When you have multiple guitars that are very similar...

earwighoney

jaymenon said:

Whitecat said:

If you are keeping them both because they are “good wood” then put very different pickups in one of them. 

Tried that - AlNiCo 4 in the Axcess
BareKnuckle Mules (AlNiCo IV) in the Relic
AlNiCo 2 in the Burny

Honestly...? Still sound very similar...

Here are the four amigos:
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/XONMRJs.jpg)

What is the one with P90's. It's a beauty!

jaymenon

A Gibson Les Paul Classic Antique with Kinman P90s - currently in the classifieds section 

RaymondLin

I have 2 (or 4) guitars that are similar.

Gibson Les Paul/PRS SC58
Fender Strat/PRS 305

Not going to sell either the Les Paul or SC58, I've had them both long enough to know that.

Between the Strat and 305...time will tell!

HAL9000

jaymenon said:

HAL9000 said: For a while I saw this as a green light.

...and then what happened?

I realised that, actually, you can have too many guitars.

As a hobbyist who plays the occasional gig, I need one plus a backup. I was also spending more time (and money) GASing than playing.

Lestratcaster

I have 3 Les Paul's but they're all different (studio, standard and junior). 2 could be played for the same type of music though. Main reasons why I would have multiple of the same guitar is either different tunings or a pickup configuration.

UnclePsychosis

Whilst I completely understand collecting-disguised-as-guitar-playing it doesn't really work for me. If I've got two guitars the same, one of them will be better and thats the one I will play. No point in the other one gathering dust / taking up space. I also don't really buy this "but I need to cover all bases" thing. Very, very few people actually need to cover all bases and I'm definitely not one of them. 

My blunt opinion on all this is that if you need to actually put any effort into justifying why you own a specific guitar then you probably can't really justify it (beyond "guitars are cool and I collect them", at least). 

Funkfingers

I have more than one replica Blackguard Fender. The model underwent a bunch of incremental changes in the first four years of its existence. None of these variants could be said to be the definitive specification. Therefore, it is necessary to replicate several of ‘em.

SimpleSimon

guitars4you said:

Yet a large part of me say's it will be great if I could get far closer to mastering one guitar 

This^^^^^
Whenever i see JoBo demonstrating the tones available on a burst, or i listen to Greenie playing THAT Les Paul.....however i think if i only owned a Les Paul i might get a little bored. But im no Greenie or JoBo either. I guess a truly great player can master any guitar. The rest of us get gas and spend time making excuses - or at least i do!

Epsilon

If I have two guitars that essentially do the same job I always drive myself mad by constantly A-B-ing them and not actually playing. 

ThePrettyDamned

Trem vs non-trem version?

Tunings - one is for dull 60s blues and the other is for fun post-rock experimentalism and needs tuning to CABBGE (as a comment on the availability of organics green veg). 

Or
.. Sell one to me cheap  

jaymenon

Well now the second one - the aged Gibson Les Paul is also walking the fretboard classifieds plank.

I'm keeping the first and fourth
The first one is a Les Paul Axcess with Stainless Steel frets, and I love the chamfered heel
The last is a Burny - I used it only the only album I ever released of my own music (so of immense sentimental value)

The other two - are beautiful, but I guess I cannot really justify keeping them anymore...

So why do I feel a little sad...?

hassleham

It's good to have backups 

Tex Mexico

Man, just do whatever you wanna do. Want to own all different guitars? Do that. Want to own all the same? Do that. Bit of both? Do that. There's nothing wrong with having two of the same guitars and only playing one while the other gathers dust. You're not depriving anyone of anything. If you need the money or the space, sell the one you don't use. If not stick it under the bed, hang it on the wall, let it rot in the garage, whatever. I've got a collection I would have killed for when I was fifteen and honestly I barely touch them. Doesn't matter. Own guitars on your own terms.

tony99

If the missus is having a pop then ask her why she needs more than one pair of shoes.

prowla

You'd never catch me buying similar guitars/basses...

RedFalcon

I went through a phase where I was buying Ibanez guitars and they pretty much looked the same. Had the same similar neck, pickups. It got boring. 

So I tend to try to purchase a guitar that has a unique feature that I don’t have with the guitars I own. Could be a combination of different pickups, wood, hardware etc etc 

Having Different guitars will also keep it fresh. 

But out the only logical reason to have similar guitars is to keep one in every room. One in the living, one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom so you’re always able to have a strum at any time. 

Neil

Even if they are all the same models, being different colours is reason enough. 

Bill_S

I go back to one thing - the joy of ownership. 

slacker

jaymenon said:

Its easy to justify having a Strat, and a Les Paul, and a Telecaster, and an acoustic, and a nylon, and a 12 string, and a bass guitar, and a resonator, etc etc...  

Because each one is different.

Some of my guitars however, do very similar things in terms of sound / tone (and even to look at).

I feel this burning need to thin the herd, but if someone can please give me a valid and logical reason to keep multiple guitars that are very similar, that would really give me some peace of mind :-)

...and also keep me away from the classifieds section here (at least a little bit).

You can have as many guitars as you like as long as finances and space allow it. If you want 10 blonde telecasters go for it.

For a while I had a lp/sg and ric 330/360 because I ahem  needed spares. That situation changed. Now I have the lp/360/strat/gretsch collection and don't take a spare out.

Imho most guitars sound the same at high gain. Clean is another story. However one can be fooled. When I got my gretsch I took it home and learnt wicked games. Nailed the sound and found out it was a strat. 

Have one or many guitars, same or different, but play them or not. I read on one forum of a guy who has the complete beatles cavern era instruments amps etc and doesn't play any of them. 

DB1

All of mine are a bit different from a Little Sister to a 6120 to a1955 ES130 to a Lucille to a Keb Mo to a Guild Capri, a 330 to an L5 and a few in between.

I could get by with one of them, and probably should in order to concentrate on learning more. The old Guild would cover all the basses. Ha, just realised that was a subliminal error as I haven't got a bass. Checks classifieds....

I just like looking at, researching and buying guitars. The only downside is that I spend more time looking than learning.

But sod it, it's relatively harmless and they'll always be worth something if I need to raise some cash, which I often do. Because I spend so much money on guitars. Hmm, I'm beginning to see the problem here....