Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars

Subject: Help Needed
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 05:56 AM

I write to ask for your help in combatting an invasive and potentially crippling ailment that guitar players are particularly susceptible to. It starts completely unnoticed by the host, but gradually develops into seemingly mild symptoms, but at increasingly more frequent intervals.

The first tell tale signs are typically when the sufferer starts to say things like: “this is going to be the last guitar I will buy, because it’s all I ever wanted”. Within a year, the novelty has worn off, and they can be found scanning the Internet for yet another ‘must have’ acquisition. Excuses are too easily found to justify filling the house with more and more instruments - a high end guitar for recording purposes, a lesser one for gigs at dodgy venues, one with high action for slide playing, one in open tuning because you don’t like re-tuning on stage, a classical guitar for that version of ‘Suzanne’ you used to do, a twelve string just in case you ever get a request for ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ again, a parlour guitar for lovingly recreating that Robert Johnson sound (even though, to be honest, surely all your love’s in vain), a mandolin that you genuinely intend to learn to play properly someday, a 5 string banjo that you thought would be easy to play because the tuning is close to a guitar’s after all, and a ukulele for the kids/grandkids to play on (rather than them smearing peanut butter on your new Elixirs on the OM 28).

You can help abate this debilitating affliction by giving generously, not of your money, but of any space or vacant property/real estate for sufferers to house their ever growing collection of instruments. If you are unfortunately already a sufferer, feel free to send any of your rarely used acquisitions to me, who can provide a good care home for them (especially any pre-War Martin dreadnoughts, V class Taylors, Gibson Granada five strings or Lloyd Loar mandolins).

Subject: RE: Help Needed
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 06:52 AM

Commonly known as GAS (or, for mandolin players, MAS) it is totally incurable; or, I thought it was!

With just the two of us rattling around a four bed house, I’ve run out of space and not bought an instrument in over two and a half years - the last one was a Collings Mandola.

I pity those who suffer from GAS and can’t afford it but with an increasing number of instruments and an ever reducing space in which to store them, I’ve eventually run out of things to spend my money on.

Do I really need three Santa Cruz guitars, two vintage Gibson mandolins etc.etc.etc.etc!

Subject: RE: Help Needed
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 07:16 AM

I play melodeon, and am MAD.

Subject: RE: Help Needed
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 07:29 AM

I need to get rid of some mandolins, Gibson, Webers, Eastman. I've lost count how many I've got but I only play 3 of them [ and a tenor banjo ] Oh and I need to get rid of a couple or 3 banjo's too.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Help Needed
From: Newport Boy
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 07:39 AM

I must be immune! I have an early 20C Alfredo Albertini Italian guitar - £2:10s in 1961. It's a bit battered now having been used all over, including a truck trip through East Africa. My only other guitar is a 1965 Hoyer Jumbo, bought new for £36 on 9 months interest-free credit. I was earning £27 a week at the time.

Phil

Subject: RE: Help Needed
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 10:18 AM

It was too late for me when I realised I could either dream of saving up £2000 for one high quality guitar,
or fritter away much smaller amounts over time on ebay bidding for as many bargains as possible...

hmmm... one guitar for £2000, or 30 to 40 or more reasonable quality 2nd hand and B stock guitars
for the same amount of £££$...???

At my worst a decade ago, I was buying guitars with original retail price of 2 or 3 hundred pounds
for as little as 30 to 50 quid each, nearly every week...

I lost count about 10 years ago, and can't even get to a lot of them
out of reach at the back of the room behind the speaker cabs and boxes of CDs...

Clearing them all out, and just keeping the best few,
is going to be a mammoth chore..
which I can't keep putting off forever...

Maybe channel 5 should do an OCD hoarder documentary on me...??

Subject: RE: Help Needed
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 12:10 PM

I’ve never been shy of spending a few quid on a decent guitar. My SCs cost me between £1500 and £2500 each and the average going rate for new ones is currently over £4500. I also have a Martin for which I paid £190 new. Nuff said!

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 02:52 PM

Thinking about the effort involved in listing all my surplus guitars, amps, FX pedals, etc on ebay and reverb..
and the practicalities of packng and shipping..
Then estimating how much I might get back if any of them eventually sell...

[We do need money for repairs to our crumbling Victorian terraced house..
But I've always fancied a Gretsch...]

Followed by the thought of just carrying on as is doing nothing,
and leaving the problem to my mrs,
if I hopefully go first..

Well.. one solution is I might be more positively inclined to donate a lot of 'em
to worthwhile music community projects/charities...???

