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Guitar Collectors-Non Players


Triad

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I wonder if there are those out there who collect guitars and do not play them or have no desire to learn to play. I am not talking about those investors who buy vintage axes and flip them for a huge profit. I guess I would consider myself as sort of a collector having 4 Basses which includes my 4001 Rickenbacker Bass in Jetglo and 3 Stratocasters and a soon to be Les Paul Studio Pro. But I play each and every one of them. I can see those who collect for the beauty and historic ties to guitars but my opinion is that their main purpose is to be played & enjoyed. Not knocking the collectors if they like to just display them but I just could not do that.

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Guitars are things, if you have the money and desire you can buy them for whatever purpose.

 

I see plenty and I mean plenty of guitars hanging as decorations here in Nashville, a lot of them have never been played.

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Hey Triad, good topic/musings!

 

Personally, I don't think that there are any "non-player...collector types" on the Forum. I just don,t get those vibes from regular members, except for a few newbie types that fade away when they don't get 'stroked'. Don,t confuse some glamour guitar shots with "payed and unplayed" instruments. People that have the means to buy vintage gear have the love to display and share pictures also.

 

To me, a collector is someone whom amasses items that speak to them. There 'are' vintage dealers who pose as sellers but are really collectors. Simply because......at the prices they are asking.........they REALLY 'don't want' to sell them. BwaHaha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One of my main 'go to' gits is an ebony custom which I bought off a collector in Texas. A bloke who in fact has never played a guitar in his life and has no desire to do so as he told me. (wtf?...lol).

Nice enough guy, just couldn't figure him out.

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I guess some exist out there, but I've personally never known of anyone that collects guitars who doesn't in some way play. There are plenty of people who's "collecting" skills far exceed their playing skills or knowledge of music.

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Guest Farnsbarns

No ones opinion about what a guitar's main purpose is matters a sh1t except the owner. The owner defines it so if the owner feels its main purpose is to hang on his office wall, that that's its main purpose.

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We're all different, but I can't own an instrument and not want to play it - so all my musical instruments get played.

 

However, since I got my Parker guitars, my 1970 ES330 hardly ever gets played - so if there is an investor out there that wants to give me $5K for it, I'll be glad to sell it to you ;)

 

Notes

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I'm sure there must people who lock them in a glass case for display purposes only. A fella I work with used to collect them as a hobby, without knowing how to play, but got into playing a year or so ago.

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No ones opinion about what a guitar's main purpose is matters a sh1t except the owner. The owner defines it so if the owner feels its main purpose is to hang on his office wall, that that's its main purpose.

 

[thumbup] true enough.

 

I've got artwork on walls right through this place and I couldn't paint a shed.

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Guest Farnsbarns

Art was made to be hung up and looked at, an instrument was made to be played.

 

I'd love to live in such a simplistic world. Art can be for aesthetics, to challenge thought, to evoke emotion, to express feeling. It can be 2d,3d or entirely abstract. It can be graphical, it can be actions, it can be a performance.

 

A guitar can be art too so I stand by what I said above, if the owner sees it as an item to hang on a wall and look at, that defines it.

 

I find it tiresome that players imagine these collectors (I've never met one) and make all sorts of judgments, usually negative, about these hypothetical people who may or may not exist. I think if those that whine about what others have or can have or can afford or decide to do spent more time contemplating and actioning what would make them happy rather than spending energy thinking about all the other people they would probably find less to whine about and get closer to their own goals with all the time and energy they freed up.

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My own view is that most of the 'collections' - great or small - in the world are made up of objects which once had an initial 'intended purpose' but are now appreciated for other inherent, intrinsic qualities whether this be their aesthetic beauty, their rarity, their curiosity-value or indeed anything else which makes them attractive to a collector.

 

Guitars are not an exception to this concept.

 

P.

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I am more of a collector now than a player.

After playing for over 57 years and collecting a large part of those years, I am unable to play due to a bad left hand.

I did sell a lot of guitars in 2014, but, I am still always looking for certain guitars that I would like to add to the collection that I still have.

I get both sides of the "play then if you have them" and the collectors side that never play them.

As said here in the thread, guitars are like any thing else, they are objects.

Some hold sentimental values, others are just cool to have.

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I think if those that whine about what others have or can have or can afford or decide to do spent more time contemplating and actioning what would make them happy rather than spending energy thinking about all the other people they would probably find less to whine about and get closer to their own goals with all the time and energy they freed up.

 

Bravo!

