Question for those of you who have guitars worth more than 6K

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by JC.

The premise of the question is flawed. Most of us buy guitars that we can’t quite afford. To each of us, our most expensive guitar, whatever it’s cost, is precious.

If this is true, I may be the outlier in this forum. I purchase great-sounding, great-playing guitars that are well within my means as an educator. I don't for a moment hesitate to share them with my research assistants or teaching assistants or just some college kid who showed up for an open mike on campus without her guitar. I never have to worry about this because my most expensive guitar was >$1,500, and was probably purchased after I got a stipend for a lecture or payment for an article I published. It's always been extra money, not rent money, that fuels the GAS.

I find it liberating not to have to worry about sharing my instruments with others. And fun. And I love bringing my travel guitar to a field site where there's no other source of music. At that point, students who play think my Taylor BBT is the most exquisite guitar they've ever seen.

[6L6]

Originally Posted by Pitar

No. The notes don't care so I don't either. That said, I'm careful with any guitar and have never had any moments thoughtlessness result in a guitar sustaining damage. Wherever you are, be (all) there.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by billder99

Yes. I purchased my first really nice guitar 3 years ago, a Gibson Jackson Browne Model 1... amazing instrument, still in perfect condition... because I rarely play it. I hate the idea of scratching or dinging this work of art, so I play my "lesser" guitars.

Jackson Browne would be appalled that it isn't getting played.

[Blind Dog]

I treat all my guitars the same. (Since I quit drinking.)

You get old enough, you realize dings are somebody else's problem.

(Soon enough.)

[guitarxan]

I have 1 guitar, a McPhersen, that falls in this category and it gets played the same as the others. I just treat all my guitars as if they were very expensive. Watch out for dings put them in the case at gig break and only let musicians I know and trust play them. Guitars and all instruments are made to be played.

If a ding shows up.....oh well. For me it’s not about pristine finish...it’s about the joy and fun I have with them.

As always. IMHO YMMV[emoji6]

[brandall10]

I have 2 somewhat pricey hobbies, guitars and audio (headphones/speakers). At any given time I can own in the neighborhood of $20-50k of 'stuff' for either hobby.

It sounds like quite a lot, but 1) most of these items were accumulated over many years and 2) almost everything I own is bought used.

I can certainly see the benefit of say buying a new Martin at 60% list from a forum sponsor... you get the lifetime warranty and can't do much better on the used market. And of course commissioning a guitar if you can't get what you want off-the-rack.

But for most things? This is not like buying a car (which I also often buy used), these are not items that suffer from mechanical breakdown from use, at least not in an appreciable way. Yet these things tend to suffer crazy depreciation from 'new', even if they're in mint condition.

If you're concerned about putting a ding in something, buy something on the used market that already has a ding in it and enjoy the savings to your pocketbook ($6k in this market can get a guitar with a little road wear that cost as much as $15k new!). If you're concerned about buying something online that you may not bond with, wait for great deals so you can resell with minimal loss.

[bho]

I am strangely becoming less cautious as time goes on.

I used to keep all of my guitars in hard cases in a secure closet, wipe down strings after each use, and only gig with my cheapest guitar.

But I felt too restricted. I wasn’t reaching for some of my guitars because I didn’t want to deal with getting them out and putting them back. When I played out my sub-$1000 guitar was fine but didn’t thrill me the way the tone of some of my nicer guitars do.

Now I keep all of my guitars out on wall hangers, and I can say it’s made a big difference for me personally. I get to enjoy all of them regularly, play different guitars on different songs, and, frankly, they look lovely on my wall. I gig with guitars that cost several thousand dollars each and don’t worry about it. Of course I keep an eye on them, try not to ding them etc, but my enjoyment of them has soared.

[tabl10s]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

I would love some day to sell all my guitars and get one special guitar such as a Froggy Bottom but I would be so scared of it getting scratched or damaged every time I picked it up. Do you handle those guitars differently than some of your other guitars?

There are three things I'm very about:

1)Case latches

2)Leaning the guitar on the neck instead of the FB

3)Bopping the headstock

If it's not cased, it's on the couch. In the center. The Strat had extensive damage within the first two years.