Your personal guitar timeline - what happened to them all?

[Dok]

Inspired by the "Who still has their first guitar?" thread, I got curious about how many guitars I've had and where they went. Other than the first two, I have almost never bought a guitar without intending to sell one that I already owned that wasn't doing it for me, so there is an interesting chain of events, at least to me. You can see where the GAS hits in earnest once I joined this forum in 2011 or so. Anyway, it's kind of fun to put it all together if you can remember that much. Here's mine:

1). 1994: $10 acoustic that my mom bought for me from the neighbor’s yard sale in South Dakota. High E string was nylon fishing line because there was nowhere in my town to buy strings AND I didn’t know better. That string never stayed in tune.
2). 1996: Some sort of shitty Harmony electric. Bought it for $40 from a friend who found it in a dumpster and sold it for $50 to a dude who wanted to smash a guitar. Made money on sale.
3). 1997: Epiphone acoustic (either Japanese or American) that my uncle gave me. No idea what it was but 16-year-old me thought it was a good idea to leave it in the trunk of my car in case I ever needed it at a social gathering. Got warped to shit, sold it on ebay, buyer was pissed even though I stated that the top was warped and the guitar was all fucked up. Sorry, bro. If I could go back in time, that’s the one I’d save. Made money on sale.
4). 1998: Madeira (Guild) telecaster. Bought it for $150 at Dillon’s in Kalamazoo on layaway. Took three months to save up. Should have never sold it but at the time I didn’t know you could get a setup on guitars, I just thought that they were the way they were. Still have an ebay notification for Madeira telecaster, have never seen one in five years. Made money on sale.
5). 2001: No-name strat-type thing that had been painted with a union-jack on the body. Sat on the guitar store wall for two years, was legendary around Kalamazoo. Turns out my younger brother bought it and was going to repaint it, so I gave him the money he spent (~$80) and sold it a couple of years later. Still feel bad about taking it away, but you don’t fuck with that paint job. Made money on sale.
6). 2003: MIM lime-green strat. Originally CAR, previous owner had it painted. It had lace-sensor pickups which I hated. Should have replaced the pickups instead of selling it but I didn’t know you could do that at the time. Made money on sale.
7). 2006: G&L ASAT Special Tribute Semi-Hollow. My first “nice” guitar. Paid $350, sold it for $400 five years later and then they discontinued them and now they sell for ~$500. Neck was too thin but I should have kept it. Made two records with it.
8). 2006: $30 ebay acoustic guitar. No idea what it was, but it was useful for the first month or two.
9). 2006: Johnson acoustic guitar. Traded in previously mentioned ebay guitar and bought for $80 - came to life when I put a capo on 2nd fret, but was still a piece of shit. Traded it in for:
10). 2006: Ibanez electric-acoustic on layaway. My wealthier bandmate saw that I had it on layaway at the local shop and paid for the rest of it as a gift to me. It was a really wonderful gesture and I wrote a couple good tunes on it. Eventually sold it after I bought:
11). 2008: Blueridge BR-343 000 “Gospel” model. Really nice acoustic, actually, but thick poly finish was too much and it sounded kind of boxy. Wrote some great songs on it. Traded it straight up for:
12). 2012: Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500. Saw Superchunk play these at an acoustic in-store - was nice but not what I hoped for - sounded too thin.
13). 2012: 1987 G&L SC-3. Best strat-type guitar sound I’ve ever owned. Natural white finish was yellowed and aged and naturally relic’d. Sounded AMAZING but the neck was too thin and frets needed replacing. Made money on sale.
14). 2012: Fender Cyclone II. Was beat to shit with weird shitty pickups. Restored it back to health and sold it for 300% profit.
15). 2012: Squier VMJM. Had it for a week, didn’t like the neck, so I returned it to Musician’s Friend and bought a used:
16). 2012: Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster. Was almost perfect until I bought an aftermarket neck from OSG and Wilkinson roller bridge, then it was perfect. Keeper.
17). 2013: Fender Cyclone HH. I wanted to love this guitar. It was all black and fucking beautiful - bought it for cheap from Guitar Center online, still had plastic under the pickguard screws but the pickups sucked and I knew it was better to keep it original for historical purposes, plus the neck was too thin. Made money on sale, but before I did:
18). 2013: Fender Cyclone I. Bought it from bandmate to swap necks with Cyclone HH, but neither guitar was doing it for me - frets were too big. I put the necks back and sold them both. Made money on sale.
19). 2013: Guild D-40. Same problem as with the Masterbilt Epiphone, but with a nicer finish. Turns out dreadnoughts are not my thing.
20). 2013: Larrivee OM-03. My perfect acoustic guitar. Natural finish, no polyurethane. Keeper.
21). 2013: Rickenbacker 620 Mapleglo. Perfect in every way, maybe the best single-coil pickups around. Keeper.
22). 2014: Parts telecaster. I thought I’d buy a cheap loaded body for $90, turned into a huge rabbit hole. Two necks, a bridge pickup, a four-way switch, and $300 later, just wasn’t doing it for me. About to be put up for sale.
23). 2014: MIJ 1988 62-reissue Telecaster bought from OSG. Just got it today but it’s already a keeper. Has CS Nocaster pickups and weighs 8.6 lbs. It’s fucking beautiful. KEEPER.

