# How many is enough?



## Fiveway (Mar 21, 2010)

Ok, so this question has probably been asked million times, but how many guitars is enough for the average joe? I just acquired my 8th a couple months back. I was hoping to get rid of a couple of the low end ones to make room for #8, but I didn't get much interest on Kijiji. 

The problem is, I've still got GAS. So, now, for the first time in my life I'm admitting that I'm a 'guitar collector'. My wife sighed when I told her that.

So how many do you have and realistically how many do you really need to stop the GAS pains?


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

If you're a player sometimes one is enough but more than likely two or three. If you're a collector (me) there will never be enough  I'm trying to limit myself to around 10 and will just keep rotating some to feed the GAS.

Good luck with that.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

The choice is yours....


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

jimihendrix said:


> The choice is yours....


luv that one...

I started to draw the line when I ran out of room in my house. I was up to around 15 at one point. Now I'm down to about 6 or 7. But I got rid of the lower end one, increased the quality of the newer ones I bought. 

I do have to say that I am GASing for something again, like maybe a cherry SG, or tele deluxe with dual HB and big 70's headstock. Something funky and 70s. So I will likely put my USA ASAT up for trade/sale to get that. Now I've adopted the 1 in, 1 out rule to keep the numbers to a minimum.

G


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Frankie's wife looks ticked...and he's only got the one guitar...!!!...


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

i don't know if there is "enough"...but i can see enough being the point where they aren't collectibles, and they aren't getting played...but if they are getting use, then i see no issues

i'm always on the lookout for something new...


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## Zman (Nov 20, 2010)

I recently picked up number 19. I vowed that I was going to downsize. Now is not a good time to sell but is an excellent time to buy. I had several adds on Kijiji, and I pulled most of them for lack of interest. I kept dropping my prices to the point it was not worth selling. I am running out of room, and I will sell off some down the road. Most of mine are Fender or Gibson, and I have at least 10 that are what I would consider high end USA models. A few Koreans and a couple of excellent Japanese made guitars as well. I have heard of guys that have 40 or 50. Actually 19 is kind of crazy because there are some that guys would consider a #1 that I haven't opened the case in a year. I am hoping to get down to about 10 to 12.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

It seems that you always need one more than you have. I have two steel string dreadnoughts (one semi-retired), a classical, a solid body electric and a bass. I still need a hollowbody electric and then I'll be done. 

(Though I'm starting to think that I might need a mini-jumbo with a cutaway, too.)

Edit: For the record, they all get played, though 95% of my playing is done on my main dread and I could (in theory) live without the rest of them.


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## Rideski (Feb 25, 2009)

I think I'm up to about 10 now or slightly less. I've been off-loading the lower end ones in favour of high end gear. I find that some of them just don;t get played enough which is a shame. 
The guys in my band are constantly shaking their heads as I'm always showing up with new gear...kinda crazy really. It's fun though...


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## Hired Goon (Mar 4, 2008)

I'm up to 21 now (thanks Davetcan for last one), and I'm probably not done, but I'm going to slow down, or perhaps unload a couple that don't get much love. I have a Parker P-44 that's a little lonely.

I really don't want to be a collector and I'm certainly not caught up on vintage or high end though I have a couple. I'm getting more into the modding and building process all the time. Although it's likely not cost effective, I like taking an average guitar and bringing it to life. Currently building an acoustic with a luthier teaching me.


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## Fane (Aug 23, 2008)

10 electrics, 3 acoustics, 5 basses now. Although my bassist has a couple of them. Still, 18? That seems high. I've only ever really offloaded 3 guitars or so. 
I've really gotta start doing my own setups.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

I see my guitars as either tools or voices. The toolbox currently consists of 9 guitars, two mandolins and one pedal steel.

As for those who are trying to justify collecting guitars, I have two words, "functional art".


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## grumpyoldman (Jan 31, 2010)

At this point I have a total of 33 guitars and basses, but am downsizing. I am, however, acquiring more amps (bit of a trade off in my eyes) and pedals (as a few of those reading this already know)....but I don't have a t-shirt like that...and I WANT ONE!!!

