powerpopper Posted December 21, 2008 Posted December 21, 2008 Ok, this one is for my wife, sorta. I've had a serious case of GAS this year and it looks like I'm going to get over it cold turkey in the first half of 2009 because a) gotta cut back on the $$ going out, baby is due in May and c) we're running out of room for my collection! But I'm at about at 14 or 15 (does a Baby Taylor even count?)... Ok, break it to me gently, how many is too many? Extra points if you want to try and justify your collection the way I like to rationalize mine...:-)
Jayla Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Well, to paraphrase Stalin, you could say that one is not enough and fifteen is merely a statistic.
gearbasher Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 If your not starving yourself to pay for them. If you can care for them all properly. If they bring you joy. There are never too many.
ballcorner Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Right now I have 35. Is it too many? Well, to adequately show the timeline of guitar technology and style in a collection, a person needs at least one of each of the following: Classical Gut or nylon folk Steel string, no truss rod Steel string parlour with truss Archtop acoustic Orchestra model Ladder braced dread Fan braced dread Hawaiian Cowboy guitar Cutaway acoustic Acoustic electric Thin body acoustic electric Electric guitar with single coils Electric guitar with humbuckers Electric guitar with lipstick pickups Altered sound hole acoustic So, as far as I am concerned, 17 would be the minimum!
Bluesburst Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 The one that comes before your family and put's financial strain on them and impacts their quality of life... Hope that answers not too heavy but it's the way I've spaced out my guitar purchases.
ninety1vee Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 the ones you dont play are too many (if you dont play 'em all)
guitarstrummer Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 You answered your own question when you called it your "collection". A collection can have as many as you can afford and enjoy. I have just a few more than ballcorner, but mine are also a "collection", so I don't plan to stop buying them until I can no longer afford them or no longer appreciate them. Each guitar was bought for a different reason and they all have a special meaning. I'd have a hard time selling any of them.
Rambler Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 When you stumble across a case and go, what's in there... Thought for collectors: when is it a collection and when is it a bunch of guitars (not that there's anything wrong with that)?
guitarstrummer Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 When you stumble across a case and go' date=' what's in there... Thought for collectors: when is it a collection and when is it a bunch of guitars (not that there's anything wrong with that)?[/quote'] I keep all of mine out, so I know exactly what I have. When the need arises to put them in cases, each case has a luggage tag which tells what's in the case so I don't have to "go fishing". In my opinion, it's a collection as long as I can still add a different wood configuation or type of guitar that I don't already have.
jefleppard Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 lol, BC! great list. an hawaiian listed as a neccessity! too funny. you had me scratching my chin, though, thinking "hmmmm, maybe i DO need an archtop...."
Rambler Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I guess I was thinking about a collection vs a Collection. Something that has a theme to it. Bannerheads, or some such. I mean, I have a lot of books at home but I dont know that Id call it a Library. All garden variety, nothing special. Cheers.
onewilyfool Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Jackson Browne has MORE than 100......same with Stephen Segal (who plays a pretty mean acoustic blues)......Just one point here.....In my opinion, Guitars NEED to be played to open the true potential of each guitar....if you are not playing them....lose them....let someone else play them.....
ballcorner Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Thought for collectors: when is it a collection and when is it a bunch of guitars ? My answer to this is: A collection is a bunch of guitars specifically chosen to fit a theme - a bunch of guitars is a group that is randomly acquired without any specific intent. My guitar collection is actually only 18 of the 35 in my possession. They have been collected to make a suitable exhibit showing a timeline of guitar technology, rarest models and most popular collectible guitars. I began collecting important models by artist - like a D-45 for Neil Young and a D-28 for Hank Williams etc., but I realized after a short time that my favourite artists mostly played Martin guitars and I didn't want to collect just Martins. So, after buying a few books on guitar history, I changed over to collecting a technology tree. All my guitars get played every week by a variety of people, but the ones I play regularly myself amount to a group of 6 - all of which are less than 10 years old. None of the six I regularly play are part of my collection. This is not to suggest that I believe you can't play your collection - more a matter that I don't want to put wear on a valuable piece practicing scales and arpeggios. Still, the six fit my collecting theme as they are an OM, a 28, an AJ, a parlour, an archtop acoustic and a telecaster. So, I have a collection of 18, plus six others I play every day or two and 11 I have acquired because they are special, interesting, unique, rare, valuable or were available for such low prices I couldn't resist. My best collectible guitar, I feel, is a 1934 Martin Herringbone D-28 (all original, no repairs), my favourite daily player is my '05 AJ and my favourite from the group of 11 also founds is a Santa Cruz Tony Rice I picked up for $2300 CDN. Nope, not a typo - right place at the right time.
onewilyfool Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Ball corner......which is your most treasured guitar....(sentimentally AND dollar wise). If I may ask....That 34 Martin, must fetch a nice penny......
Jerry K Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I have around 6 good ones (4 Gibsons and a couple Martins) and another several beaters, nylon strings, 3/4 size, etc. I don't consider it a 'collection' really because I play them and I'm not trying to keep them pristine. Lately I mainly play two, the L-00 bubinga and the J-165 rosewood. When I get the Nick Lucas reissue set up properly I'll play that a lot again too. The J-50 is a little big for me for everyday use but I can't bear to part with it. It's beautiful, sounds great. I'd love to pick up a few more, an archtop, a gypsy jazz guitar, maybe an L-00 Legend, a nice electric.... Economics and the current slump make me hesitant to get any more right now, but I definitely have some good ones to play. Truth is it's hard to keep more than 3 or 4 playing well (setup, strings, etc).
ballcorner Posted December 23, 2008 Posted December 23, 2008 Ball corner......which is your most treasured guitar....(sentimentally AND dollar wise). If I may ask....That 34 Martin' date=' must fetch a nice penny......[/quote'] My 2001 Martin OM-21 was a gift from my wife when I quit smoking and made it through the first year. She worked overtime on Saturdays to put the money together, so when the time came to buy the anniversary guitar I thought it was going on my credit line and she pulled out the cash. It might get cremated with me. I play it every day. The 34 Martin is indeed worth a lot of money, but it was a gift to me from an elderly man I played music for in the latter part of his life, so it would never be sold. I will pass it on when I am old as well.
shredderbetter Posted December 23, 2008 Posted December 23, 2008 I'm at 62 guitars and no chance of slowing down!,i buy and sell but mostly buy why is it wives always feel the need to stop us from having fun??I never barked about my (now ex) when she went shopping I used my own money from buying and selling,my idea buy don't ask!
Rambler Posted December 23, 2008 Posted December 23, 2008 "Truth is it's hard to keep more than 3 or 4 playing well (setup, strings, etc). " I found this to be the case back in the day when I was playing more electric. I had an old strat, reissue tele, and an es-175 clone. The strat got the most work outs. So versatile. The ES piece got traded around a lot (ES125, gold top copy, gretsch nashville--that one moved the strat to the backseat for a while. The Tele logged a lot of case time. Right now, the main thing that makea me want to change up is altered tunings. Corner--I concur re your thoughts on collecting. Good examples are Jim Weider and his fenders, Setzer's Gretsches, Marty Stuarts gallery of icons --there's a passion with those. Given the where-withall, Id end up more like Steve James, with a basic kit of classic folk-blues tones: gibson flattop or 2, maybe a 000, an A4 mando and a 12 string.
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