We'll see.. the thinking about it stage might take me a few more years closer to my 70s...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 03:27 PM

Ebay,violins, sold off a bunch, wish I had kept more than the five I did, so think hard before unloading.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 05:08 PM

I don't think I'm too bad... I have 4 acoustic guitars. One of them I'm going to get rid of. The other three all have their own flavour and fit quite neatly under a double bed.
I have 1 of several other instruments: a fiddle, a banjo, a mandolin, a ukulele and a Seagull M4 (dulcimer guitar). All of which I play from time to time.

So that's not so bad, right?

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Acorn4
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 07:33 AM

Menopausal Men with Expensive Guitars.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Gilly
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 08:01 AM

Wait til you have more than 3 mandolas as well as ?guitars etc and when anyone asks you reply by asking whether they mean acoustic, electric electro bass (long or short scale )project guitars rebuilds etc then see their eyes glaze over.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,alan whittle
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 08:18 AM

during my time as a working musician. i did lots of different gigs. every time i changed direction, i seemed to need a different set of gear. so i got used buying and selling guitars - never at a profit - just to finance the next set of adventures.

now in my retirement , i get a lot of pleasure in the ownership of various guitars/amps/recording stuff/ukuleles.

relax and enjoy - all this is taken away from us soon enough.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: beachcomber
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 12:21 PM

Oh Jesus, I recognise now, in myself,having read all of the above posts, a propensity for buying instruments that is obviously the beginnings of a GAS/MAD type addiction. I presently have three jumbo guitars, two parlour, a classical, two mandolins, a Five-string banjo and two fiddles on each of which I can "knock out a tune" to use a colloquial expression of this area. Is there an antidote before gridlock to our home sets in ?
(P.S. I also recently bought a small child's guitar even though our grandchildren are both under two years !)Where am I headed ?

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 12:26 PM

That sounds like a very mild form of GAS/MAS to me. You clearly need a larger house!

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 12:28 PM

Kids guitars are great.. errmmm. I've got at least 7..

ok.. maybe I do need to seek specialist advice...

But in my defence, they easily convert cheaply into banjo/mandola style tunings...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: beachcomber
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 12:30 PM

Good, I am gathering all "defences" from this thread against the time when it comes to    - ME OR THEM !!!

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 01:49 PM

It's also like drug addiction, each new fix costs more money. I decided a long time ago, that I was not a collector. So, if I see a guitar I really want, I sell another one to help pay for the new one. I perform with two guitars, each in a different tuning, have another for backup, when one is in the shop for repairs. Anything else gets neglected. Having said that, I did recently get a new guitar, after nine years of not getting anything. I did keep true to myself and sold off the backup guitar.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: JennieG
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 12:11 AM

Some ukulele players suffer from a similar syndrome......not me, I only have three ukes......one soprano, one tenor and one baritone.

Ukes don't take up as much space as guitars.

And two guitars. One nylon, one steel stringed. Need to cover all bases.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 01:08 AM

Through by student years I had one guitar for "everything" - traded cheaper ones for more expensive through time. Over my first 5 years of paid employment I treated myself to a couple more nice flat tops over time so ended up with 3 - plus the odd oddity (old style archtops etc.). Came out to Australia 30 years ago with 3 nice guitars - numbers have since fluctuated between 1 and 3 (but not the same ones) - so reckon I have been fairly restrained over that time! And I don't drive a BMW or a Mercedes, or own a yacht, so consider that owning better-than-average quality guitars is a fairly cheap indulgence in the scheme of things. When I go, someone else can enjoy them as well... As Alan Whittle said above:

"relax and enjoy - all this is taken away from us soon enough."

Cheers! Tony

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 03:55 AM

It isn’t confined to BMW or Mercedes although a mate of mine does have numerous instruments and a yacht (plus two vintage cars, a banger, a sports car and a couple of motorbikes) He’s not rich, he’s a retired teacher.

Any half decent car will cost you say between 10K and 20K and in a decade or so will be in a scrapyard. A guitar costing the same price will likely be worth at least as much as it cost originally.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 07:35 AM

Yes, it’s not as bad an affliction as say collecting cars, which obviously take up more space, tend to depreciate in value more and are generally environmentally unsound anyway. Those who trade up with instruments, ie. one in and one out, have the right idea to my mind, but it’s not so easy these days because of the loss of high street music shops and the rise of single transactions via the Internet.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 07:43 AM

"Those who trade up with instruments, ie. one in and one out, have the right idea to my mind, but it’s not so easy these days because of the loss of high street music shops and the rise of single transactions via the Internet."

