zombywoof Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 I was just sitting here and for some reason started taking stock of what guitars have come and gone over just the past six months.. There seem to have had a whole lot of them - far more than I would say in the past six years. Arriving: 1963 Gibson B45-12 1957 Silvertone Jumbo 1954 National 1150 1930s Oscar Schmidt Jumbo No longer with me: 1972 Guild F-112 1932 National Duolian My total cash outlay for the guitars (including what I originally paid for the Guild which went in trade) was around $2500. That is a alot of cash out the door, something that was really only made possible by the sale of the National. But here is my thought - If you add it all up I could have bought one seriously sweet guitar for that kinda scratch. So think about it. What is your preference. Go with the best guitar you can get for your bucks or spread it out and surround yourself with a bunch of guitars with a bunch of different voices. Just curious I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 ZW, how is that B-45 12? Is it pin bridge or trap tail? Asking because I've found a very, very nice (almost pristine) '64 pin bridge for sale. Not cheap, but not ridiculous. 14-fretter rather than 12-fret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 ZW, how is that B-45 12? Is it pin bridge or trap tail? Asking because I've found a very, very nice (almost pristine) '64 pin bridge for sale. Not cheap, but not ridiculous. 14-fretter rather than 12-fret. I love this guitar so much I actually took it to work with me when I first got it because I was suffering separation anxiety. I have played alot of 12 strings trying to find one to cozy up with and these Gibsons have a totally unique sound. Not jangly or shimmering like say a Guild but crisp with a bit of Gibson growl to them. Alot of presence and great balance. The general rap is the best of the breed are the 1963 and 1964 pin bridge B45-12s. Not only is this considered the best bridge used on these (Gibson used at least five fifferent bridge setups from 1961 to 1971) but the guitars have the same bracing that Gibson used on all their jumbos from 1955 on. In late 1964 Gibson added two extra braces - running alongside each of the X braces. Great for stability but not the best thing in terms of sound. The 12 fret versions came later. All of the early B45-12s were 14 frets to the body. Mine has the trapeze tailpiece so it was made very early in 1963. Interesstingly mine has the square white label which you usually only see on early 1960s Gibson classical guitars. It s not all that easy to find a '64 B45-12 in pristine condition. The tops had a tendency to implode or the guitar just pulled itself apart. So if you want one it might be a bit before you stumble across another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 I would love to be the 'one guitar' guy, but after years of gas and trading down the number to have fewer of better quality I'm now in the 'no way I'm selling that' phase. Would still love a JB though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Two good guitars should be enough. Okay, maybe three. Five, five is the number then I can stop... unless I trip into a really smokin' deal on number six. Lord just keep me awy from double digits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfbird Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 In theory, I'd love to own one killer guitar that does it all. However, there is no such guitar. I still like a smaller body one to kick around with. I need a good sounding guitar for when I get around to actually recording in my home studio. I need one with a pick-up for when I go to an open mic or play a gig with someone. I'd like one or two more because my ear gets tired of even the best sounding guitar... I inherited a 1958 Martin D-28 and maybe because I've been around it my whole life but it just doesn't fill all the spots, even with Brazilian rosewood. One Gibson doesn't tell the whole story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 I totally get it that there are guitars that work better in the studio while others will cut through tne mix more on stage and so on. I, however, tend use different guitars for the same thing. I take them to the same places, play the same things on them and such. So I am probably one of those folks who could get by with just one or maybe two guitars. One of my maladies is that I seem to also have a thing for guitars not necessarily because of how they feel or sound but just because they are unusual. Good example is the National. I bought it primarily because that magnesium neck just intrigued the heck out of me. It defies all logic of how to build a proper guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 I "need," or at least really want three guitars for gigs: a 14 fret steel string, harp guitar, and a National resonator. My typical gig setup (I cheated here by having two 14 fret steel string guitars): BUT, one of my greatest pleasures in life, and one that I've been fortunate enough to indulge in to a modest degree, is to play daily a variety of guitars, both old and new. Some days the geek in