Your reason/justifcation for buying more guitars? help!!

V

vejichan

Inspired
Question to people who own lots of guitars. How do you justify to your family and yourself on buying more guitars? - I used to own 20 guitars all in standard E tuning ...of which i woke up one morning and realize i basically only played the same 2 out of the 20 guitars- conclusion sold all of them and now own 3 custom guitars in different tunings - 1 in Standard E/ Drop D, 1 in Eb/ drop C#, 1 in D standard/drop C ---each guitar has a purpose and gets used equally because of the tuning- trying to convince the misses on buying one more guitar? but she asks why? I have been dealing with gear acquisition syndrome all my life, it got better after i had kids but now it's BACK!!HELP!
 
vejichan said:
Question to people who own lots of guitars. How do you justify to your family and yourself on buying more guitars? - I used to own 20 guitars all in standard E tuning ...of which i woke up one morning and realize i basically only played the same 2 out of the 20 guitars- conclusion sold all of them and now own 3 custom guitars in different tunings - 1 in Standard E/ Drop D, 1 in Eb/ drop C#, 1 in D standard/drop C ---each guitar has a purpose and gets used equally because of the tuning- trying to convince the misses on buying one more guitar? but she asks why? I have been dealing with gear acquisition syndrome all my life, it got better after i had kids but now it's BACK!!HELP!
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I can just speak for me. I realized that I‘m not a collector etc. and that a guitar is just a tool for me. And the amount of money is better spend into a new home etc.
(Some have maybe heard about the flooding in Germany)
So honestly I don’t need more than three different guitars, why?
I have one main guitar, a second one as a backup for live gigs an a third one for an alternate tuning (even this one is not necessary anymore with the virtual capo)
So I reduced all my guitars to three and I couldn’t be happier.
 
If all you are looking for is an excuse to buy more:

Fret wear
Mojo and inspiration
Different construction (neck thru, bolt on, wood type, neck profile, ECT.)
Good price
 
As Spock would say...'it's only logical!'

GS_FlowChart_TooManyGuitars.jpg
 
I play a rotation of about 6 guitars but I own 26. Oh and I have owned more than 200 and as a full time repair tech for over 30 years I have played everything out there (literally thousands). I also get high end vintage and famous guitars regularly. I can honestly say there or no better guitars on the planet than the ones I own now IME (for the type I have.) By this I mean that there is not a better sounding or playing strat in existence than the one I have ( equal but not better.) People may disagree but nobody does, in fact I have a list of people wanting to buy them if I ever decide to let them go. Same goes for my others, they are all bought because they were exceptional examples and/or I have made them that way. Anything that doesn't measure up goes. I obviously realise that everybody is different and may want different things but I am talking about best for ME combined with flawless function within the parameters of the design.
 
I'm not going to be much help. I have too many guitars. I know I have too many guitars, and yet I still window shop quite a bit. Ever so often, I get within a mouse-click of buying another...and then stop. Because I have too many guitars!
 
I have probably close to 50+ guitars, 30+ amps and almost every version of every modeler out there. I get to perform in my band with my wife which I have nicknamed "the enabler" :) I love her to death. She will actually go out on FB marketplace and find things for me. "Is this a good deal and do you want it?" Me..."Yes, and yes I do.."
 
boogieman75 said:
I have probably close to 50+ guitars, 30+ amps and almost every version of every modeler out there. I get to perform in my band with my wife which I have nicknamed "the enabler" :) I love her to death. She will actually go out on FB marketplace and find things for me. "Is this a good deal and do you want it?" Me..."Yes, and yes I do.."
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My wife is the same. Recently, in one of my window shopping sprees, I showed her two guitars I was thinking about and asked which of them she thought I should make an offer on. She said, without a hint of sarcasm, get both of them. 😍

I passed on both.
 
ElectricPhase said:
My wife is the same. Recently, in one of my window shopping sprees, I showed her two guitars I was thinking about and asked which of them she thought I should make an offer on. She said, without a hint of sarcasm, get both of them. 😍

I passed on both.
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Love it! I found a sunburst Gibby Firebird on the Craigslist that I love a few years ago. So she went online and bought a brand new Pelham blue one for me because she liked the color :)

And no she doesn't have any sisters...My musician friends already asked haha
 
Because I work hard to provide for my family and after all their needs are met, I like to be able to treat myself to things I enjoy

For some people maybe that is buying tickets to a football game, others is a new boat or rounds of golf.