Keepers
Larrivee OM-03
Rickenbacker 620
SQJMJM
MIJ Telecaster

After all that, I’m left with four guitars that I absolutely love. If you had asked me before I made this list I would have guessed I had owned about ten guitars. How about you?

[mick_e]

This is going to be a test of my mental capacity..

1. 1999 Cort strat - borrowed off my brother to learn.
2. 2000 Epiphone les paul - still have it.
3. 2001 Takamine Acoustic - The only acoustic ive ever had.
4. 2001 Fender tele mim - Sold a couple of years ago.
5. 2003 Gibson les paul junior
6. 2006 Gibson Es335 - Still have it
7. 2005 '74 Greco les paul
8. 2006 Kay vanguard - Sold a couple of months later.
9. 2007 '65 Gibson melody maker
10. 2008 '72 Fender mustang - Recently sold
11. 2009 '67 Fender coronado - swapped for 70' vox ac50 head and cab
12. 2010 MJT tele
13. 2010 '77 Greco Strat
14. 2010 '63 Maton flamingo
15. 2011 '60s parts duosonic
16. 2012 '67 fender mustang - traded for..
17. 2012 '59 Supro dualtone - traded for..
18. 2012 '88 G&L Sc3 - sold.
19. 2013 Custom maton big ben clone guitar - built by fillyfuzz on this forum.
20. 2013 '72 Fender tele thinline deluxe. - A true keeper
21. 2013 '70s Harmony Rocket.
22. 2014 Custom made 'roger' - built by Jaycemade on this forum. So great.
23. 2014 Kay vanguard - Sold on, ill try not to buy another.
24. 2014 '61 Supro val-tron - a keeper.
25. 2014 '64ish Maton Fyrbyrd.

[Dok]

18. 2012 '88 G&L Sc3 - sold.

I see we've both been owners of one of these. If the neck was a little bit thicker I'd still have mine.

[Despot]

Okay, I'll try to do something similar, but I'll keep it short

1990 - Washburn acoustic - this was given to me by my uncle, who said that it had been left in his bar by a musician after someone had broken the headstock from it by falling against it. I glued the headstock back on and put in a new nut and bridge (made from steak bone!). I was young... I still have it, but it's practically unplayable. Always was.
1992 - Brunswick Telecaster - a cheapo copy tele. It was okay ... just okay. But unlike the acoustic, I could actually play it. Hurrah! Sold years ago to fund...
1993 - Fender Strat Plus - a 1989 Strat plus in (I think) bahama green (too yellow/vibrant for sea foam or surf green ... even back in '93 before it yellowed some more). At the time I loved this guitar (hey, it said 'fender' on the headstock) and I still have it ... but I never really knew how to set it up properly and it was always tough to play. Still served as my main guitar through my school/teenage years. And hey ... if Billy Corgan played one (as I believed) then it was okay by me back then.
1997 - Epiphone Sheraton II - my first really nice guitar. Compared to the strat it was light and played like a dream. Suddenly after years of fighting guitars I found one that played easily and my playing seemed to immediately become better (which, I guess it would ... given that the action was low and all those chords I could just about fret on the others were now a breeze to play). I only sold this in 2012 when I bought my ES-355 - upgraded the hell out of it over the years (pickups, pots, switch, jack etc), but a great guitar.
2002 (I think) - Fender highway one Tele - the first run with the 50s styling. I went into the shop to buy a US Standard tele and left with the Highway One - it just sounded better and was a hell of a lot lighter. Great tele ... it became my no.1 guitar for years.
2004 - CIJ OTM Jaguar - my first offset. I upgraded it and played it a bit, but I preferred the Tele. The jag became a bit of a case queen. Sold in 2013 when I bought the Marrguar.
2005 - Ayers acoustic - a fantastic acoustic guitar. Made in Vietnam using solid wood all over (mine was rosewood and spruce) ... just a lovely sounding acoustic for the money. I gave it to my brother in law last year for Christmas when I found an old J-50 that I just love to bits.
2006 - Gibson LP Standard gold top. Never really bonded with it ... but always liked how gold top standards look.

