Let's talk about our GAS

[Shades of Blue]

My brother in law has gas, but for other hobbies, and he says that we should just enjoy the hunt and the shopping phase. Once you actually buy it, the hunt is over we find something else to "want."

I kind of like that mentality. Dream and shop, but don't buy.

[Nedward]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

My brother in law has gas, but for other hobbies, and he says that we should just enjoy the hunt and the shopping phase. Once you actually buy it, the hunt is over we find something else to "want."



I kind of like that mentality. Dream and shop, but don't buy.

You are so right about the hunt! It’s so strange how once we obtain it, we move on to the next. #firstworldproblems

[RussL30]

It’s definitely interesting to read about GAS on here. I have everything I could ever need. A mahogany Gibson square dread I inherited, a beautiful and great sounding sunburst Taylor rosewood dread, a GS Mini for travel and My little Gibson LG2 as my small body solid wood guitar. These exceed my skill level and I’m very happy with them.

Despite all that, I really want a Martin. The only way to get a Martin in the foreseeable future is to sell what I got and I like all my guitars too much to sell them. We’ll see if that ever comes to fruition. Boutique stuff doesn’t really interest me as that’s more for fingerstyle and I really like what the big factories have to offer.

If I ever do get one more it’ll be a Martin to complete my stable and no more after that. I already have too many with those 4, plus a couple of sentimental beaters and my 3 electrics.

[Nedward]

Originally Posted by RussL30

It’s definitely interesting to read about GAS on here. I have everything I could ever need. A mahogany Gibson square dread I inherited, a beautiful and great sounding sunburst Taylor rosewood dread, a GS Mini for travel and My little Gibson LG2 as my small body solid wood guitar. These exceed my skill level and I’m very happy with them.



Despite all that, I really want a Martin. The only way to get a Martin in the foreseeable future is to sell what I got and I like all my guitars too much to sell them. We’ll see if that ever comes to fruition. Boutique stuff doesn’t really interest me as that’s more for fingerstyle and I really like what the big factories have to offer.



If I ever do get one more it’ll be a Martin to complete my stable and no more after that. I already have too many with those 4, plus a couple of sentimental beaters and my 3 electrics.

I think you should get a Martin. You won’t regret it.

[RussL30]

Originally Posted by Nedward

I think you should get a Martin. You won’t regret it.

Then you got enablers on this forum that don’t help with gas

Also, the problem becomes which Martin.

“Well, I don’t have a Mahogany top so maybe a D15, nah I want a standard series. Ok, well D18’s are awesome; but I already have a mahogany dread, well you can’t go wrong with a D28. Which 28? D28, HD28V, actual vintage D28, HD28, and whatever the endless variations and “reimagined” variations are. Then again, I already have a couple of dreads, maybe an OM28 will be great. “

I could see it going on something endless like that. Honestly I could probably be satisfied with just one of my two dreads, but variety and dreaming is fun.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by Nedward

Why do we waste so many hours researching guitars and subsequently buying them? It's definitely the instant gratification mentality I believe.

Not a waste of time for me. I enjoy the research and the buying. And most of all the playing.

[Kh1967]

Great thread!

Not long ago, I sold off all my guitars as the buying/selling/trading, and researching was making me nuts. I no longer was enjoying the process and it was contrary to my minimalist nature. When I sold them all off, I picked up one wonderful guitar that ticked all the boxes for me and I was happy and free.

Unfortunately, that one guitar, gave me some hand trouble from the neck profile. I just could not get along with it over time and was pretty heartsick. However, I searched for an alternative and found an equally wonderful but, different guitar. Different was key for me, so I would not be mentally comparing to the one I had chosen as my only guitar.

Since then, I have allowed myself to allow one additional guitar to float in and out. Doing this keeps my curiosity at bay and provides me with a back up. Growing up in a somewhat unpredictable household, I am comforted by safety nets and always will be.

The sell-off was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. It cleaned the slate and my head. Now, I no longer think "I have to have that one." Instead, I think "Hmmm...that one might be fun to play for awhile," knowing that "my one" is right within arms reach.

[Tico]

I'm fortunate to have a few holy grail guitars, so I'm nearly cured of GAS - and my bank account proves it.

Occasionally I still have a bit of GAS for a high-end OM, OOO, or OO Martin or SCGC.
I just try to not let my GAS slip out when I'm in a crowded elevator.

[Reeperbahn]

Over the last few years, I have bought quite a few middle-class-guitars. And sold them. Must have been about 20 that came and left. "there is something better out there", "if this guitar only had a wood binding", "sadly it has no pickup",... there are 1000 reasons to justify a new/next guitar. And slowly, I climbed up the ladder. Bigger names, more beautiful woods,...

Then, a very lucky and at the same time very sad moment happened: I bought a beautiful 914e. I had good guitars already, and more than I could play. Perhaps because buying is easier than practice/playing, especially when you have too little spare time.

Now, with this guitar, all dreams are fulfilled. There is no "Well, I will learn to play that when I found a guitar with wider string spacing", "I will record that properly when I will have a real guitar" or whatever else flimsy excuse I had in my head.

This is the "I have it all, you can play it all, if not its your fault, not mine" - guitar.
Its the "stop dreaming about big Taylors, you have one. There may be different guitars out there, but better? Nah. Forget it."
It is the "visiting a dealer - really? Why? They do not even have a 814DLX on the wall. Would you ever again have a guitar without armrest?"
It is the "you don't have to research about woods. Or manufacturers. Your search is over" guitar.

So - all of a sudden, there is just no need to look for guitars anymore. There is no "if this guitar only would/had/... , then I would/could/.... I just have to learn to play properly, finally. Get things done.

