Is it just me or are there others?

[Harker1440]

Why can't I just be happy
With the guitars I already own? Hi my name is Craig and I'm a G.A.S addict.
It's a brutal cycle that I keep repeating I buy a guitar and I think I'm happy with it then one day I see another guitar I have to buy and I sell the guitar I was perfectly happy to get the new must have. Case in point last spring I bought a TGS tribute cu24 I was perfectly happy with it for over a year then I see a MEFade and I sell it to get the fade which I own for maybe 4 and half months ( it's great I had it tricked out and it played like a dream) but then I see the WL dgt which I had to have and that guitar lasts 3 weeks before I sell it to get an 85 throwback which in under a week I am already thinking of moving to get another guitar. It's a disease. I guess if I had FU money this wouldn't be a problem but I don't so it creates chaos in my life. Anybody else have a problem like this? If so how do you deal with it?

 

[AP515]

We all have GAS. Once you are infected, you have it for life. The trick is to manage it. If you can find a balance between wanting the next one and appreciating the great one you already have you will be in a position to manage it. I started out learning to play on the usual pieces of crap that most do. Then I finally got my first real guitar, a CU24AP. I still have it. I have picked up others over the years as good deals pop up, but I won't sell something I like to get something else I might like. As I have gotten more great guitars, my GAS has gone down.

 

[aristotle]

Everyone has a different set of circumstances and motivations. For me, it's as easy as deciding up front that I'm not going to get rid of any guitars. Ever. If I'm going to buy it, I'm going to keep it (except of course in the case of some sort of personal emergency...) That way, you don't buy it if you don't have the dough for it, and it makes you think about whether you really want it. May not work for others. What do I know? For some though, it might help self-limit.....

 

[László]

Why can't I just be happy
With the guitars I already own?

Because you're looking for thrills and excitement, not guitars. Guitars are just a means to that hit of excitement. When the hit wears off, you need another one. And the worry you have about repeating the same mistakes over again make that thrill even more difficult to resist, because it increases your need to feel better, so your mind tells you, "bring me more excitement."

You know that you need to say no to yourself. And in your best moments, you try to do that. But then in a moment of weakness, you rationalize somehow.

It's trite to say that happiness comes from within, and not from this kind of temporary thrill. But it's also true,

There are people we know who flip dizzying amounts of guitars and who knows if they can sustain their losses? But at least you have an inkling that it doesn't make any rational sense.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

 

[Serious Poo]

I think some people don't enjoy what they've got because they haven't clearly defined what they want in the first place. IMHO, of course.

 

[Twinfan]

I think some people don't enjoy what they've got because they haven't clearly defined what they want in the first place. IMHO, of course.

This rings true for me. I was a SERIOUS flilpper/trader until I discovered the PRS McCarty based models which slowed me down. Then the 408 Signatures came out and that was it - they're the guitars I've been looking for all these years. I've now picked up a few versions, with the ultimate incarnation on the way, and I'm looking forward to being done with wasting money on contstant trading. Just the odd one here and there will do nicely.

Sometimes you just have to go through the journey to get to the destination...

 

[Fox77]

In order to manage your GAS and/or your herd, you could consider dividing the guitars up in must-haves and nice-to-haves. Then consider which of the nice-to-haves are basically just duplicates of one of your must-haves and trim the herd accordingly.

Another way to approach this is to focus on the sounds you want to be able to (re)create and focus on what you need to have to get you there. If you're looking to create your own sound, any one guitar could do because it's about you and what you do with it.

Oh and what Serius Poo, Les and Twinfan said +1

 

[iahawk36]

Craig - it's the thrill of the hunt man! Once you get what you want, you lose the high of the hunt. I did a lot of soul searching this last year, and finally came to that realization that it was the thrill of the hunt more than the instrument itself. That led to me culling the herd, selling of instruments that I didn't play and weren't "first reach" instruments. Now the guitars I have I REALLY enjoy, and get played regularly.

Like you said, if money was no object...sure, I'd be hunting all the time, "just because", but in the end, I am much happier now.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

I can't put my finger on it either, Craig. I've tried.

I used to flip guitars a lot. Then I ran across a few that I couldn't part with - or would sell and then regret because they were great players. After that, they started stacking up pretty fast because I'd keep buying but stopped selling.

The only guitars I've sold lately have been to fund guitars I "want" more. Every one of them I put in a box and ship off is coated in regret. I have grown quite attached to my guitars.

 

[martysnarf]

Yeah, but.... there's GAS, and then there's Craig. They are completely different animals LOL!!