.. and very significantly, the over abundant supply of guitars for sale on the internet, at all times...


If I won bids on ebay for guitars down to less than a 10th of their retail cost for the seller,
then I suspect I am stuck with instruments that will never sell,
or will barely cover shipping costs and ebay/reverb/paypal fees.

Not an optimistic return for all the time and effort trying to clear them out the house...

But it's got to be done sooner or later...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 08:46 AM

New Fellowship required?
"Compulsive Guitar Buyers Anonymous".

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 08:57 AM

What I forgot to mention is...

In the UK we'd need to be really deparate to sell our surplus guitars at Cash Converters,
or similar styled rip off merchants...

But that's all there is in most towns now...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 09:32 AM

A guitar spends its early life surrounded by other guitars, first in the shop where it's constructed and, later, in a music store. It gets used to having lots of company. Taking a guitar out of such an instrument-rich environment and introducing it to a new home where it is the only guitar can be a very traumatic experience. It amounts to cruelty to instruments.

When I bring a new guitar home, it immediately finds a bunch of new and interesting friends to play with. There are so many other guitars that it thinks it's only been moved from one music store to another, but with the added benefit of knowing that no 16-year-old is ever going to stumble through "Smoke on the Water" on it again.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: John P
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 01:23 PM

We call it IAS, for Instrument Acquisition Syndrome. I have it myself, although my form of it doesn't cause me to buy multiple guitars, or mandolins, but rather many different types of instruments. I have six guitars, but only one type is duplicated: Lowden 6-string, my main performance guitar, Art & Lutherie 6-string, my camping guitar, Martin tenor, Washburn Hawk electric, Fender bass, and a lute guitar for medieval gigs.

But then there's the cittern, lap dulcimer, Celtic harp, piano, electic piano, 2 Korg synths, ukelele, accordion, oud, ruan, various wind instruments, and a large pile of drums, both acoustic and electric.

My ex-wife told me that if I brought any more drums into the house, something else would have to leave. I don't THINK that's why we're not married anymore.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 01:28 PM

Bugger it.. you just reminded me I fancied getting a Wahburn Hawk...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 09:37 AM

Breaking news.. Reverb has just been sold to Etsy...

Will that through a spanner in the works...???

Anyone interested should google...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 12:30 PM

Not interested so I won’t. I’ve heard of Reverb but not Etsy. I tend not to sell what I buy although I did once trade in a spare Martin D18 as part payment for a National mandolin

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 12:40 PM

I'm a spoons player, and you all have my sympathy.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 12:46 PM

For someone like me doing half-hearted reluctant research into best ways to sell off surplus gear,
Reverb looked like a viable more positive, safer, option than ebay..

I'd never heard of Etsy until yesterday, but I see there is a UK site...

Oh well.. who knows...???

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 12:47 PM

I used to play spoons in a band, but got a shock when we all went electric. At least I made a great conductor.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 07:59 PM

I sent this thread to a musician friend

his reply - Oh so true. I’m not sure how debilitating this can get but at some 20 or so guitars to date it has its down side. Very hard to dispose of your best friends.

he doesn't just collect guitars, I've seen him learning/playing a number of different instruments.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: JennieG
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 10:24 PM

When I posted above I neglected to add that I also have six sewing machines (- all work, all are used - because it didn't fit the musical theme.

But this morning I remembered that four of them are Singers......

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 01:47 AM

I remember someone saying, a boat is a hole in the water surrounded by wood, into which you throw money. On that basis, a guitar is a hole in the air surrounded by wood and wire, into which other people throw money (if you're lucky...)

- Tony

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 03:59 AM

Just the 11 melodeons at the moment.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 06:45 AM

I only have one washboard and a few other bits of percussion and two kazoos. One on a neck brace with a train whistle and the other in my pocket "just in case"...I also have other things people have bought me hoping I would learn them and give up the kazoo: harmonica, tin and swanee whistle etc. No chance.
RtS

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 10:12 AM

This thread started with "
I write to ask for your help in combatting an invasive and potentially crippling ailment that guitar players are particularly susceptible to." i.e, buying expensive guitars. Let me ask:

1. Is your retirement fully funded?
2. Do you have a fund for emergencies? Fire, flood, car crash,
    grandchild born with serious health problem?
3. Have you ever had a fabulous vacation?
4. How often will you play this umpteenth guitar?
5. Would new paint, new drapes, a kitchen re-do, lift the family's
    spirits a lot more?

