I was very attached to my first guitar, a 1972 Takamine F340... travelled the world with me, sometimes my only friend and companion. Alas, that beauty was stolen in 1983. Every guitar since has been a beautiful tool, nothing more... the emotional loss of that Takamine was real.

A few years ago, I sold my first acoustic guitar. It was the Squier acoustic from their basic acoustic guitar pack. I cried after I let it go. I still miss that $75 monstrosity from time to time.

Maybe I'm sentimental... Idk

Here's how I feel about my new guitar:

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I have let instruments go in the past due to financial constraints, in the case of my Aria Black n Gold SB II bass I was going off to college and decided to keep the Ibanez Musician fretless and sell the Aria. Before that I had a sweet little Westbury Standard which I sold on for more than I paid for it (but still not much).

Both those instruments I wish I still had, especially the Aria which is a rare find these days. On the other hand, I may not have bought the Guild D35 I still cherish if I hadn't sold the Westbury.

The instruments we have at home now are all loved - factory made all of them (though G&L claim that their instruments are hand made, and my ASAT classic hollowbody is a fantastic instrument) and I can not imagine ever parting with them. They are all fine guitars and basses, and I am now at a point in my life where a sudden attack of guitar lust would not result in my selling one to get another. A couple of years ago I did consider selling the Guild to buy a Martin D28, but I am so glad now that I held on to the Guild (and changed its saddle recently!).

I'm oddly attached to my Seagull. It'll probably always be one of my "go to" guitars. As it is now it has kept me from buying several that, while very nice, just aren't that much better than what I already have. It's a sort of a curse. I have this Seagull hanging around my neck and I just can't rid myself of it.

That may change. My tastes and style are changing to a point where I'm really starting to get the itch for a typical Martin-style guitar. Looks like it's going to be a D18'sh sort of thing. But even then the Seagull will stay with me.

A couple of weeks ago I was playing a show for a local singer on short notice. There were several acts on the bill that night and we were all gathering for a sound check about an hour before the doors opened. One fellow had a brand new Gibson J-160e. I drooled a bit and then was offered a chance to play it as we were all passing our guitars around. It was nice but the guy next to me was kind of gesturing to me as he held my Seagull and rolling his eyes back in his head and quickly put the Seagull away. Later he told me he didn't want to rain on the other guys' parade by comparing A-B with a cheapo laminate guitar that he felt sounded a wee bit too good. I agreed to a point and we got a laugh out of it. That darned guitar isn't the greatest thing ever but it's just too good to give up on.

I don't think at this point I'll ever get emotionally invested in a guitar. Maybe that will change as my playing continues to develop but I just can't see it happening any time soon.

1973 Alvarez copy of a Gibson J-200. Bought it new a year after my wife and I got married. It has lots of sentimental value. Not my best guitar by any stretch of the imagination, but I've paid the bills and put beans on the table playing it and it has some stories to tell for sure. I think my wife is more attached to it than I am, and that's pretty darned attached. No way I'd part with it.

I'm at the point now that I probably only have two guitars I'd actually consider selling and I'm not burning to sell them. After almost 53 years of playing I know what I like and what I don't and I know the search for the "perfect" acoustic guitar is like trying to catch your shadow.

That said, I bought an HD-28 last December after hearing it played at a Martin clinic here. I wasn't looking for another guitar, but I really liked the sound of it (as did my wife) so I bought it. No GAS, just couldn't see passing up such a great sounding guitar. If I have a guitar I'd consider my "dream" guitar, that one is probably it. Not my first or only Martin, but it's the second-best sounding guitar I've ever played, and I've played a few. The BEST sounding guitar I've ever played being one built by my friend Tom Blackshear of San Antonio that had a price tag that was half what I paid for my house. I'm ok with that. No way I'll part with my HD-28, either. The more I play it, the more I like it.