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

[Dustinfurlow]

I’m happy to say I’ve found the “one” in terms of tone, playability and just general love for the wood and aesthetic..I have a second specifically for gigging that is great too (Larrivee) but its Just to preserve the Beneteau and avoid humidity changes at gigs. (Coastal Virginia is a nightmare in summertime).

The SJ has perfect responsiveness and clarity for my playing. The problem is, if I develop shoulder or back problems down the line it may be a challenge to play, as it is a jumbo. Luckily that shouldn’t be for awhile.

It’s funny, I write this but I have another on order with Marc. I’ve played some in the $12-30 range and while they are truly wonderful and absurdly responsive I just love his tone and clarity no matter what woods are used. very versatile. I’ll probably order another after this one due in February, maybe an OM so I know if I do get those Nasty shoulder issues later I will at least have one that isn’t so big.

[Kitkatjoe]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

How many of you guys out there have truly found "the one?" How does that guitar make you feel? I'm not talking infatuation, honey moon syndrome, or short term love affairs (and yes I am talking about guitars lol). I'm talking true long lasting love, would never sell, and nothing else could make you as happy as the one?

First of all, I envy you. I think the closest I've come to true lasting love in a guitar is with my Strat. That isn't going anywhere. I'd say my next closest thing to true love is my 717, but she was more love at first sight. Not sure how the long term relationship will be yet. I'm really working on our relationship and I am putting in the work? Is this getting weird yet? lol

The reason I ask is because I feel that I am at a bit of a crossroads. I am contemplating selling off quite a bit of gear because I'm tired of the rat race. I'm tired of the gear carousel and I feel like unloading over $5000 worth of gear and calling myself a one guitar man.

Only issue I have is how do you know when you've found the one?

I keep to finding that special one over and over and over.😉

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by Kitkatjoe

I keep to finding that special one over and over and over.😉

Like a serial monogamist? That's what I've been so far. Pretty much!

[FoxHound4690]

My two main guitars I play
The one electric - Gibson Les Paul Classic (ebony black with P-90 pickups).
The one acoustic - Maton Solid Road Series 808C.

Both guitars have beautiful tones to them. the les paul due to the single coil P-90's and my Maton 808C because of the gorgeous tone woods its made from (blackwood back and sides, western red cedar top).

Both guitars make me very happy and yes they're the two I would never part ways with. I'm also considering buying myself a Maton SRS70C/12 which is a gorgeous 12 string that Maton do, i've played one and the thing sounds like an orchestra.

[Fresh1985]

Haha, no there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all!

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Thus far, you are the one who is definitely with The One! The vast majority is in the camp of The Stridently Unapologetic Many And There's Nothing Wrong with That, Dammit.

[Jack Orion]

My 2008 Martin OM28v is 'the one' for me.

I bought it new in 2009 and it's been with me ever since. I must have put thousands of hours of playing in on it, written a ton of songs, and performed hundreds of gigs with it.

It's had Fishman soundhole pickups, K&K minis (three times), LR Baggs M1a, LR Baggs Anthem and now a dual K&K/DPA pickup systems in it. I had it refretted and a new nut and saddle made for it this year and it's plays better than ever.

It was my only guitar for a couple of years, but then I started working in a guitar shop and I went through a succession of 'other' guitars. Sometimes these guitars became my No1 for a period of time, but my Martin was just patiently there waiting for me to pick it up again and go 'oh yeah, this is what I like!'

Currently the list of others reads as:

Gibson J45TV
Martin 000-15sm
Fylde Alexander Custom
Martin 000-18
Martin 000-28vs
Martin Ditson 111
Collings OM2h ss vn
Lowden S25

so some pretty good guitars. They've all gone. I do have another guitar now, a Collings OM2hT which is stunning, and, in all honesty, a better guitar than my Martin. However it's not 'the one', the Martin will always hold that place.

I sometimes think about selling my Collings and just settling with the Martin as my one and only but a couple of things hold me back - 1) I play in lots of different tuning so it is handy to have two guitar for live use 2) The Collings is a stunning guitar that I'd miss and I'd probably lose some money on it - so I'm happy with my 'the one' and another setup at the moment.