You can never have enough, really....

John
thegrumpyoldman


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I go for different tones, 6, 12, classical, resonator, lapsteel, guitjo, bass, baritone, in both electric and acoustic variations, and maybe duplicates for altered tunings or stage backups. Add variables in bass, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, and other instruments and before you know it you've been tossed out of the house and are living in your very own cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

jimihendrix said:


> The choice is yours....


If you hadn't posted that shirt I would have--one of these days I will actually get around to buying it.


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## fishin' musician (Jun 19, 2008)

I only need 1...more


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## Phlegethon (Dec 18, 2009)

I currently own two guitars, and would like a few more just to be able to have access to the major archetypes of guitar sound: set neck singlecut, double locking tremmed for bar work, and three single coiled guitars with p90s in one, a guitar with tele pickups in another, and a guitar with strat pickups for the last one

so that would work out to 4 guitars at most with how I'd go about buying them ... I could get a guitar with an HSS setup with a double locking trem and a four conductor humbucker in the bridge to cover bridge single coil tones to knock two guitars off of the list while only buying one. wouldn't like to have a whole pile of guitars if I'm not going to use them enough to justify keeping them around. I'd also be open to owning only one or two guitars that could take advantage of modern pickup designs to cover as many bases as possible to help keep the number of guitars down as well


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

I have way more than I need but far less than I want.

Space is getting to be a consideration. Alas, the exact same conditions that make scoring great used guitars cheap also means that I can't unload my less-loved gear for very much. Trades are always welcome but sometimes I tire of the song and dance that's part of the process. I'm currently in a holding pattern.

I'm like Mooh. It's great to have different stringed instruments, each possessing their own character and potential. I just need a friggin' bigger room.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Just came home with an old banjo-uke. It needs a bridge, nut, machine heads, and a fret dressing, but otherwise it's okay, ie good head (love writing those two words), complete hardware, and no cracks. Banjo number 3. More fun, and tones that no guitar can provide.

Peace, Mooh.


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## xbolt (Jan 1, 2008)

Been playing repairing, finding, buying guitars since I was 16... 
I'm 42 now and wish I had fewer guitars than my age but it's a bit like other habits a 16 year old picks up...could never stop either and often find myself acting like a 16 yr old!

At least doing one keeps me from doing the other...either way, my wife could care less. 
Amps are fun too...


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## Traivs (Aug 13, 2010)

In a perfect world, I'd keep every guitar that I ever owned. But, like some of you said already, I'm starting to get rid of some of the lower end stuff and instruments that I don't use so much anymore. Space is definitely a problem. Just sold two, actually. And with the money from them, I bought a Seagull!

so I'm... kinda making space.

I heard that John Mayer has over 200 guitars. I say if you can do that, then go for it! That being said, there comes a point where you don't play the guitars, you simply _collect_ the guitars... And there's something sad and lonely about guitars that don't get played.

-Travis


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## Alex Csank (Jul 22, 2010)

You can NEVER have too many guitars, 'gear', cars, bikes, car, or car, bike and gear parts! Well, that's how I see it anyway!

I currently own 14 guitars (and climbing). I think I need at least 3 or 4 more and probably 3 or4 more soon after that. They will ALL get played!


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

I'm at 4...and i can barely play yankee doodle.... I am definitely more of a collector than a player.

I'm also GASing for a tele and a strat...as well as an AC15 and a mesa 5:25


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

My belief is if they're vintage and playable, I have no respect for a guy just buying them and hoarding them. All that it does is drive the cost of them up and takes one more truly great guitar off of the stage and studio. Now newer guitars, the more people buy the healthier the industry is and that drives down the prices for everyone.

My Brian Monty guitars get played ...a lot, but as custom builds for me from a great Canadian builder, I wouldn't sell them even if they didn't get played. If someone wants a Monty, I feel it's best if they can buy it from the man himself (that's half the experience). Now that 1966 Fender Mustang I got, even with the biggest version of the Mustang neck, is still too cramped for me, so that's up for sale. A great vintage guitar should be in the hands of someone who will make the most of it.

