How many of you have truly found "the one?"

[SalFromChatham]

Anything I said in here would sound dumb. I’ve horse traded way too much to have any credibility on finding the one.

I’ve had fun along the way though... and I have had my D15 for a decade, so there is that.

[garysathome]

I doubt many ever find the one but rather the one for right now, I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have a very good guitar that i hope i never have to part with but who knows whats round the bend.

I've heard other guitars and indeed played other guitars that do things very differently from my d18 and i would love to add them to my collection but unfortunately my wallet is not quite as big as my taste for nice guitars.

I consider myself lucky to have the guitar i own just now and i don't know of any guitars that would make me want to change it for them, that's not to say they don't exist just that i haven't heard anything yet that i enjoy playing as much. so for now i have my one if that changes i expect it is more likely I will be saying i have my two or my three lol.

[docwatsonfan]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

I found "the one" by accident.

I bought a Larrivee D03R on eBay because the price was reasonable, and I already had a mahogany D03. Well, it sounded wonderful! I have owned many other rosewood dreads, but none sound as good.

same here
my " the one " is a 98 D03R
but now I have " the two ", as my Eastman E1SS LTD has quickly become
the " other one "

[garthjmoore]

Originally Posted by zmf

Don't worry too much about it. Fortunately it's an illusory concept, like "perfect". The implication would be that your life is static/unchanging.

What fun would it be if you actually found "the one". The quest would be over. Bummer.

As already said, my "one" is spread out over several guitars, with the bias changing daily.

I don't know about that. I look at Willie Nelson, Pierre Bensusan, and even Michael Hedges. Hedges and Bensusan messed around a bit with other guitars, but had the one. Peter Buck claims he used the same Rickenbacker on every R.E.M. record. Great examples from dynamic artists.

I've ben looking for years, have bought and sold a million guitars. I thought I found the one years ago in NYC: a Lowden S35C cocobolo. I played it for hours several days in a row. When I went to buy it, it was gone. Might have sold it in time as well, but felt perfect at the time. Lost that love.

[Silly Moustache]

Oh yeah, back in 1999.
Once I'd realised that I needed a wider fretboard than most 2ordinary"14 fret guitars offered.

long story short - A met a Collings Ds2h. (12fre dread in sitka/EIR)

Then I bought a used Collings 0002h to go with it - great but with light strings I overplayed it in performance but nice in an intimate circle or playing at home.

Then I had to get a used mahogany dread - Ds1 - almost painfully loud - it became my bluegrass band guitar.

The first Ds2h had been wounded in action - so played fine but ...scarred.
Another appeared on Ebay - I got it.
Then a 203 DS1 with adi and burst appeared on ebay. I let it pass. An acquaintance and sometimes contributor to this forum bought it in some kind of swap deal. He brought it over. It moved in.

So, yes, I've found my perfect guitar - all four (or five of them), plus my Martin D12-20 and my SCGC "RS" and ... and ...

[Silly Moustache]

ah, meet some of the girls :

[garysathome]

Originally Posted by garthjmoore

I don't know about that. I look at Willie Nelson, Pierre Bensusan, and even Michael Hedges. Hedges and Bensusan messed around a bit with other guitars, but had the one. Peter Buck claims he used the same Rickenbacker on every R.E.M. record. Great examples from dynamic artists.

I've ben looking for years, have bought and sold a million guitars. I thought I found the one years ago in NYC: a Lowden S35C cocobolo. I played it for hours several days in a row. When I went to buy it, it was gone. Might have sold it in time as well, but felt perfect at the time. Lost that love.

I have been reading this with interest but your answer made me think that perhaps a thread about the one that got away would make interesting reading. I was at a guitar shop just a few weeks back playing a lowden f35 indian rosewood Lutz spruce that i would just love to get it is simply an amazing guitar but i very much doubt it will still be there by the time i can afford to get it.

[JTFoote]

How long do you think you have to own and bond with a guitar before declaring it "the one"? Inquiring minds, and all that jazz ...

All I can say, is that I've gone through a good dozen guitars in the last ten years, but only one has stayed the course during the decade. I did actually put it up on consignment, once, for about a month, when money became a real issue due to multiple consecutive auto repairs + hospital bills + the wife's anxiety level, but it didn't sell, and I was actually relieved that it didn't go anywhere. It is the best guitar I've ever had, and I was deeply distressed over the idea that bills would ever force my hand. Fortunately, Fate intervened.

It's not my only guitar, but not even circumstances even more dire than the above mentioned could convince me to do something that stupid again. I'd rather live off of selling plasma under various aliases in different counties.

This guitar is the old friend that is perfectly set-up, has a sound that always draws me in, brings out the best in me, and blends incredibly well with my voice. It still excites me, makes me more improvisational, and is the bar against any other guitars will have to compete.

J.W. Gallagher 72 Special. One of only 112 made. I'm happy to be one of that number.

... JT

[llew]

Originally Posted by Bear Davis

I have approximately 47 of the "ones"

Just really lucky I guess.

Yeah I'm feeling a lot better about myself as I have around 13 of "the ones"! For me there is no such thing as "The One"? My guess is there never will be either.

[L20A]

My "The One" was purchased back in 1981.
It's my wonderful Martin D-35.

The guitars which all other guitars are judged against.

[llew]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

ah, meet some of the girls :

Andy...that shade top on the far right is beautiful!

[Llewlyn]

My "the one" is a Martin OM-28 VTS.

I am sure I can find instruments I would like better if I doubled the price range, but this is unbeaten so far. When I GAS, I go try instruments in guitar shops and then go back to my "the one", thinking how lucky I am that I have found nothing that beats it.

At least so far <3 <3

Ll.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

If I had to go down to one for some unforseen reason I know which one it would be. But deliberately getting rid of what I have in search for the grail...? I'd have to be rather daft to do that. I have a killer guitar collection that took me years to hand pick and I'm not giving them up willfully to chase something I might not ever find. Love the one you're with as they say...

I’m at this point - hand picked instruments I couldn’t easily replace, due to variability among individual guitars of the same model. Letting any of them go would be a loss and a mistake.

On the other hand, even though my collection is small and very humble, I don’t have time to play them all or give each a fair workout in a rotation scheme. Rather I tend to gravitate to my “no.1” instrument, feeling that time (and life) is short, so best to maximize it.

[TBman]

I have 5 all solids (see signature) that I won't let go of. Even though my Martin gets played the least, whenever I do play it, it sounds and feels like home as do all my others.

Do I think one to beat them all is out there? Sure, and maybe my retirement guitar will be the one, but I don't think there is a guitar out there that would stop me from playing my others.

[eljay]

Pretty darn close with my Gibson Dove.