Only you can decide.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 10:35 AM

Finances and space have largely kept me in check but there have been times where I might otherwise have got quite into the more general instrument acquisition syndrome.

Current playing stock are 2 acoustic guitars which are quite different in tone, electric guitar, mandolin, electric mandolin, mandolin banjo and 2 tenor banjos – one a 17 fret “Masterclone” and the other a 19 fret open back with a 12 inch pot.

I suppose favourite possible additions would be a good quality octave mandolin (or maybe bozouki) and a B/C button accordion but my relationship with music is one these days where, even with resources, either would probably be better considered a passing whim.

That would be especially true with the B/C box. I have played a bit of G/D melodeon in the past and thought that if I tried again I’d like to change fingering and start out with a responsive box (I did briefly have a Double Ray that was air hungry and needed some work…) but whether I’d really settle down to learning is doubtful even if I was say armed with a Castagnari.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 04:33 AM

Some of you sound to have commendably got the affliction well under control, but then tend to blow it a bit by going on to list all the instruments you do have. However, it does seem to be more of a male thing, this appetite for collecting things, be it cars, instruments, books, recordings, etc. It’s also an age thing of course, because today’s young people are more attuned to borrowing and then disposing of things, particularly sound recordings. In my case, I rarely come across a record shop that has more stock than I have myself at home, but then I rarely come across a record shop these days.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Some bloke
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 07:37 AM

I mean, a Lowden, almost new and a grand cheaper than one from the factory...

It would be economical disaster not to....

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Stringsinger
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 11:02 AM

I know the perfect cure for GAS. Learn to play one of those instruments well. Then you'll be identified with that instrument and not need any more.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 11:19 AM

I was stuck with one guitar in our band throughtout my late teens and early 20s..
My stab at success and record contacts..

..and that guitar, that was the best I could afford, was crap.
It hampered my playing and development as a musician...
So much so, I gave up playing for 15 years
and worked in photography instead...

Now the bloody thing is considered a vintage collector's item...???

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 11:30 PM

Jackson Browne normally takes about 14-15 guitars on stage with him and switches between them for his set. His excuse is that each of them "has a different song (or songs) inside it"... hmm. Not entirely convinced, although there may be *something* there.

- Tony

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 11:39 PM

Actually I am told Jackson B has had up to 23 on stage - a mere 19 in this pic:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joemoconnell/5723547940

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 10:35 AM

I can’t imagine getting 14-15 back home on the bus never mind 19 or 23!

Personally, I never take more than a guitar and a mandolin out at the same time although I often regret not taking more.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 12:24 PM

I don't think it's a male thing. I have a lot of recorders. However, I can afford them, and I don't look at them later and say, "Why did I spend money I need for other things on that?"
======
I don't believe that any capable musician needs 14-23 guitars onstage.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 12:45 PM

Leenia - you don't understand the fans/audience demand for their idols
to show off a line-up of many vintage expensive dream guitars on stage.
It's all part of the show biz trappings...

AS much as it is to do with the ego of any famous guitarist
sucessful enough to employ guitar technicians
to care for and prepare the harem of guitars for a major tour...

A very well known USA blues guitarist is expected to play concerts
with ridiculously valuable original late 1950s to early 60s Gibson Les Pauls,
that other collectors would keep safely sealed and unplayed in museum cases in Bank vaults...
Otherwise, his fans would feel severely let down
not to be in the close proximity presece of such fabled instruments......

However, a local folkie turning up for a pub or house session with several valuable vintage guitars,
well that's just a rich bragging pillock...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 01:00 PM

JB's got all those fine old guitars, why shouldn't he and his fans enjoy them. At least they're not hanging on the walls of some rich dude's man cave.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 01:05 PM

I see that one of David Gilmour’s guitars recently sold for $3,975,000 - just the sort of thing to take down to the local club.

We did once do a pub gig with £80,000 worth of lights but that’s another story.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 01:19 PM

Saves on space.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 01:35 PM

I dream of being able to afford to rent a lock up room in a storage wharehouse for all my gear...

Then I remember the valuable guitar collections lost in flooded or burnt out storage facilities...

Heart breaking...

A rehearsal/storage building in Bristol went up in flames recently,
with bands losing all their gear...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 02:26 PM

Yes, not that clever. You could always rent a secure shop and store them there, but never sell any of them, which is quite likely given the rise in Internet sales.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 08:28 PM

Valid points, pfr. But just because your observations about audiences are true doesn't mean they make sense. For example, given the poor-quality music the average person tolerates in pop, I doubt if the listeners can tell the guitars apart. Sure, one extreme is noticeably different from another extreme, but I suspect that with most of the guitars, the risks in hauling them about are not justified.

