I’m enjoying having only two guitars

[JIMMY JAZZMAN]

None of you are happy. Having a herd is great. Strings last longer, you never get bored, never tied to
only a couple of tones. Get out there and purchase more guitars. You deserve it and may as well
throw in a new amp or pedal. There are no re-do's in life. See y'all at the music store.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I never play my four electric guitars or my electric bass. No opportunities. But if I ever get another electric gig, I'll be ready.

For gigging and livingroom hijinks, I have four stringed instruments: a dread, a roundneck reso, a squareneck reso, and a mandolin.

Which could I do without? When I don't have the roundneck with me, I just retune the dread to open G for the songs I use it for. But the roundneck's sound is so much different than the dread that I'd miss it.

The squareneck is a completely different sound universe. My only excuse for getting rid of it would be that it's so hard to play. But I like playing it, and once in a while I manage to coax a good sound out of it.

More importantly (and the reason I started playing it to begin with) is that my fingers won't last forever, so I want an instrument that doesn't require fretting. On squareneck, you just hold the steel bar and wail away.

The mando is another world of sound I wouldn't want to abandon. Also tricky to play (they're not little guitars!), but when you catch a wave, nothing compares.

So: If I need to radically downsize, the dread is the keeper. But the other guys are pulling their weight, so they're here for the foreseeable.

 

[burntfrijoles]

I’m down to six (plus a bass) after selling one of my acoustics recently. I will be down to 5 when I sell one of my Strats soon. I just can’t decide which to sell. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I believe my end point will be 4: Strat, Tele, Les Paul or 335 plus my Gibson Southern Jumbo. I’m in no hurry. What I have is manageable.

I find I never truly miss (regret) the ones I have sold. I do regret purchasing many of them over the years. Hindsight is 20/20 but if I could talk to my younger self (past 30 years) I would say “self, don’t be a fool”. I would have my 97 American Standard Tele; 93 Les Paul; 95 American Deluxe Plus Strat and my 2002 Gibson J185 plus my cheapo Yamaha bass.

 

[JPKmusicman]

Strat, Tele, and a Paul. Don't play the strat much. No want for any other guitars. I need to play more, buy less.

 

[Bucster752]

.....it became apparent that having a lot of guitars is more distraction than benefit.

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[Bob M]

I was down to 5-now up to 10 and adding more! I’m not going to apologize. I enjoy guitars and amps and want to own a bunch more while I still can enjoy them.

 

[P Thought]

I’m enjoying having only the two electrics and the two acoustics, but I’m already coveting another acoustic. DAMN IT.

Well, you are on TDPRI, so you're sort of mainlining the Kool-Aid. . . .

 

[Bruxist]

I’m enjoying having only the two electrics and the two acoustics, but I’m already coveting another acoustic. DAMN IT.

Well, it is alot easier to make an electric sound like a different electric than to make an acoustic sound like a different acoustic.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

None of you are happy. Having a herd is great. Strings last longer, you never get bored,

The only thing that ever bores me is exercise. So I avoid it like Covid.

never tied to only a couple of tones.

When you know what you're doing, a couple is plenty times two!

Get out there and purchase more guitars. You deserve it

Always looking. (See below.)

and may as well throw in a new amp or pedal.

Ohmigosh. Who's footing this bill?

There are no re-do's in life.

The funny thing is, I figured out a long time ago that buying gear doesn't often make me happy.

Browsing and playing do. So I do a lot of browsing and playing, but not much buying.

See y'all at the music store.

Sure thing! I'll be the guy spending the whole day trying every guitar in the shop and then buying a set of strings at closing time.

 

[markal]

The funny thing is, I figured out a long time ago that buying gear doesn't often make me happy.

Browsing and playing do. So I do a lot of browsing and playing, but not much buying.

I like this idea. For me it may lead to purchases but I’ll try to enforce the one in, one out rule.

 

[markal]

Well, you are on TDPRI, so you're sort of mainlining the Kool-Aid. . . .

No kidding. And I keep coming back!

 

[markal]

To be clear, I’m not claiming to be some kind minimalist ascetic. Nor do I aspire to do that. I think I will buy new guitars, amps and pedals in the future. I’ve just decided that I no longer want to have lots of guitar and amps. It’s a distraction to me. If I do buy something (eg, currently thinking about a dread for various reasons), I will think very hard about parting with one of the other acoustics. And if I don’t sell one and end up with three acoustics, I won’t beat myself up too much.

To each their own, but if I ever start really growing the collection again, it will be a detriment to my playing, learning, and song-writing.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I like this idea. For me it may lead to purchases but I’ll try to enforce the one in, one out rule.

