How many guitars are too many?
- Thread starter G-Mac
- Start date
Unleashed
Member
As many as you would like as long as they do not have any scary looking features, are not black, and you limit the pick-ups to 2 or less. Of course there will likely be a serious tax placed on picks so you better stock up.
venomballistics
Member
I guess I NEED two more.
install a DiMarzio MoJoe bridge pickup and an air classic neck position into the axe of your choice .... its a three digit figure at the very least
venomballistics
Member
beach elvis
Member
I have just enough for what I need in the studio.
The obligatory Strat, a Gretsch Pro-Jet with mini humbuckers for Les Paul-ish duties but with a twist, a Nashville Deluxe Telecaster (basically a Strat in a Tele body 'til it's modified with push-pulls), and a Gretsch 5120 big-body (that one works surprisingly well when mic'd up as an acoustic when necessary. In fact, if you both mic it on one track and run the line from the pickups into another track, you get dead identical electric and acoustic tracks simultaneously.)
Now basses...I wound up with 3. Don't need 3, just wound up with 3, including a VERY SPECIAL Gretsch Hollowbody that sounds fantastic on tape. Better than it should, to be honest.
Had a '61 Rickenbacker, a '66 Gretsch Tennessean, and a few other nice older ones that occupy the other half of the list that compiles the guns I should've never sold.
I'd give an appendage for a VOX AC30. With what they cost now, I'd just about have to.
The obligatory Strat, a Gretsch Pro-Jet with mini humbuckers for Les Paul-ish duties but with a twist, a Nashville Deluxe Telecaster (basically a Strat in a Tele body 'til it's modified with push-pulls), and a Gretsch 5120 big-body (that one works surprisingly well when mic'd up as an acoustic when necessary. In fact, if you both mic it on one track and run the line from the pickups into another track, you get dead identical electric and acoustic tracks simultaneously.)
Now basses...I wound up with 3. Don't need 3, just wound up with 3, including a VERY SPECIAL Gretsch Hollowbody that sounds fantastic on tape. Better than it should, to be honest.
Had a '61 Rickenbacker, a '66 Gretsch Tennessean, and a few other nice older ones that occupy the other half of the list that compiles the guns I should've never sold.
I'd give an appendage for a VOX AC30. With what they cost now, I'd just about have to.
This is the kind of question on which I do not allow myself to dwell, or I would end up forming judgments -- well, rationalizations, really -- that lead me into another collecting frenzy.
I guess there is a sense in which a guitar (or any instrument) that you can't play well is an unnecessary instrument, but that status should be fixable with a little practice. So anyone who can play anything from his collection both well and with pleasure still does not have too many.
I buy all instruments more out of optimism than necessity, but I like the ones I have. They range from a drawerful of harmonicas up through an inherited parlor organ (I need to repair the bellows and replace a couple of the bass reeds) to a modern Fender P-Bass and a decent Gretsch (a Chet Atkins Country Gentleman). There is a pretty good Yamaha electric piano in the house since about six months ago, and somewhere out there in the world is a Yamaha Clavinova (an older but somewhat better piano than the one I have already) that I bought from my brother but haven't yet picked up because I have no place to put it. (There's that square footage argument again.) I am the first to admit that I can't play anything worth a damn, but the bad sounds sure can't be blamed on the hardware.
That's the semi-thoughtful position on instruments. The addict's answer is that too much of any good thing is barely enough.
I guess there is a sense in which a guitar (or any instrument) that you can't play well is an unnecessary instrument, but that status should be fixable with a little practice. So anyone who can play anything from his collection both well and with pleasure still does not have too many.
I buy all instruments more out of optimism than necessity, but I like the ones I have. They range from a drawerful of harmonicas up through an inherited parlor organ (I need to repair the bellows and replace a couple of the bass reeds) to a modern Fender P-Bass and a decent Gretsch (a Chet Atkins Country Gentleman). There is a pretty good Yamaha electric piano in the house since about six months ago, and somewhere out there in the world is a Yamaha Clavinova (an older but somewhat better piano than the one I have already) that I bought from my brother but haven't yet picked up because I have no place to put it. (There's that square footage argument again.) I am the first to admit that I can't play anything worth a damn, but the bad sounds sure can't be blamed on the hardware.
That's the semi-thoughtful position on instruments. The addict's answer is that too much of any good thing is barely enough.
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jaykellogg
Absent Comrade
How many wives is too many? Any answer more than one. How many cars, guns, guitars, or watches is too many? There is no real answer. I own more than one of all of these. I have a Beard Vintage R resophonic and a Lazy River baritone weissenborn.
prochi2k
Member
I don't have enough, nor do I play them as much as I'd like to:
Martin acoustic cutaway dc16gte
American standard fender strat
MIJ fender precision bass
fender acoustic (dreadnought)
Acoustic Classical guitar (generic brand)
Also have an electronic drum kit, keyboard, and two violins.