That is so sad about the gear burnt in storage.

Starship, I believe that guitar was custom-designed for a trained octopus.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,alan whittle
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 10:53 PM

its a sensual thing. Different guitars have their own inherent pleasures.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 10:37 AM

leeneia - Lesson 1: How to begin to dispel lazy supercilious entrenched prejudices
about popular music and it's practitioners...

Famous guitars sound comparison.

[..and this is just a very basic primer on the diversity of tonal differences, some minimal, some drastic...]

Lesson 2,3,4,5, etc, and onwards:The next steps in becoming better informed and educated
on the path towards musical tolerance and enlightenment [or not]
are up to the individual traveller...


Besides which, it's nice to have exactly the same guitar with exactly the same sound,
but in diferent colours to match varying moods and shirts...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 11:19 AM

leeneia: "Starship, I believe that guitar was custom-designed for a trained octopus." Funny, but when I made that post I thought something similar. I was wondering whether the octopus and player would be a duo or a quintet :-)

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 11:33 AM

leeneia - though, for fairness and balance to opinions like yours,
which many of us do consider as valid when expresssed constructively,
here's a video very pertinent to this thread...

How many guitars do you "NEED"?

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 01:36 PM

I have a mere four Anglo concertinas, in three different pairs of keys, three of which I play, plus one duet which I hardly ever play (but keep because my parents bought it for me) and one English which I can't play but recently had comprehensively serviced and have now lent to someone who does play it. Unplayed are two autoharps (inherited from my grandfather), a melodeon or two and a pump organ. Three of the Anglos are top quality and should be easily sellable for about what they cost me, or more, if and when I need the cash.

But none of the collections described above come anywhere near the late lamented Tom Paley's collection of fiddles.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 01:37 PM

Thanks for the link, pfr. There's much to consider there.

As for owning many guitars: it's always more fun to buy something than to work with it. I, for example, have a lifetime supply of yarn and fabric which is so much more fun to buy than to use. When the "something" is not a skein of yarn but an expensive instrument which just sits around, that's a problem.

Then there's the obvious problem that the more guitars one has, the less time each can be played.
=========
The video you provided made me think of something. The video showed portraits of famous guitarists, performers. Each of them focused very much on the sound he was producing. Each was very interested in the audience's reaction. Me, I enjoy music in a different way. I'm an indifferent player, but I am interested in exploring music itself. Is it a pretty piece, a sad piece, a jaunty piece? Does it have interesting chord changes? Unusual timings?

To quote my dear father, "I don't make much money, but I have a lot of fun."

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Mooh
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 06:46 PM

Though I'm susceptible to various forms of the aforementioned affliction, I don't have the cash flow to support the lifestyle. That said, I do have a few more instruments than perhaps I need.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: CupOfTea
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 07:58 PM

Comparing the guitar acquiring habits of different levels/ situations of guitarists (or insert other instrument choice ) seems like an apples/oranges kind of thing. I see numbers of guitarists, like Phil (actually, I Like him very much, but I digress...) who have years worth of experience, who have concentrated on a specific style, and because of that, have figured out what suits them and their style well, and set a maximum number they need, and do the one-in, one-out method . Others may play in a wider range of styles - rock, blues, polka, folk, classical, electric, acoustic - trying to make a living in music any way, and different styles of guitar may be best suited to thr music and playing style. Many guitars may be a professional need.

I've run into the problem of NOT having enough duplication, autoharps in my case. I have been playing a 21 chord 'harp for over 30 years, to accompany singing and dance. When my 21 chord took a bad fall against a mic stand, and had the tone completely ruined, I was, too. I dont have the money for a comparable as a backup - two keys are not enough, so I've had to stop a couple of things till it's healthy again.

So, if I were a guy, would I have had plenty of backup 'harps?
I do have two(totally decorative, unplayable )guitars though!

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Mooh
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 06:22 AM

I've seen a lot of acts which would benefit from using a greater variety of guitars as the single guitar tends to sound monotonous after a few songs/tunes. Sure, for short sets at festivals with quick change-overs in mind it might not be practical to carry too many, but even two guitars can make a difference. I rarely carry just one as I don't feel comfortable without a back-up. The six string steel string is my default, but after that I'll bring a Dobro, 12 string, bouzouki, nylon, or whatever suits the gig.

