Anyone keep buying more guitars to keep the interest going? ( and failed)

ac30man

darthed1981 said:

I've got a couple of guitars id happily give away to an enthusiastic friend who was learning, or sell them for £50.

I'd happily play with any like minded individuals or friends to keep my enthusiasm going.

But, I don't have any friends lol - so I basically buy gear and then play on my own, and get cross with myself if I don't play even for five mins each day.

My wife hilariously has literally no interest in guitars whatsoever, they are just things on the wall to her.

Haha. My wife sees my guitars as obstacles that stop other things being stored under the bed

mbe

I'm a bit of both.  A player and collector.

 You should get a guitar set up for slide and learn how to play it, whatever style floats your boat. It would accommodate your disability as the fingering is minimal and it's all in the right hand.

GL2814

I'm in my fifties and more of a guitar owner than guitar player ;-)

I get guitars from the likes of Cash Converters now. Recently got a scruffy Epiphone Flying V (a '57 replica) as well as a Squier Standard Strat for learning how to do set ups on, etc. Nobody I know plays guitar so I watch YouTube guitar tutorials a lot but the thrill is gone :-( 

Will probably never play in a band again - boo hoo!

fandango

Teetonetal said:

I've certainly turned to gear to keep me motivated. It's not guitar playing a such that gets me down - I still enjoy it. It's more the constant battle for time vs actually achieving something when I play.

I think the days of me having time to pracrice are long gone due to kids.

Recording with headphones is soulless and I miss singing. I'm also not creative enough on my own

Bands always rise or fail on their weakest link. My current band is really committed but the singer is rubbish.

Really its all rather pointless.

Thank god for gear. At least buying it is fun!

Maybe you/the band need to sack the singer ... then recruit a decent singer and it all becomes worth it again. Or go instrumental. Never did the Shadows any harm. Or become a jam band like the Grateful Dead or Phish. Just my tuppeny bit's worth.

Teetonetal

fandango said:

Teetonetal said:

I've certainly turned to gear to keep me motivated. It's not guitar playing a such that gets me down - I still enjoy it. It's more the constant battle for time vs actually achieving something when I play.

I think the days of me having time to pracrice are long gone due to kids.

Recording with headphones is soulless and I miss singing. I'm also not creative enough on my own

Bands always rise or fail on their weakest link. My current band is really committed but the singer is rubbish.

Really its all rather pointless.

Thank god for gear. At least buying it is fun!

Maybe you/the band need to sack the singer ... then recruit a decent singer and it all becomes worth it again. Or go instrumental. Never did the Shadows any harm. Or become a jam band like the Grateful Dead or Phish. Just my tuppeny bit's worth.

It's the singer''s band. I get paid to play. She's extremely hard working, super committed and a nice lady. We are all hanging around because we feel sorry for her and the pay is OK. 

shrinkwrap

FWIW:
I keep getting tempted by GAS but remind myself three electrics and a bass is plenty.

I've also recently gone off my guitar playing - BUT I find that if I stick with it for an hour or so, eventually I'll do something I think is ok.

The other thing is maybe try and record some self written pieces, or do a cover.
I've had hours of fun with a keyboard and VST synths. Not having words held me up for ages but then I figured fuck it and went for instrumentals. The other benefit is it got me to play bass a bit and get  closer to writing words - though no hairy guitar solos. Remembering how to program drum machine stuff was/is a big struggle but the more you do the easier it gets.
(I do play with my mates but only 2 or 3 times a year - a suburban living room band.)

mburekenge

If you have GAS it's a bad thing. I REALLY want/need/must have a ES 335/345/355 right now. But I'm absolutley certain that as soon as I scratch that itch  i'll REALLY want/need/must have a small bodied Martin, then a real National to replace my Gretsch resonator etc etc. 

The only thing that gives (me) any lasting satisfaction is nailing a new song or solo etc.

HarrySeven

dindude said:

HarrySeven said:

I'm saying nothing.

You have a contribution to make here. You are the antidote to the statement above of "don't buy more, buy bettter".

I'm still saying nothing!

ac30man

mburekenge said:

If you have GAS it's a bad thing. I REALLY want/need/must have a ES 335/345/355 right now. But I'm absolutley certain that as soon as I scratch that itch  i'll REALLY want/need/must have a small bodied Martin, then a real National to replace my Gretsch resonator etc etc. 

