In the course of a lifetime

[ifret]

I don't feel so bad, having read many of the other posts.

Started in 1973.
Have owned 18 guitars, of which I currently have 7.

Other instruments?......won't discuss that.

[The Kid!]

Not nearly as many as some. Six acoustics that I've purchased, two that were given to me. I have four at the moment. Very happy with what I currently have. Three giggable guitars and a beater that I keep out of the case within reach.

[Wade Hampton]

It's not clearcut for me, because in addition to buying, selling and trading lots of instruments over the years that I acquired for my own use, I've also bought and sold both used and new instruments (acquired at wholesale cost) to resell. On top of that, I've been a multi-instrumentalist ever since I started gigging out in the mid-1970's: the guitar wasn't the first instrument I ever took up, or even the second, but the fourth, after mountain dulcimer, mandolin, and banjo.

Actually, now that I think about it, guitar was actually the fifth instrument I took up. Before that I was also fairly serious about harmonica for a while, as well, a good year or so before learning guitar.

Anyway, ignoring all the guitars, mandolins, banjos and mountain dulcimers that I acquired strictly for resale, I've probably had some three or four dozen guitars pass through my hands. I've always hung on to the really superlative examples, but have continually sold and traded off a lot of others.

Currently I have about fifteen guitars, a dozen mountain dulcimers, six mandolins and five banjos. Of the guitars, most are stage-ready with built-in pickups and do get used in performance. Of the dulcimers, five of them get used onstage, a couple of them I teach with (because they don't have the fret-augmented semi-chromatic fingerboards I have on my stage dulcimers,) and some of them were either given to me or part of my prize when I won dulcimer contests, including the US Mountain Dulcimer Championship in Winfield, Kansas in 1980.

Can't sell or trade off those trophy dulcimers!

But otherwise a lot of these instruments do come and go. I enjoy exploring different tonewoods and different tonalities.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Skarsaune]

Sitting in the doctor’s office, I can recall 18 over 35 years.

[jaan]

I’ve been buying and selling since the mid 1980s, including many years as a dealer so I’m in the thousands. If I had only had the foresight to stash more of them away....

[bufflehead]

Been playing since 1973. Six guitars, including the four I currently own, and the two I absolutely wore out.

[packmule]

Started playing guitar when I was a kid back in '78:

11 acoustic guitars
27 electric guitars
1 lap steel

Started playing tenor banjo in 2007:

7 tenor banjos

Started playing mandolin in 2009:

15 mandolins

[Shades of Blue]

I'm embarrassed to really give my numbers. It makes me think about how many great guitars I've let go of, and how much money I've wasted.

I'd figure on over 100 guitars, 30+ amps, and countless pedals. It's crazy, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Bain]

I have ONE "..........................................

[JKA]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

I'm embarrassed to really give my numbers. It makes me think about how many great guitars I've let go of, and how much money I've wasted.

I'd figure on over 100 guitars, 30+ amps, and countless pedals. It's crazy, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Never a waste of money my friend. You've had the opportunity to own lots of nice guitars. Rare that we get to keep them all so really they are a form of currency to allow us to try out lots of different instruments over the course of a lifetime. Better to have owned and loved (and lost) than never having had the opportunity of owning in the first place.

[HFox]

Originally Posted by JKA

Anybody have any numbers?

In 60 years of on and off playing guitars....maybe 11-12 including the current Ramuda.

[silvereagle48]

Over the last 50 years maybe 25-30.

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by JKA

Somebody once asked me how many guitars I'd owned in the past 50 years of playing. My head exploded trying to figure out if it was many hundreds or into four figures.

Unless you own a guitar store, I'd be thrilled to know what you do for a living to allow for that much free time and cash at your disposal, and where I can apply for that gig?

[AndrewG]

In 50 years I'd guess at several dozen including electrics and a few mandolins. Now I have one; a 2018 D-!8 Standard, with a Guild Jumbo Junior en route from Germany.

[Pura Vida]

Phase 1 (1985-2005): I owned four guitars (1acoustic, 3 electric). Sold two of them.

Phase 2 (2015-present): I own 11 guitars (9 acoustic, 2 electric), plus three more guitars with the kids (1 acoustic, 2 electric). And I've sold nine guitars (8 acoustic, 1 electric).

Total: 14 in the house + 11 sold = 25 owned. Phew!