My regular gig (per se) is instruction so I need at least one of everything I teach. This usually leads to me owning additional varieties, plus there are the things I think are cool or I might use for recording. I can't afford everything I want but I have most of what I need.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,alan whittle
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 07:05 AM

'more fun to buy something than work with it......'

I've always hated buying guitars. Often when I was a working professional, the guitar I needed was an expensive necessity. Often you ended up buying a compromise.

The ones I buy these days are a fun thing, and I indulge my love for playing. But I still hate buying . I like owning the guitars and playing them. The actual business acquiring guitars is a pain.

I avoid guitar shops like the plague. Hate the deal making. Hate the assistants more often than not.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: leeneia
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 11:06 AM

Hi, alan. Your viewpoint is noted.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jim Knowledge
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 11:52 AM

I `ad that Terry Stiles in my cab the other day.`e`s the son of `arry Stiles,`im that used to run the best musical instrument shop in Lewisham. `Terry`s still in the bizz but moved on to artist management.
I said, " Morning Tell Boy. You still getting `em to run about all over the place gigging?"
`e said, "Yeah Jim, it pays the rent. `ere, I was looking at that Mudcat, the bit about geezers who can`t stop buying guitars. My dad told me about them on one of our `olidays to Florida!! Didn`t you used to suffer from that syndrome?".
I said,"Yeah, once upon a time. I `ad the lot. Martins, Gibsons, Greich, `ofners. You name `em, I `ad `em"
`e said, "What `appened to em all?"
I said, "Well. my mate suggested I sign `em all with well known artists name and offer them on E-Bay at upped prices. They went like `ot cakes. Nice little earner!!"


Whaddam I Like??

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Mooh
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 09:44 PM

[just happy to finally have a guitar thread on Mudcat]

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 03:44 AM

Of course if you are a Gibson man (or lady) then you obviously need more than one. Perhaps like this:

http://www.oldgibson.com/110825Gibsons_015.jpg

Not mine, I hasten to add...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 03:51 AM

The above picture, and many more, at Robert Corwin's site:

http://www.oldgibson.com/

(Psst... he collects old Martins as well...)

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,alan whittle
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 04:08 AM

Gibsons being a good case in point. I've only had two.

the one I lusted afterwwas the Les paul Anniversary model. Round about 1980 - but I had to settle for a model called the Paul. People used to love the sound - played through a Peavey Deuce. But compared to a proper Les paul, it was ugly little bastard - swapped it for an Ibanez which offered a cleaner sound - and much more powerful.

After that they came out with the Gibson Chet Atkins - which was the first acoustic you didn't need something the size of a washing machine to finger pick and and beat the background chatter in a pub.
Unfortunately I got the first one that came out - a nylon string thing. Nylon strings ain't my thing. Cost £675 from a shop in St martins lane. As I was gigging   maybe four times a week - earning when i was lucky forty quid a throw, it meant sacrifice. It meant looking exhaustively for the best deal - through the back pages of Melody Maker in those pre-net days.

Later of course the Chet Atkins came to prominenece with the Knopfler solo in Private Investigations.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 04:22 AM

Mooh said: "I've seen a lot of acts which would benefit from using a greater variety of guitars as the single guitar tends to sound monotonous after a few songs/tunes."

That's down to the artist not the instrument. No-one ever got bored with Isaac Guillory playing his Takemine (or later Martin) for a whole set, Richard Thompson does the whole "1000 years of popular music" on his Lowden, etc...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,alan whittle
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 04:24 AM

you'd be surprised how easily civilians get bored.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Mooh
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 10:29 AM

Guest Mark Bluemel...Point taken, but not everyone is Guillory or Thompson, and no one can make a six string sound like a 12 string, nylon string, resonator etc.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 11:49 AM

Actually, you can make a six string to sound like a twelve string, etc, with a modelling guitar, like the Line 6 Variax Acoustic. Mine emulates the sound of various Gibsons,, Martins, etc when played through an amp. However I think they ceased production due to lack of interest, from which I assume we all prefer to have several different instruments instead, but does that mean we value the hardware, looks and kudos of the instruments more than the actual sound we produce?

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: gillymor
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 12:05 PM

I've come to think of my instruments as functional works of art and keep almost all of them out where I can see them and pick one up if I have a notion. My efforts to "thin the herd" don't often work because after I clean and restring the instrument I'm usually reminded why I acquired it in the first place and decide to play it "just a while longer" until I'm sure I want to get rid of it. Btw, keeping your instruments out can cause your strings to get mungy as you guys know but I wipe them down after playing and every so often apply some Ducks Ax Wax which increases string life and lubricates the fingerboards.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 12:10 PM

I doubt it's really about sound, performance, etc. Sounds more like rationalizations to hide the fact y'all harbor a secret wish to collect more strings than anyone else in living memory. It's just an expensive way to do it. YMMV.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,alan whittle
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 02:21 PM

yes the line 6 variax acoustic> I've still got one - just use it for bass guitar parts.

