How often do you get GAS? How do you deal with it?

[rokdog49]

The only way I could ever see myself getting GAS again is if I played a guitar in a store that took my breath away or if someone I knew had one that was for sale.
Then the reality of spending what that guitar would likely cost would stop me dead in my tracks...
I’m just not interested in spending more than I already have on guitars and I’m content with those.

[Pender]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Ah, muito bom! Eu acho que você tem!
Não deixe até segunda-feira

I'm looking forward to see the NGD photos!

[TBman]

I voted once a week, but the reality is that I'm always thinking about having that "one" more guitar. Then I will start playing and get lost in the music and forget all about that "one" and even the brand of the one I'm playing and the focus is on "sounding right."

[EllenGtrGrl]

Guitar GAS attacks for me typically occur about once a month. I have several factors/techniques that are GAS killers for me:

1. My finances - if I can't afford to pay for it outright, can't afford monthly financing payments, or I'm unwilling to trade guitars to buy the guitar giving me GAS, then the sale isn't happening.

2. I try it out and don't like its sound and/or playability - this was especially hammered home when I bought my Martin DSS-17 online (without having a chance to play one first), and realized that a 1.75" wide neck at the nut, still doesn't change the fact that I don't like Martin's MLO profile necks (they're too thin for me), and as a result took a loss using it as trading material for its replacement. If at all possible, I make an effort to try out a guitar before I buy it. If not, I search long and hard online for videos of how it sounds, and neck dimension information (kind of hard at time, since many guitar makers do not publish actual numerical dimensions for their necks). If I'm still kind of unsure, I pass.

3. My immune system - this is a very big GAS killing factor for me. I have a severe allergy to nickel (and chromium for that matter), which is a major component of the material that frets are made of, and in nickel plated tuners and electric guitar bridges. Unlike the majority of guitar players, I don't get a rash just on my fingers and hands (which contact the nickel parts), I get it ALL OVER my body. I was told by the dermatologist who diagnosed my nickel allergy (via a Patch Test), that the reason this is happens, is because my immune system massively overreacts to the nickel. When I was diagnosed back in 2014 with my nickel allergy, I looked like a burn victim on my body, and was starting to get a staph infection (complete with fever and chills), that would have possibly put me in the hospital if I'd waited much longer getting treated. I'm not going there again. As a result, any nickel plated parts on my guitars have to be replaced with chrome plated (my body can tolerate chrome plating) or black anodized parts, or in the case of tuners (it won't work with nickel plated electric guitar bridges), if they haven't been replaced yet, I put a rag or double folded paper towel over the tuners before I use them. Due to my guitars needing refretting (which depending upon the guitar costs $350-$450 [I don't have the time, and expertise to do it myself, though I may end up learning how to do it in the future]), cheap thrills guitars are typically a no go for me (I can't economically justify refretting a cheapo guitar), unless they're really something nice (like my Eastman PCH1-OM), in which case I set a very hard limit on my playing time (30 to 40 minutes tops, with long breaks in between), to limit skin breakouts, due to the fact that the lower cost guitar will most likely not get refretted. With all of the hassles I have to deal with, as a result of the nickel frets and nickel plated parts guitars have, I think LONG AND HARD, about whether or not I really want the guitar I have GAS for. Flipping guitars, could put me in the poor house, when you throw in the added cost from refretting them, and replacing nickel plated parts.

4. If the GAS is really strong, I step away from contemplating buying for a few days - I've found out over the years that this is a good tool for helping to avoid impulse buys. If I REALLY want a guitar, I'll want it just as badly a week from now. If that's the case, then I'll bring it under more serious consideration for buying. Usually in most cases, the GAS goes away within a couple of days.

Admittedly like most players, there are certain guitars, that I have long term low level GAS for, due to them being relatively hard to find, or rather expensive (a 12-fret slope shouldered 'dread, with a nice and chunky neck comes to mind for me), but even if I do find them, they still are subjected to the criteria I mentioned above.

[brencat]

I’ve been averaging about 2 to 3 different guitars each year for a while now. So far in 2020, I’ve sold 2, bought 2, and will be trading 1. Basically used up my “3 slots” and we’re not even in November yet. If a friend ends up selling me his Merrill, that will be 4 this year alone.

I voted every 4 to 6 mos.

