Why having lots of guitars is a bad idea

DB1

zedhex said:

Non-musician: "All electric guitars sound the same."

There is only one possible solution: we have to kill all the nonmusicians.

Surely not - we'd have to do all the bass lines ourselves then. 

zedhex

AK99 said:

zedhex said:

Sorry - Hattigol, that wasn't the intention. oh, and I can tell where Page switches to an LP - to me it's very very clear.

Any specific tracks you could point to zedhex ?  I'm interested to hear how/where  his tone changes between the two, as I've never been able to clearly distinguish one from the other.

The 1st Zep album is full of low register telecaster noises - checkout "Good Times Bad Times" and "Dazed and Confused". On "I can't quit you baby" , he even sounds a bit like Roy Buchanan. You can't get those tones from an LP.  On the later albums it's all LP, and he's playing a lot more in the upper registers - making good use of the fuller tone that a telecaster can't do. I love his tone on "Since I've been Loving you" - like BB King on steroids (or maybe crystal meth).

Jalapeno

ICBM said:

 95% of your audience can't tell if you're playing a Strat or a 335.

Why so low ? I'd say >99.9%

jmf1928

I try to think about my purchases these days in $/hr, er £/hr. As an American I use the term dollar a bit too liberally. Anyhow, I feel like I need to get at least 100hr of use out of something before I can even hope to claim I’ve spent wisely. I’ve had good luck generally in reselling what no longer suits, so on some level it comes down to (price paid - sold price) / hours used. A handful of amps have paid me to own them while some of the guitars I’ve sold off probably only ended up costing a few bucks an hour if that. It also makes it harder to want to pay for things I won’t use regularly. 

skunkwerx

jmf1928 said:

I try to think about my purchases these days in $/hr, er £/hr. As an American I use the term dollar a bit too liberally. Anyhow, I feel like I need to get at least 100hr of use out of something before I can even hope to claim I’ve spent wisely. I’ve had good luck generally in reselling what no longer suits, so on some level it comes down to (price paid - sold price) / hours used. A handful of amps have paid me to own them while some of the guitars I’ve sold off probably only ended up costing a few bucks an hour if that. It also makes it harder to want to pay for things I won’t use regularly. 

Oh man thinking like that would suck the joy out of it for me! 

No no no, I must browse the web, choose what I fancy, close my eyes and hit the pay button and pretend it never happened.. then deal with it later lol.

AlexO

Hattigol said:

Sassafras said:

Hattigol said:

Sassafras said:

I can understand having loads of acoustics cos there's not much you can do to alter their sound whereas electrics can be made to sound like each other with a bit of amp or pedals jiggery-pokery.

Am I the only one who finds acoustics soooooo boring?

Oh here's some acoustics, let's look.....20 identical natural ones, oooooh1 sunburst, another 15 identical natural ones. Visually, they're just so dull, they occupy a tiny proportion of my GAS time.

Each to their own though.

Who cares what they look like?
I listen with my ears, not my eyes.

I care what they look like. I want a guitar that looks cool. Wtf's the point of playing one otherwise?

 No one starts playing guitar as a teenager and doesn't want to look cool. Well except those who choose a PRS...

jmf1928

skunkwerx said:

jmf1928 said:

I try to think about my purchases these days in $/hr, er £/hr. As an American I use the term dollar a bit too liberally. Anyhow, I feel like I need to get at least 100hr of use out of something before I can even hope to claim I’ve spent wisely. I’ve had good luck generally in reselling what no longer suits, so on some level it comes down to (price paid - sold price) / hours used. A handful of amps have paid me to own them while some of the guitars I’ve sold off probably only ended up costing a few bucks an hour if that. It also makes it harder to want to pay for things I won’t use regularly. 

Oh man thinking like that would suck the joy out of it for me! 

No no no, I must browse the web, choose what I fancy, close my eyes and hit the pay button and pretend it never happened.. then deal with it later lol.

