see guitar › fall in love › buy guitar › love guitar › get bored with guitar › sell guitar › repeat

octatonic

darthed1981 said:

I've got to the point it needs to be one out, one in now.

Got a few I'd quite happily sell, but equally happy just to keep them, they look cool on the wall.

My main guitars are just fine for me as it stands.  Do like to buy ones that do something "different" though.

My policy is 'one in'.
I don't sell guitars anymore- which means that a purchase has to be considered- although I've mostly also stopped actively looking.
The exception being this week because I couldn't take a guitar on the flight to Singapore (I could have checked it but I didn't want it damaged), so I bought something when I arrived.
If I buy something it is usually because I have a specific requirement for it.

If I eventually run out of room then I might need to think about it.

I have loaned a few out to trusted friends.

Freebird

Every guitar has it's limitations. It's best to find out what they are and overcome them. It's kinda like riding a wild horse, things will get better eventually after you tame the beast   

Freebird

octatonic said:

The exception being this week because I couldn't take a guitar on the flight to Singapore (I could have checked it but I didn't want it damaged), so I bought something when I arrived.

Have you looked at the S.O.F.T website? It used to be interesting when the pound was S$3+

Lots of collector types on there, and the guitars rarely leave the home. Quite good for Japanese stuff too.

Dave_Vader

I do occasionally buy extra guitars, but I always always end up back playing the same shitty 70s strat copy that I hated when I got it nearly 30 years ago.

It's had nearly every single bit of it replaced, but it's still got the same soul

ChuckManual

axisus said:

Anyone found a 'perfect' guitar that really is 'the one' (as in you've had it for many years and it's still number one)?

Yes. A Fender Stratosonic...



Chambered, 24.75" scale length - bought NOS in 2006 and my No.1 ever since. It's the burning house guitar.

It's so good I bought the P90 version too!

joetele

steer said:

I have a standard MIM  Fender Tele that I am most happy with out of my guitars. Despite the fact that I am perfectly happy with it, I still find myself looking at other teles wondering if they are "better" than mine, simply because they are more expensive, or made in a different country. 

Whilst I enjoy the thrill of the chase, sometime you should sit back and enjoy what you have got. 

Almost exactly the same here. After a couple of cheaper guitars for the 'beginner' years, in 2004 I purchased a MIM standard Tele. I've bought and sold probably a dozen or so guitars over the years - mostly cheapish ones but a nice 62 reissue Japan Strat and a couple of Godins, too - but the Tele is the one that has always stayed. All I've done to it is upgrade the pickups around 2008 to Samarium Cobalt noiseless ones. It's just such a fantastic guitar and I'd never ever sell it. The once-pale maple neck has aged beautifully too and it plays better than almost any guitar I try in shops. 

I decided to sell everything I wasn't playing and just kept this Tele. And then recently bought a Vintage V72 as a backup but with a bit of a difference. And that's it for now, until I see bigger paycheques/if I'm lucky enough to inherit money or win the lottery. I got tired of buying and selling all the time and, as others have said, I'm happy with what I've got. 

Bridgehouse

Dave_Vader said:

I do occasionally buy extra guitars, but I always always end up back playing the same shitty 70s strat copy that I hated when I got it nearly 30 years ago.

It's had nearly every single bit of it replaced, but it's still got the same soul

You still got the same hat from 30 years ago too?

Dave_Vader

Bridgehouse said:

Dave_Vader said:

I do occasionally buy extra guitars, but I always always end up back playing the same shitty 70s strat copy that I hated when I got it nearly 30 years ago.

It's had nearly every single bit of it replaced, but it's still got the same soul

You still got the same hat from 30 years ago too?

Sadly that one rotted, this one is a £2 car boot find that's only on its second summer.

I accept it may be a touch retro

octatonic

Freebird said:

octatonic said:

The exception being this week because I couldn't take a guitar on the flight to Singapore (I could have checked it but I didn't want it damaged), so I bought something when I arrived.

Have you looked at the S.O.F.T website? It used to be interesting when the pound was S$3+

Lots of collector types on there, and the guitars rarely leave the home. Quite good for Japanese stuff too.

