An Interesting Thought About A Collection

[László]

I'd love a real retro Santana ...all lightweight mahogany double cutaway with 2 P90's ala Woodstock era ... but then I'm just an old hippy

My ‘65 SG Special is exactly the type of droid you’re looking for!

I’ll loan it to you when you perfect the Wayback Machine and can take us both back to Woodstock.

I had the original bridge taken out and replaced with the Tune-O-Matic in 1971. Not a pretty sight, but it sounds great. It‘s now living with my son.

Comparing them back-to-back, my 594 Soapbar actually sounds pretty close; it's a bit brighter with the maple top, and also due to the age of the '65's pickups. But the vibe is pretty much 'that thing'. The 594 is a way nicer guitar to play, at least for me.

It also appears that Santana's Woodstock SG Special had a T-O-M installed from what I can see of the pics, and Grover tuners.

 

[Greywolf]

I have a '66 I'm reskinning in curly koa and dropped a set of Lollar's in , my son's 34th birthday present. Which is why I picked up the McSoapy.

 

[gush]

Time to sell!

Oh I wish.........I'm tired of the discomfort I live with.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Oh I wish.........I'm tired of the discomfort I live with.

Yeah, sorry to joke about it. I have some lingering reminders of my millions of hours of playing basketball, much of it on the blacktop and sliding/diving etc. across the grass and dirt playing softball. I feel your pain bro.

The one that bugs me the most though, is the arthritis in my left wrist, hand and middle two fingers, because this one is affecting my playing and will probably only get worse from here.

 

[vchizzle]

When I first started having multiple guitars, it was to have backups to do what I do. That I could change to another guitar and have it sound familiar enough while maybe doing something a little bit different. As I went on, I started to get guitars that offered something different that my other ones didn’t offer. Wasn’t quite buying to fill gaps in what I had, but more to give different options. I’m still kind of doing that. Not a collection for collections sake but just to have other tones at my disposal. I find what I might play on my Starla or NF3 makes me play different or approach the creative process differently. I find that to be a good thing. I still have a few things I’d really like to get. I still ain’t buyin’ no damn strat, I sound incapable on those things!

 

[CandidPicker]

From the get-go, my mindset regards collections has been "to own something that suits a particular need." That need may be described as something that fulfills a requirement, or helps me get my job done more effectively. Perhaps it's the application of one certain instrument compared to the next, and why I might need a separate instrument than what I currently own.

Of the few instruments I personally currently own, I think most of my needs are fulfilled, and I don't need to give that a second thought. Because my guitar practice involves only several separate genres of music, I don't think it wise to expand on something I've not intentionally pursued for guitar practice.

Over the years of owning several awesome guitars (including Private Stocks), I've felt that it wasn't possible then, or now, to justify owning them, simply because my level of ability wasn't not on par with the price point of the instrument. Although they could have been considered investment pieces, and it might have been wise to put them away for safekeeping, many of my former instruments were sold because I had only so much available household space with which one could store a variety of guitars. Maybe that was the reason: Insufficient space to store valuable collectibles vs. why not just own what you need to make good music the way you feel is adequate?

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I don't know what the OP was thinking by starting this thread - the philosophy of collecting being both an arcane and boring topic - but I've decided to hijack it.

About time. We might get some sensible comments now.

How about composing?


















(Hobbles away and bends down as far the old back will allow)

 

[11top]

So @11top ‘s collection is defined by nothing?

Wait…..I’m not a “collector”. Now that I’m retired, they are tools of my (current) trade. Sometimes when we gig, I’ll net $100!

However, for those of you insisting I have a “collection,” I think it would be defined by this: seeking the holy grail of figured wood. I’ve gotten close a few times. Now, time’s running out, and my enthusiasm is waning, but I’ll still keep an eye out.

 

[Greywolf]

Les , that sign was a gift from a former flame. If you look close you can see bass and treble clefs in a circle over the wolf.
This year marks 40 years working on instruments! I'm Choctaw /Cherokee/ Seminole .. so the Native side is pretty strong

 

[László]

Oh I wish.........I'm tired of the discomfort I live with.

I totally understand!

On the other hand, ever since my open heart surgery it dawned on me that I'm actually lucky to have my health issues, because the only way to not have them is to be dead.

For now, I'll take the discomfort instead.

 

[Greywolf]

AMEN .. as I read in the 2 month hospital stay a while back ... Pain is just weakness leaving the body .... I thought man o man I must be one tough SOB..

While there are many things I can't do , playing , building and collecting is still well in the realm of what I can , not with as much vigor as my youth but with more wisdom and taste

A wise woman once told me " In the end , the only thing that matters is how many lives you've changed for the better" very good advice ....share your wisdom and love of music every day

 

[D k Souther]

I haven’t ever wanted to collect things. I do however have 2 Fiores. I want to get the other 2 colors for no other reason but to have them. Guess I’m a collector after all? (The Fiore is my favorite guitar)

 

[veinbuster]

So...I played the last of my main floor accidental collection last night. Part of playing everything to start each year so nothing feels completely neglected.