It is also the sad-lucky "dream fulfilled - but what comes next?" guitar. Don't get me wrong, I am very, very happy to be able to own such a wonderful and expensive instrument. It is not that I am underwhelmed because it is not what I expected. In fact, it sounds and plays much better than I would have thought. It is just... the big dream, that is now gone. Materialized into a case under my bed, true. But not a dream anymore, not a "one day, I perhaps might.." But I am the same lousy guitar player I have been before, and my life is still the same.

In the days and weeks afterwards, I started to unload a lot of guitars and studio gear and much more. Down to clothes I didn't like to wear anymore. Dishes. Things that I had floating around without really appreciating them. Some things I sold (or that are up on sale) will be replaced. Example: Ten 19" reverb units go, one really good comes in.
More space in my rooms, more money on the account, a better reverb than I ever had and that I can actually make maximum use of, because I only have to learn one unit. Win-win-win-win.

I am GAS-free. Not only regarding guitars. That 914e flipped a switch. Finally, I am back to what Instruments are about. Playing a good song. Writing a good song. Touching hearts, at least your own. And that is, to be honest, possible even with a 150$ Yamaha.
And so, I did not create my account to find out about "what to buy next" (Actually I just wanted to thank a forum member for something he wrote years ago.) but to read about playing, writing, practicing.

Collecting things seems to be some very old (millions of years) program in our brains. Having more or better guitars than your neighbour, also.
Appreciating what we have, and making the most of it, is often forgotten in our world of obscene luxury, and I would encourage everybody who has a sad day or a "need this!" moment, to think about the words "I need" and "I want".
That can be very illuminative and educative. And could make you smile

(I don't want to judge here - a collection of cultural goods is a very precious "thing" to have, and collecting of course is a valid and beautiful possibility to spend time and money)

[Nedward]

Originally Posted by Tico

I'm fortunate to have a few holy grail guitars, so I'm nearly cured of GAS - and my bank account proves it.

Occasionally I still have a bit of GAS for a high-end OM, OOO, or OO Martin or SCGC.
I just try to not let out my GAS when I'm in an elevator.

Haha nice! That’s the goal I guess, get the holy grails. But what happens if you make a million dollars and have most of it to spare?

[Nedward]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Not a waste of time for me. I enjoy the research and the buying. And most of all the playing.

The researching part is the best part of the process!

[zombywoof]

I never had any money for guitars as a kid. Nor were my parents about to buy me one. I lucked out when a friend of my grandfather, knowing I wanted a guitar so bad I could taste it, gave me one they had sitting in their closet for my birthday. The being poor thing though worked out well for me. Not being able to afford a new guitar as the 1960s wore on, I bought used which for me meant a 1930s Gibson L-00, 1960 Fender Esquire and a 1958 Tele.

I never really attempted to rationalize my GAS. Funny thing is that after playing 55 some odd years I am finally in a place where I can buy most anything I want. But for whatever reason I don't. My last purchase was a mid-1950s Harmony. Although this is one of the rarest post-War Harmony models out there, scarcity does not always translate into big bucks. But I was as thrilled with finding it as I would have been running across a 1940s Martin D-18.

[Methos1979]

I didn't have GAS until I CAME HERE AND MET YOU FREAKING PEOPLE!

Lol, okay, not really. My 'GAS' was borne out of not knowing what kind of acoustic guitar would best suit my playing style and needs. Since I was a new player I knew it was going to take a little time to boil that down to its very essence. Like some others, I like to have nice things and while not a man of means I'm at that stage in my life (late 50's) where I can afford a few decent guitars.

I typically will purchase the best quality I can afford.

So I embarked on a 5-year run of buying, selling and trading guitars almost exclusively here on AGF, almost exclusively used. I would read and research and then buy something, give it a good test run and then sell it to buy something else. I eventually bought a second guitar and that really got things rolling as it allowed me to have one 'keeper' guitar and one 'trader'. Since I was always buying used I rarely lost money and was able to go through probably at least 25 really nice guitars.

After a few years it became obvious what I liked and wanted as my style developed. It then became clear that I would best be served by one really nice wood guitar and one really nice carbon fiber guitar. Once I identified those two I just kept an eye out for the guitars with the features I really wanted most. One magically popped up here last year (the Martin) and the other I knew I would have to custom order (the Emerald) to get the features I wanted since their stock offerings were limited.

I now have the two guitars I want it's going to be a year this early fall where I've still been happy with everything I have. I am toying with a second custom order Emerald but that would be to replace the current one with some slight modifications based on new model releases by Emerald so I would still be at just the two guitars. I do have a third travel guitar but that will be going on the block soon as it never gets played so it will help fund the new build, if that happens. Still waiting on a few variables to play out on Emerald's end.

During that 5-year run I also had a concurrent albeit less formal GAS driven run to find out exactly what amplification gear best suited our needs (acoustic duo with my wife). That has also just recently come into full focus and realization and we now have the gear we feel is perfect for us. I'm truly not GASing for anything at this time.

I much prefer simplification and all of our gear and even our home after a recent renovation has at its very core the desire to simplify everything in our lives as much as possible. We have found it to be very liberating.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by Nedward

Haha nice! That’s the goal I guess, get the holy grails. But what happens if you make a million dollars and have most of it to spare?

A 1933 to 1942 Martin D-45, baby.
Maybe a second one I'd leave in DADGAD!

Yeah! Baby!

[packmule]

I'm not a particularly well to do person, but I like nice gear and am renowned for making irresponsible decisions and never regretting them one bit! Right now I'm gassing something bad for a Pre-War Guitar Co. 000 or OM. I reckon one of either of them and my current '69 00-18 and I'd be pretty happy. Also just saw a post on Facebook of a couple of short scale tenor guitars that Max Girouard is building and have a hankering for one of them (despite the fact that I have a lovely Herb Taylor tenor guitar sitting right beside me now!).