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Post subject: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:13 pm
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I've been playing the guitar for 30 years, and I'm baffled by how many guitars I have perchased, owned, traded or sold. Sometimes for very good reasons, like trying to get something else, and sometimes, for very foolish reasons.

I sometimes think, "Why did I get this guitar?" or "Why did I part with that guitar?"

Why do we do this? How is it there are people who own 2 or 3 guitars their entire life and seem satisfied with what they have, and there are people like me, who can't seem to settle on anything.
Here's a rundown of my life's collection over the past 30 years:
'84 Used my dad's guitar
'85 Peavey T-26 (Traded in '89)
'89 MIJ '62 Tele (Traded in '93)
'93 '87 Strat Plus (Sold in '99)
'94 MIJ '50s Tele (sold in '97)
'95 Les Paul Studeo (traded this for an amp in '97)
'98 Vester copy of a ES335 (sold in '10)
'00 Strat (Traded the '87 Strat Plus for this, and I'm still kicking myself).
'00 Nashville Tele (Traded for Clapton Strat)
'01 Clapton Strat (Traded the Tele and Strat for this)
'01 Home built Strat (sold in '14)
'04 50th Anniversary American Series Strat
'04 Les Paul Std. (Traded for a '98 PRS McCarty)
'04 Epiphone Les Paul Std. (sold '05)
'04 1977 Hardtail Strat (sold in '07)
'05 Taylor 110
'06 ES335 (sold in '10)
'07 Home build Andy Summers Tele
'07 Hwy 1 Strat (sold in '14)
'07 '51 P-bass
'07 Jazz Bass (sold in '10)
'12 1979 Strat
'12 '98 PRS McCarty 10 top (Traded '03 Les Paul Std)
'14 1976 Strat (sold home built Strat and Hwy1 Strat)
'14 1975 Strat (Traded 50th Anniversary Strat and PRS McCarty, and an amp)

I know there are longer lists, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few, but this is mine. Here's what I still have:

Clapton Strat
Taylor 110
Homebuilt Andy Summers Tele
1975 Strat
1976 Strat
1979 Strat
'51 P-Bass

What I've learned: I don't really play Gibson guitars, and I only keep what I really use.

I think that if I had more money, I wouldn't have traded or sold some of my guitars. For instance, I was rather partial to the PRS and the 50th Anniversary Strat, but... I really wanted the '75 Strat. No regrets, just thinking they were really great guitars.

So... after all of that, tell me your story--the good, the bad and the ugly.

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:38 pm
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Perhaps it is human nature to those like us. If I could kick myself for every old car and 70s Fender I sold over the years and wished I still had it now my foot would probably break off.

I don't collect cars anymore and am happy with what I have but as far as guitars...it never ends. Every time I get an idea for a build another idea pops up and before I know it I have 3 rooms full of parts and spend so much time searching for the rest of the parts to finish them that I have way way more parts then guitars. However, I made a pact with myself that I will not spend another dime on the "next" project until I finish at least half a dozen of what I got going on now. It seems almost endless as I go to put one together and realize I have the wrong bridge or pickups or forgot to order the paint or need to build a custom PG or have the wrong ferrules or a knob is missing or the saddle screws are supposed to be flat heads etc etc.....but one day...one day.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 10:19 pm
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ebaysux wrote:
Every time I get an idea for a build another idea pops up and before I know it I have 3 rooms full of parts and spend so much time searching for the rest of the parts to finish them that I have way way more parts then guitars.


+1

From your lips to God's ear!

:wink:

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


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:19 am
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Paris, I've been playing since I was 12, I'm 63, and I've only sold one guitar in my entire life. It was a bass that I wasn't using but kinda wish I still had.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:36 pm
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Location: Colorado Springs
After learning to play on a pre-CBS Fender Duosonic, I quickly evolved to playing Gibsons as the late 70s and early 80s Strats I played were not very good by comparison. About 1982 or so, I was lucky enough to purchase (from my limited vantage point, anyway) the finest playing '79 Gibson SG Standard on the planet. That guitar had/has a tremendous versatility, never making me feel like I really "needed" another one. Then for the decades that followed, some guitars came and went ... but it was the SG that was always my main one. And I played the snot out of it. Then in the early 2000s I acquired a MIM Standard based on the buzz around the resurgant Fender guitars. And I realized I really enjoy playing Strats. Since then, I acquired a Squier VM Tele Thinline, a Gibson Les Paul Std Trad Pro, and "made" an HH project Strat. My next guitar ... if there is one ... will be a 2012 or 2013 Gibson SG Standard with P-90s (they only made these for those two years), but I hope my old faithful '79 SG can handle another SG in the house ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:23 pm
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Paris...I have been playing for 40+ years...to be honest I couldn't list every guitar I have bought or sold. Cool that you can list all of them. I only really regret letting one piece of gear go and that was an amp. My '59 Tweed Harvard, was all original, had a sweet woody tone to it, should have never let it go.

