Favoritism

WA Paul said:
Very true! I’m 45, I figured I had at least two more years :). Ironic thing is I lost 70lbs and got in the best shape I had been in for at least 20years, then pow! Now re-gained most of the weight and took my collection of docs about six months to figure out what was goin on. I have a good prognosis and my employer has been awesome in supporting my recovery so I count myself lucky!
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As you probably know, I’m like 843 years old, so...yeah. It’s to be expected, I guess.
 
I have Gibson Historics, Fender CSs, several core PRSs including Artists, a Santana Braz, and a PS that are all incredible, but if forced by some barbaric inquisition to choose just one, it would be my trusty '06 Cu24 AP, all original.

It's my 'comfort' guitar. :)
 
If I do get down to one or two electric guitars, which will be difficult since I’m very fond of all of them, I suppose I’ll put the dough into something like a Moog One. I create a lot more electronic music than electric guitar music, and I like analog hardware synths.

But I’m not clear on this or any other plan right now. My musical path is very much up in the air.
 
This is a debate I've had for the better part of 30 years. It was easier at the beginning of my guitar playing journey because having multiple guitars wasn't a financially viable option. It was more about gradually trading up to get the better guitar. As I got older and slightly better off financially the ability to have a tool for every possible job became more realistic. I bought a ton of guitars and slowly figured out my voice. The last couple of years I've gone through a major downsizing of my musical gear because it was getting a little out of hand. That led to where I am today.

I play the same guitar about 90% of the time with a handful of others that help me get outside of my little box. Guitars that I might purchase now fall in a very narrow band. Maybe variations of the same body shape and scale length that I know already work for me. It's actually quite liberating. That doesn't mean something won't come along and blow up my way of thinking but I'm not actively searching anymore.
 
I went down a similar path last year once it sunk in that the 594 honeymoon never ends. I was thinking all I need in life is two 594s: one regular and one with trem. PS is still out of reach, so that led me to my great CU22. Then I thought, dang I really miss having something tuned flat; it's really handy. So I designated that job to another guitar. Then I thought, dang I really miss having a Strat. So I put together a nice Strat.

Now I think I'm done. Sometimes. Other times I just wanna buy stuff I think is cool, because why not, these things are fun. I could see myself replacing the CU22 someday if something more suitable comes along (hate the location of the blade switch), but until that day I'm good. Mostly.
 
I would love to just pick one to cover everything but I feel like I am neglecting my children if I don't at least bring them out to play on a regular basis
 
I always waffle about selling 3/4 of the herd. It's cool to have them all, but I feel if I didn't have so many choices my playing may improve. Met with the Financial Planner yesterday about the wife's desire to retire early. A sell off may be the best thing to do. Both for her future, and my playing. I dunno. Anyone want a pile of guitars?
 
bodia said:
I always waffle about selling 3/4 of the herd. It's cool to have them all, but I feel if I didn't have so many choices my playing may improve. Met with the Financial Planner yesterday about the wife's desire to retire early. A sell off may be the best thing to do. Both for her future, and my playing. I dunno. Anyone want a pile of guitars?
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I'd LOVE to have a couple out of that pile!
 
bodia said:
I always waffle about selling 3/4 of the herd. It's cool to have them all, but I feel if I didn't have so many choices my playing may improve. Met with the Financial Planner yesterday about the wife's desire to retire early. A sell off may be the best thing to do. Both for her future, and my playing. I dunno. Anyone want a pile of guitars?
Click to expand...

I get that. I realized that wherever I had redundancy, I would always pick a certain guitar first, so the B squad all got cut. I have my personal best-of-the-best and still enough overlap that if one guitar is out of commission, I have another that will still do a great job.

My wife wants to retire in 12 years and downsize our lives, and I don't disagree a bit, so that's a big motivator!
 
As with most things, intention and desire change over time; a notion, which amongst other things, poses interesting challenges for speculation. Yeah, I know :rolleyes:
Could I be happy with just one? Absolutely! The fun of it is, however (at least one aspect), is that they all have me thinking differently when I play. And, to be truthful, I really think that’s a tactile function, as much as it is a sonic function (talking electrics right now). How a guitar feels in my hand and resonates against my body, seems to take priority in where it takes my musical mind, over how it sounds through an amp (I expect many will be appalled by such a notion). This isn’t to say that amplified sound isn’t vital. That would be absurd, as I could just play acoustic instruments. However, when I get a new electric, I find that I’ll play it unplugged more frequently than plugged, in the first couple of weeks. Then as time goes on, I feel that I know that instrument, regardless of what it’s plugged into: It’s invariences. Or at least slowly changing variances.
It may sound a bit of flowers and patchouli (but NOT smell), but the somatic aspect of making music get more important for me over the years, and multiple guitars feed that.
 
bodia said:
I always waffle about selling 3/4 of the herd. It's cool to have them all, but I feel if I didn't have so many choices my playing may improve. Met with the Financial Planner yesterday about the wife's desire to retire early. A sell off may be the best thing to do. Both for her future, and my playing. I dunno. Anyone want a pile of guitars?
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I'll just takes some crumbs and such... and perhaps cop a little feel on a few others... aCk!!! o_O:eek::confused::D
 
bodia said:
I always waffle about selling 3/4 of the herd. It's cool to have them all, but I feel if I didn't have so many choices my playing may improve. Met with the Financial Planner yesterday about the wife's desire to retire early. A sell off may be the best thing to do. Both for her future, and my playing. I dunno. Anyone want a pile of guitars?
Click to expand...
3/4 is pretty extreme.
Personally, I think less looking for things to buy means more playing time, having less does not.
I’m pretty committed to getting rid of 5 guitars. After that, I’ll take a pulse regarding how I feel about what I have left.
 
veinbuster said:
3/4 is pretty extreme.
Personally, I think less looking for things to buy means more playing time, having less does not.
I’m pretty committed to getting rid of 5 guitars. After that, I’ll take a pulse regarding how I feel about what I have left.
Click to expand...

I don't know, 3/4 still leaves me with 7. I think I could get along with that number.
 
I thought about it and figured I just can’t part with any of the guitars I have, so that’s pretty much that.

Sometimes the best thing is just to make a decision and go with it. On the other hand, I keep making the same decision over and over.

Does that mean I already decided and am reinforcing the decision, or does it mean I haven’t really decided, and yet keep reaching the same conclusion (this is a rhetorical question)? And of course I realize that there’s no practical distinction.
 
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