Trial Separation - Can a man live with two electrics? Answer: No

dindude

I’ve trimmed my herd greatly in the last year but really want to get down to two electrics (and will keep an acoustic)  - when you haven’t restrung a couple of your guitars for over a year and the top E has been missing off your Acoustic for 2 years then you know the guitar ownership to time available ratio has been broken. Want to give play time to fewer instruments.

Treated myself to a new Strat to spur me on (GAS needs little excuse), the others have been placed in their cases before I do anything drastic, but so far it feels like no hardship “only” having these two. Let’s see....

 https://i.imgur.com/qoWoYws.jpg

RMJ

What's the strat? Looks v. Similar to mine. Nice pair!!

ICBM

Single coils.
Humbuckers.
Trem.
Hardtail.
Solid body.
Semi-acoustic.

You have all the important options covered there. No need for more guitars.

stimpsonslostson

I only had 2 for a while. I had two teles- an Esquire and a HH Deluxe. It was great, I actually spent more time playing & less time GASing... then I thought “I’m playing loads! I’ll actually use a third guitar”.. I now have 5 (and an acoustic which doesn’t get included in my counts as I couldn’t NOT have an acoustic). 

I’m about to advertise the excess and get back to the two...

though I could use the proceeds to buy a Strat... I quite fancy a strat... 

Kebabkid

Nice Strat, D and what is it? I could see you living with those two but the CS going as well? Mmm.

bacchanalian

I have nearly exactly that set up. Main difference would be I have maple on both my Alt T Pro and s type. So far, I am happy and am not looking to buy anything else.  As @ICBM mentions above you can cover a lot of ground with those two

dindude

RMJ said:

What's the strat? Looks v. Similar to mine. Nice pair!!

Kebabkid said:

Nice Strat, D and what is it? I could see you living with those two but the CS going as well? Mmm.

The Strat is a Custom Shop 1960 NOS.

Cos, I’ll live with it for a good few months and see what Strat wins the day. This one solves a lot of the small niggles I have with my other Strat, but by the same token they’re both bloomin great guitars. 

thegummy

ICBM said:

Single coils.
Humbuckers.
Trem.
Hardtail.
Solid body.
Semi-acoustic.

You have all the important options covered there. No need for more guitars.

Defo.

I don't really have much experience with semi-hollow body guitars so my ignorance there will show through - but I see having a "Strat" and a "Les Paul" (with the latter really meaning a hardtail with 2 humbuckers of any kind) as providing everything necessary.

The reason I have more than just that is as much to do with hating selling things as anything else lol.

Sometimes I might be holding a Strat and the part I'm doing just needs a humbucker tone so I'll swap but I can't really imagine holding a LP and thinking that it's just not going to work unless I have a slightly different flavour of Les Paul, as much as it's nice to have the variations.

robgilmo

I whittled down to one electric and one acoustic, I figured I would rather be a master of one than a tryer of many, I GAS like buggery quite a lot, hankering for a Strat and a LP but it will never happen, I found with one I can focus on my playing much much better with just one electric.

Schnozz

What I need is this...

1. HSH Superstrat with Hardtail
2. HSH Superstrat with Floyd Rose

What I have is this...

1. P90/P90 SG with Bigsby
2. HH Superstrat with Tremolo

I also have a Les Paul and a Stratocaster, but they don't cover as much as the above.

N.B. If the HH split well, you don't need the HSH and Bigsbys allow for alternate tuning too.

meltedbuzzbox

I always stick to one guitar. 
I use 2 others when I record. 

I could easily live with an acoustic and an electric

Freebird

My general rule is single coil for rhythm, and humbucker for lead/embellishment, although I will use the humbucker for heavier riffs when it's the main sound.

dindude

Well I guess the answer to my own question is no. I did go around a week but then caved and bought a new guitar!
So we’ll done me! 

All this talk of R8’s had me wanting some mahogany chunk in my life without spending 2.5k.

Enter this - one piece thick mahogany body, one piece quartersawn mahogany neck (not even headstock “wings”), gloss top, satin back and sides, hardshell case. Little over £600 in a sale so couldn’t resist. 

Had a GS1 years ago so have a soft spot, but also had a false start with the new Auden outfit, but hey ho, this is a proper bargain. Build is genuinely flawless (and I’m a fussy git), and it sounds fantastic and rings like a bell. I was ready to rip out the GS electrics straight away but not so sure, it works great.

As an occasional gibbo type itch scratcher for this fender man it’s the ticket. 
https://i.imgur.com/Lnowa4g.jpg

So I think I’m down to 4 as I also need to keep my Jag - I’m sure I can hide two under the bed! 

guitars4you

ICBM said:

Single coils.
Humbuckers.
Trem.
Hardtail.
Solid body.
Semi-acoustic.

You have all the important options covered there. No need for more guitars.

might not be any more NEED but what about WANT - The latter is probably the hardest part to resolve

stickyfiddle

One of us... One of us...

maltingsaudio

Seem to be playing only my Eggle Silhouette and Fylde at the moment, does that mean the other 6 I can see from the sofa need to be cased and removed from sight?

skunkwerx

The only downside to having multiple in my case is, I use one mainly, with 2 being occasional but still regularly, and the last pair hardly see use, but are useful.. the problem arises with those last 2.. when I do want to use them I end up faffing about wiping dust off, changing strings or whatnot which leads to not actually playing them.. 

CloudNine

ICBM said:

Single coils.
Humbuckers.
Trem.
Hardtail.
Solid body.
Semi-acoustic.

You have all the important options covered there. No need for more guitars.

Would mostly agree with that list, except would change the Semi-acoustic for full hollow. Most semi’s are reasonably interchangeable with a solid body, e.g. LP/335, near enough anyway, but full hollow is a real shift in terms of tone and response.

Or even better, (not in the spirit of the thread really) just add Hollow to the list! 

joetele

An absolute stunning pair of belters in that pic. Very envious of the Suhr Tele. 

After an expanding and contracting collection over the years, I'm down to two electrics as well - a MIM Tele with SCN pickups, and a Vintage V72 semi-hollow Tele. But oh lord, that Ibanez goldtop I posted about is calling me, especially after trying one out. My excuse is that it would tonally help me cover all bases  

dindude

I guess where I am is that I can easily live with the Strat and the Suhr, two absolute monster guitars I’m very fortunate to have, and this is a real first world problem.

I don’t really like overlap (I.e. owning two Strats or similar) but I like variety now and again almost as a palate cleanser or to trigger some inspiration when things get stale. The Jag and the Gordon Smith are both really quirky instruments that make you think and play differently, the sort that a lot of people would have as their 5th or 6th guitar or more, but I’m happy to justify as 3rd and 4th guitars. There’s no money tied up in them (Jag was a gift from the Wife and she got it at a bargain, and the GS is cheap as chips) yet neither feel like a compromise and are proper musical instruments to Sticky’s point. No sweat if they only come out once a month. My problem is losing the guitar room and having to squash into a corner of one of the bedrooms yet keep things neat and tidy.

TINMAN82

I’ve got 5 electrics and 2 acoustics. Could probably make do with just the Strat and Les Paul. It’s more about collection and having a nice example of the classic designs when you start “getting into” the guitar, reading the mags etc