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Can one 'mature' into a specific guitar ?


EuroAussie

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Ive been thinking of trimming my herd to my 4 fave guitars, which I always love to play and are real keepers.

 

So, Im thinking, should I focus on the guitars that give the most pleasure here and now and get rid of the others, or hold on to them, with the goal of eventually 'maturing' into them.

 

What is important to note, is that I do know what I like right now. Which is a punchy, woody tone, with good note seperation.

 

Thoughts ....?

 

If you're like me, you can never have "enough" acoustics!rolleyes.gif The mood of the moment dictates the size, comfort, and sound I want to play....sound familiar? Keep 'em allmsp_thumbup.gif

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Errrr... I am not sure about the void in life stuff.... I dont see myself has having a void, as much as being impulsive with discretionary dough. A bit of escapism into a (harmless) vice maybe...

 

Wasn’t you and not was it the narcissists that assumed it was them after your post either 😂

 

 

I did state in my post that I thought no less of a man who had 100 !

Besides. Nick em and Sal , well .... I’d be sad if any of you left the planet regardless of how many guitars you owned

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The one guitar I do miss and wish I still had was an f-hole chambered tele with humbuckers. When I got this guitar on eBay it was largely unplayable and I took it to my local shop for a setup. The guitar tech did an absolutely magnificent of setting it and it played like absolute butter, just perfection. One day I had it in a Fender gig bag over my back and the plastic strap connector broke. I can still remember the sickening sound when that chambered body hit the ground. I never bought another electric, and don't even have an amp anymore. But I would take that blonde tele back in a heartbeat.

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I don't assume blindboygrunt's comments about me, but I AM a narcissist with an emotional void, so I'll have a go at the OP's question ...

 

As far as trimming the herd or keeping the lot - that is entirely up to you, and cases can be made for either choice. Life and other circumstances have helped me to trim my herd down to one nice steel string, one beater steel string, one classical guitar and one soprano ukulele, and I am generally at peace with it - though I still think I will pick up an LG-2 AE to see if it fills the hole left by letting go of my 1960 LG-2 all those years ago ...

 

 

As far as maturing into a specific guitar, that's another matter. My experience was that I once collected solid-body electrics at a dizzying pace, then went through a phase where I had bunches of vintage acoustics including a variety of archtops and a steel-bodied National. Having the National Duolian was nice, but I only mastered three slide songs, and I am just not, ultimately, a blues guitarist. The archtops (and especially the battered and much-repaired but exquisite roundhole L-4) taught me discipline, because nothing makes a clam stand out like an archtop, and they helped me work in new voicings and hear things differently - but I am not a jazz guitarist. .

 

The experience of having and playing those guitars for a while was nice, but what they ultimately taught me is how to find what I really like in a guitar - which is a state you have already reached. You like "a punchy, woody tone, with good note separation," and you find that in maple-bodied guitars.

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I don't know if I'm maturing into any of my guitars. I do know that my Hummingbird is very easy to identify with and the Dove is right up there with it. I can say the same for the J45TV. Of the "Magnificent Seven," I'd say those three are my favorites. Ask me tomorrow and I might say the J100. Who knows? I just play which one calls to me on that day. Skill and ability wise, some would say the guitars are better than me. If the kind of guitar we own was determined by our skill and ability they are likely right and I should own a bunch of Rogues (which really are decent for the price). However, my Gibsons feel like they're an extension of who I am, so that's the only reason I need. Besides, "mature" tends to indicate that one is growing-up and who-in-hell wants to do that? [thumbup]

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This was an interesting thread to read. I've often wondered how I might have progressed had I not divided my focus into so many guitars and different aspects to music. I was, and still am intoxicated by all things music. But what if I was not? I can certainly hyper-focus with the best of them. I can also jump from topic to topic with the best of them. In the case of music, it is that I am an insatiable learner.

 

That is where my buying and keeping habits begin. I buy a guitar type to learn how to add a particular sonic attribute or skill to my skill-set. As I grew, I replaced the gear for the aspects of music that most interested me as they happened. Do I sell the old? Only if I do not like it. I sold a Taylor 314 to help fund my Hummingbird. I did not sell a Squire Affinity Tele to help fund the USA Tele.

 

The one time I did sell gear that I liked and functioned well in order to get that next sound was when I sold a low-mid range Ibanez metal type guitar with non-active pickups. It was a $400 guitar. I was no longer trying to play the type of music it was great at. I've since wished I had kept it, though it's never been a strong enough sentiment in me to actually replace it directly. Still, that was the last time I sold a guitar because I migrated to the next thing.

 

That said, I've learned that I will almost always re-visit a particular topic as if it were some revolving door. Years will pass sometimes between learning something once and doing it again. Especially when I make music as eclectic as my listening tastes are(originals and covers).

 

That does not explain why I keep that Squire Affinity Tele, though. [blush]

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