[Matt M]

My Recording King ROS616 is basically 'the one', in that there's nothing I would change about it and I haven't yet played a guitar I prefer. I've been to a fair few guitar shows and played a few luthier made guitars and can't say any of them blew me away and felt as right.

I suppose you could argue I have never properly compared like with like - I have never found an all-solid mahogany 12-fret OM in the pre-war style to compare it with!

Caveat: I own two similarish Recording King guitars and depending on what I happen to be playing, I might enjoy playing those just as much. Playing jazzy stuff on the RNJ26 sounds great for instance, quite a Django-ish, Nick Lucas type sound (it is after all a 'Nick Lucas' guitar). I feel like my trio of Recording Kings covers all the bases I want: a dark low-mid tone (ROS616); a mellow-to-bright jazzy tone (RNJ26); and a robust straightforward dry dreadnought-ish tone (ROS06). But if it came to it the I could dispense with them all but the 616.

In case it's not obvious from the above, I really rate the Recording King models that were made circa 2010.

[slopeshoulder]

These two do it for me.

https://ibb.co/j5KDJ9z

https://ibb.co/7VJx31t

[geelinus]

I knew that I found "The One" at the instant my future wife walked into the room. . .

[geelinus]

I knew that I found "The One" at the instant my future wife walked into the room. . .

Guitars come and go.

[GHS]

I dont know about owning just "one" ( if you can afford to...not an arrogant statement). Its like that scene from a movie I saw years ago ( cant remember name), when one guy says to the other. "Imagine getting up every morning and opening the cabinet door and seeing that box of cornflakes...everyday...for the rest of your life....cornflakes every day"... Well, thats what I'm getting at. Yeah, one real nice one, the one that turns you on...but how about some other things to break up the routine????

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by GHS

I dont know about owning just "one" ( if you can afford to...not an arrogant statement). Its like that scene from a movie I saw years ago ( cant remember name), when one guy says to the other. "Imagine getting up every morning and opening the cabinet door and seeing that box of cornflakes...everyday...for the rest of your life....cornflakes every day"... Well, thats what I'm getting at. Yeah, one real nice one, the one that turns you on...but how about some other things to break up the routine????

I understand this feeling and the opinions of most of you on this issue.

As it applies to electric guitars, we are in agreement as you can see by my signature. I like variety and enjoy the differences between makers and models, pickups and switching, just everything involved in electric guitars.

I can travel to Nashville and visit guitar stores and play acoustic guitars all day and not find one I would prefer over my McCollum. I then surmise that if I had bought one of these, each time I played it I would be less inspired, less pleased, and left wishing I had brought out the McCollum. Each time it comes out of the case is an aha moment that never happens with other guitars.

I offer this not to dispute the feelings of others, this is an individual pursuit and I’m with you completely as it applies to the world of electric guitars. Just wanted to try to shed light on something that can happen, but rarely does.

[zombywoof]

A 1942 Gibson J50. Although I have owned it many years every time I pull it out of its case to play I still mutter a silent "Whoa!." It is like hearing it for the first time.

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by redir

I think there should be a 'the one' in each category. Parlor guitars, dreds, OM's and so on

A while back I accidentally came across a dred right on this forum which I think I can consider the one, so I'm getting there.

This is a valid concept quite honestly. I do understand the value in owning multiple guitars with different voices, but I just can't see to enjoy multiple guitars. I tend to pit them against each other and ultimately, one always ends up sounding better.

For example, I love both my 717 and 517. At the end of the day, the 717 just sounds better, but I do like the 517 too. So, I start thinking to myself that there is no use in playing the 517 when the 717 sounds better. Same goes for my D-18. My 717 just simply sounded better to me. As a matter of fact, my 717 has sounded better than just about any acoustic I've ever played.

But, here is the funny thing. Last night, I was noodling around with a fingerstyle version of Silent Night and it sounded so much better with the 517. It dawned on me that perhaps the 517 is my fingerstyle guitar and the 717 is the rhythm boss?

[swarfrat]

I could get by on just one, but I keep my two guitars in different tunings. I don't tend to think 'this would sound better on that one', just I think this would sound better tuned to C#. I really don't want a third acoustic to keep up with care and feeding, but I do love 12 strings. A LOT.