OSG made me a tinkerer and fall in love with metallic finishes…
So now here I am - rewarding myself with new parts/builds or new guitars every now and then… I went from 4 to 10 electrics in 5 years (with 3 more builds on the way - while also having sold 5). Many of these are Jag/JM shaped - because the shape suits my playing and meets my aesthetic desires (what a Tele or SG/335 do not).

While each and every one has their special sound and qualities - and I could find an excuse for each single one - as I wouldn‘t give one of the remaining ones away - really NEEDING looks different. As an occasionally gigging musician (just 5-10 shows a year)I could probably get by with just my „workhorse“ Mastery equipped Thinline Jaguar with a PAF sized JM pickup and a P33 (for my Surf Doom band) - a solid body Jaguar (back up) and maybe a Jazzmaster (for Surf and general stuff) - snd let’s add a Bass for recording. That would probably be it. My bare minimum of NEEDS.

My others explore some more Sonic territory: Nashville tuned Danelectro Dead on 67/Hornet for those simulated 12 string sounds, Telemaster with a WRHB for funky/general Tele stuff - and I also really plan on building a Baritone soonish (just need to find a big headstock conversion neck) - currently I have a Thinline JM with Firebird PUs tuned to C or C# standard for that purpose - of course my first two Les Pauls have their justification as well…but they don’t get a lot of play tome these days…and then there is a Mosrite-esque Eastwood for the ground in between.

Actual working musicians might even have highly professional, super ergonomic guitars like Strandbergs - which I can‘t get behind from an aesthetic point of view - but they seem to play really really well… snd that‘s what counts for (some of) them.

TENTACULA: Garage-Psych-Heavy-Surf-Rock
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elmorto wrote:

For me, I've noticed is that the more guitars I have, the less time I use on practicing and recording new music.
With many guitars I spend a lot more time on maintenance, thinking about upgrades and looking around on gear related forums.

I've sold most of my gear now and I actually think it made me a lot more productive.

Right now I have a main guitar that I play 95% of the time, a baritone, an acoustic and a bass.

I sympathize with the extra work needed for multiple guitars.

I have close to 30 guitars. Some are older like from the 60s. One lap steel is from the 30's. Some are worth some money, but many are not worth much. I bought them because they were quirky or filled some kind of gap, like I wanted a Jazzmaster, a hollow body, a Gibson, etc. Many needed a lot of work to make playable. All are now playable, and the ones that I bought but didn't like how they played, I sold.

I keep a few out at a time to play, so the upkeep is not a problem. When I find one of the players doesn't get played much, I'll swap it for another being stored.

I don't gig, and play just for fun. I also like working on repairing guitars, so that justifies my purchases. My buying days are pretty much over, now, unless something really cool comes along,

So, to answer the question, I guess I need about 30 guitars. I'm not thinking of selling any of them.

If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play.
Bringing instruments back to life since 2013.

Last edited: Sep 26, 2024 15:36:44

edwardsand wrote:

One thing I love about this thread and the amp thread is the challenge of thinking through the Want vs Need question. It's not a simple question at all when it comes down to things that are both somewhat affordable and bring a lot of joy into our lives. If the question was posed about how many houses or homes we need, the basic answer is one. If it's about automobiles, the answer would be different (you could live somewhere that you don't need to own a car, you may need just one, or you may need multiple vehicles to serve different purposes).

I am starting to think in terms of if I had to move far away and downsize the numbers of guitars and amps, which are the ones I'd absolutely make room for, which are the ones I'd hope to take as well, and which ones I could live without. And then there are the considerations of which ones I need to make and record music or play in bands, if such things come to pass.

And also, I aim to avoid the siren song of consumerism - I don't want to collect a bunch of guitars to have one (or more) of each. But on the other hand, I am okay in indulging a bit because I avoid hyper-consuming in many other realms (still have the first car we ever bought new, which was in 2003).

I’ve thought about it in terms of what I would buy, if I were starting from scratch. A Trestle Braced Gretsch, such as my ‘59 Tennessean Ri with an added neck pickup. A Jaguar, probably another Warmoth. A Mustang bass, preferably from Japan. A Tele, but surprisingly, my favorite Tele is a Custom Telecaster FMT HH, with a set neck and a pair of fat humbuckers, which Is just an excellent instrument. There it is; four instruments to replace 15.

As regards amps, my Winfield Typhoon gets the most use; basically a 5 watt, Class A, single-end power amp, grafted behind the early Vox AC-15 preamp and tone circuit. Put a mic’ in front of it and through the PA, it sounds as big as a Showman.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.