- The Dark time ... when guitar playing was replaced by Other Things -

2012 - Gibson ES-355 - So, I lived abroad for a few years and during my travels I didn't really have a guitar. I stopped playing and got on with living. I didn't miss it all that much, but every time I passed a guitar store I'd go in for a look around. In 2012 I moved back to Ireland and I'd a lot more time on my hands ... so I started playing again. I also started visiting guitar stores again and that's how I found the 355. I've always loved 355s ... I'm a big Ryan Adams fan and for me 355s with maestros are THE 355. One came up for sale here in a store in Ireland (a '76 Norlin era model) that I went to play and immediately fell in love with. I still have it. It's been my no.1 since 2012 ... which is when I started playing a lot again (at least an hour each day), so ... it's been played a good bit more than my others.
2012-2014 - I sort of went on a rampage with gear. I've had far too much stuff pass through my hands to go through in detail (Duo Jet, a few Teles, ES-330s, a few reissue and vintage offsets, a few LPs), but I've now settled on my keepers. I've a few more that I wouldn't term keepers (as in, for the right deal I'd sell or trade them), but these are the ones I'll never shift.

Keepers
1. 1962 Fender Jazzmaster - the one. Just ... the one.
2. 1957 Gibson J-50
3. 1960 Gibson ES-330T
4. 1972 (?) Gibson ES-345
5. 1965 Fender Jaguar (LPB beater)

[soggy mittens]

1998 pawn shop cherry red SG copy, lovely guitar for what it was. Regretfully sold 2002 to fund an upgrade.
1999 pawn shop black p bass copy, what happened to this? sold 2006? :S
2002 Epiphone black SG, still have it, never play it, bagged in corner of room.
2006 SX sunburst jazz bass, gave away 2008, it was worthless >_>
2008 2007 MIM Fender sunburst Jazz with S-1 Switch, not sure of the exact name/series of these, anyone?
2009 Tanglewood acoustic, lent from an old friend/band mate, I guess if he wanted it back he knows where I am.
--big break from music--
feb2013 VM sunburst Jaguar
feb2014 VM moldy yoghurt Jazzmaster

Got my Jazz bass, Jag, Jazzmaster, all keepers.. done! Would like a tele one day though.

[mick_e]

18. 2012 '88 G&L Sc3 - sold.

I see we've both been owners of one of these. If the neck was a little bit thicker I'd still have mine.

Yeah that was definitely a factor, I also didnt like the painted neck. It sounds strange but it was almost too solid, if it was able to 'give' a bit more it would have been great.

[NickD]

At some point I'll get round to writing them all down, but I'm pretty sure the total is over 100 - although that is from the mid 80s to now.

[rhythmjones]

Guitars:

1988, Christmas: Black department store "guitar" with built-in amp. Don't know where it went.

1989, Christmas: Hot Pink Squier Contemporary Strat with Floyd. Left it in a rental house when it was torn down in 2005 (regret that).

2001, Started playing seriously: Fender Mexican Standard Tele, blue. Left it for a friend who later moved to California and died from a heroine overdose. MIA

2002: Epiphone Les Paul Standard Goldtop. Sold it to pay utility bill.

2005, tax return: MiM '69 Tele Thinline. Sold it to pay utility bill.

2011, gift from friend: 2000/2001 Fender Mexican Standard Tele, black. Traded it for:

2011: Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus. Painted orange, GFS Mean-90, Esquire guard. It is now the "Esquire Jr." Still have it.

2012: VMJM highly modified. Still have it.

2013, Valentine's Day: Partscaster Tele with Mighty Mite neck and body, CS Texas Specials and all Fender USA hardware. Still have it.

2014, Father's Day: '72 Univox Coily. Still have it.

Amps:

1989: Dean Markley practice amp. MIA

1998: Pignose 7100. MIA

1999: Peavey Audition. MIA

2001: Original Fender Blues Deville 4x10. Traded for Ampeg Super Jet.

2002: Shitty Marshall solid state head & low-end 4x12 cab. Fell out of a pickup, destroyed.

2009: '90's Ampeg Super Jet. Sold to pay utility bill.

2011: Fender Pro Jr. Traded for Ampeg Gemini V.

