The case (for ME) against high-end guitar ownership

[Rolph]

To the OP: I really appreciate your POV. I went to Nashville, Austin, Northern California and tried out quite a few boutique guitars. Collings, Martin, H and D, Santa Cruz, and was amazed at their tones and ease of play.
Than I discovered that it's more about the specific dimensions of the neck that made a difference to me.
The Yamaha guitars from $1500-$3000 seem to fit my hand much better. The Martin and Collings sounded better than my LS-36, but I couldn't play those with ease for 2 - 3 hours without cramping and hand/wrist stiffness. I learned that with comfort, I get better results, and that's after about 55 years of trying. The good news is I was easily able to sell the expensive ones for a small profit, although that wasn't my emphasis. Good luck.

[rule18]

This really is a great thread. I've never bought (or NOT bought) a guitar based on price. I buy based on the way it sounds/feels, or in some cases the way others say it sounds/feels. I don't worry about whether any one of mine will be gigged or not, I have my two giggers that serve their purpose well. If, after I've spent some quality time with a new one, we're not meant for each other then I sell it to someone else. I guess I'm saying that if it makes me happy then it's worth keeping it.

Methos, based on your Froggy NGD I would suggest keeping it a while unless you need to convert it back to money. You seemed really happy with it, and you looked pretty happy playing it too!

Good luck with your choice, it's really only yours to make.

[Oldguy64]

I find myself in a semi-similar position.
However, when I relearned guitar we had six young kids and what I could afford at the time wasn’t much.
I also learned that while I’m a pursuer of great tone and playability…it isn’t necessary to drop thousands where hundreds will do.
My youngest son now builds rifles on the side, and we were talking preferences and he justified spending a bit more so you “buy once, cry once”.
That said, I can’t justify over $xxxx.
So my fun is in buying, selling and trading my way into the guitars I want.

And once I realized that above a certain dollar value, I won’t take that guitar onto my back porch and play outside for fear of picking up damage. Case queens don’t do it for me.
I also figure that none of my kids are guitar geeks and I’m not going to live forever. If they disperse my guitarsenal as mementos, the guitar playing world at large won’t really miss any of my guitars if they do become closet ornaments after I’m gone.