Why have multiple guitars?

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Fusioninspace

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I keep seeing the "how many guitars do you have" thread and started thinking...

What is your logic for having more than one guitar?

For me personally, my goal was to try to have an example of a variety of styles - like acoustic, solid body, semi-hollow, bass, etc. So I'm hovering around 12 guitars any given time.

And if you have more than one of a particular model (like a boat load of Strats), why?

Same goes for amps.

I feel pity for the poor soul that only has one guitar... But you have to start somewhere!
 
Why do the Netsilik have 110 words for snow?
I of each sort? But which one of each sort?
Semi acoustic - I have 2 Bruno Royal Artists (needed the 2nd to complete the 1st) both are thin archtopps with single coils but then I have an Epiphone Sheraton II, again thin, which has humbuckers - BIG diff.
Acoustic - well 6 & 12 string but dreadnought size or other?
 
Dear Fusioninspace,

Your wife/girlfriend/mother/boyfriend/significant other has hacked your Home Recording Forum account and is posting irrational questions. You should choose from the following responses:

1) Gnaw off your ankle, escape to the neighbors, and call the authorities
2) Re-watch The Shining and "correct" her/him.
3) Grow a pair
4) Recognize that a guitar is merely an artist's tool. Timeless art has been created on a $50 Teisco, timeless art has been created on a $3000 Gretsch, and timeless art has been created on a $1000 Fender. When, precisely, will you create your timeless art? FURTHER - why would you deprive yourself of the opportunity to create timeless art with ANY particular artist's tool?

Only a fool would say -this- tool is the only right tool and deny himself the opportunity to be inspired by something spontaneous.
 
If you only want one sound then maybe you only need one guitar. For me, I like variety. My primary style of playing can stay the same but it will sound different on another guitar. Sometimes it's the feel that makes the difference, sometimes it's the sound, sometimes it's just the mood I'm in. I've had as many as 20 guitars at one time and 15 assorted amps. I'm a little low on my inventory now, just 8 electrics, 2 acoustics, 2 basses, and 12 amps (sold off a few low and mid level guitars and bought another nice Hamer.) Some day I might narrow it down to about 4 guitars but I need at least that many to get the variety of sounds I want. I'm not a great guitarist but I do know what I want to hear and I know which guitar to grab to get that sound.
 
My initial response is also.................because I can:D Although I find each guitar inspires me in different ways - and any inspiration is a good thing)

While I could certainly support the concept that a good player with a single, decent guitar should be able to get a wide enough range of sounds to create whatever is needed (guitarists in cover bands do it all the time) - I think there is a reasonable argument for at least a few guitars.

I have 10 electric 6 strings, 2 electric basses and 5 acoustic 6 strings, an acoustic 12 string, a banjo and a lap steel. I don't need that many, but what I do think I need is:

1 - Single coil guitar (I prefer a Tele) for country chickin' pickin' and any other single coil sounds
1 - Humbucker guitar (I choose an SG) for that meatier "rock & roll" sound
1 - Hollow body (I choose a DOT 335) - for that more open "jazz sound"
1 - 6 String acoustic (I prefer a Martin)
1 - 12 String acoustic (I use a Washburn)
1 - Lap steel (I don't remember what model I have) for that "steel sound"
1 - Banjo (I don't recall what mine is) for that country banjo picken'
1 - 4 or 5 string electric bass (I use a Peavey DynaBass)

Anything beyond that is simply personal choice (at least for me).
 
Why does Radio Shack ask for your phone number when you buy batteries????

I don't know. :eek:
 
All the reasons/rationalizations posted so far make sense, of course, but in my case it's a bit simpler. When I acquire a guitar, it acquires me. I can't bear the thought of selling one.
 
A strat will never sound like a gibson 335 and vice versa. Same can be said about all guitars to a point. I play blues and I really dig the different sounds I can get out of all my guitars. :)

Gibson ES 335
Fender Deluxe Maple (SC noiseless)
Fender Highway Rosewood (Hot Noiseless)
Fender Mexican Maple (Noiseless)
Epiphone SG
Maton 325 Acoustic Guitar

Each has their own sound and feel. Some suit songs more than others do and some I use mainly for recording purposes.