2013: Yamaha Thirty 112. Still have it.

2013: Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp. Still have it.

2014: Ampeg Gemini V. Still have it.

2014: Yamaha Fifty 210. Still have it.

[Whiny Minotaur]

2004: Classical guitar. Ended up being shelved after I bought my first electric guitar and the neck eventually was destroyed in an accident around 2012~13

2007: Squier Telecaster Standard. Still have it. Swapped out the rosewood neck for a thick baseball bat maple one, swapped pickups for an EMG-T set. Eventually went back to the original pickups

2008: Squier Telecaster Custom. Ended up selling it in a month. It's when I realized that I really don't like humbuckers.

2013: Korean smallbodied acoustic. Sold it for the Loar LH-309 I got later.

2013: Squier J.Mascis Jazzmaster. Fender AVRI pickups, Compton titanium bridge, behind the bridge pickup and Jaguar plates added. Currently my main guitar

2013: Loar LH-309. Took out the pickup and using it as an acoustic.

2014: Squier VM Jaguar. Stock, but will swap out the bridge for a Compton bridge and pickups to the new '65 pickup set

2014: Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Stock. Received as a gift from a friend. Am having trouble warming up to it though

[niemand]

.

[mang1974]

I haven't gone through that many, but I'll try this . . .

Guitars
1992 - Cort dreadnought acoustic electric from Sears catalog, plays ok, still own it but loaned to a friend right now
1993 - White Epiphone SG (I wanted to be Ian Mackaye), borrowed by friend, missing in action
1995 - Black ESP strat with lace sensors, still have it but never really liked it, tried to sell it a few times
1998 - Prototype Les Paul style Alvarez, got it from a bandmate that worked for STL Music, keeper
1998 or 1999 - Fender Deluxe Nashville Tele, keeper
2003 or 2004 - Alvarez JM300s jumbo acoustic, keeper
2007 or 2008 - Recording King ROS-626, 12 fret 000, never bonded with it, for sale now
2009 - "Jazzmattster", Elvis Costello body, Musikraft neck, Mastery bridge and now vibrato, Rothstein guitars loaded JM pickguard with Novak pups, keeper
2014 - 1974 Martin D-35, keeper

Amps
1993 - Fender Deluxe 85, has taken a beating, but still works, keeper
1998 - 1960s Epiphone tube amp, sold
1999 - Crate tube amp, can't remember the model, sold
2004 - 1980s Mesa Studio .22 - keeper
2008 - Vox AC4, keeper
2012 - Orange Micro Terror, keeper

[lazycircles]

1996 - Arbor Acoustic traded for >
1997 - Takamine EG330 sold much later
1998 - 1978 Gibson "The Paul" stolen...insurance money paid for >
2000 - American Standard Tele...still have
2001 - Dillion Jazzmaster...sold
2004 - 1974 Gibson SG...sold
2005 - Gibson J-45...still have
2006 - Epiphone Classical...still have
2009 - AVRI Jazzmaster...sold
2012 - Fender Custom Shop Bass VI...still have
2012 - 1996 American Standard Strat...sold
2013 - 1959/1960 Jazzmaster...still have
2013 - AVRI '62 Strat...still have

Amps:
1997 - Fender Frontman 15...sold
1998 - Marshall Valvestate...sold
2001 - '65 Twin RI...sold
2005 - 1978 Princeton Reverb...sold
2006 - '65 Princeton Reverb RI...sold
2010 - 1978 Marshall JMP 1987...sold
2012 - 1964 Fender Bassman 6g6-B...still have
2013 - 1976 Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp...sold
2014 - 1965 Fender 6g15 Reverb - still have
2014 - 1963 Fender Princeton 6g2 - still have
2014 - 1976 Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp - still have

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Still have all of mine but am probably past my critical mass from a storage and playing them all on a regular basis perspective:

