Fewer guitars

guitarslinger

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I'm lucky that in my 64th year I'm still actively playing and retain the majority of my technical skills. What I've lost in technique has been more than replaced by a deeper knowledge of the instrument. As I look toward the future I realize there may be a point when I may be wise to winnow my inventory down a bit. So, my question is this: What would you think to be the bare bones collection for an active player who wants to "cover the bases".?
 

Westerly Wood

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an acoustic dreadnought guitar, spruce top and either mahogany or rosewood back and sides.
 

Neal

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Mahogany dreadnought, rosewood orchestra-size, maple jumbo, 12-string, and a hollow-body electric.
 

guitarslinger

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My Tacoma D50 isn't going anywhere and covers a lot of acoustic territory. Starfire IV, mine has a Guildsby, check. Telecaster, check. I've not been much of a 12er over the years. Do like that 512 though.
 

GardMan

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I think you will find that everyone will have different "bases" that they want to cover.

As for me... In the last few years, I have come to prefer the sound of rosewood bodied guitars for my mix of picking and strumming. I prefer dreadnaughts, and will play them as long as the arthritis in my shoulder will allow. That said, in the last couple years I have "downsized" from a max of ten to just five Guild dreads, listed in my signature. My '72 D-35, the first I ever owned, will be with me until the end. My ash D-46 has a nice, bright sound... richer than the mahogany but not as boomy as rosewood, and is visually unique. Do I need THREE rosewood DV-7Xs? Obviously not... but they sound great, each with its own voice, and they are beautiful. I'll keep 'em as long as I am able to play, appreciate (sonically and visually), and afford them...
 

richardp69

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Personally, I don't buy the philosophy that less is more. I'm in the camp of "buy as many of 'em as you can possibly afford, add on to your home if necessary and leave it to any remaining family members to sort out when it's time to leave this planet". Then again, I never had any technical skills to have to worry about losing so I replaced quality with quantity. It's actually worked out o.k. for me. But then again, I'm also a bit weird.
 

docfishr

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At 69yo and with my share of arthritic joints and a couple of bionic ones, I am down to 5 Guilds. It would be hard to let any of them go but damned if I can play any more than one at a time!
 

guitarslinger

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At 69yo and with my share of arthritic joints and a couple of bionic ones, I am down to 5 Guilds. It would be hard to let any of them go but damned if I can play any more than one at a time!
Aye, and there's the rub.

I am surprised no one has mentioned a Strat-ish, Les Paul-ish, or nylon string acoustic.
 

crank

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A dread, a 12 string , a long scale electric and a short scale electric, your makes and models can vary so long as the 12, at least, is a Guild.

I am knocking on 60's door and actively play with regular gigging... sometimes I start to cramp up after a few hours and I also fret a bit about the waning of my fretting skills and stamina. So far all my arthritis seems to be in my knees and hips, which has me wondering how much longer I will be able to ski at a high level. Not loving this whole march of time thing.
 

AcornHouse

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I'm confused; I don't know what you mean by "fewer" guitars. Does not compute.
 

walrus

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I can't get any "fewer". One acoustic, one electric. Both Guilds.

walrus
 

gilded

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I think 'active player' can mean a lot of different things. For me that would mean playing with my Quintet, my Trio, or Recording. Here's what I use.

Quintet:
1) Ash body Strat with Van Zandt classic plus pickups
2) '00 Bluesbird with Seymour Duncan pickups with changed pots converted to vintage Les Paul wiring.
3) small Fender amps, Princeton R, Deluxe R., mic'd

Quintet plays '56-'76 (pre-Tom Petty) rock, blues, gospel, blue-grass, standards, etc. I used to use an ac/elec dreadnought, but the medium strings beat up my hands and the lead lines were harder to play and didn't cut through the mix.

Trio:
1) Tele,
2) Bluesbird,
3) X-170T
4) baritone electric to be named later, with capo.
5) same fenders, plus a Vox AC-30 for loud gigs, also mic'd.

Trio plays blues and more basic 60s-70s rock and roll, like the Stones, Howling' Wolf, B.B. King, etc., so I need a few differently purposed guitars; one tuned like Keith, one with a Bigsby, and whatever guitar neck feels easiest to play that day for shuffle chords at the bottom of the neck near the nut (did I mention arthritis?).

Recording:

Electrics: Bluesbird, Tele, ES-335, Strat, Ricky 12, nylon classical, plus short and long-scale basses.

Acoustics: either an OO or OOO-sized guitar, plus one Dread (I'd want the two acoustics to have different scale lengths), a 12-string acoustic

Other: some electric keys, ukulele, mandolin. Drums if you are able to have them in your house, rehearsal room, etc.


I'd want a keyboard for guest players and the uke and the mando for different sounds to 'change up' the overall mix.
 

taabru45

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I may have it narrowed down to about 5 more than I currently have...that's down from 7 so I'm on track...lol.
 

Default

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I have exactly several, so I am no help. Having done a bit of recent trading, I have picked up GAD's red p90 Starfire and a delicious F47, so I am content, for now.
 

GAD

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I would say that it depends on your style. For example, I am not a Fender guy, and I really dislike the way Telecasters play (but love the sound), so I'll never have one. I have a Strat, but I never play it, etc.

To keep myself from trying to beat Grot at his own game, I try to keep my guitars to one of each type. The problem then is that there's a fine line between types. I have an M-75 and an M-80. Hmmm. And a Bluesbird. No wait - two Bluesbirds. And two Nightbirds, but to be fair they're both SO pretty! :eagerness:

I could get by with one 2-humbucker solid-body, one nice 6-string acoustic, and a hollow-body with a Bigsby.

And a P90 guitar.

And I'm not selling my Nightbird.

And...

sigh
 

guitarslinger

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I would say that it depends on your style. For example, I am not a Fender guy, and I really dislike the way Telecasters play (but love the sound), so I'll never have one. I have a Strat, but I never play it, etc.

To keep myself from trying to beat Grot at his own game, I try to keep my guitars to one of each type. The problem then is that there's a fine line between types. I have an M-75 and an M-80. Hmmm. And a Bluesbird. No wait - two Bluesbirds. And two Nightbirds, but to be fair they're both SO pretty! :eagerness:

I could get by with one 2-humbucker solid-body, one nice 6-string acoustic, and a hollow-body with a Bigsby.

And a P90 guitar.

And I'm not selling my Nightbird.

And...

sigh

Similar problem. One of each kind is tough. I have several LP types. A NS Bluesbird, Zemaitis, and a Teye. But I really want a 90's Bluesbird and while I'm about it (gasp) a Les Paul. Oh, and since you mentioned it I now need a P90 guitar.
In my quest to get to the bare essentials and with my LTG brothers and sisters help, I now need to buy about 7 more guitars. So far.
 

Cougar

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What would you think to be the bare bones collection for an active player who wants to "cover the bases".?

I'm not gigging, so I don't really have any bases to cover, but I'm beginning to think I really only need my New Hartford F50R, the Corona JF30-12, and the Epi LP Standard. Well, and the Motif XS7. I'd hate to let go of the John Lennon EJ160E, though (not to mention the RAVS Masterbilt). I've recently sold a few others....
 
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