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  #61  
Old 01-23-2020, 10:53 PM
wguitar wguitar is offline
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Great, thought provoking thread that essentially encourages healthy introspection regarding guitars in our lives. The notion of a pause in seeking out and buying guitars will clearly free up time that could be used for improving our playing (if that is your goal), or other life activity. That being said, I am thankful for the Larrivee OM-40w and Martin 00-28 I purchased this past year -- as they continue to teach me things about making my playing better -- and how different guitars may require a different attack, strum, pick, strings, etc. -- I am retired and doing this for me, although it is nice to have the occasional small gig and ask myself -- "which guitar would sound best in this particular venue or playing a particular genre of music". While having more guitars doesn't make you a better player, constantly learning about and understanding them will (along with practice of course). Have FUN making music is my motto !
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  #62  
Old 01-23-2020, 11:03 PM
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TBman TBman is offline
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Hmmm....

Nah, that's okay

I have a lot less years ahead of me than behind so......

(but I get the idea)
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Last edited by TBman; 01-24-2020 at 06:51 AM. Reason: grammar
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  #63  
Old 01-23-2020, 11:38 PM
Jaden Jaden is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wguitar View Post
Great, thought provoking thread that essentially encourages healthy introspection regarding guitars in our lives. The notion of a pause in seeking out and buying guitars will clearly free up time that could be used for improving our playing (if that is your goal), or other life activity. That being said, I am thankful for the Larrivee OM-40w and Martin 00-28 I purchased this past year -- as they continue to teach me things about making my playing better -- and how different guitars may require a different attack, strum, pick, strings, etc. -- I am retired and doing this for me, although it is nice to have the occasional small gig and ask myself -- "which guitar would sound best in this particular venue or playing a particular genre of music". While having more guitars doesn't make you a better player, constantly learning about and understanding them will (along with practice of course). Have FUN making music is my motto !
Congrats on the 00-28 - sometimes it takes some trading up to find the gold.
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  #64  
Old 01-23-2020, 11:46 PM
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Pura Vida Pura Vida is offline
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I appreciate the OP's sentiment, and I agree there's value in developing a bond with an instrument. Previously, a year was the maximum time I'd allow myself to bond with a guitar, and now, I've got a couple at the 2-3 year range that are still finding their voices and developing. They keep getting better, so I continue to hang onto them and see how they'll continue to evolve.

Sometimes, a deal is too good to pass up, and purchasing a guitar presents a no risk situation. I've turned a few guitars like that... didn't bond with them enough to keep them, but made a few $$$ in the sale to subsidize the next one. Nothing wrong with that, IMHO, nor is there any issue with those who enjoy searching, playing, buying, and selling a variety of guitars.

In the last five years, since coming back to acoustic guitars, I've sold a couple dozen guitars, own a dozen right now, and no regrets with any of them. Everybody's got to find their own path, and there's no single correct way to make the journey.
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  #65  
Old 01-24-2020, 12:55 AM
tippy5 tippy5 is offline
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Only way I could evolve with a singular guitar (for all genres) is to be vanquished to some island with a OM or dread. I would then need various assortments of strings, capo's, picks, pad and pen, computer, speakers, amps, cables, pickups, straps, tools to approximate a bunch of different guitar designs.

I hope your set list is vast and varied.
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  #66  
Old 01-24-2020, 02:32 AM
AcousticDreams AcousticDreams is offline
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If my arrows are not straight to begin with...It will make no difference how long I practice.
Are my slight misses because my aim & form is bad? Or because my arrow is not straight? To know the difference and improve, you must first have a straight arrow.
And so be it the same for my acoustic guitar. First your guitar must be able to achieve the tonal qualities, the subtleties in which you need. Being a better player isn't always about playing more notes per second.
I was a one acoustic guitar owner for over 10 years and did not improve. I needed a guitar that could produce a certain tonal palet for my style of playing. It took 5 years to find such a guitar.
I am improving more so than ever before...and I owe it all to owning a guitar that is more sensitive, more responsive, and is able to reproduce harmonics and tonal nuances that my previous guitars could not.
Am I alone in this belief? I think not.
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  #67  
Old 01-24-2020, 04:28 AM
JC. JC. is offline
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Lol. You might as well run into a church and tell the congregation that they’d be happier if they didn’t believe in god.