As for "how many is too many?" To me that's like asking "how long is a piece of string?" If you can handle it and it's not hurting anyone, have what you want.


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## ocd4444 (Apr 4, 2011)

Right now I have two and I am going to buy a third this Thursday. I like the idea of having three guitars as I have three acoustics and as mentioned before will be obtaining my third electric this week. I feel like once you go over the three or four mark there are going to be guitars that you will completely neglect which to me is a waiste of money. I like having three high end guitars that I can fall in love with and get a real feel for, any more than that and they would be collecting dust like my friends strat that he has not used in 2 years.


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

As long as you play them, the sky is the limit. I cap mine at 60, but in reality its made up of multiples of the same few guitars. I like the Fogerty method of changing every 3 or 4 minutes. Change is good.............


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Just keep an eye on how many pairs of shoes the missus has - and stay at least one less than that. And then, of course, feed her shoe fetish to leave her with GAS too. 

I find buying a guitar inspires me to play more. A very good thing. I lust after a guitar and then want to play it lots once bagging it. And, except for a few times, I haven't unloaded a guitar when a new one comes along unless I really know I definitely will not go down that path again in a few years and just have to buy one again. 

Also, most of mine stay out on stands and not in their case. Maybe not the best for wear and tear (dust and dirt, fading), but I find they get played alot more if they're immediately available.


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## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

I have a mix of electrics, acoustics and a bass. I currently have 10 with a Telecaster clone being built as we speak. I have 3 strat clones, two of which I keep uprating. My problem is I work in a large organisation with an online staff noticeboard. There are always bargains coming up for sale ("thought I'd learn but after a week I cannot play like Clapton" sort of thing) and I am a sucker for a bargain. I keep promising to get rid of some of them but it is like being asked to put one of your kids up for adoption. How do you decide?


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

I have had up to 4 at one time, but I sold all of them off except for my first guitar because they never get played. The first guitar I ever bought was an Epiphone LP100, which is good because it will be cheap to replace if it gets stolen or broken. I can't find anything more comfortable and I really like the sound of the pickups. It doesn't have a nice woody tone like some of the bigger, better Les Pauls but it sounds awesome anyways.


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## rideough (Mar 5, 2006)

I have had lots but recently I've started to pare down a bit. Gave a jay Turser SG to a buddy with limited funds and a non understanding wife. It was awesome with a batwing pickguard and a great neck. I got it in another trade so no big deal for me but he loves it. Just the other day I gave my 1995 Epiphone SG to a buddy who hasn't had a guitar since we were in high school (we're in our mid 30's now). Until recently it was my favourite guitar of all time...sounded great, played great and looked awesome, small guard and dot neck. BUT it was replaced by a 72 telecaster custom I picked up off kijiji recently for...wait for it....$80! The guy was moving to Toronto from alberta and was getting rid of stuff his wife didn't want to move. He hadn't played it in 20 years! So now all i have is my 72, a cheapo tele clone I'm refinishing, a 2009 Gibson Melody Maker, and a Dean V my wife bought me for my 30th b-day. But I do have 2 very happy buddies to jam with now!


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## Lemonhand (Oct 18, 2009)

If you're interested in playing for fun I think one guitar is enough. Once you start appreciating the differences between guitars then its kind of unlimited. I had one guitar for about 10 years then I said "I would like some different guitars" and its been 15 years of buying, trading and selling. I peaked at 16 about 2 years ago and I had the room for more. Problem was I spent more time researching, buying, trading and selling than I did actually playing so I started to downsize. As of this week I'm down to 6 but I think i could move a couple of more things and be perfectly happy.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

Lemonhand said:


> If you're interested in playing for fun I think one guitar is enough. Once you start appreciating the differences between guitars then its kind of unlimited.


I'm in the category of playing for fun, making my own musical alchemy in my own little lab... _*and*_ I appreciate the differences in various guitars. In fact it's come to the point where I think there's never going to be a "complete" collection. There's always going to be the guitar I've never before run across, the one I always overlooked until that one day I realized how special it was... even though my relationships to various bits of gear are going to be in flux over the course of my life, I still get a charge out of landing something I've never tried out before. It's the thrill of the hunt for me.