 

[docbennett]

The only responses to the OP were even remotely accurate were Les's and Serious Poos' above. Both were succinct and right on target.

Craig...it's simple...you are trying to find a rational thought process to rationalize and justify an irrational set of behaviors.

Good luck...it ain't gonna happen.

First thing, as Les said, is to realize that you have an emotional need that transcends any reality or any realistic "needs".

Once you accept and understand that you are behaving with pure emotion (and trying to use "logic and common sense" to justify same) you are on the road towards acceptance. This is where the "serenity prayer" comes in handy. You need to gain serenity from what you have....understand that what you are doing makes no "logical sense"...and ultimately achieve "the wisdom to know the difference" between your emotional needs and your realistic ones.

Good luck Craig if you are trying to use logic and common sense to justify your behavior...this will just add to your anxiety and confusion. It's all emotional gut-twisting stuff until you come to terms with your self-described and self-admitted obsession.

Then you have a choice...you can either choose to continue your emotional quest....or tone it down as you recognize the chaos and turmoil it appears to result in. After all...this is supposed to be FUN...not a stomach turning anxiety laden exercise in seeking 'the holy grail" (which is currently holed up in a French Castle with a bunch of guys with "outrageous accents").

Just my opinion.

 

[Fox77]

... 'the holy grail" (which is currently holed up in a French Castle with a bunch of guys with "outrageous accents").

 

[iahawk36]

The only responses to the OP were even remotely accurate were Les's and Serious Poos' above. Both were succinct and right on target.

Craig...it's simple...you are trying to find a rational thought process to rationalize and justify an irrational set of behaviors.

Good luck...it ain't gonna happen.

First thing, as Les said, is to realize that you have an emotional need that transcends any reality or any realistic "needs".

Once you accept and understand that you are behaving with pure emotion (and trying to use "logic and common sense" to justify same) you are on the road towards acceptance. This is where the "serenity prayer" comes in handy. You need to gain serenity from what you have....understand that what you are doing makes no "logical sense"...and ultimately achieve "the wisdom to know the difference" between your emotional needs and your realistic ones.

Good luck Craig if you are trying to use logic and common sense to justify your behavior...this will just add to your anxiety and confusion. It's all emotional gut-twisting stuff until you come to terms with your self-described and self-admitted obsession.

Then you have a choice...you can either choose to continue your emotional quest....or tone it down as you recognize the chaos and turmoil it appears to result in. After all...this is supposed to be FUN...not a stomach turning anxiety laden exercise in seeking 'the holy grail" (which is currently holed up in a French Castle with a bunch of guys with "outrageous accents").

Just my opinion.

Well thanks for taking the time to tell the rest of us were wrong, doc....sheesh....

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

The only responses to the OP were even remotely accurate were Les's and Serious Poos' above.

Does this mean that your post isn't even remotely accurate?

 

[Albrecht Smuten]

Hi, Craig... I wouldn't worry about it as long as you can always (honestly) say that your current guitar is better than the previous one. Then it would be the search for perfection and has to end at some point.

I'm having a similar problem - I'm always like "Will this effect pedal make my sound more brutal? Would a bigger amp do the trick? Oh, the 7-string will solve all my problems..." and when I'm almost crazy that I'm too broke to buy ALL those things, I tell myself: "Learn to f***ing play. That will do the trick."

 

[docbennett]

Well thanks for taking the time to tell the rest of us were wrong, doc....sheesh....

Hey...anytime bro! It's what I do! :laugh:

 

[docbennett]

Does this mean that your post isn't even remotely accurate?

Guess so. If everything I say is inaccurate, and I am now saying that I am being inaccurrate by saying that, what does that result in????

I guess it would have been less inelegant to just have agreed with those two posts instead of unintentionally undermining everyone else's.

'scuse me whilst I remove the boot from the lining of my mouth. :bawling:

 

[crgtr]

G.A.S. is a terrible disease. I do agree w/ Andy, it's the thrill of the hunt!

 

[Mike Duncan]

"The Red Violin" and the PRS book helped me - I'm NOT joking. I was, and still sorta am - but to a massively lesser extend, a flipper. When I found my Goldtop I was determined to make that my number one. I'd wanted a gold Les Paul and PRS for years - it was the perfect combo. After getting the PRS book in 2001, I went through everything and every model. David's Goldtop in that book showed me a well loved and played main guitar. The Red Violin showed me the historical significance to owning "an" instrument and making it have a story!

I hope I'm making sense while typing on my phone and watching Nick Jr with my six year old.