Seriously though, whilst the idea of bonding and playing the heck out of a single guitar is romantic, is there any empirical evidence that people with a single instrument attain a higher standard or develop more quickly?

I’d counter the sporting examples (kicking a ball ‘til it falls apart … hardly a comparable example anyway) with examples of cross training in professional sport which are numerous.

Bottom line….guitaring is a hobby for most people on here. Experiencing different pieces of gear is a part of that hobby.
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  #68  
Old 01-24-2020, 05:16 PM
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There are worse things in the world than owning many guitars. For example:

I'd rather have lots of guitars in-front-of-me, than a frontal labotamy!
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  #69  
Old 01-24-2020, 09:31 PM
fongie fongie is offline
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Good Lord you near got me there. No, I will cont. on lookin for that ONE or TWO even if it kills me.
By the way, great story.
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  #70  
Old 01-24-2020, 09:59 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan View Post
As a lifelong guitarist I think back to when I was a young player in my late teens - 20's. I was building my chops and connections while taking every gig I possibly could. If I got called to fill in on a live gig or recording session I could be there, depending on L.A. traffic, in 30-60 minutes. The one thing I never had to worry about is what guitar to grab because - I had two. One acoustic and one electric. I always had the two until the late 80's when I got a second acoustic. The short of this is I knew every millimeter of those guitars. I knew how they sounded with different strings. I knew how they performed in different tunings. I knew how they amplified. I knew every nuance about them. Because we spent every hour, of every day, together. We were inseparable.

Today I still have a modest number of working tools and still know every fret and nuance of every guitar I have - because I don't buy, sell, trade guitars weekly, monthly or quarterly..... I buy a special guitar and become one with it so that I can make it do what I want it to do. With my control of the instrument it makes me sound - like me. That's something you can't do when the guitar sits in a case for months at a time because you're noodling around with other guitars. It's just like a relationship with a girl/boy friend or spouse. If you're always on the prowl, you can never develop that bond that can take you any & everywhere with that someone (even guitar) special. Stop looking at specs. Just pick up a guitar and when it speaks to you, buy it and then play the snot out of it. The world worked that way, without complication, for decades/centuries.

I see many people who are obviously seeking something. They clearly don't know what that is because they spend all their time buying and selling. Sometimes I read NGD postings where someone says "these are the 3 (or more) guitars I picked up this week." When I see that, I cringe and move on knowing I will see most or all of them for sale within a month or more. Every great guitarist can be identified by the one guitar that either got them where they are or the guitar that they've been seen playing for decades. There's a reason for that and it doesn't matter what the guitar is. What matters is that they spent years mastering that instrument.

I challenge anyone who is in that cycle of looking, buying and selling guitars, that is wasting a lot of good guitar-playing time searching for something they'll never find, until the create a special bond with one instrument, to stay out of stores, stay off internet guitar stores, stay out of the classifieds - and master just one of those guitars you're so proud to show ownership of - but not true mastery of. After a short year, I guarantee you will be miles ahead of where you are in guitar satisfaction and ability.
REALLY good stuff in this! I've said to many folks here that it might take me a year or more to actually realize "what" a particular guitar can do... and, of course, it takes far longer to know all the nuances of any instrument.

As a "not-too-financially-successful" lifelong singer/songwriter/guitarist, I've rarely had enough "disposable" income to afford a bunch of guitars, so I have learned to love what I have... I've played my Mark Angus #35 for over 40 years now, since Mark built it for me in 1979... for 32 of those years, it was my ONLY 6 string acoustic guitar.

Like you, I know every aspect of that guitar and I still play it and gig with it... funny thing, in 2011 I had James and Luke Goodall build me a Grand Concert; it is a wonderful instrument and I love it... BUT, I really don't know it all that well yet, as I keep playing the Angus to get ready for gigs (sporadic, these days) and then come back to the Goodall for a while... then back to the Angus. It's actually a bit confusing, even though I've played for decades - they each have their own personalities and characteristics, and neither one plays like the other...