Hahahaha. It’s honestly just kept me from buying a number of things that I wouldn’t expect to put real hours into. It also helps me use or sell things that aren’t getting used. I recently got a Melancon tele, and I’m playing it constantly. I actually deleted Reverb from my phone too, as scrolling through it just makes me crave so much random stuff. 

dindude

I go in cycles - got down to 2 electrics and now back up to 5. Last week was loving having the variety, this week I want to sell the bloody lot and keep just the Strat as I’m in that zone where I have half an hour of play time and just constantly swap guitars comparing tones. Btw, only really adjust bass control on amp when switching guitars.

Anyone else found this:
Strat (always consider this to be “my” guitar, insert yours of choice) - can play for hours, get lost in the playing / music, feel like your really playing and I’m always doing my own thing.
Switch to another guitar that you insist on having that can only do “that” sound and bash out the same few cliched things before placing back on the rack.

Example, my “Superstrat” is supposed to be there to bring out a certain part of my playing, but I just think ‘80’s time’ - play the intro to Purple Rain on clean, a really bad version of the Rosanna solo on dirty, then cant wait to get back to the Strat.
Les Paul, brings out the cave-man riffs etc. etc.

HAL9000

dindude said:

Anyone else found this:
Strat (always consider this to be “my” guitar, insert yours of choice) - can play for hours, get lost in the playing / music, feel like your really playing and I’m always doing my own thing.
Switch to another guitar that you insist on having that can only do “that” sound and bash out the same few cliched things before placing back on the rack.

You are my long lost identical twin. Over the years I’ve bought multiple guitars to cover all the bases, but my go-to guitars are my Strat and Tele. I get the others out because I feel I should - not because I actually want to.

monquixote

Just get used to using your volume and tone knobs.

If you have stuff with much higher output then maybe get something like an ep boost to jack up the quieter ones.

Now I'm just playing my telecaster all the time and really learning it. I occasionally grab the DGT when I want something a bit heavier. I couldn't be arsed with loads of guitars though.

AK99

zedhex said:

AK99 said:

zedhex said:

Sorry - Hattigol, that wasn't the intention. oh, and I can tell where Page switches to an LP - to me it's very very clear.

Any specific tracks you could point to zedhex ?  I'm interested to hear how/where  his tone changes between the two, as I've never been able to clearly distinguish one from the other.

The 1st Zep album is full of low register telecaster noises - checkout "Good Times Bad Times" and "Dazed and Confused". On "I can't quit you baby" , he even sounds a bit like Roy Buchanan. You can't get those tones from an LP.  On the later albums it's all LP, and he's playing a lot more in the upper registers - making good use of the fuller tone that a telecaster can't do. I love his tone on "Since I've been Loving you" - like BB King on steroids (or maybe crystal meth).

Thanks - I can picture all of them, but need to sit down and have a proper listen now
(Might even run the Tele through some of the dirtier presets on the Mustang IV and see what comes out..) 

Cranky

stickyfiddle said:

Cheap acoustics are boring because they all sound quite similar. Once you get above the 800-ish mark and get towards the really good stuff the differences between different body styles and wood become much more apparent and you end up wanting several. 

I have just one (rosewood dread) at the moment, but would very happily have something big and maple (J200, Dove), and something smaller and mahogany-flavoured.

100% this.  Tone woods and different scale lengths make a big difference.  Gotta have a little variety, ideally all solid woods so that they age nicely.  Maple I've shied away from for some reason, but I've got the rosewood and mahogany covered and sometimes feel a solid cedar top calling.

andy_k

I have never been tempted by an acoustic, I did look at buying a Robert Johnson style Kalamazoo, cos I love the look, but can't justify the price.
I play most of my electrics acoustically, which is also a revealing experience-some work well, some sound dead. This bears no relationship to the amplified sound.
I live alone, and counting round this room ( I have 2 others ), I count- 17 electrics including a couple of cigar boxes, and 13 amps ranging from 4x12 half stacks to mini Cigar box type things.
Its too much, but its not enough.
A bit ZEN really.

daveyh

Hattigol said:

Sounds like you're trying to get them all to sound the same....

Don't. Enjoy the differences.