Martin acoustic cutaway dc16gte
American standard fender strat
MIJ fender precision bass
fender acoustic (dreadnought)
Acoustic Classical guitar (generic brand)
Also have an electronic drum kit, keyboard, and two violins.
JackDaRiffer
Member
This thread brings up the old Rosewood vs Maple debate for fretboard wood regarding tone. Makes me wonder about the Rosewood Grips on my 586.
I have a Fender, several Jackson's and several Charvels. I think all told I have 13 guitars but I haven't counted in a while.
Jackson Collection:
Charvel Collection:
I have a Fender, several Jackson's and several Charvels. I think all told I have 13 guitars but I haven't counted in a while.
Jackson Collection:
Charvel Collection:
HAWKEYE10
Member
If I had one it would be too many. I just don't have what it takes to play. Don
I just don't have what it takes to play. Don
NFrameFred
Member
Something else that has held my attention for over 50 years. I've actually done pretty good to keep the total number I've gone through under about four dozen. But to be fair, I did lay off for about 25 years there for a spell . . . 
captorquewrench
Member
I own not a single guitar. Anything with strings I've been banned from even attempting to play in the house.
I stick with saxes, flutes, clarinets; in addition to my daily players there is a stead revolving door of things borrowed, attempted, enjoyed for a while and then passed on.
As an aside, I'm looking to hire a pianist in the Houston area. Regular paid gig. If anybody knows anybody...get in touch with me.
I stick with saxes, flutes, clarinets; in addition to my daily players there is a stead revolving door of things borrowed, attempted, enjoyed for a while and then passed on.
As an aside, I'm looking to hire a pianist in the Houston area. Regular paid gig. If anybody knows anybody...get in touch with me.
I have a few basses. One older Fender Telecaster that my Dad & I
added an extra humbucker pickup in the bridge position, three component basses that I put together myself including one with a whammy bar, & two Carvin six string
basses, one fretted & one fretless. I won't even get started on amps
& speaker cabinets!
added an extra humbucker pickup in the bridge position, three component basses that I put together myself including one with a whammy bar, & two Carvin six string
basses, one fretted & one fretless. I won't even get started on amps
& speaker cabinets!
OP
I've literally owned thousands of guitars...because I owned a music store for close to twenty years 
I only own acoustics now. About a half dozen, and a couple of banjos. They could be described as mid-range to higher end instruments with an emphasis on the higher end.
Many people in my situation and with my history would own a lot more than I do, but not me. I've come to the realization that guitars, though beautiful, are still just inanimate objects. It takes a person to bring them to life. Or, to paraphrase the NRA "Guitars don't entertain people, PEOPLE entertain people".
I've heard too many great musicians make $50 guitars sound like a million bucks, and too many lousy musicians make million dollar guitars sound like 50 bucks.
I only own acoustics now. About a half dozen, and a couple of banjos. They could be described as mid-range to higher end instruments with an emphasis on the higher end.
Many people in my situation and with my history would own a lot more than I do, but not me. I've come to the realization that guitars, though beautiful, are still just inanimate objects. It takes a person to bring them to life. Or, to paraphrase the NRA "Guitars don't entertain people, PEOPLE entertain people"
.I've heard too many great musicians make $50 guitars sound like a million bucks, and too many lousy musicians make million dollar guitars sound like 50 bucks.
jj2am44
Member
I have 5 guitars and a banjo. A Yamaha acoustic, a Yamaha acoustic electric, a Guild 12 string acoustic electric, a Stratocaster and a 12 string Rickenbacker.
Terry C
Member
I couldn't count all that have come and gone over the years.
Now I just have two, an acoustic and an electric.
The acoustic is a Martin D-18 Standard.
The electric is an American Std. Stratocaster hardtail, 3-tone burst, rosewood fretboard, Bill Lawrence noiseless single coils (wound for me by Becky L.).
Now I just have two, an acoustic and an electric.
The acoustic is a Martin D-18 Standard.
The electric is an American Std. Stratocaster hardtail, 3-tone burst, rosewood fretboard, Bill Lawrence noiseless single coils (wound for me by Becky L.).
longranger
Member
1988 Hamer Arch Top, this guitar was their catalog cover guitar that year. I had bought 5 custom shop guitars from them and the sales rep. offered me this one.I have bought 7 Hamer guitars all from their Michigan shop in the 80's and a couple of G&L's ,mostly Strat style. I always had a difficult time finding a Fender that was half as well made as a Hamer (American from the 80's) or a G&L. My "Certificate of Authenticity" is signed by Leo Fender before he died. 4 acoustic guitars 3 Takamine and a Guild.
I have exactly twice as many rifles as guitars and three times as many revolvers. A handful of really well made guitars is plenty for me.
I have exactly twice as many rifles as guitars and three times as many revolvers. A handful of really well made guitars is plenty for me.
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