[EllenGtrGrl]

Originally Posted by raysachs

With me it's not really a matter of how frequently - it's more a matter of how satisfied I am with what I've already got. For 25 years I had one electric (a strat) and one acoustic (a D28) and I don't recall ever having gas. Then I had a pretty long layoff.

When I started playing again about four years ago, I did some experimenting to see what Liked at this point in my life. So for a couple of years, I had pretty much constant GAS, trying a lot of guitars before settling down on the electric side with a strat and a #2 that was something with P90s. Took me a while to nail down that #2, though, so I had minor gas for that until I found an SG with P90s and it just pushed all of my buttons for what a great P90 axe should do.

On the acoustic side, I thought I was pretty settled with an Emerald X7 but then I got more into fingerpicking and realized that the X7 just wasn't a great physical fit for me when I'm fingerpicking - my hand naturally fell way too far left of the bridge for easy palm muting or anchoring. So I had GAS again for a couple months, tried a few guitars, and settled on a CEO-7 that, like my strat and SG, just pushes ALL my buttons for what a great acoustic should play like and sound like. Got it in March, sold my other two acoustics, and not a bit of GAS since.

But at some point, there's a good chance I'll develop a change in wants / needs / tastes and I'll probably try something else. Although the Strat and CEO-7 feel pretty permanent. But I'll likely play around with that #2 electric at some point. I don't tend to spend much on those (my SG was $400) so I can afford to indulge and occasional whim.

-Ray

+1 for me.

I've done a fair amount of flipping, more in an effort to find out what I like sound, and playability-wise. There were 2 main periods of this:

1. The early 90s - during this period I was seriously getting into playing in rock bands, and I was experimenting to find out what I liked guitar and amp-wise in a rock band context. Once I worked it out (over a 3 year period of flipping), my guitar gear acquisitions drastically slowed down, to maybe a pedal here and there, and replacement of my Fender amps, with a Mesa Boogie or two.

2. 2006 to early 2020 - in 2000 and 2001, I got hit by mega bills, and a corporate downsizing that slashed my income by almost 40%. Both events forced me to sell all of my pro level gear, leaving me, with just a so-so Washburn cutaway 'dread, a very cheapo electric guitar, and a very cheapo amp. It took me until at least 2006, before I recovered enough financially, to even consider going into guitar gear, recovery mode. Even then, after 2006, I had times where money crunches forced me to sell guitar gear. Since I was basically rebuilding my guitarsenal, I decided to view it as a fresh start, and look into other avenues above and beyond the typical Gibson (with the occasional Fender), and Washburn (all of my acoustics had been Washburns up to that time) route I'd taken for well over 20 years. As a result of this, I've found that I like Gretsch guitars (they're capable of doing so much more than twang bang rockabilly), and I've also gotten into acoustic guitars smaller than dreadnoughts. I've also discovered a love for 12-string acoustic guitars (as a result, my church band guitar is a 12-string Taylor 150e). I've had many failures though. The three that stand out are:

A. I found out the hard (and expensive) way, via the online purchase of a DSS-17, that Martin guitars and I, don't get along due to their thin MLO profile necks.

B. An expensive failure with a Fender American Original Jazzmaster - I love the sound of Jazzmasters (especially at high gain through a Marshall), and I liked the Medium C neck the American Original version has, but after a couple of months of ownership (complete with a refret to hypo allergenic frets), I couldn't stand it anymore, due to the volume control placement - I rest my hand on the bridge, and when I played my American Original Jazzmaster, I was constantly hitting the volume knob with my right fingers, ugh!!

C. Waterloo WL12-MH - I wanted a small mahogany 00 sized guitar, and the WL12-MH was a nice (and expensive) guitar, but it just did not suit playing style. You have to play it with a light touch (due to playing 'dreads for decades, I pick a bit aggressively), or it compresses too much, and sounds muffled.


Hopefully, things seem to be settling down in the experimentation department. After the failures mentioned above, I have a clearer idea about what I don't want in a guitar.

[k_russell]

I am reasonably certain that I have a guitar that will suit my preference for the types of music that I like/need to play. So unless I damage a guitar beyond repair or possibly "wear out" one of my classical guitars, I have all of the guitars that I need.

Possibly, I could thin the guitar collection and get a new mandolin.

[nowgypsy]

I have not really had a GAS attack since I bought my last guitar a year ago. I don't expect to but the new Gibson LG2 has me intrigued.

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by richard1

I never buy on credit, and I always make myself save money in a jar for large value purchases. By the time I have enough for a guitar I wanted so badly, I usually find that I don't need it any more, so I just keep saving.

