Gear minimalism as a thought process...

[Sauerkraut]

This is gonna seem smug, but... I'm pretty content having reached what for me is an ideal middle ground. I'm in a similar spot as you, I think; I also feel bad if I have more guitars than what I think I need. But I don't consider myself a gear minimalist. I think the only reason I sometimes still feel the need to justify what I own to myself is the fact that I have more gear than a lot of my friends have. But I find I can justify it quite well. I do own one guitar that I rarely touch, which is my shitty old Squier Strat, but it doesn't bug me: It's barely playable and worthless to anyone but me anyways (though M&M would probably still ask $1000 for it). Like JamesSGBrown, I use every guitar I own across several bands. I have one acoustic, one bass, a Bass VI and two good electrics (Tele and JM). Between them, they cover a lot of ground. Rather than selling and buying, I've spent the past years modifying those guitars until I was really happy with the way they sound and look. They're all partscasters (bar the acoustic) and three of them were refinished by Rexter. I hope you'll pardon the self-satisfied tone, but to me, they're fantastic guitars, and I can't see myself ever selling them. Whenever I do play another guitar (like at the practice room), I'm just reminded of how much easier I find it to get the sound I want out of my own and how much more comfortable I find them to play. I'm sometimes tempted to add a 12-string, a hollowbody electric w HBs and/or a nylon-string acoustic, but I know I'm fine without. If I really needed one of those for a recording or something, I could easily just borrow one from a friend. I sold a bunch of nice guitars over the years, and I don't miss any of them. I consider that a real blessing.

Pedalwise, I've switched to using only a small board (holding 5-7 pedals depending on their size), but I use a different set of pedals with each band, which I pick from a "repository" of 12-15 pedals that I share with my girlfriend, who's also a gigging musician. I'm usually in the process of selling and buying one or two pedals, and pedals are mostly where I satisfy my need to try out new sounds.

Ampwise, that's where I feel I have one too many. I have:
Modded Silvertone 1481 for home use
Rumble 500 for bass
Tremolux w 2x12" for practice and "proper" gigs
70s Guyatone 1x12" transistor combo for smaller gigs/to save space if the rental van is small
I also have a 1x10", 50 watt cab that I can plug the Tremolux and the 1481 into, which would also work for small gigs, so I'm considering selling either that 1x10" or the Guyatone. I've also been tempted to build a Princeton-based amp for myself, as a middle ground between the 1481 and the Tremolux, but the more I think about it, the more indulgent it seems.

[redchapterjubilee]

I’m kinda where @Sauerkraut is. I used to be really spartan about “if I don’t use it all the time it’s gotta go so I can get something I will use”. I gigged a lot (between 2008-2018 that band played 1 out of every 8 nights somewhere) and needed two of everything. Backup amp, backup pedals, similar guitars. When I started putting different pickups in jazzmasters that meant I had to have a pair of super JM’s as well as vintage style JM’s, etc. I let it run wild. Then I moved 1000 miles away from the band and what I needed or thought I needed completely changed. The band became a mostly recording thing and we would fly to one another to play a show or two a year. My guitar partner figured I’d have a massive selloff, knowing how I am about having useless stuff around. But surprisingly I’ve just shuffled things around. Sell a guitar, buy another. I have more amps now than I did when I gigged, same goes for pedals. Last year I started a different band here and we will play our first show in a few months (covid willing) and the desire for multiples is still there but certainly less necessary since this band will do good to make 6 shows a year instead 40. Sometimes I get itchy and run through the mental exercise of “what do I really need to keep” and it is a good thing to occupy my mind and not entirely unnecessary. I lost my job on 2005 and wound up selling off most my gear, my records, books, movies, etc in what I refer to as THE GREAT PURGE and I know life does what it does sometimes. It is good to know I have a little playable bank account I can tap to let go of some things that truly are superfluous. But largely I’d say I’ve stepped away from that spartan viewpoint and embraced having more than I need simply because I want it.