Yup! I've been on the one-in-one-out system for years. And with big buys, it's more than one out.

Long-range, I want to upgrade my my squareneck. Which means the current one and a few other things will have to go.

 

[twotone60]

I’ve been in downsize mode since retiring - but in fits and starts. My son will enjoy my custom made Rodriguez goldtop after I’m gone, and probably my Silverface Princeton Reverb and Ampeg Jet. I’m trying to not saddle him with too much.

I packed up one of my two Reverend Jetstreams and sent it to my younger half-brother, who I love dearly. I sold two others and may take my Coleman Custom tele to LA and give it to my son when I visit in April. I’ve been meaning to put my Reverend Eastsider on the market. It’s great, but totally superfluous. Sold my Reverend PA-1 as well. I celebrated the end of quarantine with the impulse buy of a Player Jaguar and sold it a year later.

Beyond that, I have the Goldtop, which gets 95% of the rock/funk gig time, a Classic Player strat I love, a Guild Bluesbird for jazz, a Jetstream, and a 2000 Slingshot that I love and won’t part with. Plus a Yamaha parlor acoustic, just to have something acoustic. So, that’s six that aren’t going anywhere, although I only use the Goldtop and Bluesbird on a daily basis.

Amps, I’ve sold a few, but then again, too few to mention. I’m down to four full-size and three practice amps, having sold four and bought two since covid. May sell a couple more.

Here’s the rub, Mazatlán, Mexico has become my second home. I bought a Bullet tele when I was here in the summer, and traded a watch for a nice Epiphone Les Paul that I just brought here and already gigged with. I have a Spark Mini and a Katana 50 here and will probably stop there, unless I bring the Jetstream here.

Just responding to this thread has me shaking my darn head! Apart from Mexico, if I had to pare it down to two, it would be the Goldtop and the Guild.

 

[twotone60]

Sorry duplicate post.

 

[Robert H.]

Personally, I think there are only two numeric categories of ownership - one and more than one. With one guitar, you have an only child. All attention, all love, all frustration is completely focused on that baby. Once you go to two, you might as well have 5 or 10 or more. You have options, you weigh the strengths and weaknesses, you search. One, or more than one. Just my humble opinion.

 

[BrazHog]

Personally, I think there are only two numeric categories of ownership - one and more than one. With one guitar, you have an only child. All attention, all love, all frustration is completely focused on that baby. Once you go to two, you might as well have 5 or 10 or more. You have options, you weigh the strengths and weaknesses, you search. One, or more than one. Just my humble opinion.

You give your axe all... or nothing at all

 

[stantheman]

Seek Help.

 

[raysachs]

More is distracting to me too. I have three acoustics and two electrics, although just one electric gets about 95% of my electric playing. I’m more of an acoustic player these days and mainly play two short scale Martins, a CEO-7 (mahogany) and 000-28EC (rosewood). I also have a McPherson Sable, an amazing carbon fiber guitar that’s generally around for periods of temperature and humidity extremes, for tossing in a car for a weekend trip, etc. In terms of every day players, it’s basically a Strat and two Martins, so I don’t waste much time thinking about which to play…

I went 25 years with a Strat and a D28, and that was when I was young and playing out a lot, so I’m definitely a proponent of less is more. Whatever I’m playing, I tend to sound like myself…

-Ray

 

[Rich_S]

I'm sure they have more guitars at home, but I loved that Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew each played ONE guitar for their entire show last night. Craig Brodhead from Cool Cool Cool only played two, but that was only because "his" guitar was a dual-humbucker Tele-ish thing, but he needed a Strat for the Talking Heads funk rhythm parts, so he switched guitar between sets.

I think most rig rundowns these days are ridiculous, touring with a coffin full of a dozen guitars. Call me an ol' fuddy-duddy, but concerts were just as good back when players had one guitar they played all night, with maybe a backup sitting on a stand just in case.

I find the idea of one guitar that you bond with and get to know really well to be very attractive. That said, on the rare occasions I actually play out, I think it prudent to have a spare along in case I break a string or worse. I could cut my collection of electrics in half, from four to two. But one of the ones I could let go is the cheapo pawn shop Chinese bolt-neck LP Junior, which is my "work travel" guitar precisely because its worth zero $$$. So there's no reason to sell it.

That leaves the MIK Hamer Sunburst, which is a WAY better guitar than the few hundred bucks it's worth on the market. I rarely play it (just not a LP kinda guy) but it's so pretty.

So, yeah, I like the idea of two guitars, but I'll stand pat at four.