The other thing I've discovered is that every time I think I like one style or design over another, things change up. So I can't say I'm a single coil guy or a humbucker guy or a mahogany guy or a hollowbody guy.... apply that same principle to necks, body thickness, wiring preferences, amp preferences - hell, even playing styles. Whatever works, whatever sings and has the most balls or passion - that's the stuff. In the end, it's not about what guitar you play. It's how you approach it and what that sound does for your ears, and maybe for your audience as well.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Lemonhand said:


> If you're interested in playing for fun I think one guitar is enough.


Perhaps, but it's not as much fun.


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## valriver40 (Oct 22, 2007)

over the last fifty years i have owned about a fifty guitars. over the past few years i am down the to sixteen guitars. i have been more of a collecter than player. all my original old guitars are sold and gone. i had a gibson flatop in 1956. i wish i still had it! to bad.


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## nutter (Aug 29, 2009)

i think 4 is the perfect number, a les paul, a tele, a strat and a good acoustic


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## Schectertastic (Jul 12, 2010)

Fiveway said:


> Ok, so this question has probably been asked million times, but how many guitars is enough for the average joe? I just acquired my 8th a couple months back. I was hoping to get rid of a couple of the low end ones to make room for #8, but I didn't get much interest on Kijiji.
> 
> The problem is, I've still got GAS. So, now, for the first time in my life I'm admitting that I'm a 'guitar collector'. My wife sighed when I told her that.
> 
> So how many do you have and realistically how many do you really need to stop the GAS pains?


I've had 14 at one point, and sold about 5 over the past 3 years I had bought used/off friends. I bought one more this year so I'm back to 10 again, and truthfully some are just nice "pieces" that rarely get played. It's an expensive hobby, but at least it's reuseable unlike crack/heroin/booze and other "hobbies" you might pick up


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

I think the magic number for me is 5. Right now I'm at two:

Electric - Fender MIA De Luxe Tele with Budz Guitars 42 and Tall p'ups (installing a b-bender)
Acoustic - Larrivee D-03fm (installing KK Pure Western Mini p'up)

Because I'm not really gigging at the moment, I get by fine with this set-up. When I start playing out more often and I get my home studio completed, I plan to add a couple more:

Electric - MIM Tele with b-bender and upgraded p'ups (more than likely Budz again - tele bridge and humbucker neck)
Acoustic - Larrivee L-05 hog-top (Baggs p'up)
Classical - Godin Hybrid or a LArrivee (depending on my fiscal situation


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## Presto1202 (Dec 8, 2010)

Hmm...one time my bass player friend and I were talking and this conversation came up. I wrote down all the guitars I'd have if money wasn't an issue and the list was about 25 guitars long. Realistically, I have 7 now and there are about 3 that I'd like to get my hands on and at that point I don't see myself buying another guitar for a long time. I realize there will always be some nice guitars that I don't won but to have all of them would not only be expensive but really excessive and it'd be a shame for me to hoard, say, 50 to 100 guitars and let them almost go to waste when I couldn't possibly play them all frequently.

You could get by with 1. If you're gigging I'd say 2-3. Really, for me 10 will probably be my limit.


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## notjoeaverage (Oct 6, 2008)

Currently I have 4 guitars, I started with a Norman ST-68 CW PrefixPro Acoustic, then acquired an Epiphone Special II and a Fender G-Dec 30to give the electric (dark) side a try, and recently a LP and an SG both with P90's. The plan is to get another LP and SG with humbuckers, build a Strat copy of David Gilmour's Black Strat and a Clapton Brownie or Blackie, and a Tele to finish electric needs. Acoustically a 12 string spruce top and rosewood back and sides to compliment the Norman, a maple 12 string, a walnut and cedar classical, a koa 6 string and a mahogany 6 string.

That should give me enough diversity to play most of the music I like, whether it be at home an open mic or gigging with a band and hopefully keep GAS pains low as well. 14 just might be enough for me.


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