now be honest with yourself

[ChanMan]

Hey!

 

Aw man, you KNOW you're my hero~!

 

Just means I don't have to have a "name" on my stuff. That Ibanez in my sig sounded and played better than the Martin they had that was $1000.00 more. The JB Player was made in China... but has incredible tone even when amped up. Heck... my dulcimer doesn't even HAVE a brand....

 

...is that mo' beddah?

[LPDEN]

. The JB Player was made in China... but has incredible tone even when amped up. Heck... my dulcimer doesn't even HAVE a brand....

 

 

I've known some HPL that sounded better than some Rosewood.

[mrktwn]

its 4:25 in the morning right now (pacific time) on april 26th.

ive been playing with my favorite backing track CD since i got home from work around 11

 

Tonight was one of thoose nights when i really wanted to sleep' date=' but i was too excited and too restless, and wanted to play guitar. I never get bored of playing because there is always so much to practise, to arrange, to write. just when i think im tired of playing i get a second and 3rd wind and i end up playing, then going to school, then going to work, then coming home and doing it again

 

what about you guys, i post this question

 

do you like to collect guitars, or do you like to PLAY guitars

 

 

 

and i realize not everyone has the time, and has other commitments, and that jazz[/quote']I like to play. Therefore I cant really afford to collect.

[Sancho]

I play. In a band.

We do gigs and are recording a CD.

But I also have 17 guitars. That's some kind of collection I guess.

All were bought new between 93 and now. I don't care for vintage gear.

I started playing in 86 but I sold all my gear in the early nineties. Picked it up again in 93 and never quit since.

[baxter]

I have one guitar and one amp and one pedal.

No more no less.

[LPDEN]

I'll add yet another angle to this Player vs. Collector discussion.

 

Most Vintage guitars are or had been Players and are the best collectibles value wise! So you can have the best of both worlds.

 

And one day your player may be a collector to someone other than yourself.

[NeoConMan]

Well said gentlemen, I could not agree more.

I'll just go the lazy route and copy the good stuff.

Add my $.02 for seasoning and click "post."

 

 

Maybe I'm wrong' date=' but when I think "collector," I think of a person that buys guitars just to display them...like art. If that's the case, I'm not a collector. I didn't buy them so I could just look at them.

It's a musical instrument that is meant to be played...it just happens to be a very fine looking musical instrument.

 

I'm not gonna lie here, I'm not the greatest guitar player in the world, far from it actually.

Based on my skill level, I shouldn't have any of the guitars that I do...

All I do in my spare time is pick up a guitar and play it.

The reason I have the number of guitars that I do is because I like having selection. It's like my own mini-music store.

If you had an entire music store to yourself for a week, you wouldn't play the same guitar every time, would you?

 

When I'm at work everyday, I look forward to going home and picking up a guitar. It's really all I want to do. If I could bring a guitar to work, I would.

 

Gibsons are my weapon of choice.[/quote']

 

I am not a "Brand Whore".

Mostly' date=' I don't care who made it, I only care about the tone and playability.[/quote']

Same here.

Gibson is my number one choice but.....

There's alot of good stuff out there made by PRS, Rickenbacker, Guild, etc - even Brand F.

 

 

My wife' date=' on the other hand, is a collector of beautiful things. She is the one who walks up to the 3 pickup Black Beauty/w Bigsby at the Gibson Showcase and says "THIS one is pretty... why don't you play this one?". She is the one who asked me to pull my guitars into the living room and put them out on stands to display. [/quote']

Well, all mine live inside a couple of HUGE wood cabinets, but everything is in the living room.

My wife thinks my guitars are BEAUTIFUL and has some pride in them too, and she does NOT play. Well, a little piano.

We own a nice house, and it was chosen largely with my guitar collection in mind.

Everything is out of sight from the front door, nobody knows what's in the living room unless they are invited through the house.

I operate a home business from the garage, so there's a large degree of separation by design.

 

 

I'm a player. I enjoy every aspect of playing.

Now that im middle aged I can afford top shelf equipment.

I dont have the time or the $$$ to be a collector.

Same here.

I get the same old collector BS from people now and then.

I even joke that playing is hard' date=' collecting is easy - if you have the money.

I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination but I have some nice gear.

None of my guitars are in a bank vault, but when you get some nice gear and don't care if it gets banged around....

Well, that's just blatant stupidity.

 

I see these guys buying into the whole "aged" and "relic" thing, I don't get that either.

I'll install any wear or dents on my own guitar, and take my sweet time doing it.

I have guitars built in the 50's 60's and 70's that look almost pristine.

They have been played plenty - and well cared for by owners who valued them no matter their monetary worth.

 

 

Another side of this discussion is that there are a good deal of sour grapes out there who owned guitars and sold them that later became some of the top collecting instruments.

I've done this!

Even cheapo, plain Jane guitars like late 60's Teles were $150 in the mid seventies when I first started playing.

I didn't want one, I thought they were ugly and cheap looking!

DOH!!!

 

 

And I've also heard the argument that these collectors are taking great instruments out of the hands of real musicians. I don't buy that. I say you can buy a guitar that is equal or better to the real Vintages.

I say the free market economy is the reality of our world, and hopefully will remain so.

Capitalism in a nutshell - if you can afford it, buy it.

If you can't afford it, make enough money so you can.

 

I don't begrudge anybody with money buying whatever he wants.

Poor starving musicians playing junk imported guitars are a fact of life until somebody starts a charity for them.

:-)

 

I have three trucks, all over 100,000 miles, all in excellent condition.

I have a motorcycle too.

The combined value of ALL FOUR is less than my guitars and amps and I'm cool with that.

Guitars and amps don't depreciate, wear out, or get wrecked;

They cost WAY less to insure, and never need tires, brakes, a transmission, transfer case, etc.

 

A case of strings from Musician's Friend, a bottle of polish and some good quality cloths are cheap in comparison.

A pickup costs less than $100.

 

Ever notice how many killer guitar players have no wheels, no place to live and can't even afford strings?

:-)

[LPDEN]

I say the free market economy is the reality of our world' date=' and hopefully will remain so.

Capitalism in a nutshell - if you can afford it, buy it.

[/quote']

 

Exactly right! I think you just hit the heart of the matter in all of this... No matter what it is - Vintage Guitars or Muscle Cars, money talks and all else walks...

[ChanMan]

She was a friend of my cousin who was the keyboard player (and a damn fine guitartist in her own right!!)....

 

 

Uh oh... bad grammar strikes again... perhaps leading to:

 

 

My wife thinks my guitars are BEAUTIFUL and has some pride in them too' date=' and she does NOT play. Well, a little piano. [/quote']

 

 

 

For clarity, the wife does not play... the cousin does.

 

 

***note*** Tho I live in TN, these are not one and the same women. I can understand the confusion, though