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Guitars are beautiful. The history of American Guitars is wonderful. I can understand anybody having a lot of beautiful guitars whether they play them all or not.

 

rct

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I can remember back in the day hearing stories of NY City shops being "bought out" in a single day of anything vintage/valuable.

 

Stories of people who looked like accountants buying up many guitars from every shop on the street and loading them all in a uhaul.

 

Rumor always had it they were on their way overseas to be held for investment purposes. Heard stories of Harleys, and any other bits of Americana having the same fate.

 

Don't know if it's true or not, but who knows.

 

NHTom

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90's up to mid 2000s Philly guitar shows always had a double size booth manned by Asian men in expensive suits that only bought, and only bought vintage. That would be the first table someone with something old would go to, and they hardly ever walked away still owning it.

 

rct

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Yes I've met one or two. One guy I do remember getting hold of me after a gig in attempt to buy the J45 I was playing. He knew all about it and made references to guitars in his collection giving me the feeling I was in the company of a serious aficionado but when I asked him if a would like to join us on rehearsal evening he said

"Oh! I don't play"

 

However do you ever wonder what percentage of guitars are not played at all, just about ever house has one, standing in a corner, under the bed in the loft or a cupboard. Owned by people who wanted to play but didn't get round to it or were not able to stick it out to learn. Well over 50% I would guess. What do you think?

.

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Yes I've met one or two. One guy I do remember getting hold of me after a gig in attempt to buy the J45 I was playing. He knew all about it and made references to guitars in his collection giving me the feeling I was in the company of a serious aficionado but when I asked him if a would like to join us on rehearsal evening he said

"Oh! I don't play"

 

However do you ever wonder what percentage of guitars are not played at all, just about ever house has one, standing in a corner, under the bed in the loft or a cupboard. Owned by people who wanted to play but didn't get round to it or were not able to stick it out to learn. Well over 50% I would guess. What do you think?

.

 

It is only in recent two decades that this happened, when guitars became "product", which is what consumers buy. Guitars used to be bought and used by guitar players, they weren't "product" for consumers. Any Timmy in Any Town can get a guitar for Christmas because mom and dad(if Timmy is lucky) can get them almost anywhere. When I was a kid it just wasn't that easy and it was a fairly serious commitment.

 

But serious collectors always existed. I for one am glad that Chinery lawyer guy collected all those Blue Guitars, it was a fablous showing.

 

rct

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I own one guitar that rarely gets played due to its being collectible: my Government Series I LP. It's not what most people consider beautiful, similar ones have not been played by famous players, it's not vintage, but it is a work of art, and of historical importance. In this case the guitar is, to my knowledge, the first time a major manufacturer created a production run of guitars to protest a government action. So, most of the time it sits in its case. I have lots of guitars with similar specs that I can use instead. I just like owning a pristine example of what in my opinion is a historic guitar.

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It is only in recent two decades that this happened, when guitars became "product", which is what consumers buy. Guitars used to be bought and used by guitar players, they weren't "product" for consumers. Any Timmy in Any Town can get a guitar for Christmas because mom and dad(if Timmy is lucky) can get them almost anywhere. When I was a kid it just wasn't that easy and it was a fairly serious commitment.

 

But serious collectors always existed. I for one am glad that Chinery lawyer guy collected all those Blue Guitars, it was a fablous showing.

 

rct

 

I see that Chinery book on E Bay, always wondered what it was about.

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I own one guitar that rarely gets played due to its being collectible: my Government Series I LP. It's not what most people consider beautiful, similar ones have not been played by famous players, it's not vintage, but it is a work of art, and of historical importance. In this case the guitar is, to my knowledge, the first time a major manufacturer created a production run of guitars to protest a government action. So, most of the time it sits in its case. I have lots of guitars with similar specs that I can use instead. I just like owning a pristine example of what in my opinion is a historic guitar.

I agree completely.

 

Perhaps it also would have turned out that way for me if I had bought a Government Les Paul then, but I went with a Government Series II Explorer later, the one from my avatar. The main reason was that she would get played, too, and that's how it finally came. I prefer her for ultimately clean (sic!) and smooth jazz tones as well as for searing metal sounds. In both applications she's matchless for chording and soloing as well.

 

Since I treat all of my instruments very carefully, avoiding of playing wear is not a serious consideration for me. I only live once, and I love her sound and playing comfort. Transport is the biggest task in a double sense - the Explorer case exceeds the size of that of any long scale bass of mine in all three dimensions, and in weight as well, although the guitar is only 3.6 kgs or 7 lbs 15 oz.

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