A diverse clutch of guitars or one REALLY nice one?

[Zeus]

The idea of having five or six (even three or four) really nice guitars honestly gives me considerable anxiety. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to feel as though I could justify it financially, though who knows if that will change at some point (I'm now mid 30s with two young kids, etc.)

I only own one guitar right now, a '52 reissue Telecaster. I recently sold an almost-brand new American Original Jaguar to help offset some bills (to be honest, I felt kind of guilty owning both at once and I preferred the Tele.)

There have been times I've owned a few lower end guitars too (a Danelectro DC-3 reissue, an old Epi Les Paul which was my first "good" guitar) but they're all gone now ; I gave the Epi away on Facebook just to get it out of the house (it wasn't in a very good state). I've always sold my "good guitar" to buy the next "good guitar".

Anyway, for me, it's clearly preferable to have one high quality guitar which I enjoy playing over a bunch which might come in handy at some point.

[Beltone]

The idea of having five or six (even three or four) really nice guitars honestly gives me considerable anxiety. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to feel as though I could justify it financially, though who knows if that will change at some point (I'm now mid 30s with two young kids, etc.)

I only own one guitar right now, a '52 reissue Telecaster. I recently sold an almost-brand new American Original Jaguar to help offset some bills (to be honest, I felt kind of guilty owning both at once and I preferred the Tele.)

There have been times I've owned a few lower end guitars too (a Danelectro DC-3 reissue, an old Epi Les Paul which was my first "good" guitar) but they're all gone now ; I gave the Epi away on Facebook just to get it out of the house (it wasn't in a very good state). I've always sold my "good guitar" to buy the next "good guitar".

Anyway, for me, it's clearly preferable to have one high quality guitar which I enjoy playing over a bunch which might come in handy at some point.

When I was at your life stage, guitar shopping was definitely the last thing on my mind. Now that the kids are a little older and the youngest is into playing himself it's easier to spend the money knowing he enjoys it too and might learn on one, take over another one day etc.

[Tehz_]

Is there a “somewhere in the middle” option available? I’ve played around with an exercise where I’ll write down the ten guitars I would own if I could pick anything (to me, ten is more than enough and I couldn’t imagine owning more guitars than that, simply for amount of room guitars take up), and then I pare it down one by one until I can’t decide any further. The lowest I’ve gotten down to is four - Fender Custom Shop Telecaster, vintage Gibson SG Junior, Fender Custom Shop Jaguar, and a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8. The only problem is then I don’t have a “beater,” so I think throwing in a nice Mexican or MIJ Strat or would round the collection out perfectly. Will I ever be able to afford such a stable? Unlikely, but a guy can dream

[s_mcsleazy]

honestly. i think it's easier to make a cheap guitar good than it is to just own one really nice one. whenever i've owned a nice expensive guitar, i usually get too afraid to bring it out live. plus i like all the small nuances between different guitars

[MC3]

I kinda think two low to mid priced priced guitars is probably ideal. 1 with single coils and 1 with humbuckers. Two different sounds and playing experiences, and if one goes down you have a backup. I also play in standard tuning (with the rare foray in D standard, but if it goes to D its gonna be in D all night) so the multiple tuning thing isn't a problem for me

Strat, Tele, JM, Jag, or similar
and
335 (or any HB semi hollow), Tele Deluxe, or an LP or something.


I certainly drink the "1 guitar" kool-aid, and I try to limit myself to one guitar at a time. Although it has died in band situations before (and left me standing there like a fool) so it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to look for a back up Epi 335 or something to back up my JM.

[shoule79]

My highest electric count was 10 or so, mostly MIJ Fender and cheaper vintage Gibson’s. A few years ago I got down to a MIJ Jag, 90’s AM std Tele and an 81 LP Standard. With those 3 all my bases were covered.

I’m back up to 5 guitars now (only the tele remains), and that doesn’t feel extravagant due to them all being different pickup configurations. I wouldn’t want to go any higher though, just because it feels wasteful to me to take up that much space.

Thing is, 4 out of the 5 are what would be considered by most to be nice (AV JM, the tele, 70’s Strat, Gibson Firebird), but wouldn’t fall into the “really nice” category. The firebird could use better pickups, the JM has a Mastery bridge and the strat has 7 way wiring.

I think there is a happy medium where you have a few nice guitars to cover the bases. I’ve had the chance to pickup a few nice vintage guitars lately (63 JM, 72 335). The two would have covered most of my needs, but I know I’d miss the variation in the current stable so I decided to pass on both in order to keep my larger, niceish gear.

On a side note, the 5th guitar is a MIK Epi Riviera, and the last 6 months after a good setup it’s been my main player.

[Nevets]

I just did a big guitar sell off, trying to get down to 5 electric guitars, a bass and an acoustic. I decided to keep one of each of my favorites, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Telecaster, Strat and a 12 string electric. I almost got there, but at the very last minute just couldn't let go of my Classic 60's lacquer Jazzmaster. I love that guitar! So now I have an AV65 and the Classic 60s, no need for both but I like them and just can't let them go. Yet.

I'm still drawn to the idea of just one guitar and admire those who can do it. But I know myself. This month I'm into Stratocasters. In a couple of months I'll want to play a Tele. Then I'll watch a Johnny Marr video and pick up the Jaguar. I'm not going to keep rebuying and selling at a loss because I get bored and need to keep it to just a couple of guitars.