winter & thinning the herd

[dkstott]

The onset of dry humidity in New England & the need to regularly humidify my guitars reminds me that I hate having to go through this process on the rarely played "extra guitars" that are in the house.

FWIW - We have oil heat which precludes the ability to have a whole house humidifier & we supplement it with a wood stove during the extreme cold spells. The wood stove robs the house of any humidity. Even with 2 room humidifiers going, the house will barely be in the 25% range.

So, I just sold 2 rarely played acoustic guitars (1 steel string travel & 1 Nylon) and a Tenor Ukulele. They were all purchased with good intent, but I don't need the travel guitar anymore and the nylon guitar was a crossover style width neck which I was never really able to bond with. I prefer the 1.9" width on nylon string guitars.

Yay, I'm now down to 4 guitars (2 steel string and 2 nylon).

The herd now consists of 2 good guitars (1 steel & 1 nylon) that'll stay home and 2 similar "bangers" that I take to weekly gatherings, open mics, picnics, workshops.

Wow, it feels good to be rid of the clutter AND I'm not GAS-ing for anything new.

[rokdog49]

I'm down to three from five over the last six months.
Three is sufficient...for now.

[brencat]

I have 5 guitars and was trying to sell 1 but pulled the ad two days ago. There is so much supply on the market right now and we’re getting too close to Black Friday when a gazillion packages will be the mail crushing each other. I’m not going to subject one of my guitars to that.

Ideally I’d like to be at 4 but I’ll make due owning 5...

[Muddslide]

I used to live in upstate New York and at the time I had some high-end acoustic instruments, so I definitely get this.

It's part of the reason I no longer care to own guitars of great value that are also susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity.

I didn't divest myself of my instruments in the way I wish I could have, but I certainly have moved to a "less is more" attitude with regards to any and all material possessions, and while I very much appreciate and enjoy beautifully made, solid wood guitars, I don't want what is--to me--fuss and muss or worry over "things" that are overly delicate or worth a great deal of money.

Plus, it feels good to travel light through life at this point in my journey.

At the same time, I think it's excellent that many players own and enjoy boutique luthier-built works of art or valuable vintage guitars and play the heck out of them.

Me? I have too much PTSD from loss, theft, damage and destruction of nice instruments and other stuff.

You seem to have a perfect collection that runs from very elegant to daily players.

[Bain]

Well I can never afford more than one guitar, at a time some people have all the luck but saying that I can only play one at a time anywAy it like having 4 cars , who really needs 4 cars..... phew .... glad I only have one ,life is so much healthier ��

[121]

I got sick of the humidity maintenance game.
Reduced the herd by three acoustic flat top,
one arch top and a ukulele (all wood instruments)
and picked up two carbon fiber acoustics and just ordered another cf acoustic.
Wish I done it sooner.

[BT55]

I have a mix of Wood and CF guitars and live in the northeast. I keep all my guitars in open racks. There’s no way I’m getting rid of my Wood guitars. Running humidifiers is a pain but the pleasure of playing my Wood Guitars is worth the effort.

[AmericanEagle]

Originally Posted by dkstott

Wow, it feels good to be rid of the clutter AND I'm not GAS-ing for anything new.

The question now is, once spring comes and the humidity returns, will you be gassing for a new guitar?

[Erithon]

Originally Posted by dkstott

I'm not GAS-ing for anything new.

Not yet

[AZLiberty]

Every other friday night I open up all the cases and refill the humidifiers.

Phoenix, so that's year round. Our humid season is mid 20's.

Just sold two of my Larrivees yesterday (pending funds). Will probably use the money to buy another Carbon Fiber instrument.

[guitarwebguy]

Yeah ..... I live in Alaska and humidity low IS always a problem, so I’m down to 3 with a CF coming for that very reason ..... I’m curious as to what folks use to cope with the low humidity problem. Over the years I’ve tried a lot of different methods and about 2 years ago came across the D’Addario’s humidi-paks and those have worked amazingly well for me.

[drive-south]

I've been down sizing since 2014 and am now down to 35.

[rodmbds]

Downsized to only one, nylon strung, but rescued one from the trash amd decided to keep it.

Didn't see much use for it until I tuned to open G and got myself a glass slide.

So now I can say I got two, a nylon strung standard tuning and a steel one dedicated to slide.

Anyway, I got two dogs, two daughters, why not two guitars?

Got one wife, though.

To OP: your herd seems like the perfect one, as you have situations when you need a banger. Also, nylon and steel guitars are totally different beasts

[RP]

I'm down to two guitars - my lowest number in quite a few years....

[dkstott]

Good Question, but I've been thinking of this process for a while.

Based upon what I own, I really doubt that I'll be gassing for anything new.

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

The question now is, once spring comes and the humidity returns, will you be gassing for a new guitar?