So...how often do you play 'em?

I was thinking about this question just today in my music room, surround by my little herd.

Today was a "good" playing day for me.
Warm hands, no joint pain, and I was pretty much hitting the barre chords with the fingers actually on the strings instead of between them!
I had a wonderful time with my '82 Vantage Entertainar (sic) and for the first time in a long time it felt like the guitar belonged in my hands...and not some strange appendage.

I looked around, counted my guitar blessings, and asked myself, "But are you gonna keep all these guitars, and how often are you gonna play 'em?" Then I read Corsair's comment in another thread about giving up guitars altogether, and it prompted me to create this thread.

I'm not sure what my answer is. I'm not the player/performer I once was but, I'm better than I was a year ago when I had nothing but flippers for fingers. I rotate mine 5 at a time, and try to play them all over a period of a few weeks. Then I kiss them good night and tuck them away until next time. I'm also surrounded by instruments several days a week at the shop and I try to play them when I'm not up to here with repair work.

SO...how about you?
You, who have, um, more than one guitar.
Confess now. Do you play them all or are they shelved, hung, stacked and racked and largely unused?

And could you screw up your resolve to be rid of all or most of them, or would you rather stick needles in your eyes?

Well this is an easy one for me as I only own 1 or two(... well maybe a few more than one or two. I do also play them each and every day as well as band practice and gigs. I make the rotation but it does seem to take a bit longer than before but is always a pleasure no doubt. Sometimes I think maybe I do not need this many but then I look back and think of how blessed I am to be here and be able to play and enjoy them all and most of all being able to introduce these superb instruments to the younger generation of players that are my sons ages. They always want to meet here when they get together and look like we did back in the day when we used to visit the local music stores each and every day to play and drool all over the instruments and wish we could get them. I may decide to go back and sell some of my duplicate models as I do have several that I have found better condition wise but it it also nice to have one that I can gig and not worry about a dent or scratch so maybe I should just flip a coin lol. maybe this answer makes some sense.

Not often enough.

Since my ruptured shoulder tendons, 2 1/2 years ago, can't play for longer than 15/30 mins without a frozen arm.

Bass, which has been my main axe for years is now extremely painfull because of the stretch.

Sucks.

The moral, Don't use a jackhammer lefthanded if your righthanded.

not as often as I'd like
I take the prestige and the artist out once a week to practice/jam with my mates and play a couple of hours on each, tonally they aren't a million miles apart

I play my semi acoustic (Columbus) the most frequently but probably not the most in time, 10 minutes here and there (mostly kids songs for the toddler - old mcdonalds farm being her favourite), mainly cause its arched back as well as top make it loud enough to not have to amp up and I don't have an acoustic (despite my dad frequently trying to unload one of his 5 on me)

I play my others (5) about once a week just for some home noodling on a rotation so about once every 5 weeks or so

I haven't played my AP2 SB bass for over a year, but I don't consider myself a bass player anyway

I think I have around 45 guitars right now. I have tried a one in one out policy but it doesn't work.

It usually means one out and three in.

I too try to rotate but in all honesty, there are some that I don't touch very often at all.

As for giving them up - Well I can't really see that happening. I am fortunate enough to be financially solvent and to have a lot of time on my hands. I get my greatest kick from rescuing wrecks. It is just wonderfully satisfying.

After more than 30 years in a frustrating desk job, I just love being able to work with my hands.

So will continue to shift a few and to buy more.

Hoax

I have a paradox: I love my Trev Rabin but because it has his signature on it..I am concerned that will rub off if I play it alot..so its just for special occasions. But its a great guitar and I would buy another if one comes up at a price I can justify.
I play professional several months out of the year..and oddly enough I wind up play inexpensive Squire Strats or a Peavey tele, both are heavily modified..and are so value-less to the marker that its not a big deal if some drunk pours beer on them.
GtrGeorge

Honestly - not enough, even if I play different tunes on different instruments. I have 5 and working on my sixth. Out of the ones that I have, I find myself having one 'really special' that I've had for 27 years (my first X4SW). I know the feel of it as if it was part of me. The others are special in a different way and they all sound different. Even out of the 3 Dimension-IV's, the finish, the condition of the wood - all sound different when used with the same equipment at the same settings. Besides, there are songs that seem to fit specific guitars. I get a kick out of playing "Suite Madame Bl__" on the Blue Dimension-IV, the black for Metallica, WASP, Judas Priest, the white for Van Halen and Iron Maiden.

The other I have, is a model which has sentimental value, my brother has one of the same.
I'd like to get the complete set of 4 Dimension-IV's and keep the 'Terminator' but that's my ultimate limit.

All the Westones I have are the same shape (star) and are kept original. I want to enjoy them for the time being and eventually find someone who will respect them, keep them original, maintain them, and understand the legacy that is being passed down. I'd hate to find that a rare one has been chopped, moded and painted a dishonorrable color - basically you don't like it the way it is, don't buy it! But that's just me.

I only have 12, maybe 13 now since this weekend (it's all Mike's fault, the guy who had the Thunder also had a Charvel which I was forced to buy).

I play them about every day, or at least every other day. They get to go out on stage sometimes too.