:)
 
ggunn said:
All the reasons/rationalizations posted so far make sense, of course, but in my case it's a bit simpler. When I acquire a guitar, it acquires me. I can't bear the thought of selling one.
Click to expand...

Haha. That's about it. In my case, if I don't cringe at the thought of selling an instrument, then it's time for it to go.

I have thinned out the herd over the last couple of years, using that test, and acquired a few more along the way, but I'm about at the minimum now: two acoustic flat-tops (one is my first guitar, bought in 1970, the other a jumbo custom made for me in 1986); two resonators (a Dobro I bought new in 1984, and a more recently acquired '30s Regal spider-bridge); three Fender Precisions ('51 RI, Classic '50s, fretless); and three Gibsons (1970 Les Paul Deluxe, 2000 ES-335, new SG Special Faded).

Each one has a place in my musical life. I play bass and electric guitar and harmonica in bands and in other projects (in November I was in the orchestra pit for Big River, playing the harmonica), resonator and harmonica at church in the summer string band, electric and harmonica and bass about once a month there during the rest of the year, and any and all in various recording projects (coming up: a childrens' album). Oh yeah, and the acoustics get played at home.

There's no duplication: the Dobro's tuned to G, the Regal to D; the Les Paul gets used on more modern material, the 335 on classic rock, the SG on blues and material that needs a more aggressive sound. And, I should point out, gone are the axes for which I had but marginal use: the Ric 366/12, the Chet Atkins Country Gent, and the Strat, among others. And, sadly, so too is the pedal steel, which had to go after I had foot and knee surgery and could no longer do it justice.

My "lifetime" list stands at 31, so the ones I own now represent a lot of winnowing and experimentation (Carvin bass? Nope, doesn't fit me; fretless Jazz bass? Nope, the band prefers the sound of the Precision) and horse trading.
 
My wife bought me a t-shirt that says...

"Love one woman.........many guitars" and has the appropriate pics below each.

:cool:

my kinda woman....;)
 
yeah the real question should be "why not?"

i'm just now becoming ok with only owning one of whatever guitar i favor most at the time. i toured for quite a few years and it became very important to me to have a backup that was very close to the same as my main guitar. not necessarily in looks but in sounds and output level and even playability. i wanted to be able to change guitars and not have to adjust anything. it worked well for that. these days though i record and play locally more than anything else and i'm more interested in variety than anything else.

right now i have a strat, jazzmaster and SG around here and they keep me covered pretty well.
 
to be honest I'm not much of a stickle for tone.
I have multiple guitars to show my progress, my first ever guitar is a small beat-up accustic I got for free on wich I learn picking and fingering and a few basic chords. my second guitar is the first guitar I bought, a fender strat clone, for my first nirvana cover band(s), it is coverd in ductape to show for the times, (similar to early teens in real life.. the rebelius times) now I'm playing on an jet-king II I can do much more then powerchords now, and am playing much more blues like things and writing pretty much everything I play (no covers), basicly, starting to mature, and I feel that I'm almost ready to go to my next guitar (looking at a real fender strat).

and that is why I have more then 1 guitar
 
wow...

I have a few:
R7 Stinger
R9 345
R4 Strat
69 RI Tele Thinline
Yamaha Bass
39 Supro lap steel
59 Martin 0-15
2006/1934 RI Gibson AJ
Lets not forget the 1990 Korg T3 workstation for sweetner.
 
...because they made multiple guitars. And I don't have 'em all yet.
 
From a purely practical level, I keep a lot of guitars because if I sell them, I know I won't be able to find one again. That sort of thing happens when you play brands like Eko, Burny, Greco, Hagstrom, Cipher, Univox, Encore, Melobar, Framus and National.

Also on the woman vs. guitar issue: The fight should never be "why do you have all these guitars?" it should be "where should we put all of these guitars?"
 
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