It seems that nobody owns a guitar long enough.....

What's Hot
24

Comments

  • LuttiSLuttiS Frets: 2243
    skaguitar said:
    So it seems there are people who still keep their guitars for a long time and use and gig them extensively ....so to add fuel to the debate..does it tend to be that the people who keep guitars longer are the ones who gig a lot and have them as a tool to do a specific job and the ones who constantly change gear are bedroom players and hobbyists....not that there’s anything wrong with that by the way..but I can see a pattern..?
    From my experience.. While i was gigging regularly, i had 1 guitar which i used, with  a line 6 POD HD500 which i used majority of the time. I had/have an amp that was occasionally used and that was it.

    Since I've stopped playing regularly i have gained additional guitars, two amps and a load of pedals. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3576
    57Deluxe said:
    'In my time of dying  guitar playing" (43 years) I have only sold one guitar, no amps and no pedals....
    I can relate to this too. I now have 5 electrics and one acoustic, I've not sold a guitar this millenium although I've been threatening to sell one for about 4 years. Previously I've sold my first woolworths electric and a washburn electric acoustic. I don't get all this GAS and flip lifestyle.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    ESBlonde said:
    57Deluxe said:
    'In my time of dying  guitar playing" (43 years) I have only sold one guitar, no amps and no pedals....
    I can relate to this too. I now have 5 electrics and one acoustic, I've not sold a guitar this millenium although I've been threatening to sell one for about 4 years. Previously I've sold my first woolworths electric and a washburn electric acoustic. I don't get all this GAS and flip lifestyle.
    I have 3 electrics, 2 acoustics, 2 amps and various pedals and am a home only player.  I have reached the limit of storage space missus munckee is prepared to tolerate, and believe me she is not a lady to disagree with.  Hence if I want new stuff, which I do, I have to sell to buy.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • SnagsSnags Frets: 5327
    I tend to keep rather than flip, and have owned relatively few guitars since I started playing.  None of them look particularly aged, either, despite not getting huge amounts of TLC.

    So there's a Takamine EG332 bought new in the mid 90s; an LP Studio bought new in 1998; a Fenix Telecaster bought new in the early 00s and then relatively recently a Furch about two years ago and a Guild Starfire just over a year ago.

    The most aging is on the Studio, where the cat sat and chewed it (little bastard).
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • adamm82adamm82 Frets: 448
    my problem is my tastes change. and I get these ideas and I buy something on a impulse.

    Or my budget isn't quite what I need so rather than wait. for example to buy a Les paul that I wanted for a long time. I end up buying 4 other gibson guitars and a strat that probably ended up costing more than the guitar I really wanted.  

    I think new guitars were a distraction from actually trying to push to learn something new. A new guitar is just gives me the illusion I am getting better as I play it a lot and naturally try new things.

    So I cut down the collection and bought 1 Les paul. So now I have 3 guitars, 1 Les paul junior, les paul traditional and a telecaster. I won't be selling 2 of those anytime soon. 

    I am sure I will add a few more later. but they will be thought about very carefully and saved for appropriately. 

    I'd rather have 3 or 4 I really want than 7 or 8 that are just ok. 

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    Inactivity in a musical sense always makes me buy more crap I don't need
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    I’ve owned a ‘91 D28 from new - all the wear on it is a result of me playing it - though I’m not sure I necessarily see ‘wear’ as a goal....
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12647
    skaguitar said:
    So it seems there are people who still keep their guitars for a long time and use and gig them extensively ....so to add fuel to the debate..does it tend to be that the people who keep guitars longer are the ones who gig a lot and have them as a tool to do a specific job and the ones who constantly change gear are bedroom players and hobbyists....not that there’s anything wrong with that by the way..but I can see a pattern..?
    Not really...

    I haven't gigged for about 18months due to daft work hours etc. I've got no plans to sell my main guitars.

    I impulse buy *a lot* and some stuff sticks around, some gets flipped on depending on whether I connect with it ot not.
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547

    I have sold on some guitars I loved, just because I ddn;t really need them.



    I think the flipping is more a symptom of the average guitar player owning more guitars these days.   Most I know have a core of 2 or 3 guitars that don't change very often, and anything in excess of that is likely to be flipped

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    I tend to buy and keep. Usually I'll buy something to meet a sonic need (or wish). All my electrics are better players than I am so upgrading for playability reasons isn't worthwhile. For example, I've owned my 73 Strat since 1979 (I think). I've owned my 89 EBMM Silhouette since 1989. I like how they both sound so don't covet another Strat-style guitar. 

    Acoustics are slightly different, as my playing could still benefit from guitars that have better (to my ears) tone and better playability. I've played guitars I couldn't afford that I would have bought in a heartbeat if I could - including trading the instrument it would be replacing. So I'm not there yet, I guess. 

