Guitar Player Question - Number of Instruments

[leftyguitarjoe]

I have a couple.

[groovemasta]

Originally Posted by BucketheadRules

8.

This is probably too many for a 17-year-old who doesn't play live atm...

I have:

3 sixers in E/drop D
1 sixer in Eb
1 in open C
1 seven, in either B or A
1 acoustic
1 bass

you bastard, I'm the same age and only have one I can actually call a guitar

[MrPepperoniNipples]

I have four

2 of which I am trying to sell

[Evil Weasel]

I currently have 6 (down from 8 a couple of months ago!) and trying to sell a couple more. I'd be pretty happy with 4 though. Two 6 strings and two 7's. Ideal for me!

[Dan_Vacant]

I have 6 or 7 I thought of selling all but my jazz box for a bad ass 7string. so you are not alone.

[Dan_Vacant]

Originally Posted by leftyguitarjoe

I have a couple.

you need maybe 7000 more.

[oddcam]

Originally Posted by Gashzilla

What is the impetus for purchasing so many guitars?

In many cases, excess money.

[bhakan]

^I think it is more often GAS. Almost the entirety of this forum seems to be badly afflicted with it, but the OP seems to be miraculously immune to it.

[WolleK]

Had around 12 as i was 20 years old, downsized it till 2009 to two guitars, heard Periphery in 2010 for the first time, discovered djent, now 16 guitars.

2x 7strings
7x 6strings
2x bass guitars
4x acoustic guitars (okay, found two in the trash)
1x Ukulele

[SamSam]

Daemoness Cimmerian 7
Kxk Sii-7
OAF 8
Ibanez RG7620
ESP LTD M207
Ibanez RGA 121
Ibanez RG570
ESP LTD Viper 301
Ibanez VBT700
Music Man JP7 (On route)


I'm pretty sure that's it right now...

Ten guitars, ten years. That's sounds all right to me.

[bob123]

I think as a guitarist, having multiple guitars is like colors on a pallette. Having a DIVERSE collection, to me, is better then having 16 of the same guitar in multiple colors.

A tele, strat, 7 string, super strats, hard tails, floyds, etc etc. Each bring something new to the table. If you only care for ONE sound, then sure, get the one guitar, or a couple of the similar type.

[wilch]

I have 5 at the moment, with a sixth on the way (which will be my first 7 string - built by ET Guitars).

Only one of them gets the most play time. Which is strange, kinda makes me think why I keep the others around. I can't sell them though. The reason isn't tangible, I just can't.

All the guitars I have are different. Shape, and if they're the same shape they have different bridges/pickups/neck types.

[JP Universe]

I just like guitars too much I had 2 for nearly 10 years and that got me through gigs etc but now I don't see the point in trying to limit yourself....

If you got the means go for it.... whore it up

[3074326]

I have five "good" guitars. A handful of others that I don't even think about playing anymore. Only two of the good ones are at my house, the others are at my parents' house for safety.. haha. I usually get attached to one guitar and play only it for months. I've considered selling one of my others to drop my total to four, but I'll never sell any of the four.. they all do different things that I like.

[Loxodrome]

I have a 8 string (well 7, with a high A) and a keyboard. I'm saving to get a 6 string bass, and a 6 string guitar xD I'd also love a violin or cello, But that is something that won't happen for a while!

[Jakke]

4.

2 sevens
1 Acoustic
1 Semi-hollow.

[Hollowway]

When I was gigging I had one. And for a couple of years I played bass live, and had ... one of those. I never really worried about having a backup, and only a couple of times did I break a string during a set (with a Floyd, no less). I would just string it back up in a couple of minutes and continue on.
Now that I don't play live I have oodles if them. Why? Cuz of you bastards and your fancy wood guitars with lots of strings. GAS has really pushed retirement back a couple of years. And just when I'm getting comfortable with owning every permutation of an 8 string, the 8 string Floyds are coming out. Here we go again!

[Narrillnezzurh]

Most guitar players will need more than one, gigging guitarists especially. If you play songs in more than one tuning, you will want more than one for gigs, and you will need more than one if you make use of floating bridges of any kind; if you rely on the tonal characteristics of different woods or body shapes for your music, you will need more than one, and the same goes for differing pickups; if you make use of extended range instruments on occasion, you will likely want more than one guitar (likely with differing string counts); if you like variety in looks, you will want more than one; if you gig at all, you should have at least one backup.

The only reason you would ever not have more than one is if you didn't have the money for a suitable backup, wrote all your songs in very similar tunings, and didn't care about the tonal differences. If you were to play live, your guitar would also have to have a fixed bridge, or a blocked floating bridge.

Personally, I only have two guitars, but that's because of budget constraints. The other guitarist in my band owns a duplicate of my alternate guitar, so we have plenty of backups

[groverj3]

I have 4. A parts-o-caster I'm building, a Jackson DXMG, SLSXMG, and an SL2H.

The SL2H is in standard tuning. The SLSXMG is in D-standard. The DXMG is in C-standard. The strat will be in Eb. So, I don't see this as excessive, they're all set up differently. Planning on getting a 7 at some point as well as a backup standard tuning guitar. I think I will be satisfied.