I must say I am pretty happy with the collection I have right now, with one exception, I still want/need a good Gibson Explorer...but the right one just hasn't come along...yet.

T2

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:33 pm
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T2Stratman wrote:
I must say I am pretty happy with the collection I have right now, with one exception, I still want/need a good Gibson Explorer...but the right one just hasn't come along...yet.


(ahem......)

You are still in need of a Deluxe Reverb, sergeant.

:wink:

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


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:32 pm
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One of the nice things about playing lefty is that it curbs GAS somewhat. Right now, I own two electrics (a Strat and a Tele) and two acoustics. I could see picking up an SG at some point but that would be about all I'd ever need, I think.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 3:31 am
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01GT eibach wrote:
After learning to play on a pre-CBS Fender Duosonic, I quickly evolved to playing Gibsons as the late 70s and early 80s Strats I played were not very good by comparison. About 1982 or so, I was lucky enough to purchase (from my limited vantage point, anyway) the finest playing '79 Gibson SG Standard on the planet. That guitar had/has a tremendous versatility, never making me feel like I really "needed" another one. Then for the decades that followed, some guitars came and went ... but it was the SG that was always my main one. And I played the snot out of it. Then in the early 2000s I acquired a MIM Standard based on the buzz around the resurgant Fender guitars. And I realized I really enjoy playing Strats. Since then, I acquired a Squier VM Tele Thinline, a Gibson Les Paul Std Trad Pro, and "made" an HH project Strat. My next guitar ... if there is one ... will be a 2012 or 2013 Gibson SG Standard with P-90s (they only made these for those two years), but I hope my old faithful '79 SG can handle another SG in the house ...


I'm big fan of Gibsons with P90s. I also really like old Gibson pickups. The new ones sound too dark. I still play 1 guitar that has a hum bucker in the neck position. It's a home built Tele with a HB and Broadcaster pup.


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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:04 am
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Nice family gas tree there Paris :)

I've had a few, but what I've learnt recently is that gas can be a little ridiculous to me. I mean, I don't know why I feel the need to have a number of guitars. I really only need one or two at most. Hence I've been downsizing lately.

Before I joined this forum, I had one one guitar. After I joined, eventually I had 9. I'm not sure if being on the forum had anything to do with that or what.. But my gas has gone down since not being here so often anymore. I'm not sure if one can draw a parallel to that or not.
But lately, I've just been playing. I've discovered that it doesn't matter what I'm playing on, as long as I get my guitar fix, I'm happy :)

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:20 am
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paris wrote:

Why do we do this?


I think it all comes with being a guitarist/musician. Sometimes change is a good thing.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:29 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
T2Stratman wrote:
I must say I am pretty happy with the collection I have right now, with one exception, I still want/need a good Gibson Explorer...but the right one just hasn't come along...yet.


(ahem......)

You are still in need of a Deluxe Reverb, sergeant.

:wink:

Arjay


OK! I need an Explorer AND a Deluxe Reverb to play it through!
:mrgreen:
T2

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:39 am
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I started playing in 1963 when I got my first guitar, a Silvertone electric. The first real guitar I bought was a special order 1971 Fender Tele Custom that I ordered two weeks after I got back from Vietnam and (thank God) out of the Army. I got that Tele from a very well known guitar shop here in town, but I was forced to sell it in 1979 to cover a couple of house payments.

I went "acoustic only" for a couple of years, then went back into serious performance mode and ended up adding a couple more electrics, including a brand new Ovation Viper III that I still own today, along with an Ovation Custom Balladeer, my first acoustic with electronics - I still have that guitar, too.

In the 90s, when I was playing out every week, usually 2-3 nights a week, I started picking up more guitars to broaden my sound - I usually carried 3-4 electrics and my Ovation A/E to every gig - I was already hauling a trailer behind a truck, so what was a few more guitars?

Today I have stopped adding new guitars. When I last checked I had about 70 electrics and half a dozen acoustics. I am still playing out regularly about 8-12 times a months, depending on the month, but I have decided that I finally have enough guitars. Did I let some get away that I should have kept - you bet! And honestly, I wish I'd never let them go, but at least I still have the same wife after 44 years! It's all good.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:41 am
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Thanks for everyone's comments. Currently I'm playing my '76 Strat.

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Post subject: Re: Guitar Collection History
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:56 am
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There is no way I could list all the guitars I have owned. I'm lucky I can remember my name from day to day.


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