My philosophy for guitars

[GrandmaShreds]

This is just my opinion, but hear me out. We all know more guitars is a good thing (lol) and so for me, I will always go by the rule that instead of buying one really nice guitar for let's say $5000, I will buy 5 guitars with the $5000 (give or take, it could be 3 or 4 depending on the price but that would still be more than just one Axe). Modding is fun, you can create your own unique guitars by modding them with different pickups or whatever you want. And at the end of the day, you have more toys to play with, which your wife and or girlfriend will surely love .

 

[stormsedge]

That has been my philosophy…more guitars for the $$$s. NOW, however, I’m thinking of selling/trading off several against one or two just to gain some space. A fickle human am I.

 

[pchilson]

I'm in the camp of more guitars...Beyond a certain "retail" value the diminishing returns don't do it for me...I'll take multiple "good" guitars over one that has the last 3% trying to justify a "large" increase in the selling price...just me...you do you...

 

[Too Many Notes]

When I was a gigging guy I always brought three to gigs because one time I brought two, had strings snap on both, and ended up changing a string in front of a crowd of people onstage. You remember that scene when time slows down in Saving Private Ryan on Omaha Beach? That was me changing a string onstage - felt like it was in slow motion. Never again.

Now I have a bunch, but realistically I think:

Not gigging - you're fine with just one guitar if that's all you want.
Gigging - minimum of three so you've got two spares. You need a backup amp too IMO.
GAS nut like me - existing collection +1, always.

 

[PeteR]

I had around 70 guitars in my life, more than 60 of them within the last 15 years,
had cheaper ones and some more expensive ones
Currently I have 18 guitars, 12 FujiGen made guitars, and 6 others made in Asia ( €pi / PRS-SE / Stagg / Kala )

I have more and better guitars I ever could have dreamed about....

Currently my goal or 'philosophy' is
'Quality over Quantity'
and I think I'm on a good way, cause life is too short to mess around with cheap stuff

 

[3bolt79]

Currently, I have 25. I started off earlier this year with 39. So that's 14 I've sold this year so far. I tend to buy good, really good, and decent but cheap guitars with no real goal as to what I want in my collection. I've started purging the cheap stuff. I only have 3 guitars that were less than 500 dollars new.

 

[RustyChops]

I have less than a half-dozen currently. There are keepers.
‘Course, I’ve had keepers that I didn’t keep as long as I thought I would.
At one point I had probably a dozen, but that was years ago.
The mo$t I ever had into an only guitar was $5700 in a used Gibson L5.
I don’t need that much wrapped up in one guitar now, but the experience was a grail thing. I’m glad I had it.

 

[P-nutz]

@Too Many Notes

“and ended up changing a string in front of a crowd of people onstage.”

Why was there a crowd of people on stage?

 

[3bolt79]

I'm going to sell a couple more today, a Gretsch and a D'Angelico, and maybe a vintage Ibanez. We shall see. If got to get down to just what will fit in my rack and on my 6 wall hangers, so I don't have guitars in stands everywhere. My rack holds 18 though.

 

[Eddd]

This is just my opinion, but hear me out. We all know more guitars is a good thing (lol) and so for me, I will always go by the rule that instead of buying one really nice guitar for let's say $5000, I will buy 5 guitars with the $5000 (give or take, it could be 3 or 4 depending on the price but that would still be more than just one Axe). Modding is fun, you can create your own unique guitars by modding them with different pickups or whatever you want. And at the end of the day, you have more toys to play with, which your wife and or girlfriend will surely love .

What about your wife and girlfriend?

 

[GrandmaShreds]

What about your wife and girlfriend?

The wife and girlfriend will eventually leave, but the guitars are forever

 

[soulman]

Over all the years of gigging I tended to have more costly guitars and basses including a $3k Fender Custom Shop Nocaster. One reason why is the quality of top of the line Fender or Gibson gear was much better than their import equivalents and if I wanted to move something brand names were easier to sell or trade. About 20 years ago I sold much of what I had while taking a hiatus from playing for quite awhile.

When I began to reassemble my "fleet" again I became more interested in imports like Squiers that I could buy used on the cheap and upgrade to a level far beyond what I had into them money wise. I probably went through 10-12 of them selling some along the way but still have three all of which I have less than $500 into and I'd put them up against any MIA Fender I've ever owned and there have been many.

Eventually I had to increase my $500 limit because if Fender doesn't increase it's prices at least one a year I'm sure they believe the stars will fall from the sky. But I also found the G&L import series to be of better quality than anything Fender was producing in a similar price range and in the same vein Epiphone being a far better value than a Gibson for what is nearly the same guitar at 25% to 33% of the price.

So rather than having only two or three higher end MIA models I'm quite happy owning more lower cost but still very high quality import versions of the same models Fender, Gibson, G&L, and PRS offer. At some point in time I may reverse gears, sell off much of what I have, and buy just two or three high end models again but I'm not there yet and maybe I never will be. For now I'm enjoying more variety.

