Anybody know why "Gold Tops" are gold?
Wasn't it something like Les Paul thought gold looked more sophisticated so if they were going to do a painted finish on ones where the wood grain didn't warrant a transparent finish, he thought that would be the one that would look the most expensive? I seem to recall it was something about Les Paul being eccentric, but I forget the exact details.
To your original question, I won't pretend to have mastered it... but, I haven't bought a guitar in probably six or seven years, and I actually have thinned the herd a bit lately, I'm down a few and will probably sell a few more. For me, it's a two part thing:
1) I don't like owning guitars that aren't getting played. It feels wasteful, guitars deserved to be played and if I'm not going to do it someone else should.
2) I try to think about guitars as having specific purposes. So, I figure out what I really NEED in a guitar, and then buy the best guitar I can for that role.
Right now, my collection looks something like this -
*a main "singlecoil" lead guitar - my American Standard Strat
*a main "humbucker" lead guitar - my Suhr Modern 6
*a main seven string lead guitar - my Modern 7
*a "blues" guitar - my mutt Fender partscaster
*a "rhythm" six string guitar - a PRS Singlecut
*a "rhythm" seven string guitar - needs to go into the shop for a loose trem stud, but an old Ibanez Universe that growls like a MFer
*an acoustic
*a bass
That's, ahem, not a small number of guitars, but it means technically speaking an old bass, an RG3120, and a neon red RG550 could all be on the chopping block too, but the RG is possibly going to make the cut as a "stupid guitar acrobatics" guitar. A Suhr Standard 6 wired S-H and with an amazing sounding neck singlecoil and an Ibanez RG752 seven string went out earlier this year because I didn't have a defined "need" for them. I also do want to buy a nicer acoustic than my beat up old Martin MC16, but that could bifurtcate into a "around the house beater" and a "lives in its case except while recording" thing I suppose. And, I should probably buy a nice Tele at some point... but that and the "blues" Strat might be fighting for space...
But, I guess, I try to think about this in guitar function, and sell anything that doesn't fill a specific role. And then use the proceeds to buy the nicest possible guitar that DOES fill a role I can.
