at what point did the world stop playing guitars and start collecting them?

with the advent of internet forums in the 2000's it seems that there is photographic evidence of thousands of people all over the world with dozens, sometimes hundreds of guitars in their collection.

i must admit i suffer from GAS and at its peak had over 50 guitars. I must admit only about 2 of them got played regulary. the rest were "just had to haves" some cheapies, some expensive. Sometimes I wonder if the hair metals guys in the 80's even had collections this large.

i kinda get the feeling that all these millions of guitars being churned out each year, only a small fraction of them ever get played. most of them are just being photographed and posted on the internet it seems.

so has it always been this way and the internet has amplified these collections, or were there people in the 1950's and 1960's that had tonnes of guitars stashed away and polaroided?

There's a guy in my area that has a huge collection of vintage guitars and loans them to one of the local shops to put on display. All sorts of 50's & 60's Fenders and Gibsons, the latest two to be on display were a '62 Fender Jaguar (I think) and a '53 Gibson Les Paul. The guy who owns them doesn't even play, to him they're pieces of art.

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I think that some people, who were able, thought it was a good investment in these economic times.

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Hi KPI: it has always been this way. People have been collecting stuff for as long as they've had spare money to burn. Just for example, here's a photo of John Entwistle and a few of his collectables, from the '70s (as you can tell from those threads...):



Cheers - C

i dont get it. who cares if folks collect guitars or not?
people have been buying more than one from the begining.
i have a bunch i dont play. i keep about 10 on the rack that i do play.
for some folks its a hobby kinda like collecting stamps, or buttons,
for others its like a investment. either way its no big deal to me.
with a little luck, maybe some of the ones folks have collected will actually turn into investments down the road.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

To tell the truth (not that I'm going to lie), the internet posting of guitar collections has enabled me to be able to tell my wife: "See I don't have nearly as many as that guy!".

Keep it up colleagues, you're making my life easier!

Hahaha. True! I have 8 guitars that are on a regular rotation for our shows. They all get used. I like to switch it up. I have this odd thing where I think people get bored watching someone play the same guitar every time they see them play. So I switch things up on our fans. Make them really feel like they're watching a different show take place.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-5io1muSQ

says it all!

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i hate people like that... art is one of a kind, guitars are (usually) produced in great numbers, and therefore meant to be played, not just stared at by some idiot who cant tell a humbucker from a shoe

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I currently have 5 electrics and an acoustic/electric which I've been trying to sell so I can either 1) buy another electric or 2) buy a smaller acoustic/electric like a Taylor T5 or 3) use it towards my new hobby, high performance driving experiences (first one coming up at Homestead-Miami Speedway).
I also have another electric on the way.
I do play all of them, switching off depending on the song or what I feel like playing that day.

I definitely don't see anything wrong with having multiple guitars, especially if you're looking for different tomes.

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Good God. Three '57-'59 Precisions...A few possibly original '51-'53 Precisions...Two 70's Ricks...$50,000 in Alembics...a Luthite Precision. geezy

I'd like to see Michael Anthony's roomful.

And Stanley Clarkes..

I have a loose rule that I don't buy guitars I'm not going to use on a gig. I say loose because I have a few that I only use on very special shows or in the studio, but generally they all get played. I'd feel like I'm doing the luthier a disservice by locking his art away and never using it for it's desired purpose. I read an article by Bob Taylor once and in it he said, nothing makes him happier than when a beat up old Taylor comes into the shop for repair. He loves knowing that someone loved his guitar and really played it.

+1

I have a couple of special edition Gibbys but all of my Fenders have to "sing for their supper" on a regular basis. Otherwise and my spousal unit will threaten to further clutter the closet with more shoes.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I have about 30 guitars and obviously can't play all of them in one day but I do give them turns being played every few weeks.I have a big problem however with nonplaying hoarders that keep them locked away in vaults waiting for them to grow in value-that's an absolute abomination. Guitars were made to be played and enjoyed and having them lie up for years no matter how controlled the temperature and humidity is detrimental to the guitar-at least acoustics.Guitars need to be played regularly so the vibrations keep the wood limber and resonant so these guys are doing the guitars no favours by keeping them mute and dormant in sterile,silent vaults-there oughtta be a law-if that were only possible.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

It's all good.......................... Mike

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