I have found it more of a pain-in-the-butt than a blessing to have two really nice acoustic guitars... I always have to choose, "which one"... I realize it's a "Cadillac Problem" and I'm grateful for it, but I know that if I only played that Goodall, I'd know it completely by now!

I doubt that your words will reach many folks here, but if they reach ONE person, your effort will be more than worth it!

Thanks for posting this...
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  #71  
Old 01-24-2020, 11:16 PM
Jaden Jaden is offline
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Only as an amateur/ beginner not pro or multi instrumentalist, my attention over the past year has been split between two guitars, a OM-21 and 000-15m, with heavy favouritism toward the OM, the “better” of the two, with the 15m largely unplayed and unexplored. Only after selling the OM (today) have I been able to sit down with the 15 without distraction - I’ll count myself in with the one guitar camp - not for everyone, but for my purposes it’s a benefit, and with thanks to the Op.
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  #72  
Old 01-25-2020, 01:49 AM
jrb715 jrb715 is offline
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Have held off responding because I personally don't identify with the notion that one or two guitars will make you a better player and, presumably, happier. But I think I get where the OP comes from, and, unless I'm mistaken, he's addressing folks who are on a kind of hamster's wheel of turning over guitars.

I was, long ago, a professional musician. By that, I mean I made a living playing music for seven years (though much more of a singer than a guitarist). I also had just two guitars, an unremembered acoustic and a used Fender telecaster. But I just had two guitars because that's all I could afford, and I would have loved to also have had a Martin acoustic and a Gretsch and Les Paul along with the telecaster. By switching careers I'm now in the place where I can have more than a couple of guitars, and I do. And I'm pretty happy. I don't turn them over constantly, but I do switch them out every so often. (I'm about to sell a Strat and a tele and pick up a Les Paul type guitar.) The multiple guitars certainly don't keep me from getting better. They're fun to have and fun to play, and keep me just as engaged, and learning, as having one or two.

I suppose my response is if having a few guitars is fun and fulfilling, then of course that's what you should do. If it's obsessive and depressing or anxiety provoking, then the OPs advice to chill out with what you have for awhile is good, and healthy, advice.
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  #73  
Old 01-25-2020, 03:01 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JC. View Post
...Bottom line….guitaring is a hobby for most people on here. Experiencing different pieces of gear [may be] part of that hobby.
Makes sense and therein may lie the dissonance from the OP who appears to be a working musician, not a hobbyist like many of us...
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  #74  
Old 01-25-2020, 05:11 AM
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Pickcity Pickcity is offline
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I've bought, sold and traded more than I care to admit, but I always had that special one or two guitars that were "mine". For me, my lifetime guitar was my Gibson L-130. I played it all over the SE states for more than a decade. Unfortunately that guitar was broken and put out of commission in a very tragic incident...Nope, I do not care to elaborate...I have tried to bond with another so special, but have yet to find it...My J-15 is a good guitar, but it still isn't the same.

I haven't sold a guitar in years. I dont buy much these days either. I got over that a long time ago. It is fun, though, and I understand those who do that.
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  #75  
Old 01-25-2020, 06:21 AM
Parlorman Parlorman is offline
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I’ve been playing since the 1960’s and for the first 15 years or so only had one guitar. As MMM said, I knew that guitar like the back of my hand.

I own several guitars now because I love collecting vintage parlor guitars. Each of my instruments has unique qualities that I love exploring. That said, my most recent purchase was over five years ago and I’ve had others for decades.

Two of my guitars seem to get 80% of my playing time and are the two I usually bring to perform, one in standard tuning which I’ll bring to Drop D as needed and the other in DADGAD which I’ll also change as needed.
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Guitars:

1910's Larson/Stetson 1 size guitar
1920 Martin 1-28
1987 Martin Schoenberg Soloist
2006 Froggy Bottom H-12 Deluxe
2016 Froggy Bottom L Deluxe
2021 Blazer and Henkes 000-18 H
2015 Rainsong P12
2017 Probett Rocket III
2006 Sadowsky Semi Hollow
1993 Fender Stratocaster

Bass: 1993 Sadowsky NYC 5 String
Mandolin: Weber Bitterroot
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