I've got exactly that issue. I've got far more now than I need to buy my dream guitar, and I just can't seem to find one that excites me enough to actually buy it. I'm trying guitars regularly at guitar shops, come home, play my 2 favourite guitars and feel really glad I didn't buy anything.

[caperrob]

This is an afterthought to my previous reply. You listen to reviews and hear comments like "It sounds like a Martin.....but it's half the cost". Is it as good as the Martin? It depends on who you ask I guess.

My whole GAS/infatuation started when I told my wife that I wanted to get a better guitar but wasn't in a hurry to do so. Then I strummed one chord on a HD-28V and major GAS began. Of course, there was no way I could afford or justify that guitar. But I wanted that sound, or something as close as possible to it.

So, I find a shop in Toronto that has a Martin GPCPA4 rosewood at a very good price. I order it. I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally had the head of Martin in Canada intervene to get me the guitar. It finally arrives. Box looks like it was thrown down a set of stairs. Wires dangling inside the body. I call Martin. I wanted to return it to the store but knew I would never get a replacement or my money back. Top looks terrible. Like they deliberately sent me the worst looking one they could find. Martin sent me plenty of goodies to appease me. Their customer service is top notch!!

From the day I got that guitar, I wanted to be rid of it though in all honesty. It was a bad taste in my mouth.

Flash forward to about a month ago. The original store that I bought my first Martin has a 000-18 listed for $400 less than my local Long and McQuade. I send an email to L&M to ask if they will match the price. Yes they can and as it happens, there is one on the way. Every time I was in the store, I tried any Martin they had, never a 000-18. Very rare.

I go to the store after a night of working nightshift. I test it and it doesn't really blow me away. Are they serious? That much for that guitar?

Meanwhile my GPCPA4 is listed for sale on my local Kijiji. I get an offer lower than I am asking and the guy is firm.

I am online nonstop looking at 000 sized guitars. There is a Larrivee a few hours away. Also a 000-16 in British Columbia and the company ships. Pretty set on this sized guitar.

So, I try the 000-18 again......oh my!!! Sweet, sweet tone, comfortable and a joy to play. GAS GAS GAS!!!! It blew my mind.

I sell the GPCPA4, find some cash and that's all she wrote, it's mine!!!!

The problem with GAS in my opinion is, once you want "that" guitar, your mind is made up. The GPCPA4 was a good guitar and really was much more than I needed. But from day one, I wanted a high end Martin, or at least I had a good idea of what sound I wanted. I sure don't regret buying the GPCPA4 though. It served me well and with the cutaway, I played a lot of solos on it and it identified areas in a guitar that I like and don't. It also spurred me to test dozens and dozens of guitars.

The real question is - Is it better to buy a "lower" end guitar or save your pennies until the day you can buy the "higher" end one?

Depends who you ask I guess

Sorry for being so long winded. Cheers everyone!!

[fuman]

I get GAS all the time. Cure for me has been to tell myself I can only buy one guitar. I've had choice paralysis for two years now. I admit there are at least three guitars I wish I had bought, but none is anything close to a "need."

[Twin Six]

Never. Being in the market for a 6-string does not constitute GAS. I'll be quite content with two guitars.

[jaymarsch]

I would say every year or two these days. I love the guitars that I own and play so I am pretty satisfied. That said, I love guitars, I visit the Custom Shop section of the forum regularly, and I do (not as much since Covid) like to frequent guitar stores to sample the offerings. GAS has been pretty safe for me lately because usually now what I am gassing for is not in my budget.

Best,
Jayne

[Br1ck]

Every time I feel gas pangs, I go and buy $50 or so worth of strings. It's like getting six new guitars all at once.

[alien]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

I would say every year or two these days. I love the guitars that I own and play so I am pretty satisfied. That said, I love guitars, I visit the Custom Shop section of the forum regularly, and I do (not as much since Covid) like to frequent guitar stores to sample the offerings. GAS has been pretty safe for me lately because usually now what I am gassing for is not is my budget.

Best,
Jayne

This is pretty much me, as well. There’s a difference between having GAS and acting on it. The last guitar I bought without selling a current guitar was nearly 6 years ago. I have sold and traded a couple of guitars in the last couple of years, but always came out even, of even a little ahead on those deals. Like Jayne, I’m pretty happy with what I have!