 

[GrandmaShreds]

Over all the years of gigging I tended to have more costly guitars and basses including a $3k Fender Custom Shop Nocaster. One reason why is the quality of top of the line Fender or Gibson gear was much better than their import equivalents and if I wanted to move something brand names were easier to sell or trade. About 20 years ago I sold much of what I had while taking a hiatus from playing for quite awhile.

When I began to reassemble my "fleet" again I became more interested in imports like Squiers that I could buy used on the cheap and upgrade to a level far beyond what I had into them money wise. I probably went through 10-12 of them selling some along the way but still have three all of which I have less than $500 into and I'd put them up against any MIA Fender I've ever owned and there have been many.

Eventually I had to increase my $500 limit because if Fender doesn't increase it's prices at least one a year I'm sure they believe the stars will fall from the sky. But I also found the G&L import series to be of better quality than anything Fender was producing in a similar price range and in the same vein Epiphone being a far better value than a Gibson for what is nearly the same guitar at 25% to 33% of the price.

So rather than having only two or three higher end MIA models I'm quite happy owning more lower cost but still very high quality import versions of the same models Fender, Gibson, G&L, and PRS offer. At some point in time I may reverse gears, sell off much of what I have, and buy just two or three high end models again but I'm not there yet and maybe I never will be. For now I'm enjoying more variety.

That's sorta how I see it. A lot of the imported guitars are really good quality, it makes it hard to justify the prices of the top end stuff unless you really want that name (Gibson, Fender etc) on the headstock.

 

[soulman]

That's sorta how I see it. A lot of the imported guitars are really good quality, it makes it hard to justify the prices of the top end stuff unless you really want that name (Gibson, Fender etc) on the headstock.

Yup, and like I always say "I don't play the headstock" so I care very little for whose name is on it. My first exposure to imports was a pair of Chinese built Squier Classic Vibes I bought used for less than $300 each. I felt they were of better quality than Mexican built Fenders that sold for twice that price. Over time I've purchased several more and upgraded them to be exactly what I wanted but the basic "bones" of the instruments themselves has always been good. My experience with Epiphones has been similar. They also offer great value.

 

[GrandmaShreds]

Yup, and like I always say "I don't play the headstock" so I care very little for whose name is on it. My first exposure to imports was a pair of Chinese built Squier Classic Vibes I bought used for less than $300 each. I felt they were of better quality than Mexican built Fenders that sold for twice that price. Over time I've purchased several more and upgraded them to be exactly what I wanted but the basic "bones" of the instruments themselves has always been good. My experience with Epiphones has been similar. They also offer great value.

Yeah Epiphones are really great! My LP Classic is superb (minus the fretwork, but most new guitars need a bit of adjustment). I have an imported D18 copy (in my profile pic) and it's a phenomenal instrument!

 

[rolandson]

Philosophy?
interesting word.
I'd like to see the "more is better" philosophy applied to pianos.

My perspective is the polar opposite. I've little interest in amassing a bunch of superfluous rubbish, near rubbish, or "pedestrian." And...

Accompanists...those strangers who appear on a concert stage, who nobody knows, isn't part of "the band" and kinda sorta distances themselves from the on-stage banter; you know...side guys and girls... hirelings

...are not afforded the luxury of unlimited access to space in the instrument cases.

So it becomes a necessity to be thrifty.

I acquired the best instruments that I could justify. When, for instance, I needed an archtop, I looked for a long time for "the one." When I picked up a 175 at a small shop in Eugene Oregon, I knew within the first milliseconds of the first chord that this was the one. I didn't care what it cost.

I was, however, disappointed that it wasn't an L5 ...but

whaddya gonna do?

 

[3bolt79]

Philosophy?
interesting word.
I'd like to see the "more is better" philosophy applied to pianos.

My perspective is the polar opposite. I've little interest in amassing a bunch of superfluous rubbish, near rubbish, or "pedestrian." And...

Accompanists...those strangers who appear on a concert stage, who nobody knows, isn't part of "the band" and kinda sorta distances themselves from the on-stage banter; you know...side guys and girls... hirelings

...are not afforded the luxury of unlimited access to space in the instrument cases.

So it becomes a necessity to be thrifty.

I acquired the best instruments that I could justify. When, for instance, I needed an archtop, I looked for a long time for "the one." When I picked up a 175 at a small shop in Eugene Oregon, I knew within the first milliseconds of the first chord that this was the one. I didn't care what it cost.

I was, however, disappointed that it wasn't an L5 ...but

whaddya gonna do?

Hey Reed, did you get it at McKenzie River Music?

 

[rolandson]

Hey Reed, did you get it at McKenzie River Music?

Yep...old MRM...not the new less than improved MRM...!

 

[3bolt79]

Yep...old MRM...not the new less than improved MRM...!

Yeah, Artie kind of rubs most folks the wrong way. Was it on 11th or 13th when you bought it?

 

[rolandson]

Yeah, Artie kind of rubs most folks the wrong way. Was it on 11th or 13th when you bought it?

I'm thinking....11th...near where Ferrell's is/was. I took my kids for ice cream after I bought the guitar because they had been extremely passive about waiting for me. So, they got ice cream.