Oh yeah, this is in the actual offset part of the forum so…I have 6 jazzmasters right now. This is not the most I’ve had at one time. For a bit I had 7. Two of them are superfluous. I don’t need the pink Squier. And if I HAD to move another I’d likely move the WRHB’s out of the gold AV65 into the classic 60s and sell the AV65. All 3 of the AVRI’s stay. If absolutely pressed, the fiesta and oly white AVRI’s would stay after another pickup shuffle. This is the sort of thing I think about to occupy my mind when out walking or bicycling.

[Lost In Autumn]

I've been thinking about this for some time. I have about 20-ish guitars and will regularly play through my "collection" and mentally sort them in to "keep forever" and "sell one day" piles. Of them, 2 are keep forever for sentimental reasons, a mid 80's fretless Jazz bass that I've owned for 30 years, and a 2003 Epiphone Wildkat that I bought new and have modified it to the point where it's a much better guitar than what I could ever sell it for... That last point is what keeps me from selling quite a few guitars, like a HH Jazzmaster Standard series parts master that plays really well, has top kit, including an AVRI tremolo with a Staytrem collet, Am Pro bridge, a Lindy Fralin P92 and a ZR PAF-sized Filtertron. I really loved it when I built it up, but my ardor has cooled for it of late. That model never was particularly valuable in and of itself, but the fact that it's a partsmaster with a CV Jazzmaster neck and high value parts means that it might be worth $350-400, tops, if I sold it outright- I'd probably get more parting it out, but I just can't be bothered to do that right now. The more guitars I build and the better I get at doing it, the less I want to keep guitars I've purchased. Other keepers at the moment include a 2020 Inspired By Gibson Epiphone Firebird V, an early 00's Dipinto Belvedere and a modded Eastwood Sidejack. The discard pile includes the aftorementioned Standard Jazzmaster, an Eastwood Stormbird from the late 00's and a Warmoth baritone jazzmaster that I really don't love.

[Zork]

The way I explain it to people is the playing and the gear hoarding are separate hobbies.

Wow, that's just brilliant! I never thought of it that way but that's exactly the way it is.

[Larsongs]

I’ve sold Guitars that I can no longer justify spending the kind of money they would cost to buy them back. 2 in particular were absolutely the best Sounding Guitars I’ve ever owned. A late 50’s Les Paul & an ES-345. Both with PAF Humbuckers..

I regret selling them almost every time I pickup a Guitar & play…

Currently I have way too many Guitars. All kinds of makes & models… I know I should sell some but think the minute I do I’ll regret it. At some point I’ll wish I hadn’t & want to buy one. Only to find the Prices have gone up so high I can’t justify buying it…..

A Guitarists dilemma!

[Larry Mal]

I was getting to the point where I couldn't see much need for anything else, now I'm getting divorced and am selling some stuff off.

I play and collect guitars, and you can use what is happening with my collection as a measure of how things are going for me. I don't otherwise think about it much.

Whatever makes you happy, you know? If it's one guitar, twenty guitars, just define your happiness and do it.

[MechaBulletBill]

I bought that Pro Reverb last week. I didn't really want it, I wanted a Vibrolux. But this was available and at the right money.

i think there's something to be said for just grabbing the things that cross your path and pique your interest. that's how i ended up with most of the stuff i have. for me, if i had a pro, i wouldn't be on the hunt for a vibrolux, just as i don't hunt for a pro *because* i already have a vibrolux.

[s_mcsleazy]

ok, so for me, i grew up broke as shit. the idea of even spending £50 on something that i didn't NEED was always a battle. i've usually always bought used gear and the cheapest example of what i could find. now i'm in a better financial state, i see buying gear as something that brings me joy, but i still try to buy as cheap as possible. my thought process nowadays is "hey, this thing is cool, i like this thing and i'm pretty sure i can find a use for it and if not, i can just sell it down the line" this has lead to a rule with me. if a bit of gear goes a year without being used, it gets sold. which is fine. at this point, i know what the keystones of my sound are. it's my amps, a few pedals and a few guitars i know i'll never need to make excuses for. everything else is just for fun's sake.