Guitars
1) 1990 - '80s Washburn KC-40V - Bought it from a high school classmate, got me a pretty decent starter guitar and helped him fund his Les Paul Standard
2) 1993 - '92 Gibson Les Paul Studio - Got it before heading off to music school, it's nothing all that flashy but I still looove the feel of this guitar despite the headstock having been broken and repaired 3 times over it's lifespan
3) 1994 - '63 Fender Jazzmaster - Found this in a local vintage shop at an attainable price, probably because they thought it was a parts master w/ the body finish stripped. Found out earlier this year the only replacements/changes from stock seem to be the pots they replaced when the took it into inventory
4) 1994 - Hofner Classical - Picked this up from a room mate at the Recording Workshop for a Boss tuner and a 6 pack of beer
5) 2013 - 2009 Gibson SG Special - Always wanted an SG and needed a guitar that didn't have any issues while I got my JM and LP worked on so jumped on this one when I found it
6) 2014 - 2013 Ibanez RC320 - Kind of an impulse buy, was really looking for a Tele for my next guitar but this seemed to cover more ground sonically w/ better playability than the cheaper Teles I had been checking out
7) 2014 - '98 Gibson Blueshawk - Pretty much an impulse buy, but seemed pretty unique w/ a good price, and I like the way it plays and sounds
2014 - 2014 Yamaha FG730S - Seems to have fulfilled my jones for a "real" acoustic admirably at an incredibly affordable price
9) 2014 - mid '90s G&L ASAT Special - Was hunting for one of these for a while and am so glad I found it

Amps (starting w/my first tube amp)
1) 1993 - '93 Peavey Triumph 60
2) 1994/5 - '74 Fender Twin Reverb - Got this from a co-worker for a case of Milwaukee's Best, it had been sitting under the basement steps of his apartment building for what looked like was probably at least a decade and a half, didn't actually get this running until I moved out to the Bay Area the next year
3) 2013 - Blackstar HT-20 - Got this as my first new amp after I started playing again after a ~15 year hiatus, not exactly what I want to be a "one amp to rule them all but I could have done a lot worse...
4) 2013 - Fender Blues Jr. III - Picked this guy up to play stereo w/ the Blackstar and as a more portable option
5) 2014 - 2013 (?) Orange OR15 and PPC112 - Found this setup basically new at good price courtesy of craigslist after relatively exhaustive search for a practical amp that could get me my early Sabbath tonz
6) 2014 - Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue - Had lusted after a BF Deluxe Reverb since the first time I played through one
7) 2014 - Ampeg GVT15H and Egnater Rebel 112 cab - Was real close to buying this NOS head from the local Sam Ash on several occasions, went ahead and traded for it and the cab after some pedal house cleaning

No regrets at this point (aside from maybe the Blues Jr.), but I definitely need someone to smack me the next time I try to buy another guitar (or amp)

[theslack5]

Dates on this are approximate but here goes
1 1983 Kay Spanish acoustic got thrown away after years in my parents loft
2 1987 No name florentine cutaway semi acoustic fell apart sold to a mate for £5
3 1989 Hohner arbor series strat copy sold to a mate he still has it I think
4 1989 Tanglewood les paul copy traded with a friend for
5 1989 Encore ric 330 copy sold in classifieds to buy
6 1991 Squier silver series strat traded in a shop for
7 1993 Fender mim tele special no memory of where it went
8 1995 Fender 65 Jazzmaster sold to pay tax bill in about 2008
9 1995 Gibson sg90 hated it traded it for
10 1995/6 Epiphone 56 goldtop
11 1997 Gordon Smith gs1 sold to a mate in London he gigged it for years
12 1998 Fender 1977 telecaster swapped for 71 twin reverb
13 1998 Epiphone casino mik traded plus cash for
14 1999 Rickenbacker 330 blew speakers on my twin so traded for new speakers and
15 1999 Fender Strat plus horrible guitar sold by shop
16 1999 Yamaha apx 4 still have it
17 2001 Gibson SG standard traded and ripped off
18 2001 Burns club series Marquee sold to my London mate he still uses it
19 2004 CIJ jazzmaster still my main live guitar
20 2004 60s classic tele still have it
21 2004 PRS se soap bar mark 1 sold fairly recently
22 2008 J Mascis JM purple still have it
23 2009 MIJ big block jazzmaster still have it
24 2009 Gibson les paul jr satin sold recently
25 2010 Thurston Moore JM still have it
26 2010 squier vm precision tb still have it
27 2012 squier vm jag sold last year
28 2012 Gibson es335 still have it
29 2012 Fender mim cabronita still have it
30 2013 Sigma 000m1st still have it
31 2014 Fender 72 thinline tele mim still have it
32 2014 Epiphone Les Paul custom plus still have it
33 2014 Fender traditional series p bass bought about 6 weeks ago.

Might have missed a couple out by accident but they were and are the main ones.

[theslack5]

If we are doing amps too then no idea on years really but
1989 Chase practice amp
1990 Marlin practice amp
199? Fender performer 1000
199? Fender twin reverb 1971
2003 ish Traynor Ycv 40
2011 Fender blues junior ltd edition
2012 epiphone valve jr
2012 Fender mustang 1
2013 Blackstar Ht 1 head