guitars....?

I need to mellow out with a nice hollow body
I need a SC for all that bite
I need a twin HB to get good overdrive
I need a SC/HB for versatility
I need a neck thru for sustain
I need a semi-hollow because of feedback
And I need THIS guitar because it's the only one I ever saw in that color....?????????

WOW!

Would anyone care to attempt to bridge that rift for me.... :twisted:

Ken :wink:

Easy: different guitars allow for different tones. Whether you'll actually get those tones depend on your ability to play. If you want all the tones you need multiple guitars AND skill. If you need just one you'll need one guitar and skill. In any case, you'll need an instrument and skill.

Ken, I see what you mean. :wink: Speaking for myself, Its not about having lots of guitars(nothing wrong with that though). I have several instruments(not all guitars). Its kinda like a palette. Each instrument has its own sound. Its fun to coax a nice tone from a $99 Squier 51 or a Cheap lap steel. My Johnson acoustic is great for slide guitar and if you add a single coil pup to it your in Elmore James heaven. 8) I can even get it to sound like a steel guitar. But its not so good for regular chording so I have my blueridge also.

Lots of players stick to one or two basic instruments(Hendrix and SRV played strats for the most part. The Beatles used many different guitars over the years and each album had a different sound (more or less). Nothing wrong with either approach :wink:

I guess what I'm getting at in a roundabout way is I like being able to coax lots of different sounds out of different instruments.Hound dog Taylor is a big inspiration to me. He played the cheapest pawn shop guitars know to man and always got a great tone out of it. Thats probably why I like my 51 so much :D

Here is some houndog with his cheap pawnshop axe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96weSekmeN0&mode=related&search=

Now thats what I'm talking about :twisted:

Chris C. said (in part):

I'm somewhat torn between the desire to lead a non-consumerist, zen-like existence without a lot of unnecessary material baggage, and the contrary desire to have a comforting pile of toys, especially musical ones. Perhaps that's it - I don't need all those 'comfort foods' like packets of chocolate biscuits, but I do have a weakness for the odd 'comfort purchase', expecially if it's a good looking guitar.

Ditto! I could have just as well quoted most of the rest of your post, too, and agreed or understood. You and your wife sound like very interesting folks to me! And that TV show doesn't sound even remotely boring or odd to me. I wish we got it here. I'd love to see it. (Thanks for this topic/poll, btw...I don't feel so alone or like such a freak today because of it! Never mind that I'm an older female. At least someone "gets it." :D )
rparker asked:
I guess if I had to only have one, I'd be very pleased with the LP. It's almost as if the rest of them are my toys while this one is my guitar.

Any of the rest of you have the same kind of feeling?

My feeling is similar yet different. If forced (and I mean FORCED!) to choose only 1 guitar, I'd have to go with my eldest, an '81 Aria Pro II. It's not my favorite, but that's the one I learned most of my basic stuff on, it's "my baby"...and it's signed by Roy Buchanan, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray! I met them all at different points in time and got Roy to carve his name in with a pen knife (took at least 1/2 hour), Bonnie to sign with a black ink pen (also carved in by necessity...she said she hated the noise it made, I remember!), and both Buddy and Robert to sign with a "permanent" white marker (not so permanent as Robert Cray has worn off somewhat).

My Aria is not much to look at either, IMO. It plays great, is great for the price I paid ($200, maybe??? Can't remember...), and definitely has sentimental value.

On another note, there are a few guitars with which I could easily part...especially if a new one would be waiting in the wings! I count 4 (off the top of my head) that I'd sell for a decent price with little or no hesitation. The problem is that I don't think any of them would fetch much, so I may as well keep 'em! :roll:

As others have discussed, I don't consider myself a "guitar collector" either. To me, that would require that I own mostly vintage, rare, and quite expensive things that I may or may not be able to play.

There should be a special word for us. 'Enthusiasts' doesn't quite seem strong enough, but as you say "Collectors" gives the wrong message too. :?

Vicki and I don't watch much TV, and there are only 2 shows that we watch each week. One is a comedy style music quiz, and the other is called "Collectors". It's always fascinating to see what people collect and how much pleasure they get from it. Even the most bizarre things seem to come to life at the hands of a true enthusiast. There was one person for instance who collected pieces of scrap plastic that they found on the street at various locations around the world as they travelled. It was all carefully bagged and labelled. Nothing sounds more dull or ridiculous but it was actually more like a work of art than a collection of trash. :)

Of course they show the usual things (including a collector/dealer with his vintage guitars) but some of the collections (such as the one that was all of random items all in the same shade of red) were surprisingly wonderful to see.

We don't have anything that we 'collect' as such though. We've amassed about 800+ CDs, but that's mainly because I used to own a CD shop and when I closed it I kept a good selection of mostly 'Classical' (which was what I specialised in) plus some early Jazz and Blues. And we've just added a range of rock stuff since.

But guitars have proved to be quite addictive. I love the look and feel of musical instruments, and the fact that I can also get a modest tune out of many of them seems almost like a bonus. I suppose that for somebody at my stage of ability, two or three should really be enough. Perhaps a reasonable electric, an acoustic and a bass. But then one plate, and one knife and fork might be considered enough too... I'm somewhat torn between the desire to lead a non-consumerist, zen-like existence without a lot of unnecessary material baggage, and the contrary desire to have a comforting pile of toys, especially musical ones. Perhaps that's it - I don't need all those 'comfort foods' like packets of chocolate biscuits, but I do have a weakness for the odd 'comfort purchase', expecially if it's a good looking guitar. Judging by the responses to the poll, I'm far from alone in that respect. :wink:

Like you I do love playing them. And I've improved a lot over the last two or three years. I feel that the fact that I do play every day, and give them all a turn now and then, should be a mitigating factor when the Consumer Correctness Police drag me off for sentencing. In the meantime, another one or two can't hurt.... can they? The sales and manufacturing side of the industry needs the turnover and the jobs.... and anyway, a couple more might come in handy to build a barricade when the Consumer Correctness Police come for me.... I'll keep them busy defusing a banjo while I slip out the back and head for the hills with a pair of loaded Epiphones... 8)

Cheers,

Chris

after viewing your property and home thru the weblinks you posted a while back i'm surprised you watch any TV!
I'm not joking folks, this guy has a beautiful home in a beautiful setting.

