Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?

Subject: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: GUEST,saulgoldie
Date: 18 Nov 21 - 08:55 AM

I have decided that I have more guitars than I really need. Yet, every time I start to decide which ones should go to a new home, the process breaks down.

One guitar has special meaning, even though I hardly play it. Another one probably would not garner a price that I feel it is worth. Not talking about a mere $20 or $50. More like hundreds.

Or another one sounds very good, when I play it. But I almost never play it. (Am I repeating myself?)

So far, I have not been able to make any choices. Any thoughts on this process? What am I missing? Or am I over-thinking, which I am prone to do?

Thanks to the wise Mudcat family.

Saul

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: matt milton
Date: 18 Nov 21 - 10:07 AM

Be brutal. I've got 4 guitars and I know that that's too many. I can at least say that there is a very good musical reason for holding onto those 4: whenever I pick up one of them I am pleasantly surprised by how good it sounds. They all get played.

I could get it down to just 1 - I do have 1 that is far and away my favourite - and then I could justify keeping 1 other as a spare. I really should do that one day.

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Nov 21 - 11:47 AM

The "special meaning" guitar will be tough to part with. It might need to be gifted into a situation that will have an equally "special meaning" for you and it's recipient, rather than sold. (You used the term "re-home". That's good.)
For guitars you do decide to sell, don't get hung up on the exact price. It's okay to let someone get a sweet deal. Your goal is to thin out your collection of guitars, not necessarily make a ton of profit. You've hopefully already gotten good value from your time with the instrument(s) in question. A year from now, you'll be glad to have jettisoned the guitar, or you'll miss it (or both), but you probably won't be beating yourself up about the exact price you sold it for.
The alternative is to make a point of playing and using them all more. Or, make peace with them taking up physical space where you live, and mental baggage in your head.
On one side, the argument is sell cheap or give away quickly, like ripping off a Band Aid. Simplify your life. Downsize and move on. Don't live in the past.
Other side is: you hear plenty of stories of folks regretting that they sold a guitar. No one ever really regrets keeping a guitar.
But, if the bit about them not getting played is bugging you...and they should get played...it's time re-home them.
Figure out your one (or two) to keep and go from there.

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: Chris C
Date: 18 Nov 21 - 11:51 AM

Oops...above post was me, if that matters. Not that I post very often, just mostly a habitual lurker, but not a guest. Forget to log in.

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 18 Nov 21 - 01:22 PM

One of them must be your #go to' guitar, so that's out. Now you're down to three. One of those, must be easier to play than the other two. There you are, down to two. Then you flip a coin, and the one that loses, goes.
Simple; no need to thank me, it's my pleasure.

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: matt milton
Date: 19 Nov 21 - 08:17 AM

Just to clarify, there was nothing in the original post about having 4 guitars - that was me, replying. I don't need to get rid of any of them, they don't take up too much space.

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 19 Nov 21 - 09:05 AM

When I played professionally, the guitars I owned were, to a great extent, a reflection of the work for which I was booked. After I retired, I kept two: a steel-strung acoustic & a nylon-strung flamenco acoustic. So, Saul, if you play regularly/professionally, does the work you do require several different types of guitar? All sentimentality aside (easier said than done)! Do you own any instruments that you really have no need for? Someone once said that we are the guardians of our instruments, rather than the owner. Might there be a guitarist who would actively benefit from one of your lesser-played instruments? If so, consider passing the guardianship on in the form of a gift.
                     Best Wishes,
                                        Nigel Paterson.

Subject: RE: Too Many Guitars--Which ones to re-home?
From: CupOfTea
Date: 19 Nov 21 - 10:28 AM

The concept of “rehoming“ a guitar – or any instrument - is a good one. For an instrument that has strong emotional links, finding a person with whom you have emotional ties and would appreciate the guitar because it was YOURS would be a splendid way to pass it on, while strengthening that link. When you recall the absent guitar, your mind goes to where it lives. When the recipient plays the guitar, they will think of you.

It does seem sad to have instruments around that don’t get played. When I realized it had been four years since anyone played my hammer dulcimer, I sold it on to a dance friend, to be used by her sister and nephew. Very often, when encountering her, she would tell me how much joy they had from playing that dulcimer.

A very nice bowed psaltry I renovated, redundant & thus unused, went to a friend who gives it the attention it deserves. A bodhran, unused, went to a friend in the 80s. In the last decade, I was given a second chance at using one, was given the touring bodhran of my favorite singer, when she was downsizing her collection. I cherish it, even though I still can’t play it well enough for public playing, but it reminds me of her frequently.

Whether you are selling it or gifting it, the goodness that can come out of an unused instrument taking on a new life with someone else is a way to create a legacy while you are living: you get to enjoy the pleasure someone else will take in it, and in you.

Joanne in Cleveland with too many autoharps