People used to tell me it sounded okay, but it didn't record brilliantly, and it was never a fun guitar to play. The only amp it sounded good through, to me, was the Fender Acoustasonic.

The acoustasonic is my favourite amp of all time. I swapped an entire guitar collection fot the big 200watt job. It was too heavy to tote around and the resale on its about two hundred quid. But it sounds bloody gorgeous.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 02 Aug 19 - 08:02 PM

gillymore wrote:

>I've come to think of my instruments as functional works of art and keep almost all of them out where I can see them and pick one up if I have a notion.

"Functional works of art" is a nice concept, works for me... my first guitar/guitars were purely functional (did a job); later I bought a second one, also functional (slightly different sound suited to other material; useful to have a spare when the first one was in the repair shop etc.); after that they have moved into more of the "aesthetic" area - beautiful objects that produce a beautiful and insiring sound and are a pleasure to play. (As I mentioned above, I try to limit myself to three - acoustics that is - although not always the same 3!). Practical limitations are storage space / other priorities for discretional spending / how much money do I really want to have tied up in instruments / when is another one just duplication of a "sound" I can already get :) :) Also as someone else said, we do not really own them, we just curate them for a while until they eventually pass to someone else.

That said, if I could only take one to a desert island, which would it be...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 02 Aug 19 - 08:09 PM

And if you think a guitar addiction is bad, how about a banjo one? This quote is lifted from a 2003 mudcat post in another thread from Charley Noble...

------------
HOSEA EASTON, of Melbourne, Australia, July 13th, 1886:

My banjos, eight in number, arrived here three weeks ago perfectly safe and sound, and I have thoroughly tested every one of them. I find to my satisfaction that there is nothing in the shape of banjos in Australia to approach them. You deserve the name, "King Banjo Maker," and as you stated in your letter, the two large banjos are the finest ever seen in the colonies...I have been playing one of the large ones with a full orchestra, and the banjo was heard above the orchestra outside the theatre doors.(!)
-------------

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Aug 19 - 09:47 PM

Joke heard at dance practice:

How many guitars does a guitarist need?
Just one more.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 03:57 AM

This is what can happen if you buy one of the 91 pre-war Martin D-45s ever made (worth as much as a small detached house) and then decide not to stop there (12 of the original 91 in one room...):

12 original D-45s

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 09:00 AM

“Duplication of a sound I can already produce...” Ouch! How many of us are brave enough to admit that our audience probably cannot hear any difference at all when we switch instruments to the one we think is essential for a particular song or tune? Just because you can hear the difference between a J200 and say an OM28 doesn’t mean that your audience can, who are more likely to notice a change of the player than the instrument. Just saying....

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: gillymor
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 09:30 AM

Jerry- "Just because you can hear the difference between a J200 and say an OM28 doesn’t mean that your audience can,"

Back when I used to perform on a fairly regular basis I used a Lowden F model which was a good "tweener" guitar, worked well for strumming and fingerstyle, but in a more casual setting where I have multiple instruments I'll use a large body guitar if I'm singing and playing with a flat pick (I love feeling that thrum against my chest) and a 000 size for fingerpicking. While the audience may not be able to hear the difference in particular instruments, especially when they're filtered through sound systems, using a different instrument may still affect the performance, I know it does for me.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 10:15 AM

Never mind a J200 and an OM28; a fair few audiences couldn't hear the difference between a J200 and an BMW, but, as gillymor implies, it's not only down to the audience, its the one who's playing the thing that matters. Anyway, if you can't spend your money on instruments, what else is there to do with it nowadays? You can't take it with you although I've known a few people who've tried.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 11:35 AM

All guitars sound the same. And yet, all guitars sound different. Therein lies the mystery and, to some, the appeal and life long quest...

Of course all [concertinas|mandolins|electric guitars|harps|violins|pianos|you name it] *do* sound the same :)

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 11:37 AM

Plus I should add of course, some sound even more the same than others.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 12:43 PM

Too much Orwell there Tony - or is that a river in Suffolk.