me wins out and I'll play the same stuff on several guitars. Most evenings, though, I place three guitars on a triple stand and play on them whatever comes to mind. I think of guitars as both functional sculpture and, for the vintage variety, repositories of cultural history (witness "Kalamazoo Gals" and its accompanying CD). If I had enough time and money, well, I'd be Tom/tpiii, but with a greater focus on Gibsons and Larsons. So, tonight's festivities? I'll play through my collection of teens and twenties Larsons: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 I'm afraid I've been going a little overboard lately. In the past three months I've sold 4 plus two almost out the door and I've bought five. The latest today, a NOS ('09) J45 with some finish issue on the top. It played and sound so well, still had the factory warranty at price I couldn't pass up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Id go with best single guitar I can get. I always think of that Tom Seaver deal..the one great player for all those "good"but nothing special players. Just dont add up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 But here is my thought - If you add it all up I could have bought one seriously sweet guitar for that kinda scratch. So think about it. What is your preference. Go with the best guitar you can get for your bucks or spread it out and surround yourself with a bunch of guitars with a bunch of different voices. Just curious I guess. I have often thought along the same lines..... Sacrifice the pawns for a Queen? Tip for those considering this - don't play the one(s) you are going to sacrifice! Like drummers, they start to play sensationally when they get wind of sackings............................ BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 "Replying to Guitar Comings and Goings"....this post reminds me of the guy who took Viagra with Ex-lax....he didn't know if he was coming or going...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I am an odd one here as I cut back from about 12 good flattops to three ~10 years ago. But I did the GAS thing for about 20 years before that with several dozen in/out. I play my AJRI mostly but use the other two vintage ones quite a bit. I could honestly probably live with only the AJRI but don't really need to choose. My LG-2 = grab & go for jams, a very cutting guitar. The old J-45 just 'fits'. The AJ & J-45 both have pups so they do stage use, too. But the AJRI does it all with the only demerit being the sonic 'thud' when really humid. The I settled on an AV62RI Tele some years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I am an odd one here as I cut back from about 12 good flattops to three ~10 years ago. But I did the GAS thing for about 20 years before that with several dozen in/out. I play my AJRI mostly but use the other two vintage ones quite a bit. I could honestly probably live with only the AJRI but don't really need to choose. My LG-2 = grab & go for jams, a very cutting guitar. The old J-45 just 'fits'. The AJ & J-45 both have pups so they do stage use, too. But the AJRI does it all with the only demerit being the sonic 'thud'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Whoops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bram99 Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I have seen some of this talked about in other ways (size of herd, 1 in 2 out, how many is too much etc.) but i have been thinking about this question of "one guitar.". Over the past 35 years I have probably sold a dozen with the only slight regret being a flawless 1969 Martin 00-16c. The comings and goings have mostly been derived from a desire to have that one perfect guitar,and less about the need to have one of these and one of those and so on....I currently have 8, 2 flamenco, 1classical, Martin D-28, a Les Paul Studio, J-45TV and last year I got a custom shop ES-330VOS and LG-2. As I get older I have found myself wanting to downsize many aspects of my life and guitars spill into my thoughts every once in a while. I can see myself as an old man playing just one guitar.....and i like the idea of sooner rather than later so I can wear it out and along the way become inseparable.....Now knowing what i like and dislike in a guitar, I think i would sell them all for one guitar that had the LG-2's comfortable body, fingerstyle clarity and punch, the J-45s warm bark and clarity when strummed, and the big fat neck of the new ES-330vos reissue.... Maybe I need a war time banner LG-2.