The key to playing them all is this: Learn different styles on a rotating basis. That makes you choose different guitars to play each style, thus getting you through your herd.

i play some guitar every day. different guitars all the time for whatever reason. could be something here at the forum makes me want to play one or another, maybe i just finished a project... i try to go with the whim of the moment so i do get a chance to play all the different ones i have collected.

unfortunately i don't have large blocks of time to play, it is usually just 5 minutes here, 20 minutes there. i play mostly when i am filling in breaks in my job- looking after my 7yr old son, and my over-worked wife.

most times i play an electric, but not plugged in. rarely do i get a chance to crank up the amps and make 'em roar. i get even less time to do any recording.

about 4 years ago, i quit my day job of 32yrs (electrician) and i needed a creative outlet for my excess energies. i needed something to keep my hands busy. so i took up rebuilding electric guitars. electric guitars are an ideal combination of many of my hobbies and interests and experiences. i get great satisfaction from rebuilding an old neglected guitar and making it sing again, or from custom building one from other parts. i love to try out all different ideas for making guitars. i have built myself about 10 guitars from parts. i have over 100 other guitars. i have made myself a collection of collections.

funny thing though, when i hear myself speak about them i say, the genesis, the spectrum mx, the strat, etc., but even with all the guitars i have, whenever i speak of my thunder IIA i say my guitar. it is involuntary. it is the only one i do that. i have noticed it many times. and it is because i have a bond with that one guitar like no other. because i know i worked my ass off to get it. and it has been with me through some hard, hard times. i would sell every other guitar i have, but never that one. never ever, period. it is going with me to the grave.

i could never stop playing altogether, even though i am not schooled, or trained or even highly skilled. when i have the opportunity to play and explore and delve into it some, i can find a place inside myself that can't be reached in any other way.

there are depths of human nature that are very hard to express in words, or sometimes a non-verbal expression can convey the essence of emotion better than words. at times i have found that place where words are inadequate to convey the feelings, and to be there, with the muse, can be enough to heal you when you need it. it is a blessing to have access to something that comes from the purest depth of one's being, and to have a guitar as a vehicle to get there, is something i would never want to give up.

Hey Gittar

You story is very much like mine. The challenge is in the chase and then the repair. My guitar is my Vantage Ghost which I restored only to have my wife drop it and break of the headstock, so I restored it again. It is my guitar.

Your final paragraph is where our paths diverge. Your playing conjures up an almost dreamlike, poetic, mystic zen quality within you, whereas mine makes me think of a fox in a chicken coup.

Hoax

well, the other residents in my home would probably apply your description of your playing(a fox in a chicken coup) to my playing as well, if not something worse


our household is not your typical old fashioned place; i stay at home and do the housework, my wife is an attorney, and my kid is always yelling at me, "turn down the guitar!"

gittarasaurus wrote:(edit)our household is not your typical old fashioned place; i stay at home and do the housework, my wife is an sonographer, and my kids do what they're bloody well told!!

That's us, too and that's what lets us travel the world; Lucys' profession, but the point is I don't play my guitars anywhere near enough to warrant owning the few I do have! My attitude has always been that they are made to be played, and sweated on, not sitting in a stand or hung on a wall, as mine are, hence the decision to move them on if I don't start doing something with them inside a year. It's really a form of self motivation, I suppose and I hope I find my muse again as I'd have a hell of a job choosing two to keep!!!

I don't deserve my 41 guitars.

But I also can't part with any of them.

My 11 guitars dont deserve me, thats a joke.

Brainfertilizer wrote:I don't deserve my 41 guitars.

But I also can't part with any of them.

thats my problem. I'm sure we all go thru times when we think about selling a few but end up not doing it. Of my 25 or so, i have a few i don't play much and could get rid of but i doubt i'll get my money back so why do it? Most of mine i got great deals on and bought them locally but they are hard to sell here because the economy is so repressed, and ebay takes about 15% or more so its hard to get myself to sell em. I go back and forth........... i guess i don't need the money too bad so i'll hold them until i need it.

I am quite certain that I play less than 10% of the time that the least one of you gents plays but they still are rotated out into the "general population" 5 at a time pretty much week in and week out. Always one acoustic, one bass, one hollowbody, a shredder and one "bread & butter" at a go. The guitar amps get cycled thru as well but that is more of a 2-3 month stretch before a switch.

I'm much better suited towards the part of a roadie/tech than a player I suppose. But that's okay too, I still get far more pleasure from listening to them being used properly and with skill than what I can do with them...

My attempts always end up sounding more akin to a cat being groomed with a pitchfork than anything remotely resembling music.... ( no offense intended, Chad )

Iceman wrote:

I'm much better suited towards the part of a roadie/tech than a player I suppose. But that's okay too, I still get far more pleasure from listening to them being used properly and with skill than what I can do with them...

Looks like I'm not alone after all. (thanks Iceman)
I got into this when looking for a guitar for one of my kids to learn to play
on.
Since then, "as my wife would say" it has become a bit of an
obsession with me. I'm not sure what she means by that comment (don't know exactly how many I have) but I don't see it that way. I just love the look,
feel and sounds of the old girls.
I love watching my kids play them and also the look on people's faces when they
see the collection for the first time.
I can remember on more than one occasion seeing the looks of pleasure on people's faces when they
play a certain guitar for the first time. (no offense Corsair)
One good thing about it is that the kids can never say they don't have anything to
play on when the feel comes over them.
As for the amps, well that's a whole other story on its own. Then we can start
on the Saxophone collection as well.


Problems, me no never

haven't seen some of mine in years!