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GAS or Guitar Burnout? Myth or Real?


onewilyfool

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I have traditionally run in cycles. I don't exactly have money coming out my ears, so any large purchase is usually prefaced by a liquidation sale. When times are good, I have a tendency to pick up guitars along the way because they suit the whim of the moment and/or they were a great deal and I knew I could make money on them eventually, not just recoup.

 

So what usually happens is I will go on some kind of twisted collecting spree... the first that comes to mind is my brief obsession with early 80s Washburn electrics.... the A Series that resembled Explorers. I bought 2 or 3 , then bought a black and red Washburn Tour 24, then some Washburn Force Strat styles, then it spilled over and I bought a pile of early Ibanez Roadstars. Before I knew it I had a roomful. One day I decided I wanted to buy a ****** jazz box and liquidated all of the Japanese ones to make it happen. I think about 15 guitars went away in a month's time. I was burned out on them anyway, when the UPS truck would come I would just yawn and shrug.

 

Sometimes a deal is presented and you HAVE to act, and act fast, and you quickly find out which guitars mean anything to you. A year ago my brother told me he wanted to get rid of his Dobro.....

 

The Dobro Tale for those who haven't already heard it

 

I had to move fast and dump some guitars, none of which I can even remember now....

 

I don't use the $^ Dobro either, but the story spells out the real reason I made the deal happen.

 

There are still, and always will be, guitars I will lust for, and even if I am fortunate enough to own them someday, the list will continue to grow. Even if I do acquire one of a certain model I will likely always look for a better example of one. I've owned a half dozen Les Pauls or more (who counts?) and for 12 years have owned a 1971 gold top Deluxe with DiMarzio DLX pickups... the guitar is just freakin' ALIVE and most other LPs I've owned or tried don't even come remotely close. But am I happy? oh hell no! I haven't owned a black Custom with gold hardware yet!

 

I know somewhere there's a blonde MK-53 that doesn't have a collapsed neck block and non-twisted neck and someday we will meet and it will be lovely. Until then it will be but a fantasy.

 

Somewhere there's a black '79 hardtail Strat that they accidentally made out of swamp ash and weighs less than 12 lbs. (Hey, I may as well fantasize big, right?)

 

Somewhere there's a mint green Teuffel Tesla that some unknowing person will price at $50 at his yard sale. (the ugliest guitar on the planet and I WANT one....)

 

 

When I started typing this I was ready to go on about what a sickness GAS is and how it only drives us crazy and breaks the bank.... and by the time I finished I had refreshed my GAS list once again. It will never stop and I hope it never does. If I'm ever 100% happy with my harem, feel free to shoot me in the face and get it over with, because Life without GAS is no life at all.

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My guitar purchases have been thought out ahead of time to support the sound and looks I want. Started with my Dove and will soon end with one last Gibson, which I've been planning for over a year. Still have some crap to sell, though.

 

I have been tempted on occasion to jump on a deal, but so far I've managed to not do that. Now if the deal had been something I really wanted, I probably would have jumped on it.

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Had me a real bad case of guitar burnout back in the early 1980s. After gigging with the same folks since 1966 I just could not do it any longer. Somewehere along the way it stpped being fun. My stomach would literally turn over at the thought of having to load eberything up and head off for some bar some place.

 

I went into self-imposed exile for a few years and my guitars remained packed away.

 

GAS - I always want to buy guitars but most of my life I have lived with only a few. I actually have mre acosutics now that at any time previous. But I can pretty much walk away from most guitars.

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