I like to stay home and play guitar. Probably cheaper than a lot of hobbies lol
 
ElectricPhase said:
My wife is the same. Recently, in one of my window shopping sprees, I showed her two guitars I was thinking about and asked which of them she thought I should make an offer on. She said, without a hint of sarcasm, get both of them. 😍

I passed on both.
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Ha! My wife did this at the start of the pandemic - I was considering either a Strandberg Classic 6 or a Standard 8 and she goes "why not both?" 🥰
 
Own the amount of guitars that makes you happy. For some guys that's one guitar and for others it could be ten or a hundred. No need to justify buying a guitar any more than you would justify going out for a pizza(as long as the bills are paid).
 
My usual reasoning is for different tunings but I also flip/offload guitars somewhat regularly to continue my search for the best guitars I can find. So I'll usually have a few on the chopping block in case I see something of interest, in which case I'll pick up the new one and trial it against what I have and whichever plays and feels best stays in the guitar rack, the other one gets sold so I dont really have an accumulating collection, more of a rotating one.

There are some that I will not let go for one reason or another, outside of those it comes down to how they play. Though recently I've been considering offloading 2 to fund a custom build as I've never owned a custom and as it stands I have some doubled up tunings so could "afford" the trade off.

Aside from all that I just fucking love guitars 🤷‍♂️
 
OK first reply was little fun.

I own 3 good midprice guitars and 3 lowprice where 2 from are used to test modifying or for spare parts.

I play the 3 good ones more or less regularly and need really 2 because as backup for gigs.

If I buy a new one I sell at least one every time.

But if money is not the deal my wife didn't complain because I also do not when she wants something she do not really need but money is not needed for urgent stuff.
 
boogieman75 said:
I have probably close to 50+ guitars, 30+ amps and almost every version of every modeler out there. I get to perform in my band with my wife which I have nicknamed "the enabler" :) I love her to death. She will actually go out on FB marketplace and find things for me. "Is this a good deal and do you want it?" Me..."Yes, and yes I do.."
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Mate, that right there means you've found a Unicorn.

My OH is pretty laid back about my gear purchases, but WOW!
 
How I "justified" buying new guitars recently, is, partly because I hadn't bought a guitar in over 2 decades, and partly because I get a nice Christmas gift each year, so it didn't make me feel uncomfortable. Now I'm set on gear to the point I've decided unless I sell something that's not being used, which is a fair amount now that I have an Axe III, I'm not buying anything else. Since I don't earn any money from my guitar-playing "hobby," for me personally, I don't feel real comfortable with any gear purchase over a thousand dollars, unless I have a nice savings cushion. For me, savings always comes first, before buying anything that's not absolutely necessary. I don't ever want to find myself in a position where I'm forced to sell gear to pay bills, so I try to be prudent with spending money on gear.
 
I may do the pair down to one above-the-rest, but I'd need a benchmark to stick around. No band means a lot of time to wonder about guitars.
 
vejichan said:
Question to people who own lots of guitars. How do you justify to your family and yourself on buying more guitars? - I used to own 20 guitars all in standard E tuning ...of which i woke up one morning and realize i basically only played the same 2 out of the 20 guitars- conclusion sold all of them and now own 3 custom guitars in different tunings - 1 in Standard E/ Drop D, 1 in Eb/ drop C#, 1 in D standard/drop C ---each guitar has a purpose and gets used equally because of the tuning- trying to convince the misses on buying one more guitar? but she asks why? I have been dealing with gear acquisition syndrome all my life, it got better after i had kids but now it's BACK!!HELP!
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I don’t think it needs justification outside of the financial impact to your household. And everyone’s situation is different. With that said, I’ve noticed over the years that a lot of musicians….they really don’t have other vices if you will. Music is my thing. I don’t gamble. I’m not out at bars watching the games. Etc etc. if I could afford to have multiple guitars great. But I’ve been strategic in what I have acquired. I treated myself to a Taylor acoustic a few years ago. I have a strat, a Les Paul and a prs. All serve a purpose and I feel I can cover any ground with what I have. Could I do with one? Sure. But the only other guitar I would LIKE to have is Floyd rose equipped one. Miss my Ibanez from way back. Lol. In any event, do you man. Don’t listen to anyone else.
 
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