Home › Forums › Discuss Your Gear › How Many Guitars Do You Need?
- This topic has 20 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 11 months ago by DougE.
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April 14, 2019 at 12:41 pm #130905
Thought this guy makes some good points.
So the question is: if you could only have one guitar, what guitar would it be? What is your signature guitar?
If the limit is really one guitar, I’d say my Seagull acoustic. I don’t play it as often as my electrics, but I find that with the electrics, I often spend time tweaking to get a tone I want. Sometimes I can’t get the tone and I switch guitars to find it. I find it one day with one guitar, then the next day it doesn’t sound right even with the same settings and I switch again. Do other people find this? With my Seagull, it flat out always sounds good, every time, no tweaking required.
If I could have one electric, then the question is much tougher. Which to choose? I think my go to would be my Godin Freeway Classic. The guitar has a solid, quality feel, and the HSH configuration with coil-tapping gives me the widest range of tones. If I can’t find the right tone with another guitar, I invariably reach for this guitar.
-Doug
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April 14, 2019 at 1:01 pm #130906
For acoustic, it would definitely be my Breedlove Oregon Myrtlewood guitar. By far the best playing and best sounding acoustic that I’ve owned. Myrtlewood has is own voice as a tonewood and I prefer it over rosewood or mahogany
For electric – hard question. I’ve been playing my Peavey JF-1 (335 copy) almost exclusively now for over a month and its a dream. I put a set of ALNICO 3 pickups in it and it has a slim taper neck that is very comfortable. Yet the sound of my G&L S500 & G&K Comanche would be hard to walk away from.
To add an amp as well, it would be my Blackstar Artist 15. I had a Roland Blues Cube BC-60 a few years ago that I regret selling but the Blackstar is my go to amp (might have to locate another BC-60 someday LOL)
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April 14, 2019 at 2:06 pm #130907
I’ve heard really good things about that Peavey. Darn it, the idea in this guy’s videos is to minimize the number of guitars… 😉
Adding the amp is a good idea. For me it is my Bugera V5 (original version with bright cap modification) with my Bugera 112TS cabinet. Love the sound and the simplicity.
-Doug
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April 14, 2019 at 2:16 pm #130908
I’ve heard really good things about that Peavey. Darn it, the idea in this guy’s videos is to minimize the number of guitars…
Being an Alvin Lee fan, I chose the Heritage Cherry model of the JF-1 – closest that I’ll ever be to owning a Big Red
Bought mine in 2005 and it was less than $300 new; workmanship and materials were flawless. Original pickups wasn’t bad but I was in the mood to mod it a little and the ALNICO 3 pickups is a nice touch for it
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April 14, 2019 at 3:28 pm #130918
Ha ha, “5 Watt World”! I’ll bet he lives in a tiny house and drives a Smart 2 car. But saying you only need one guitar is like saying you only need to eat the same meal 3 times a day, every day. For me, that would be scrambled eggs and toast. After eating them, I would sit down and play my Fender Strat, plugged into my 30W tube amp.
Sunjamr Steve
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April 14, 2019 at 8:57 pm #130927
I think this is a great channel, and he’s a very thoughtful guy.
I have four guitars now – flattop, archtop, solidbody and 8 string Baritone acoustic.
I’m thinking about another solidbody, but I also think that if I get it, I will likely end up playing the one I prefer, and not both of them. Also thinking about a resonator, a gypsy jazz juitar, or a laminate archtop, but same problem for all but the resonator – I think they might just take on the role of one I already have. As it is, I don’t play the Baritone that much and I consider selling it, from time to time.
If I had to keep only one of my four, it would be the flattop acoustic, no question.
If I could take my pick of any one guitar to keep, It would either be a D’Angelico New Yorker from the late 50s-early 60s, or a fine acoustic like a 40s Martin OOO-28, or a Lowden, or …
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April 14, 2019 at 9:42 pm #130929
It’s not a question of how many guitars you need.
It’s how many you want. 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸 -
April 14, 2019 at 10:47 pm #130932
For me it would be my vintage brand electro acoustic, gives me best of both worlds. I have 6 guitars now after thinning them out a bit, 3 strats(squier) Telecaster 1 acoustic and 1 electro acoustic. Strangely enough my Epiphone acoustic which I bought new is the one I use least and my partscaster which I put together myself has been my main go to electric guitar..now I’m thinking of selling off some more guitars.
..Billy..