I’ve no idea who they belong to but Bamfords auctioneers in Derby are just about to auction a “sigle owner” musical instrument collection which includes around 228 guitars. Why whosoever collected them I can’t imagine as I wouldn’t give house room to the vast majority.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 06:18 PM

On the other hand...

steven-kern-shaw-estate-donates-105-million-vintage-instrument-collection-belmont

I guess if you can afford a $10.5 million instrument collection you can also afford a larger house...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 06:24 PM

RE the Shaw bequest... I'm betting George Gruhn rubbed his hands every time he saw Shaw coming into his shop with an itch he had to scratch! Come in, come in!!

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Tony Rees
Date: 03 Aug 19 - 06:31 PM

RE my post above (larger house)... larger perhaps but not more expensive. Quote from the article linked below (which is a good read in its own right):

"Renowned fretted instrument historian George Gruhn, the owner of Nashville's Gruhn Guitars instrument shop, was the co-executor of Shaw's estate. Gruhn described Shaw as a hoarder, who collected instruments, knives and other items. Shaw owned two plain houses in Nashville, which were chock-full of instruments worth significantly more than the homes themselves."

There you go.

Full article here:

10.5m-oasis-guitar-nerds-opens-belmont

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Some bloke
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 07:37 AM

True. It has little to do with what the audience hears, but how it affects your playing. (Although if you are blessed with ears, you will notice that a Lowden sounds very different to something out of your gran’s catalogue, and your enjoyment of the performance will be more for it. The difference is more acoustically or mic’d than plugged in, but it’s there.)

My 000 and my 0M may look similar to an audience but the different neck profile, nut width and string pitch means the 000 plays better with a pick and the 0M better at finger picking. I play each better, more accurately and fluidly when playing to their strengths. I have a couple of guitars that are passable at both and a few that play far better when played to their strengths.

That said, if you can afford lots of guitars, buy lots of guitars. If it pisses a few sad people off, win win.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: Mooh
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 08:42 PM

Some audience members CAN hear the difference between guitars, and it makes a difference to them. In any event, at times it behooves the performer to educate the audience by exposing them to the sounds. As for the Variax...it depends on how convincing you want your sound to be...and it certainly doesn't convince me. Also, sometimes other band members are to be considered. For example, the concertina player in my duo much prefers the sound of one guitar over others, and a singer I used to play with would often say she preferred one guitar over others depending on the song. Having played a lot of acoustic house concerts I can honestly say that in the right circumstances switching up guitars can be appreciated by the audience.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 03:32 AM

depends where you are playing, and also the acoustics of the room. and also whether it is a noisy pub or a quiet folk club. too many didactic opinions., here and agressive mosh pit comments, that reveal jealousy and chips on shoulders
example this comment from punk folk rocker
However, a local folkie turning up for a pub or house session with several valuable vintage guitars,
well that's just a rich bragging pillock... why shouldnt a local folkie have quality instruments?

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 03:51 AM

Some of us play because we have to (in order to make a living) whilst others play because we want to (I made a better living elsewhere which is why I can buy exactly what I want).

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 09:26 AM

Dick - FFS.. how long can you hold onto a petty grudge.. over multiple threads...!!!???

You've become a right resentful old misery..

Can you even remember what I did to upset you so much...???

Because I'm buggered if I can... or give a toss..

You're the one making yourself look so silly...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 09:34 AM

Dick - My comment in that post was tongue in cheek..
That intention is as obvious as possible,
without big colourful smiley emoticons to aid the special needs hard of understanding..

You are purposely taking it too literally so you can keep up your pointless feud...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 02:11 PM

no feud, just a reaction to your negativity.cop on be more positive about people

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 02:19 PM

.. do what...???

would that be your imagined negativity from me to you...

Which could perhaps become self-fulfilling if you continue in this way...

At the moment I'm still only teasing a cranky mudcat mate,
who I otherwise respect as a musician...

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 10:36 AM

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 10:42 AM

Sorry, but my last post isn't empty. I have covered the landscape with my new collection of white bird feathers. Just wanted to show y'all.

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: GUEST,akenaton
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 11:09 AM

Leenia, excuse me for asking, but were you in a previous incarnation, Deirdre?

Subject: RE: Help Needed - guitarist keeps buying more guitars
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 11:40 AM

Apologies for yesterday's wayward diversion.
It distracted me from posting this enjoyable article on JJ Cale's
pragmatic attitude to guitar collecting...

https://www.musicradar.com/news/on-jj-cale-he-would-buy-a-dollar100-guitar-then-if-he-messed-it-up-by-drilling-holes-it-was-okay-that-was-the-cost-of-educating-himself

Copy and paste link to get there..

Blue Clicky not working with this one...