I told this guy, let´s go into the guitar room! He took a pass, I went in by myself. Your usual selection. Later he told me he was married. His wife would not take one more guitar. Now, thanks to your advice, I am ready to let go, giving my Japanese strats to my son and my nephew, having upgraded to a Custom Shop. Yet today I found myself looking up master builts and stuff. I guess I was like an alcoholic, having no way to resist buying that next guitar. I am ¨sober¨now, but could this be the beginning of an even more expensive romance?? There are many of you out there with several guitars, someone I met reffered to his lot as ¨the crew¨. Does it make you anxious? Not knowing which one to grab? Why must I get that perfect bunch? How many instruments do I need? If you have a small collection and you enjoy and flow with it all, I envy you. I keep staring at them, I suffer! Can I accept life with just this ONE good instrument? Must I avoid going into shops as that guitar-holic guy? Let me know if you give all your guitars a workout, how you manage the crew.

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FIGHT!

I don't think the urge to buy more will ever stop. There is no one 'be all, end all' guitar out there.

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Check out my new FB music page!

https://www.facebook.com/TheDevilandMe.Music

Here's something that helps me.
The Serenity Prayer, which is quite familiar to "holics" of another type:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change.
The courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen"

The more you look the worse it gets until you "PUL THE TRIGER" on something NICE. Then maby you'll get a little relief. But it's only Temporary.
----Danny,

I've been trying to curb my guitar obsession for years. My problem is I like all kinds of guitars and if they're a little different, so much the better. I have enough Strats with eight (just created StraTele on another thread, picture below) and I have almost enough Teles at nine (sadly, I'm looking seriously at the CAR RW Blacktop Tele).



That said, I currently own somewhere between 52 and 54 guitars - I've been swapping things around lately and I've honestly lost count. My wife of 41 years is not a big fan of any more guitars, but I've never smoked, never drank, never done drugs and never messed with other women, so she's not going to complain too much.

Unfortunately, lately I'm more into all kinds of amps - 32 (or is it 33?) and counting. It never ends, so good luck!

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

CR GUITARMAN, you could be the poster boy for Guitar and ampaholics!

+1, not even the george harrison gretsch that comes with one of his actually used picks

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There is a name for this insidious problem: G.A.S. Guitar (or gear) Acquistion Syndrome. It is incurable. There is no such thing as too much music-related stuff. If you have children, just keep saying that it's for them. Making music is good for children for SOOOOO many reasons. And it's good for old folks, too, and everybody in between.

And if you don't have children, well, the balance of music and not music must be maintained in the universe or there will be dire consequences. So, to compensate for all those who have acces to gear but choose to not have any, and those poor souls who are not able to acquire gear, you must continue to collect guitars.

And, of course, you need a guitar all set & ready to go for each of your favorite tunings. And then there are times when you need an instrument that has a particular type of strings already set up ... multiplied by the number of different tunings you use ...

And, well, you can plainly see where this is going. One simply cannot have too much gear.

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Shirley Has The Blues

Blacktop P Bass
mim Deluxe P Bass Special
mim P Bass
Ibanez BTB405

The experts say you have to WANT to stop before you can stop and I guess that's at least part of my problem. I'm getting old, too, so yeah, all these great electronic devices are for my kids and my grandkids. God, I love a good rationalization!

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

In this opinion, IF "life-business is well taken care of and you are a responsible adult," there are more appropriate things to be neurotic about than one's guitar harem.

As I get older, I am less "anxious" (read: "hell bent") on acquiring every new guitar that tickles my fancy.

A few years ago, I instituted a new fiscal policy regarding Gear Acquisition Syndrome (I call it Gear Acquisition Syndrome Policy, or GASP).
If a new gadget, amp, guitar, etc. comes along that I am interested in, I start saving up for it (putting money into the GASP Fund) and I wait six months. If I am still jonesin' for that device at that time, I wait three more months. If the itch still exists after nine months, I will then pull the trigger (GASP Fund permitting).

There are Emergency Contingency Provisions (ECP) to the GASP.

Article I of the GASP/ECP:
If the device is such a bargain that it would be able to be "flipped" for a significant profit, I'll go ahead and grab it (for example, the Danelectro DC3 Pro I bought for $99 and sold two years later for $400 [I played it in the meantime], or the 70's Fender Musicmaster Bass I bought for $75 and sold later that afternoon for $400)...even if I want to keep the instrument/device, I'll generally only dip into the "fund" for an unbeatable sale price.

Article II of the GASP/ECP involves unique, rare or vintage gear:
If this is a device, instrument or amp that will not be readily available after the 6+3 month "cooling off" period AND the GASP Fund has enough funds to permit the purchase, then I'll go ahead and pull the trigger.

GASP does not apply to accessories like strings, cables, slides, etc. It also has a loophole for smaller purchases like a cheap pedal (for example, the MXR M-66 Classic Overdrive and MXR M-86 Classic Distortion, sold only at Guitar Center for a significantly reasonable price, less than $40) or the repair of an instrument or amplifier.

...now, if we could only convince the government to operate on the same policy!

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

hi , i got along for many years with my old 89 mij std strat , then after stopping for about 8 yearsi got back into playing now i have my old strat another old 85 mij 50's reis , a gibby lp studio (rewired vintage 50's with pio caps) an epi sg400 wired the same as the lp and one of my dream guitars from 25 years ago that i had to let go and epi sheraton it's an 87 and it's bloody lovely (natch blonde) this is my scaled down herd (i still need a tele though ) this little bunch can cover just about any sound / tone i need for the type of music i play , i don't have a problem with this many as ijustify it with the tone from each guitar whereas some players dial in their multi effects i get some envious looks as i plug straight into the marshall half stack with the weapon of choice for a particular song so fear not as long as you get a few different models for the type of music you enjoy playing (at least this is what i tell myself cheers
Alan

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This sounds like a great plan! I just use cash that I have saved, a little out of each check. Unfortunately, I collect guitars much better than I actually play them. I am now at my limit of 7 guitars. If I buy more now, I have to sell one first. In this economy, that can be hard.

"I am ¨sober¨now, but could this be the beginning of an even more expensive romance?? There are many of you out there with several guitars, someone I met reffered to his lot as ¨the crew¨. Does it make you anxious? Not knowing which one to grab? Why must I get that perfect bunch? How many instruments do I need? Can I accept life with just this ONE good instrument? Must I avoid going into shops as that guitar-holic guy? Let me know if you give all your guitars a workout, how you manage the crew." Mike,
every ending is a new beginning.
anxious only once when I dropped my only electric guitar on it's head by accident right before a gig and had to take it to a tech and wait for it thinking we might be late for the gig.
you're funny saying you don't know "which one to grab" lol
if its perfect to you thats good
you obviously need more guitars than the average guitar player
accepting life sounds like a good choice, one good instrument is every guitar players wish.
you act as if guitar-holism is a bad thing, quite the contrary, wear it like a badge.
I manage to play my guitars, save one that has a broken neck that I will fix soon.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Mike I think all players go through this at some point in their life. I did and currently keep a stable of 12 guitars and 1 bass. I have thought about selling some of them at one point or another but I can't bring myself to do it. Each one has something that I like or has special memories. Like Screamin Armadillo when I feel the desire for a new guitar I make myself wait several months and in all cases the impulse passes. New or different guitars will not make me a better player (only practice) and I am too old to keep up with the next guy. That doesn't mean that I can't appreciate or play a new instrument. Now I just struggle with impulse buys like stompboxes.