Having a Guitar Affair

[hotroad]

Do any of you fall in love with a guitar, buy it, then fall out of love and stop playing after a fairly short time frame? I do. Like most affairs, its an expensive way to go and though it briefly alleviates my lust for a new guitar, that feeling is temporary and I move to another affair. Even now I am sitting on some guitars that I absolutely fell in love with, bought it and then after a few months fell out of love and moved on to a new guitar, a new affair. Anyone else caught up in this vicious cycle? BTW I this does not apply to my wife of 40 years.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I've had 2-3 that did not survive the Guitar Center 45 day test drive period but other than that, no.

[Jaden]

Thankfully this hasn’t happened to me for a long while - there are acoustic guitars I’d like the add but the ones I have now cover a lot of ground, and any additional would result in overlapping tone and application, and probably be less versatile individually. Where I’ve really saved money from past experience/blunders is in the area of electric guitars, knowing to avoid bound necks and rosewood fretboards which require higher volume to perform, and not having a soundproof studio for that kind of high expense exploration.

[Cameleye]

Several of my picking friends and I often rotate around and loan our guitars to each other for a week or so. This gives us the opportunity to play some different guitars with no money lost or guitars bought that just didn't pass bonding.
Definitely cuts down on costly affairs.

[Arthur Blake]

Originally Posted by hotroad

Do any of you fall in love with a guitar, buy it, then fall out of love and stop playing after a fairly short time frame? I do. Like most affairs, its an expensive way to go and though it briefly alleviates my lust for a new guitar, that feeling is temporary and I move to another affair.

This is a guitar forum after all, and people seem to enjoy buying guitars. Nothing wrong with enjoying them and moving on, but this has not been my way.

Decided early on, as a general life philosophy, I'd rather have higher quality but less, although I have purchased starter guitars.

For one, I always look to myself first to see how I could improve rather than imagining a different guitar. Second, I want to buy the best I can afford even if that means saving up for a long time. For example, I remember changing my mind about what to buy several times during a year while I put together enough money that I didn't feel was coming from funds that should have gone to other responsibilities.

If you're buying new, guitars can take a while to open up, and it can also take a while to learn the nuances and how to bring the best out of them. I always make it a rule not to sell within the first year. Often from day to day, I feel different and play differently, and if you sell too quickly you can make some regrettable errors.

And finally, it helps to have a supportive companion. Whenever I think about trying something different my girl friend says when I play it touches her heart, considers it a treat listening every time, and she's never heard any guitar that sounds better than the one I have.

I enjoy working at perfecting my technique - finger style, and with a responsive instrument little tiny changes in the way you play, strike the string, etc. make a big difference in tone.

My weakness is strings. Numerous times I've pulled them off within hours, or purchased several more sets just to have in reserve. Most recent is D'Addario XTAPB1356, XT PB medium.

[YamahaGuy]

Experimenting with new strings, upgrades, and playing them in different places at different times can help to spice things up a bit with the old guitars you fell out of love with. (Sorry if this sounds to much like something else)

[musicman1951]

I have unwritten rules about new guitar purchases that keep me in check.

The new one must do something better than the old one. I definitely play favorites and always trade in the old favorite - so I need a reason.

The new one must cost more than the old one. I'm heading in a direction, and it's not down.

My last guitar did some serious damage to my just-for-stuff-that-brings-me-joy bank account. It will be quite a while before I can do that again - maybe never. I'm still very much in love with the Lowden.

So no, I have a pretty specific idea what I'm looking for and what I want to hear and it takes long enough to find that love that it tends to stick.

[jaymarsch]

I purchased a guitar early last year that I absolutely fell in love with the tone and convinced myself that I could adjust to the neck specs. I played it over the next few months only to realize that my left hand was not going to comply. So, it does happen, these affairs. Reality just didn’t live up to the infatuation.

The guitar is for sale and it will make someone very happy someday soon.

Best,
Jayne

[Rockysdad]

Starting in '72, with my first, and up until now, with 5 total, I have kept and played them all.

[Methos1979]

I've been doing it non-stop for about 8 years now. I find just what I think is the perfect stable of guitars and then suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere I start to find fault with them and then seek to replace them. It happens fast. I'll have a stable stable for several months and the WHAM! - complete turnover.

This just recently happened. I had gone over to all custom carbon fiber guitars after being tired of dealing with/worrying about the adverse effects of dry winter New England weather. It lasted all of about 8 months.

I think the reason though is because with all previous guitars I was never really satisfied with amplified tone. And when I stumbled on the my latest acquisitions I was so impressed that I quickly went over to that brand. I'm still very happy with them. If I'm still happy a year from now then maybe I'll finally be over the guitar affair syndrome!

[archerscreek]

That happened to me and a Telecaster a few years back. I learned my lesson. I'm now a lot more deliberative when purchasing instruments. And I found that I don't miss any of the instruments I lusted for but never bought either.

[Guildman]

Having a bit of an misunderstanding how you could actually love em and then not. Doesn't seem like you really could have loved them to start with. I loved the Guild D40 for a few years but then got to playing other comparable guitars which eventually led to a D28. D28 led to a 000-18e retro which I still love.

Guess in my case one love replaced another until I found the permanent one....for now anyway.

[Goodallboy]

I have, but then I realized I needed to play them first. Problem solved.

[Mr Bojangles]

My problem is that I've never met a guitar that I didn't like (at least a little bit).
Over the years I have owned hundreds. At first, if I wanted to try a new guitar, I had to sell one. Now they seem to accumulate in my studio... I do sell them once in a while, but I suppose that I just love guitars, all of them. And they all get played every so often.

[Tony Burns]

Id agree that alot of this is based on new guitars that are not broken in
or have not matured . Ive never sent anything back -i decide before i buy them , if its a long time keeper or not
-in the end these things have to leave us and become some elses -
thats life