Yeah I have joined it.
Most of the guitars there are either overpriced or not in Singapore- a lot of bedroom traders in Malaysia and Indonesia.
There are a few interesting things though, including this for £1100.



and this for £700:

CountryDave

I’ve been through the cycle a few times, buy a few then sell all but two. Every time I went back to the same two - a Squier Strat I bought in. ‘89 & an ‘89 PRS I bought in ‘91 with money saved and some given to me for my 21st.
That all changed during the last big cull when I stuck at 3, the two previously mentioned and my 52ri Tele that has been my go to since I got it around 8 years ago.
Come to the current cull (still ongoing) & I admitted to myself that the PRS hadn’t been gigged in 10 years, so I let it go along with a few others. This time I didn’t leap at the first thing I found but waited and recently picked up a long time object of GAS - a ‘93 Pinkburst Musicman Albert Lee. It addresses all the issues I have with strats - half decent bridge pickup, only 2 control knobs and is a hard tail too. Plays great too. Is this a keeper? I really hope so. It’s certainly cured my GAS for now.

mr-mac

Still play guitar I got when I was 17 as a b'day pressie from grandparents.  still main guitar, though with full hardware and wiring upgrades.  And it won't be leaving me any time soon... Added another leccy and an acoustic and would certainly move the others on if I had dosh for something really nice and older but as i don't i don't feel the need to be swapping.

Strat54

Its a great process though and one I'm sure we've all been through to some degree. I have thoroughly enjoyed the buying and selling of the few hundred guitars I've owned. Been to some great places and met some lovely people along the way. I think I'm cured now at the age of 49, must have started when I was 18. Its been an expensive trip though. 
What I have learnt: The perfect guitar for me does not exist. I will never be satisfied. I don't really need anymore than I have right now. Too many guitars is a distraction from playing.

Strat54

downbytheriver said:

I bought a first year of Custom Shop 40th Anniversary Telecaster in 1989 - brand new. It truly was the perfect guitar, for me. Impending financial crisis in the mid 90s resulted in it being sold. Every now and again it turns up but I have been too slow every time. Come home number 40 - you are badly missed. 

Nothing else has has ever stuck for very long but I am now building guitars and trying to work towards something perfect! 

Damn, I feel your pain. I remember seeing #40 too. I've had several of these over the years. Nice guitars, never kept them though. My friend has one that has a slightly warped neck which is a shame. I have a love/hate relationship with them hence I've had so many. I love the blingy looks but then they always seem too heavy and I get people who lure them from me with silly offers!

Edit: Wtf @downbytheriver it was sold on here for under £2k in 2015. Someone under sold that. Just checked and I sold one in 2014 for £4000
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/46889/

Here's your old one. Love the chocolate lined case which was unique for that period....

https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/zaQAAOSw3ydVsfi~/$_86.JPG

downbytheriver

Yup, that’s the one! Last seen sold on Gumtree - asking price was a ridiculously low £1950. Still makes me sad

hotpickups

I've only only ever owned two at the same time. Just reluctantly sold one only due to a guitar build I've commissioned which I can safely say I'd never sell. The keeper I have is my les Paul which ive had for 16 years or so. It still sounds and feels great against R8/R9s when I play them. Not sure what all the fuss is about with those guitars. 

So if you find one you like, you will keep it unless one has a lot of money to throw around then there's plenty of temptation around I guess I've been lucky and found good ones early on. Or it's the fact I don't have excess money to throw around lol

usedtobe

Been there, done it to death. Hopefully settled with what I have, now. Might even offload a couple. I still get pangs, but..

JerkMoans

Buying and selling guitars? On the Internet?! What an extraordinary notion.

In truth I’m the worst of all serial tarts. ‘The One’? My Trigger’s broom Jazzmaster.

https://imgur.com/a/W87Ac

viz

Yep, from the second I laid eyes on this, nothing else will ever come close. 22 years ago omg

http://i.imgur.com/ux3f1WI.jpg

Anderz

Looking back it seems somehow I was on a mission to find the right tools for the job.

I got my first electric Applause stratocaster in 1991 and by 1993 I had moved to a city which had a music store where I spend a lot of time and money in getting into what I wanted in gear. I was hearing it but was in expirenced in how to get it and had to discover the road myself and so it became.

So guitars got traded back and forth becoming slightly better and amps stayed longer while effects did in the end  not do to much for the money invested.

By 1995 and onwards the tide shifted a bit. I got the first guitar that had potential for long term and since that was a bit limited i went for the dream a year later.

Then the final guitar was in 2001 and somehow no reason to keep it despite the price tag.

Since then I have gotten less interested in getting guitars and stuck with what I got so much that it has hard for me to get back into it for the right reasons.