Through January, I realized that at some point I transitioned from trying to get everything close to “my” sound, to embracing the differences between guitars and playing each through the channel best suited to it. Playing each guitar for what it was designed to be stimulates greater creativity - I made a point of playing something new on each guitar. It was a good month.

 

[gush]

Yeah, sorry to joke about it. I have some lingering reminders of my millions of hours of playing basketball, much of it on the blacktop and sliding/diving etc. across the grass and dirt playing softball. I feel your pain bro.

The one that bugs me the most though, is the arthritis in my left wrist, hand and middle two fingers, because this one is affecting my playing and will probably only get worse from here.

No worries.

It's incredibly frustrating because the doctors I've seen kind of act like I'm exaggerating or I'm after disability or something.

I need to work another 4.5 years to get my retirement where it needs to be. I just need to do it with less discomfort.

I've talked with my company about changing my roll as an employee so I guess we'll wait to seewhat happens. I have a lot to offer my company even if my roll changes.

There are two of us in SE Iowa and we are left to ourselves which kind of forces me to be more than just a service tech.

I grew up working on a farm and I've always had jobs that were physically demanding and now I'm paying for it.


Ugh

 

[bodia]

Les , that sign was a gift from a former flame. If you look close you can see bass and treble clefs in a circle over the wolf.
This year marks 40 years working on instruments! I'm Choctaw /Cherokee/ Seminole .. so the Native side is pretty strong

That's beautiful!

 

[VirginiaAve]

I collect I suppose, but I use my desires and needs to support that collection.

Having said that, I do have a few different Silver Skys in a couple of colors. My collection also has a few Fenders, Gibsons, Guilds, Rics, Martins, etc.

I play and love just about all of them on a regular rotation, so I feel pretty lucky there. There are a few that got away in the early years ('99 Raspberry McSoapy, I'm looking at you), but by and large I've held on to a majority of the ones I love.

 

[László]

There are a few that got away in the early years ('99 Raspberry McSoapy, I'm looking at you), but by and large I've held on to a majority of the ones I love.

You're smart to have done that. I've swung wildly between 'I want to get down to one' and 'I need more'. It's a shame I let so many nice ones slip away.

 

[Lewguitar]

I think of a collector as being someone who wants a complete collection. Like a comic book collector might want every issue of Spiderman starting with #1, with none missing and all being in mint condition.

I'm not a guitar collector.

I just have guitars I love and they don't have to be pristine.

They only have to play and sound great - to me.

I don't think to much about their value and definitely don't worry about keeping them in unplayed condition.

Although of course, I keep them in as nice a condition as possible.

My acoustic guitars are kept humidified so they don't crack for example.

But my guitars get played, or else I don't keep them.

They're not investments.

My comic book collection, I do think of as being an investment!

But I don't collect super hero comics.

I collect old Donald Duck comics from the 40's 50's and 60's drawn by one particular artist and writer: Carl Barks

 

[László]

I think of a collector as being someone who wants a complete collection. Like a comic book collector might want every issue of Spiderman starting with #1, with none missing and all being in mint condition.

I'm not a guitar collector.

I just have guitars I love and they don't have to be pristine.

They only have to play and sound great - to me.

I don't think to much about their value and definitely don't worry about keeping them in unplayed condition.

Although of course, I keep them in as nice a condition as possible.

My acoustic guitars are kept humidified so they don't crack for example.

But my guitars get played, or else I don't keep them.

They're not investments.

My comic book collection, I do think of as being an investment!

But I don't collect super hero comics.

I collect old Donald Duck comics from the 40's 50's and 60's drawn by one particular artist and writer: Carl Barks

I'm the same, though I don't collect comics. I do remember the Donald Duck stuff from being a little kid at summer camp in the late '50s and early '60s, though I was too little to know much about who the artists were.

What made you get into the comic collecting thing?

 

[MWebster]

My greatest fear in life is that when I die, my wife will sell all of my guitars for what I told her I paid for them.

^^ I saw that comment in some guitar forum once and it stuck with me.

I've always waffled between the idea of widdling it all down to 2 or 3 guitars and just keeping my current inventory of around 10 ish. Most people ask if they all get played and I say no. But yet I couldn't part with some of them either. Some have been with me so long they're like family members or long-time friends.

Getting a signature of a player you really like is one thing (then realizing wow, that person sure likes different things out of a guitar than I do haha) but I can admire pure motivations from someone who loves X and wants to surround themselves with every facet of that. As well as the man possessed who seems to crank out a bajillion different tones from their one dearly loved guitar.