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April 15, 2019 at 5:43 am #130934
“Beware the man with one gun”. I think I would trade all 5 of my electrics for the one perfect stratocaster that had the feel and tone I dream of. Currently, I almost always reach for my strat and vary the amp or pedal for a tone close to what I’m looking for. Actually, even one strat might not be able to do it. I’m considering the custom shop route to spec out exactly what I want in a strat and modifying my current one to give a different end of the single coil spectrum. Both would have similar feeling necks and frets, string gauge etc. I think I’m at the point where I want to strive to get better on a single style of instrument and stop ogling every cool guitar that comes along.
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April 15, 2019 at 10:36 am #130937
I’m surprised you haven’t toyed with getting one of the boutique Strats, like a Suhr. Or specced out your own via Warmoth or something similar. You pay an awful lot for the custom shop, and most of what they do is relicing. With a Strat, one of the beautiful things is that you can find the neck you like, and then sell off everything else and upgrade.
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April 15, 2019 at 11:47 am #130941
Great suggestions, Duffy. Suhr’s come close to my ideal but not a huge selection around here. Warmoth doesn’t actually have the combination I want. I’m willing to pay for the specific 7.25 – 12″ compound radius with 22 frets and truss rod adjustment at the headstock. I want it with a dark rosewood board and big 6100 frets, locking tuners and the colour of my choice. I’m not a fan of the relicing. The Ancho Poblano pick ups I want are only available on Custom shop. I’m getting familiar with the differences in Fender pick ups so I’ll stick with their line up. I’ve been patient and now I’m tired of compromising.
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April 15, 2019 at 3:52 pm #130947
7 1/4 to 12? I have never seen that. 7 1/4 to 9 1/2 I have seen, and 9.5 to 12. My basic point is that, whatever you are looking for, you are likely to find a custom builder who can do it as well as Fender, and for less. That doesn’t mean the custom shop is bad by any means.
As for the pickups, if those are what you want, and you can only get through the custom shop, then that’s pretty much the end of it. If I do get another solid body, I have pretty much decided on Lollar, especially the Charlie Christian neck, and that’s the only thing I consider to be as crucial as the neck.
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April 15, 2019 at 7:17 am #130935
Many guitars I need? Currently six pieces.
I need six, because I feel comfortable with it.
If only I could have one, it would be the Martin OMJM.
If only I had an electric guitar, it would be the Duesenberg Phonic TV.
I like to browse and look for news; I notice, however, that I am currently more interested in learning.Play guitar just like you live; don't get bogged down in theory, it's just a tool without feeling.
Wilfried
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April 15, 2019 at 11:15 am #130940
How many guitars do you need?
easy and universal answer is …. the ones I have + 1
😉
rgds.
David B.-
April 27, 2019 at 1:03 pm #131557
So true!
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April 15, 2019 at 2:47 pm #130943
That’s right David B. , exactly my opinion.
If I really could only have one electric and only one acoustic, that would be very tough! I think, I would choose my Gibson Les Paul and my Martin 000-28.
Eric
Eric
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April 15, 2019 at 7:29 pm #130968
Ha ha. Interesting thought project.
I started this conversation thinking I had too many guitars and have been thinking more and more about getting rid of some. I posted one on Reverb a couple weeks ago and will likely give away a couple that aren’t worth the bother to sell and might make someone else happy. I never thought I’d get down to one though. 5 or 6 seems to be a good number. When I get more than that keeping up with string changes becomes a chore and my practice room seems a bit crowded. I haven’t crossed the line and gotten permission to start displaying them in other rooms yet… 😉
I liked Steve’s comment about the meals. I frequently pick up a different guitar just for the variety. I also agree with him on the scrambled eggs and toast! 🙂
Having an engineering background, I’m just as interested in the hardware as the music. I enjoy making adjustments, tearing the guitars down, replacing electronics, etc. Every guitar I’ve owned I’ve learned something new from.
-Doug
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April 16, 2019 at 3:25 am #130982
One electric
One folk/country/flat top
One classicalThe melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete
It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete
Pete
Active Melody
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April 27, 2019 at 5:59 am #131536
Need and want are two completely different situations. I only need two guitars: an electric and acoustic, and none are better than my 2017 Gibson Blueberry HP LP and my 2018 Autumn Burst SJ-200. Those two guitars play, sound, feel, and do things better than anything else I have. I have 5 other electrics and 6 acoustics, and nothing is close, although my Martin J-40 gets played allot and is just a step away from the SJ, it’s just not as deep, it plays as nice. Do I need more, of course not. Will I get more, of course I will!
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May 3, 2019 at 8:46 pm #132069
Like David B – one more!
Just focus on the notes you DID get right . . . Frank Vignola
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May 3, 2019 at 8:58 pm #132072
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