    Same for amps. Since 1980, I've owned the following amps as "main" amps. There's been a few others on the periphery, but these are the ones I kept and played for a long time before changing.

    Vox AC30 TB
    Acoustic 165
    Sessionette 75
    Cornford Hurricane
    Rivera Clubster 45

    That's not many in nearly 40 years.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    I've kept nearly all the guitars I've bought, the solid I've had the longest is the LP Std which I bought s/h in 1984 and the longest kept acoustic is the Columbus "Hummingbird" which I bought new in 1974.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ellwoodellwood Frets: 1113
    I'm possibly the most guilty of this on the board. Over the past couple of years I have been working through various different guitars to find what I want. I've gone through a huge number. And have arrived in the very fortunate position of having a very nice little collection of guitars. Even though now all of my playing focuses on one guitar, my latest Ryder build. Not just because it's the latest toy, but because I can't think of any reason to pick up any of the others.  I can't wait for it to pick up the telltale signs of lots and lots of play...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • AlexCAlexC Frets: 2396
    Had my favourite Yamaha electric for 18 yrs now. Natural finish so it’s now looking quite ‘tanned’ all by itself! Played it at every gig. Travelled the world with me. Would never part with it. And it’s never, ever let me down.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GoldenEraGuitarsGoldenEraGuitars Frets: 8820
    tFB Trader
    skaguitar said:
    for it to age...fade and get the dings and bumps from gigging that a lot of players covet.

    After reading a thread about putting guitars out in the sun to fade them I got to thinking why would you do that...of course you are free to do what you want with your own guitars and I'm not bashing anyone for it.

    It just got me thinking that I see people buying and selling guitars at a phenomenal rate and it seems that not many people have that one guitar that they gig and use almost all the time exclusively for years..in some cases their whole career...for it to end up aged...faded and reliced naturally. I have been as guilty of this myself and it's only since I got my 335 that I have only used that for practice ...rehearsal and gigging in the last 6 months. Every now and again during home practice I'll play one of my other guitars for a while but still end practice time on the 335.

    Is this a new thing or have guitar player always chopped and changed guitars through their playing careers..?
    Trying to age a guitar through various means other than playing has nothing to do with the length of ownership. I’ve owned guitars for years that never aged or dinged because I was careful with them and they were polyurethane finished. 

    I flipped a lot of gear because there is no decent local shop for me to test everything I want so mail order was the best way to go about it.

    Thankfully, now I’m settled and building a collection. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I've only ever sold one guitar I've owned, and my oldest ones are a 1998 Squier Strat which has seen a few wars, dents and scratches all over. Mainly use it at home now for teaching but its my most prized asset. Also my Tanglewood acoustic (not sure on year but I got it in 1999 I think) which also shows plenty of wear and tear.

    The others I have not as aged, my main band guitar (Les Paul studio) shows the most wear, I do like when they look like they've been used for like 30 years!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • vasselmeyervasselmeyer Frets: 3665
    I haven't bought a guitar for three years since I traded my LP for a PRS DGT. Very occasionally my GAS gets tickled for something (especially a Feline) but that's easily blanked out by playing what I've already got through an amp.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • randellarandella Frets: 4088

    that finish would stay the same forever.

    My favourite Strat, a late-80's Japanese reissue I've had from new, has a thick poly coat over the sunburst and is now looking nicely knackered.  Chips all over, buckle rash, yellow plastics, scuffed to hell where my forearm sits.  The saddles got so rusty I had to saw them off and install new ones.  The neck, for some reason, is nitro-finished and is now the colour of a strong cup of tea.

    My '94 USA Standard (bought new in '97) is in much better condition, but is coming along nicely.  It has (had!) gold hardware, and some of it is still gold.  The poly lacquer's gone through on the back of the neck.  Not as pleasingly, it's also in *dire* need of a refret.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • adamm82adamm82 Frets: 448
    Strangely it's my poly guitars that look more worn than my nitro 
    They seem to get more chips in the paint and the necks have worn a lot. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • HattigolHattigol Frets: 8176
    Each to their own. I have bought and sold numerous guitars - I've lost track of how many times I've thought "I'm never parting with this" - then a few months later, I see one I fancy but can't really justify buying it. Then you sow the seed of justifying it by selling one, then you list it to see what response it gets, it sells, you kind of miss it for a while and then BOOM, the new one arrives and you're back at step 1....

    I don't think I'm alone in this.....?
    "Anybody can play. The note is only 20%. The attitude of the motherf*cker who plays it is  80%" - Miles Davis
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • I have bought and sold a few but I need to have a guitar at home for a while before I know if I like it.  The range stocked in Northern Ireland is limited but I have tried guitars in different cities and countries and find that it is not terribly helpful other than you know for sure you do not want it.  
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.