I Don't Get It - Unplayed Guitars

[Glennwillow]

I do think there is a subtle trap in Gear Acquisition Syndrome or GAS. That is, if you have the money, you can somehow buy your way toward competent musicianship. I know that I have, at least a time or two, fallen for this trap. If I just buy myself an Eric Johnson signature Strat and the right amp or pedal, I will somehow be able to play "Cliffs of Dover" without putting in all the difficult work.

After 54 years of playing the guitar, I know that trap is just an illusion. But illusions, like mirages in the desert, can be tempting even when you know the truth. I think, well, of course I will never be able to play quite like Eric Johnson, but maybe I could acquire just a little bit of that magic?

- Glenn

[FormerFoodie]

Everyone's situation is different.

I have 6 insanely good guitars. Most of my playing time comes on one or two. I can't bring myself to sell the others because every time I play them, I'm reminded how good they are. This is not rational. Basically, over the last decade, I've gone through the process of accumulating really, really nice guitars. I'd like to say I'm done now, but if I sell one day, someone's going to be happy...

[Tone Gopher]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

I got beat up for a post like this once. I have bought numerous guitars that are almost new, hardly played and better than show room condition. Good for me. But I know that in less than a month I'll put ten times the wear on it if it's a decent guitar. If not it's sold. I play my guitars and it shows. I'm not going to change that as I like to play my guitars. I'm paying for them. There are people that take very good care of their guitars. Well, thanks. I felt the same way in the old days when I bought a used care with the interior coated with plastic seat covers. I'd buy the car and take the plastic off the seats and enjoy the "new" seats that the previous owner didn't.

... and then there are people that can PLAY their guitars without beating them up. The only wear you’ll see on my guitars is on the frets - and that includes my 30+ year old Gurian (that I’ve had since new) that gets most of the strumming action.

A guitar does have to look “rode hard and put away wet” to have many years of playing on it.

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by FormerFoodie

Everyone's situation is different.

I have 6 insanely good guitars. Most of my playing time comes on one or two. I can't bring myself to sell the others because every time I play them, I'm reminded how good they are. This is not rational. Basically, over the last decade, I've gone through the process of accumulating really, really nice guitars. I'd like to say I'm done now, but if I sell one day, someone's going to be happy...

+1^^^ Add me to this post. I have a couple more than you FF, but I feel exactly the same way. I can afford what I have and I use them all. There might be 3 or 4 that I play most often, but I really like each any every one in my variety pack.

[Watt]

I've sold several "barely played" guitars, though I simply described their condition and not the lack of use. The most recent was Gibson's 2013 reissue of the 1934 Original Jumbo. I bought it new and it was stellar in every way. But as much as I loved how it sounded, I found it uncomfortable to play. I hoped that I would get past the discomfort. Didn't happen. Finally, after three years, I put it on the market. And I resolved that, as much as I like the sound of Gibson jumbos and Martin dreads (of which I have also had a few), they are not for me. So, at least in my case, if I had said that the guitar had seen little use, that would have been the reason.

[madhat]

Got a job working 50 to 60 hours a week?
Got a wife and kids and dogs?
Coach for the kids?
Own a home and DIY on projects?
Any other hobbies?
+Multiple guitars to play?

While a person's intentions might be in the right place- sometimes we just don't have the time/energy and some guitars just don't get the attention they deserve...

have fun!
madhat.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I do think there is a subtle trap in Gear Acquisition Syndrome or GAS. That is, if you have the money, you can somehow buy your way toward competent musicianship.

I don't totally disagree with your thought here. Though I, like many others, after given into this trap have learned things, picked up things and gotten better every time. Did I become Jimi Hendrix or Norman Blake? No, though I have become a pretty good me.

You could say that everyone that bought a dread to flat pick like whoever has fallen into this trap. But allot of them can flat pick pretty darn good now.

[TBman]

I go through musical style phases. For a while I'll play blues, then stuff by Masaaki Kishibe, then Al Petteway, then Celtic etc. I'll use different guitars for the different styles.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

I don't totally disagree with your thought here. Though I, like many others, after given into this trap have learned things, picked up things and gotten better every time. Did I become Jimi Hendrix or Norman Blake? No, though I have become a pretty good me.

