One great one, or a room full?

[tfarny]

I know this forum is all about the "more is better" approach, and I'll admit I've got 5 electrics and want just one more, too. But you know, with my acoustic playing I have one near-perfect guitar that is a joy to play (Larrivee OM-09), and sticking with the same instrument and setup over a longer period really has helped my playing a lot. And when I've played other acoustics they don't give me GAS at all unless they are a reso or a 12. On electric I'm always jumping from one axe to another, fiddling with setup, etc., checking ebay for parts, and I'm tempted to just pick one of my electrics and stick the rest under the bed for a year and see if I even miss them. Maybe keep one more with a slide setup. Oh and I have a baritone in progress but that doesn't count. See what I mean?
So many of the greats stick with one instrument, or at least one type, throughout their careers regardless of what they may have in their collection.

Sacrilege? Pure folly?

 

[Jusatele]

I do not believe it
when they record they use this axe and that amp etc
on tour they have reasons not to bring out everything they own, and face it you do have a favorite guitar you like to play
but them just owning one, nope don't even go there.

 

[NLD09]

I only own two electrics and I only use one of them. The other one is just a backup. It's the perfect guitar and I don't really want another one.

 

[hannaugh]

It probably depends on how wide the variety is in the music you play.  If all you play is jazz, then you can get away with having one really nice jazz guitar.  If you play jazz and death metal, then using the same guitar for both might not work. 

I play my Strat for things that need to sound clearer, and my LP for things that need to be harder edged.  My guitar tech once told me that any working guitarist should own a Strat style guitar, a Tele style guitar, a Les Paul, and a nice steel string acoustic.  He said that to him, that was the basic "tool kit" for getting all the classic sounds to cover just about any type of music.  I tend to agree.  You might play one most of the time, but every once in a while, you're gonna need something different.   

 

[Tonar8352]

This is very interesting since I have found the same to be true with my acoustic. It is the one guitar that I am 100% completely satisfied with. It is an Alvarez Yairi cutaway with a LR Baggs Duet pickup system that I have owned since 1978 and I have never had the desire to get another one since. I have played better sounding guitars since then but for some reason it is more than enough.

Now as far as electric go that is a completely different story, I'm a self confessed Guitar Hussy when it comes to electrics. They have so many different voices and so much:    :dontknow: (I can't find the right word). So I will continue to stand by my answer to the question I get asked so often, "which one is your favorite", THE ONE I'M HOLDING WHEN I'M PLAYING IT!  :guitaristgif:

 

[kboman]

Yeah, depends on what you do really. And what kind of guitarist you are - Neil Young plays something like 95% of his electric stuff on Old Black whereas The Edge usually goes through 12 to 18 different guitars on any given night. Big name players have insurance/replaceability issues most of us will never be burdened with, and they deal with it in different ways - some play high quality clones or reissues, some (like Steve Howe) sleep with their valuables under the bed.

Personally I'd like a couple of hollow/semi hollow guitars for a drier sound I have a real use for, but I'll never stray far from the humbucker+24,75" scale formula. "Some variety, but not much" I guess sums me up.

 

[drewfx]

Depends on what you mean by "great" - a great strat is a really lousy Les Paul. Some of us want a room full mostly because we want different things from each.

 

[tfarny]

A great one, meaning an instrument that you know inside and out, that is comfortable in your hands, fits your style, and you know the nuances of making that particular one sound great. I really don't want to play 19 genres of music - just blues, classic rock, and rootsy country. Anyhow I may have a pretty nice neck for sale soon, along with some pickups, we'll see.

 

[dNA]

I've been the same way for years too. Lately i started getting bored of my acoustic. But then, in the last year I've barely touched an acoustic guitar.
Still, for years I barely played electric and i was still going through those at the rate of at least one different/new guitar every year or year and a half. Never sold my acoustic. Acquired a new one through the family and that was nice because it was a very different kind of acoustic. but i never really lusted after more in the last few years.

i think a big part of it is just the psychology that we know we can modify and tinker with electric guitars. we know that there's endless tweaking to be done, from replacing parts to getting the pickup height just right to the cables and pedals and amps and tubes and.. well. it kinda goes on.

that being said, when it comes to what kind of sound(s) you can make with an electric guitar, the skies the limit too. Acoustic guitar is basically never going to change. You know what it can or can't sound like, and you know that there's only so much you can do to the design to get a different voice out of it. Electrics have so much more diversity, from aesthetics to electronics to unorthodox building materials and whatever else you want to make backwards. the possibilities are endless. i feel like once you get an acoustic that just has that voice you're looking for, you feel like "what more could I ask for?" not much. maybe a nice pickup system for shows, but that's about all i could think about adding to mine.

 

[dNA]

A great one, meaning an instrument that you know inside and out, that is comfortable in your hands, fits your style, and you know the nuances of making that particular one sound great. I really don't want to play 19 genres of music - just blues, classic rock, and rootsy country. Anyhow I may have a pretty nice neck for sale soon, along with some pickups, we'll see.

i think i'm getting closer to this with time. I find that no matter how many guitars i go through, there's one that I've always gone back to time after time. in my perfect world I would have 3 or 4 of that exact guitar with some electronic and tuning variations and different finishes.