The only thing that gives (me) any lasting satisfaction is nailing a new song or solo etc.

Even after I posted this thread I enquired about a custom shop tele. Its surf green. Gorgeous it is! I know I would buy it and play it for a few days then put it under the bed. That would scratch the itch.....then it would be something else to try and maintain the interest. I think I have decided to really go for it on my bass and ditch guitar. I have more chance of getting back to gigging then too and real reason to practice.

Funkfingers

HarrySeven said:

I'm still saying nothing!

If you ask me, somebody has only read the first five words of the Discussion title.

mburekenge

ac30man said:

mburekenge said:

If you have GAS it's a bad thing. I REALLY want/need/must have a ES 335/345/355 right now. But I'm absolutley certain that as soon as I scratch that itch  i'll REALLY want/need/must have a small bodied Martin, then a real National to replace my Gretsch resonator etc etc. 

The only thing that gives (me) any lasting satisfaction is nailing a new song or solo etc.

Even after I posted this thread I enquired about a custom shop tele. Its surf green. Gorgeous it is! I know I would buy it and play it for a few days then put it under the bed. That would scratch the itch.....then it would be something else to try and maintain the interest. I think I have decided to really go for it on my bass and ditch guitar. I have more chance of getting back to gigging then too and real reason to practice.

Sounds like a good plan! Nothing beats a good jam or gig (although a sexy surf green custom shop tele comes close;) ) hehe.

ac30man

GL2814 said:

I'm in my fifties and more of a guitar owner than guitar player ;-)

I get guitars from the likes of Cash Converters now. Recently got a scruffy Epiphone Flying V (a '57 replica) as well as a Squier Standard Strat for learning how to do set ups on, etc. Nobody I know plays guitar so I watch YouTube guitar tutorials a lot but the thrill is gone :-( 

Will probably never play in a band again - boo hoo!

Never say never mate! I share your pain when you say the thrill has gone. When I was really into guitar there was no thrill like it. We are still part of a great guitar community though called 'the fretboard' . 

BigMonka

Having two young kids and a house that needs lots of DIY/improving I find I don't get very much time to play guitar. But what I can do is spend my working day keeping an eye on the threads on this site, so although I play less now I'm probably more guitar-focused than I've been since I was a teenager. It's the same with GAS, for me it's a way of keep connected to an instrument that I love even though I don't have the time to play at the moment.

Jalapeno

re:OP - guilty as charged.  I do play live, but that's very much Gypsy Jazz/Jazz - and I have no GAS there to speak of (did just build a jazz Tele, and got a p/u for my Maccaferrri style acoustic - but it's very rare).

Main GAS issues are about rock/blues gear - band rehearses when there is a gig in the offing, but these are literally years apart

Oh look - a seagull !!!!!

Switch625

Yes went through this phase approx 10 years ago and ended up with around 11 guitars at one point. Mainly because they were "good deals" and I couldn't resist. But the spark had gone out playing and eventually I sold off the extras and just kept a sensible few for sentimental reasons.

Haven't really played since which is a shame. I love good guitar music but have no motivation to pick up and play myself.

scalino65

What you've described fits the bill for me.I wish I had a regular band or jam or something as that would help I think. I buy something, play it a while then seem to want something else and have to sell on. Currently its a 50s junior I fancy, next week it'll be something else. For instance, I think oooh vintage would be good and then I get panicky about fakes, then I like Jap Fenders, then I want to paint something and so it goes on..maybe its just GAS but its becoming a bit stoopid.I just need to commit to sitting down and actually working on learning the stuff I have really wanted to learn for years...

sweepy

I'm hanging my guitars on the wall for a month and concentrating on keys, having one of those phases where guitar just doesn't excite me anymore, so it's better to divert attention until something falls back into place 

Vibetronic

I don't think there's anything wrong with buying new guitars to keep the interest going - a new one can definitely give you a bit more inspiration. I'm relatively lucky I guess in that I've never got bored of playing once over the last 30 years, and cram it in whenever I can, but getting a new guitar is still exciting and makes me want to play even more. Nothing wrong with collecting either; they are nice things to look at

Sassafras

I blame the manufacturers. If they didn't keep tempting us with their goodies by making us feel they're essential, we'd just get on and play.