[CrownofWorms]

6 but I only have about 4 guitars

Jackson RR5 bolt on
ESP LTD Amott Ninja v 600
Ibanez RG7321
Washburn X series 7 strig

I don't really use
Some Yamaha keyboard
A Vintage Ludwig 7 piece drum set

[Vinchester]

To the OP's question: I like the idea of sticking to only one guitar too, but so far any of my current ones cannot fulfill that demanding role. I love my Eclipse except when I'm playing songs with lots of upper fret note spamming, while my strat bodied ones have necks that are so easy to play but doesn't have the LP tone (obviously). It helps that I don't use Floyd much but there's also the different tunings I like to play and I really enjoy playing with different pickups and woods etc..

My best bet might be a nice 7. Possibly a Solar7 w/ fixed bridge which I'm trying to buy :P

[ZackP3750]

Current Line-Up:

Ibanez RG7421 (Standard)
Ibanez MIJ RG420AH (Standard D)
Taylor 110e Acoustic (Standard E/Eb)
Peavey Raptor II (got for free from a budddy for covering his shift one night haha)
Aria 1970's era 12 String Acoustic (don't play, bridge is pulling up)


Now, my 7421 is the go-to guitar for me, and I keep it in Standard. The Taylor sits in the bag until I'm ready to jam on it, and the RG420AH sits on the stand as well. I love having the options of playing different guitars, but I could easily get away with having the 7 and the Taylor. I think once I've got my life in order I'll start saving for some really nice higher-end stuff, but until then I don't see the need to go apeshit on collecting anymore. I got to a point where I was more worried about getting nicks and dents in the guitars than I was about how they sounded, and that was when I knew it was much easier and cheaper to craft your tone with what you have than endlessly search for the coup de grace of guitars.

The other side of the debate is the idea of guitars as artwork. If I had the money, I would spend it on beautiful guitars that I could stare at for hours and not touch. Yeah, they probably play amazing and sound just as good, but, for me, a guitar is a piece of art. I've seen paintings and all kinds of "real art", but I would take a Mayones with a spalted maple top over any museum art any day of the week. I know many people feel the same, in that looking at a guitar is (sometimes) just as satisfying as sitting down and ripping on it.


In short, people have different needs for guitar. If you think you could be fine with just one guitar, then why not just have one sweet guitar that works for you? As cool as it is to say "Yeah, I've got about 15 guitars right now", its just as cool to say "I've got one badass guitar that does everything I need it to and more".

[ilyti]

I would love to have 1 guitar that fulfilled all my needs. It would save a lot of time when it comes to maintenance, setup etc and I'd get time to get really comfortable playing it. So if that's how you feel about your guitar, I envy you. Don't worry about it, just enjoy it!
Presently I own an Ibanez 7 as my main, a Spanish nylon string (that I really like) for classical/ethnic/folk stuff, a cheap Luna superstrat for when I need a whammy, a Les Paul that I can't part with for sentimental value (and the fact that I've put x times as much money into it than it's worth), and a 5 string bass. I've got the Les Paul set up with high action so I can get a really raunchy sound when the song calls for it, that's pretty much the only thing I get from it that I can't get from the Ibanez. So yeah, each of my guitars fulfill a specific purpose and that's why I keep them. I have sold a few not because I didn't like them but because they did not fulfill their musical purpose with me.
Oh, forgot about my 12-string. It's junk really so it doesn't see much use. But if need be!

[sleightest]

Heres a list of my guitars and why I have them:

Ibanez JEM7VWH My go to standard tuning guitar. It never leaves standard tuning, plays amazing, favorite guitar, If I could only have one guitar this would be it.

Arai Crappy strat My first electric not worth it to sell just got it set up for drop C fun to .... around on

Fender Acoustic Ex girlfriend left it at my house its my thrasher acoustic plays great almost makes that shitty relationship worth it AWWW YEAH free guitars kick ass!!!

Schecter Omen 8 Tax return purchase/guitar. I hate ....ing with different tunings so why not just get something in standard and have insane lower range? 80% of the time im playing its either this guitar or the Jem.

Gibson ? Really old acoustic, First guitar Ive ever played/owned its my moms. Her uncle bought it for her birthday off of a traveling blues musician in the 70's in Texas no clue what year at least 50 years old. I keep that at my parents house and play it when I visit. I love that guitar. With living in the city I would never keep it at my place because its not replaceable unlike my other guitars.

So i have quite a few guitars but really a floyd standard and an 8 string are all i need for what I play. Acoustics are great for messing around on, jamming with friends and building up strength.

Eventually ill probably get some kind of custom carvin dc800 with the new 8 string floyd and just use that for everything =)

[thedonal]

Any gigging guitarist should have at least two- one for backup if a string goes etc.

I'm not gigging at the mo, but used to...

I currently have 10. They're all different in their ways. I am GASsing for 3 more.

So I have-

Ibanez RG550EX
ibanez RG1527
Fender HRR Strat
Fender Strat Plus
Epiphone Black Beauty 3 Pickup
Fender Montara Acoustic
Faith Neptune Acoustic
Washburn RB-2502 Bass
Aria Pro-II Fretless bass.

On the GAS list-
Gibson Les Paul Traditional (in Cherry)- Due in the New Year
Jaden Rose Original Series (who knows when!)
Fender Telecaster of some description.

What can I say? I love guitars!