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerohead Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 My vote is for the one great guitar! If I had of known how much pleasure my SJ-200 was going to bring me I would have saved and scrimped my pennies years ago. I've had my guitar for a year now and still am overjoyed everytime I play it! The sound is so rich and powerful! The bling is sometimes unfortunate because people get caught up in that aspect of it and it distracts them from the greatest feature of the guitar which is the rich and powerful tone! I read another post that the person was saying how he played an SJ-200 and was surprised because he thought it should have been louder but I have never heard a louder guitar than my SJ-200 but that might have something to do with the .013's that I string it with but in either way this guitar is LOUD! Sorry about getting distracted but save your money buy a great guitar you won't be sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 You sold the National? I thought from years of posts that that was your one full-on keeper - at least until you turned up the banner J45N/50. After years of owning just one battered classical and one battered electric which can't really even be given away, I know that I can live very happily with one acoustic and one electric. Given that I also have an Epiphone Casino that I couldn't bond with once the euphoria of buying a new guitar faded, and a cheap steel-string acoustic that I positively hated till a couple of years ago, and that all bar one of the above are in storage, I have to say that I'd quite happily revert to being a one-electric, one-acoustic person. Especially since I have a Gibson semi which covers almost all bases well, and a Gibson slopeshoulder which is also extremely versatile. But to manage that properly, I would have to keep a beater of each variety to make sure that the main pair are not put at undue risk. I like to play next to campfires or in other risky al fresco places sometimes, and there are limits to my attempts to avoid OCD. So I'm for two pairs, really. And now that I can see fretwear developing on my Howard Roberts Fusion, I'm wishing that the third generation of that model hadn't seen the introduction of neck binding. And it would be nice if the centre block were maple and not chromyte. But it was an inspired and inspiring gift, the chromyte and binding also have their advantages, and there's no way I could ever part with it. So my ideal collection would probably include two Gibson semis and the Woody. Plus the beaters. And a serious acoustic archtop and a resonator. A Les Paul and Telecaster as well. The best intentions, etc. The best solution would be to have people loan me their instruments for comparison - sort of JT's privileged position, only without the personal collection. I'd be really happy to stick with one SJ if people kept sending me other instruments to play. JT, please send me an x-ray machine, and then I can start a project on the bracing of new Bozeman Gibsons. Do all please feel free to send me your specimens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Tip for those considering this - don't play the one(s) you are going to sacrifice! Like drummers, they start to play sensationally when they get wind of sackings............................ Amen Bro - ain't that the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 After thirty plus years of exclusively playing acoustics, I finally started thinning the herd twelve years ago, TO BUY ELECTRICS! Eventually peaked last year at twenty guitars, but only need one Loar-era '22 "A" mandolin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I think of guitars as both functional sculpture and, for the vintage variety, repositories of cultural history This is a tricky part of the equation. If forced to cut back on instruments, it could certainly be done. But I love the unique variations from instrument to instrument, which can be artistically stimulating personally, along with unique build qualities which connect on another artistic level. Okay, put me in the boat with more guitars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacamartin Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I was just sitting here and for some reason started taking stock of what guitars have come and gone over just the past six months.. There seem to have had a whole lot of them - far more than I would say in the past six years. Arriving: 1963 Gibson B45-12 1957 Silvertone Jumbo 1954 National 1150 1930s Oscar Schmidt Jumbo No longer with me: 1972 Guild F-112 1932 National Duolian My total cash outlay for the guitars (including what I originally paid for the Guild which went in trade) was around $2500. That is a alot of cash out the door, something that was really only made possible by the sale of the National. But here is my thought - If you add it all up I could have bought one seriously sweet guitar for that kinda scratch. So think about it. What is your preference. Go with the best guitar you can get for your bucks or spread it out and surround yourself with a bunch of guitars with a bunch of different voices. Just curious I guess. I'm a "surround" type of player. The more I have with different voices, the happier I am. J.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 I'm afraid I've been going a little overboard lately. In the past three months I've sold 4 plus two almost out the door and I've bought five. The latest today, a NOS ('09) J45 with some finish issue on the top. It played and sound so well, still had the factory warranty at price I couldn't pass up. I'm back in the black. I sold three this weekend so for this year I've sold 7 and bought 5. All upgrades in my opinion with a little bit still in the kitty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.