I've bought and sold a lot over the years. Currently I "only" have 5, and a mandolin.

I've weeded down to a Tele, a Squier Starfire V (loosely based on the old Guild model, kind of an ES335-like semi-hollowbody), a Guild acoustic, a Yamaha mini acoustic, and a Washburn Bass.

I'm also down to just two amplifiers, unless you count the cigarette pack sized Smoky Amp.

:)

id say 2-5 as i have 3 and i think 2 more SHOULD make me complete.

1. Yamaha SG1500- (81-84 japanese)rare bird and i think it matches gibson for sound and quality! great for all kinds of rock/blues etc...love the push/push tone pots (do i want single coil or HB) 8)

2. Washburn HB-35 - (88 japanese) love the feel and tone on this bird! again the japanese definitely take pride in their quality. Great for blues/jazz/rock....... looks nice in wine red :P

3. ovation applause AE-35- not a bad 12 string but kind of ugly (grey sunburst), got it in okinawa in 1992-93 and wanted to play around with a 12 string

4. Fender squire bullet- (got in 1987-1988) first guitar and was fun to play (damaged in earthquake) as it is a jr. size model. Enough said!

To round off the list id like a jumbo 6 string acoustic and maybe a strat (oops that's 6 if I count the squire :oops: )

Ken, I see what you mean. :wink:

Here is some houndog with his cheap pawnshop axe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96weSekmeN0&mode=related&search=

Now thats what I'm talking about :twisted:

Well thankx for the reply Ken. (and Arjen)
I'm willing to accept that explination.
Mostly 'cause I just couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at all the fine examples of.....
Shall we say - Shameless Consumerism....? :wink:

Admitedly, I have a sort of Zen outlook when it comes to material things. (Hence the Zen in CitiZenNoir)
Though I have no problem with people buying lots of stuff if that's what they want.

Loved that Houndog vid!!!!
Thankx for that.
I agree with the whole pawnshop axe for slide guitar ethic.
'Worse than cheap' guitars to me, always sounded better for slide.

I tend to have a very 'clean' approach to the actual slide technique,
so a guitar that would normally have found it's way to the trash heap helps me quite a bit in 'dirtying up' my slide sound.

Ken

My feeling is similar yet different. If forced (and I mean FORCED!) to choose only 1 guitar, I'd have to go with my eldest, an '81 Aria Pro II. It's not my favorite, but that's the one I learned most of my basic stuff on, it's "my baby"...and it's signed by Roy Buchanan, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray! I met them all at different points in time and got Roy to carve his name in with a pen knife (took at least 1/2 hour), Bonnie to sign with a black ink pen (also carved in by necessity...she said she hated the noise it made, I remember!), and both Buddy and Robert to sign with a "permanent" white marker (not so permanent as Robert Cray has worn off somewhat).

You met Roy Buchanan!!!!

Wow!

That's too cool.

As far as the marker wearing off goes,
I've seen lots of people put clear mylar over the autographs on their guitars.
(Or thick strips of clear tape)

Of course, you can't ever take it off, or the name goes with it.
And take care then not to have it peel up at the edges.

Just a thought.

Ken

ps -
Like your hubby, I also save ALL of my receipts... :D

Well, sorry to have to move on from all this syrupy sweetness.... :D

There is something about most of the posts on this thread that I'm having a hard time grasping.

It seems to me that quite a few of the major offenders regarding 'Consumer Correctness'
are also the ones that keep tauting the whole -
"All the Tone is in Your FINGERS" bit.

It would stand to reason that if you truly did believe that, then why the need for so many guitars....?

That would be me offending there. Guilty as charged, sir :D

Perhaps I could put it this way. I've had one wife. We recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and promised to enjoy the next 25 together. But I didn't get married until I was 35, and I had a lot of girlfriends before I met Vicki. Many more girlfriends than I've had guitars. Now, I could have met her when I was 16, but I didn't. I was 34 and well worn-in. We'd both been in relationships of various lengths and degrees of seriousness but neither had been married before. I've been faithful ever since though.

So I don't assume that my understanding of guitars, how they work and how they fit with me, will necessarily proceed any faster than my knowledge and understanding of women (which is also still well short of 100% and will hopefully always stay that way - you gotta keep some mysteries! 8) ) . And I didn't expect that I'd find a good match first shot, in either case. That would require me to be either very lucky, or perhaps just easily satisfied.

But, as smokindog pointed out - there's more than one good tone. I still believe that the fingers are where the most important part lies, but his palette analogy is spot on. I like to mix the colours a bit, and I don't know without trying them out, how they're going to work, or what I might be able to achieve with any of them. So I have more than one guitar, and I also have other instruments too. I might end up with one guitar that I love the best, but the others can still stay friends. And I'm pleased to say that some of my old lovers are still good friends all these years later too. :)

So it isn't all greed or inability to stick to one love.... :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

...my knowledge and understanding of women (which is also still well short of 100% and will hopefully always stay that way - you gotta keep some mysteries! 8)
I wouldn't worry about hitting 100% and losing that mystery.

I stated that I believe the correct number of guitars is around 20. I believe tone is all in your fingers. I have 3 guitars and exactly 1 effect pedal . . .

I'm a mass of contradiction :)