That’s what Billy Gibbons does live, EQs everything to get it to sound like Pearly Gates. 

daveyh

I have always preferred to have fewer guitars I really like and know well. These days I have a strat partscaster, a tele partscaster in progress, and a Firebird (and a acoustic and a nylon string). I rarely get the urge to play anything other than the ‘bird because it’s amazing, Ican get all the sounds I want with it. Although lately I am missing humbuckers. 

Amps though. Fundamentally change what is happening sound wise. A plexi, a jubilee, a Vox AC, an Orange, a deluxe reverb etc etc etc.....

monquixote

AK99 said:

zedhex said:

AK99 said:

zedhex said:

Sorry - Hattigol, that wasn't the intention. oh, and I can tell where Page switches to an LP - to me it's very very clear.

Any specific tracks you could point to zedhex ?  I'm interested to hear how/where  his tone changes between the two, as I've never been able to clearly distinguish one from the other.

The 1st Zep album is full of low register telecaster noises - checkout "Good Times Bad Times" and "Dazed and Confused". On "I can't quit you baby" , he even sounds a bit like Roy Buchanan. You can't get those tones from an LP.  On the later albums it's all LP, and he's playing a lot more in the upper registers - making good use of the fuller tone that a telecaster can't do. I love his tone on "Since I've been Loving you" - like BB King on steroids (or maybe crystal meth).

Thanks - I can picture all of them, but need to sit down and have a proper listen now
(Might even run the Tele through some of the dirtier presets on the Mustang IV and see what comes out..) 

Since I've been loving you is a Tele!

midlifecrisis

Ive mostly averaged about 10 electrics but now im down to six. Ive had enough strats to know i dont really bond with them. and teles to realise my favourite has been the chinese made fender modern player, which i intend to hang on to. My go to main gigging guitar is an epiphone 339, cant fault it, followed by a gibson les paul raw power which is the most comfortable playing guitar ive owned. I have a "madeira"  guitar that plays great but wouldnt get rid as its not worth much and ive had it 43 years so a bit sentimental. I bought from someone here a nice epiphone 335 which looks stunning but i prefer playing the 339. TBH if someone else played them to me blindfolded i think the only one that sounds significantly different to the others is the tele. I get occasional gassing for a flying V (ive had a couple in the past) but it doesnt really suit the image of the band im in. 

jaymenon

I think this is something that each one of us should have our own answer to / our own attitude towards... There is no one correct answer.

Also it’s humbling to watch legendary guitarists play one guitar - and get their Sound, their unique Voice. I find that in general terms, this mostly applies to lead playing...

So I figured I would love to have my own voice (even if it’s inconsequential in the larger scheme of the music world). So mine are two voices, primarily my small jumbo acoustic guitar and secondly my Les Paul through a Dumblesque amp.

Speaking for myself however, my guitars come in to their own when recording.

Acoustic guitars:
Maestro Raffles small jumbo (red cedar top and mahogany back and sides): it has a little dip in the mid range which is perfect for my voice, so it’s the ideal guitar to play fingerstyle and sing with. A 000 or OM has too much midrange, clashes with my voice.

Martin D28: perfect for strumming

Dreadnought with Nashville strings: perfect for adding a little ‘top end’ zing

Small bodied travel guitar: Prominent mid range (less bass and treble) so perfect for acoustic solos that cut through the mix

Electric Guitars:
Telecaster: perfect for clean rhythm playing.

Strat: lovely for clean lead playing (and I’m learning how to get a decent overdriven sound from the bridge single coil with the tone control turned down to 4).

Les Paul: nothing can touch it for overdriven saturated sweet singing lead

Ibanez S: Humbucker heaven - plus the luxury of a Floyd Rose

Nylon string classical

Mandolin

Fretted Jazz Bass

Fretless bass

Two P90 guitars that I need to figure out how to play properly - Will sell one.

My other guitars I could pretty much do without...

zedhex

monquixote said:

Since I've been loving you is a Tele!

No way. That track sounds nothing like a Tele. Care to back that statement up?