[JSett]

Whatever makes you happy, you know? If it's one guitar, twenty guitars, just define your happiness and do it.

This is it. I wasn't happy with 12+ guitars, it felt silly. I still feel like having even this smaller amount isn't making me happy.
I've made huge changes in my life over the past 4 years and the parts of my life I'm happiest with are the ones I've stripped back.

I bought that Pro Reverb last week. I didn't really want it, I wanted a Vibrolux. But this was available and at the right money.

i think there's something to be said for just grabbing the things that cross your path and pique your interest. that's how i ended up with most of the stuff i have. for me, if i had a pro, i wouldn't be on the hunt for a vibrolux, just as i don't hunt for a pro *because* i already have a vibrolux.

Fair point. I have this tendency to pick these things up on the way and still keep looking for the original target anyway. I need to be less easily distracted.

[marqueemoon]

The way I explain it to people is the playing and the gear hoarding are separate hobbies.

Wow, that's just brilliant! I never thought of it that way but that's exactly the way it is.

Mentally this is the only way it makes sense to me. I’m much more of a minimalist when it comes to actually playing guitar.

[Nevets]

These days I find myself questioning why I'm drawn to 'gear minimalism' and just why is it so attractive and desirable to have just "one" guitar. It seems cool when I see guys like Doug Martsch playing the same thing always but is that really me? So I try not to beat myself up over having more than I need (I have 9). My extra guitars aren't hurting anyone, they're not taking up space I can't afford, and I don't need the money I'd get for selling them. Eventually they're all going to go. They're only mine "for now". So I try not to worry about it and I'm looking forward to my next new guitar day.

[gishuk]

This thread made me work out what I have. Turns out I have (not including guitars I've built myself or are in some stage of construction) 5 electrics, 3 acoustics, an archtop and a Bass VI.

Sounds quite reasonable to me, but I'd say 90% of the time if I'm playing electric I'll grab my 61 Jazzmaster and that has been the case for the last 11 years. With the other electrics I was buying and selling stuff just to have an opportunity to try other guitars as much as anything else. Living in a small town and not really being able to travel for health reasons generally means if I want to try something, especially if its something vintage, I have to buy it. Went through quite a few guitars doing this (notably an original custom colour 65 Pelham Blue Gibson SG Junior, that was beautiful but that I ended up selling as it felt so fragile it was too concerning ) and have ended up with a collection of guitars (61 Jazzmaster, 62 Jazzmaster, 76 Starcaster, 64 Mustang,2006 Les Paul Goddess) that are fantastic and that I would probably not be able to replace if I sold them on, especially the purple burst Les Paul Goddess, which is probably a very marmite guitar but impossible to find anywhere.

At the very least this has kinda stopped any great desire to buy more guitars, even though theres some other things I'd like to try at some point. It does feel sometimes a bit ridiculous for a non gigging musician to have all those guitars especially as I really mostly play one of them, but I do enjoy them and I'm writing songs with a view to recording an EP or album this year so the others may actually get some use!

[JSett]

I'm going to sell the spare Jag, the Tele and the Pro Reverb. Hold out for a Vibrolux then try and zip it all up for a while - see if it works

[Unicorn Warrior]

Idk..I am amassing a bigger collection than I’ve ever had. I’m up to 3 electrics and 2 acoustics. A very nice amp and a very large, but useful pedal board. However, when I look back at this, I’m realizing that my amassed tools are actually going to be used and/or have the potential to be used. Song writing, recording, and live playing are all something I do. I agree with the notion that sometimes, less is more. But at this current time, my goals are different and I want to learn or attempt to try to do some different things musically. That’s just where I’m at. If you’re at a point where you’re just not there, strip it down to the basics. Maybe cash in for higher quality (but fewer) things. At the end of the day, they’re just things. If you’re not feeling this big wave of regret by potentially selling, do it. If you want stuff again it will always be there

[JSett]

cash in for higher quality (but fewer) things.

This is what I've been actively doing. The number has gone down but the quality up.