You could say that everyone that bought a dread to flat pick like whoever has fallen into this trap. But allot of them can flat pick pretty darn good now.

Hi Mr. Jelly,

I didn't mean to suggest that simply buying a guitar meant that a person had somehow been drawn into a GAS trap. I have about a dozen very good acoustic guitars that I play and that I feel I can play fairly well, and I don't feel that I was trapped into any of them.

Still, it was the first good guitar that I picked up in 1969, a Martin D-35 built in '67, that helped me to become a better player. I didn't pick up these other guitars until recent years when I had paid all my major bills in life. So at least for me, buying some really nice guitars had nothing to do with making me a better player. I bought these other guitars to enjoy the sounds and characteristics of these guitars. And that experience is no small thing. I'm glad I did it.

It's hard for me to speak for any other players as to whether or not buying a particular guitar helped them to become a better player. A good guitar can really help. It's also true that some guitars fit us better than others and are therefore easier to play. But using that theory, one guitar -- the right guitar for a particular player -- really ought to be enough.

But I still wanted these other guitars just to see what they were like, whether I was missing something. In some ways I was. In other ways, not so much.

- Glenn

[g_david59]

I bought a D41 Sunburst re-imagined in February. Best modern D41 I have ever played. Not planning to buy a new but it was soo darn good sounding and looking I couldn't resist. Once a month or so I play it for a few minutes. Keep thinking I need to find a home for her by someone who doesn't mind putting some playwear on it... For me, I just can't put a mark on it...I would be one of those unplayed condition.

[jhmulkey]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

I’ll pass on any acoustic guitar that isn’t interesting enough for someone to keep for an extended period of time.

Guitars that move from one to another are moving for a reason, and many times that is because it isn’t a compelling experience to play it. I know there are always exceptions.

I'd say "it isn't a compelling experience to play it" would actually be the exception. But even if it weren't, people's perception of tone and feel are so wildly subjective, that I wouldn't put much stock in it.

We live in such a rich era of acoustic guitars that we've become quite spoiled and often don't know what we have until it's gone. Plenty of threads about guitars people regret selling.

[ManyMartinMan]

G_David - I get it....... almost. Didn’t you buy it to play it? They even put the crop to multi-million dollar race horses and run them like they stole ‘em. Play them hard but take care of them. Where would we be if Mr. Young did’t Play his D-45 or James Taylor didn’t bring his best? They won’t break, really.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I do think there is a subtle trap in Gear Acquisition Syndrome or GAS. That is, if you have the money, you can somehow buy your way toward competent musicianship. I know that I have, at least a time or two, fallen for this trap. If I just buy myself an Eric Johnson signature Strat and the right amp or pedal, I will somehow be able to play "Cliffs of Dover" without putting in all the difficult work.

After 54 years of playing the guitar, I know that trap is just an illusion. But illusions, like mirages in the desert, can be tempting even when you know the truth. I think, well, of course I will never be able to play quite like Eric Johnson, but maybe I could acquire just a little bit of that magic?

- Glenn

Ahh this is why so many matons and aer amps
are sold. Or why you can always get a signature
model this or that. If you buy this you'll sound
like tommy emmanuel . Ha a noob trap for sure.

[PeteCady]

Since the day in August, 2007, when we detoured up into Michigan on our way from VT to MT, and stopped at Elderly before taking the "Badger" ferry across the lake to avoid Chicago Hell, and I took a Rainsong OM down and tried it - and was still trying it an hour later, as my wife sighed "Here we go again!" then got out the credit card, almost all my new purchases have been carbon fiber. My remaining wood guitars consist of a couple of really good ones that I'm sentimental about, and a couple of clunkers that I keep for loaning to party guests who've drunk enough to think they can really play. I keep saying "At my age I'd be crazy to buy any more guitars." And I do listen to myself. Most of the time.

[Paddy1951]

Buying a better instrument probably will offer the buyer a true advantage:

The potential to play things and sound great. But that is only realized when the player makes the effort to learn how to unlock that potential.

I think THAT is why there are so many unplayed guitars.

Then there are guitars and all sorts of other instruments that go unplayed by students because their parents over-schedule them or allow the students to over-schedule themselves.