 

[JaySwear]

I've always had the idea of having just a couple really great guitars that I play all the time instead of the room-full idea. Until recently that never really seemed practical, but my last Warmoth is really diverse. Now whenever I think up a new project I just think "Eh, the Telecaster could do it." I've also only had one acoustic for a few years now. I really love it, but would also really like to have a nice 000 size acoustic.

 

[elfro89]

I know exactly what you mean. Although I would love to have the money to be able to buy tons and tons of guitars, there is something a bit off-putting about owning loads of them. Like Hannah said having one of each of the classic guitars is about all anyone needs. Personally I have lots of conflicting opinions about the subject.

On one hand having lots of different guitars with different neck contours, and having each of them feel totally different from one another to me adds a bit of variety and really makes each of your guitars a totally different animal. On the other I also think if you discover a contour or feel to the instrument that is comfortable and really brings out the best in your playing then there is nothing wrong with having each of your guitars feel the same.

For instance my current strat neck I wanted to feel the same as the neck on my parker, both have the same compound radius, fret size and contour. Obviously they are made of different substances so they will feel different, The parker has a glass shell and the strat is made of goncalo alves, but there will be a strong sense of familiarity about them which can really make all the difference when it comes to having that "special" guitar.

 

[Superlizard]

I know this forum is all about the "more is better" approach, and I'll admit I've got 5 electrics and want just one more, too. But you know, with my acoustic playing I have one near-perfect guitar that is a joy to play (Larrivee OM-09), and sticking with the same instrument and setup over a longer period really has helped my playing a lot. And when I've played other acoustics they don't give me GAS at all unless they are a reso or a 12. On electric I'm always jumping from one axe to another, fiddling with setup, etc., checking ebay for parts, and I'm tempted to just pick one of my electrics and stick the rest under the bed for a year and see if I even miss them. Maybe keep one more with a slide setup. Oh and I have a baritone in progress but that doesn't count. See what I mean?
So many of the greats stick with one instrument, or at least one type, throughout their careers regardless of what they may have in their collection.

Sacrilege? Pure folly?

It's only sacrilege and pure folly if you're playing Dave Matthews Band covers on the Larrivee.

 

[mayfly]

Eric Clapton was a guy known for "sticking with one guitar" for years and years. 

Then up came that auction a while ago.  It seems that the man had a bazillion guitars after all 

 

[tfarny]

I know this forum is all about the "more is better" approach, and I'll admit I've got 5 electrics and want just one more, too. But you know, with my acoustic playing I have one near-perfect guitar that is a joy to play (Larrivee OM-09), and sticking with the same instrument and setup over a longer period really has helped my playing a lot. And when I've played other acoustics they don't give me GAS at all unless they are a reso or a 12. On electric I'm always jumping from one axe to another, fiddling with setup, etc., checking ebay for parts, and I'm tempted to just pick one of my electrics and stick the rest under the bed for a year and see if I even miss them. Maybe keep one more with a slide setup. Oh and I have a baritone in progress but that doesn't count. See what I mean?
So many of the greats stick with one instrument, or at least one type, throughout their careers regardless of what they may have in their collection.

Sacrilege? Pure folly?

It's only sacrilege and pure folly if you're playing Dave Matthews Band covers on the Larrivee.

You didn't like my youtube bedroom cover of "Ants Marching"?

 

[AutoBat]

I'd like to have a couple, completely different, guitars someday.
For a while it will be as it always was.
I own 1 guitar.

 

[rapfohl09]

I don't really own that many guitars (3 are projects that I need to even finish), but I think for me it's mostly that I like guitars and owning them. Just like someone who likes to golf might have a few sets of clubs, or someone who hunts and a few guns. It's not necessarily that I am still looking for "The One", I also doubt that I will ever find it. There will always be another guitar that I think is cool and want, even if I own the one that 3 weeks ago was the one that was really cool and I wanted. I just like 'em all :laughing7:

 

[JimBeed]

Well With my P-Bass, Project J Bass , Epiphone thunderbird and Warmoth i can really only think of a active bass, fretless of some sort, music man, ok actually more than i thought but you get the picture.
Personally id rather have a mix of 3 to 5 great (IMO) ones stead of one great one or a entire room full
Just a nice corner,
After seeing saxon, and there bassist using a gibson thunderbird all through the set, it has rekindled my want to build a warmoth thunderbird again,
Just with maybe active (or active/passive pickups), paint style i like, though i would want the Gibson(or Gibsonish) thunderbird headstock, so would likely go paddle from warmoth  :laughing7:
That would have to be my Fourth of Five id say, As im sure the jazz im building will be good once i get better pickups in there.

 

[swarfrat]

I don't subscribe to either school (I'll take one of everything, or I want one super duper do everything axe.) I'm more of a cover the basics, less is more kinda guy. Strat, the current project, a 12 string (which is also a strat), and I want one acoustic, and that's enough for me

 

[DangerousR6]

I do have a multitude of guitars, some are redundant like my 4 Jackson reverse Dinky's, however even though they are the same, they are all still different. They all play different and feel different, which pretty much describes my whole collection, each one has it's own unique feel character and sound. So I guess for me a room full would be my answer...it's called G.A.S.