The longest time a guitar has been with you?

[Cool555]

Tell us your guitar story. Why was the guitar a keeper?

The guitars in my signature are all about or below 2 years old. Prior to the GAS-attack that got to me fairly recently, I’ve normally only had a beater around the house since about 1979, some years no guitar at all.

This thread came about because I saw a poster (pdxstrummer) posting a picture of his 1965 Martin 000-18.

Just took 2 pictures of my 10-year old beater that rekindled my interest in playing guitars. Keeping it just for memory. How did I managed to play & strum with a 2” nut width?

[The Bard Rocks]

I kept an M38 for 27 years, a nice guitar, but I finally decided to get something better, that would make itself heard when playing with others. No regrets either way. Right now the one I have had the longest, the Goodall, is been with me mere 14 years. It is named correctly - good-all.

[DukeX]

My longest owned is my 1996 Webber OM bought NOS in 1998, so almost 22 years. It's an amazing fingerstyle guitar so I plan on keeping it for the duration.

[justonwo]

My oldest is my first decent acoustic, given to me by my brother in 1993 or so. My first electric guitar was loaned to a friend and lost. That would have been about the same age. Of my batch of current high quality builds that I play, it’s my 2012 Brondel A-2c. This guitar was in many ways a pivot point for me to a drier, more Martin-like sound. It changed what I look for in a guitar and moved me mostly away from the darker, more overtone-rich modern build styles.





For me, this is relatively old given the I’ve only been playing acoustic fingerstyle for about 11 years. Before that time, I was focused exclusively on electric lead doing hard and modern rock. (My oldest electric is a 2010 Fender Strat that I bought new. I was just as much an addict for electric as I am with acoustics.)

I don’t tend to sell too quickly with acoustics. For the most part, they stay with me for at least a couple of years or more.

[beatcomber]

I purchased my Rickenbacker 330 brand new in June 1984.

[Russell G]

My pride & joy, a Martin D12-20 12 string bulit in 1970. I bought it from a friend 2 yrs later and still play it to this day! What a glorius sound.[IMG]
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[CASD57]

Mu longest is my Antique Burst Affinity Strat that my daughter bought me Christmas of 1998
I've updated it with Stew-Mac Mint colored 2-P90 pickguard with Mighty-Mite P90's...Custom switch
and use 13-56's on it... and the trem is blocked plus 5 springs basically a hardtail.

[Cool555]

Originally Posted by justonwo

My oldest is my first decent acoustic, given to me by my brother in 1993 or so. My first electric guitar was loaned to a friend and lost. That would have been about the same age. Of my batch of current high quality builds that I play, it’s my 2012 Brondel A-2c. This guitar was in many ways a pivot point for me to a drier, more Martin-like sound. It changed what I look for in a guitar and moved me mostly away from the darker, more overtone-rich modern build styles.

For me, this is relatively old given the I’ve only been playing acoustic fingerstyle for about 11 years. Before that time, I was focused exclusively on electric lead doing hard and modern rock. (My oldest electric is a 2010 Fender Strat that I bought new. I was just as much an addict for electric as I am with acoustics.)

I don’t tend to sell too quickly with acoustics. For the most part, they stay with me for at least a couple of years or more.

That is a really beautiful guitar! I bet it sounds awesome too! Thanks for sharing your story!

[jjracer]

I purchased my 1974 Martin D35 in 1975. Still have it. Sounds great but I have others that I gig with or take to open mic.
I'll probably keep it til I take the dirt nap.

[$ongWriter]

In 1993 went to buy a D-18. On the way to the cash register I saw a 1991 Martin D-28 LSH (guitar of the month) sitting on a stand on a table. I strummed it and WOW....it was and is amazing. I put the D-18 back, drove an hour back home, got all the money out of the bank except $100, grabbed 3 guitars & drove back to the store and gave them the guitars and the money. When I got home I had $100 in the bank but I had and still have that GREAT GUITAR!!!

[kego]

Well, my first guitar was a christmas present when I was five - a hardware store special with HUGE strings and impossible action. After a year of trying like crazy to master that thing my dad saw how much I wanted to learn and consulted my guitarist brother-in-law (who was a pro). The next christmas got me a 1964 Guild F-212 12 string. That thing was an absolute beast for a six year old, but it was the first "real" guitar I ever had.

Fifty-some years later I still have both of those guitars. The hardware store guitar still has blood stains inside from my busted five-year-old knuckles!

Thanks for starting me off right, dad!

[JTFoote]

I had a Guild GF-55, George Gruhn-designed mini-jumbo that I kept for 18 years. My brother is the current owner, and has had it for the last ten years. It's a terrific guitar, and that's why it stays in the family.

... JT

[dwasifar]

I still have my first guitar, a Yamaha FG-75 purchased in 1976:



It's basically unplayable at this point, but I keep it for sentimental reasons.

[Pura Vida]

I only began playing acoustic guitars after a 10 year hiatus in 2015, so all of my acoustic guitars have been with me for less than three years. Since I sold my 1987 Ibanez electric, the guitar that’s been with me the longest is my 2001 Brian Moore electric, which I purchased from a friend in 2004.

I also have a beat up bass guitar that I’ve owned since ~1990, but it’s more decorative than functional.

[stormin1155]

46 years..... I still have the Yamaki Deluxe Folk I bought with my graduation money in 1973.