This is what my guitar looks like after playing it professionally for (almost) every day for nineteen years.
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The first cut is the deepest.
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The nitro fell off the neck by playing it.
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The Lion of Judah on the TRC has kept it safe from theft, a trailer flipping end over end in the mountains of Colorado in a snow storm, being "lost" by United Airlines for three days, and an angry girlfriend.
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It has some friends, but they are all jealous because it is the only one that goes everywhere.
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I "own" and "take care" of my tools, and just like everybody else here who spends a good portion of their energy on this website, I am a "Fetishist".
The term "Caretaker" infers that you may not have a complete relationship with your instrument, you do not play professionally, you do not take it out of your home, you have little intent to keep it, you have more money than talent, and/or you do not play it passionately... which could be true.
The term "Owner" implies that you are too busy making music to care about a ding or dent, you are a badass player with no use for a tone knob, you lost your hangtag and never filled out your warranty card twenty years ago because you are never selling, chicks dig you, and you have the respect of non-PRS players because you jacked up that expensive "furniture" guitar so that makes you a real player and not a lawyer, doctor, or engineer... which may also be true.
The problem I have is that one option makes you defensive and feel like crap, while the other gives you a sense of superiority, I think it's pretty obvious which of the two choices is cooler.
I am truly happy for Hans that he is ready to settle down with "the one" after being left feeling unfulfilled and/or guilty by his misogynistic guitar trading. There are few things that feel better than knowing your instrument so familiarly that you don't have to "think" about where your pickup selector is placed, or where you are on the neck that you can just "feel" it instead. It gets you closer to the point of creation without as many obstacles in your way, and makes playing the guitar and finding your tone much easier. The only downside is that it could make you dependant on that particular instrument.
I often wonder how anybody can make a decision of a particular instruments value or potential within a few months time if you liked it enough at the store to plunk down your money, why would it no longer "do it" for you by the time the next and newest model came out? Why would you sell a guitar that you know is great only to replace it with the unknown?, if it is for the initial pleasure of buying a new material possession or a change in fashion I can understand to a degree (I clearly stated I am a fetishist), but give the one you're with a chance to prove its worth to you and let it see the world and share in your experiences of doing the one thing that all guitar players must do.
Play on.
I don't know