Are we way too gear-obsessed and not seeing what it's really about?

[tomjackson]

I'm certainly too gear obsessed in that I'd be a lot happier if I didn't keep buying things and losing money on them and if I spent more time playing that looking stuff up.

However part of the problem is that there's so much gear nowadays that promises so much for so little.  You buy it then it sounds okay but not amazing and sell it on.  There's new stuff to entice us all the time, and yes it's fun to research then buy but as there's something else almost the same it's easier to get grass is greener syndrome....

So my thing with gear now is buy quality, buy it once.

Which unfortunately makes my GAS list rather expensive :?

[Twinfan]

So my thing with gear now is buy quality, buy it once.

Which unfortunately makes my GAS list rather expensive :?

Welcome to my world!  I love quality gear, but it certainly slows down your purchase rate once you've sold off your less expensive stuff.....

[Philly Q]

I'm certainly too gear obsessed in that I'd be a lot happier if I didn't keep buying things and losing money on them and if I spent more time playing that looking stuff up.

Agreed with all that.  Especially the losing money bit!  :lol:  I could probably have bought a PRS Private Stock (or two, or three) with the money I've lost on guitar sales over the years.

So my thing with gear now is buy quality, buy it once.

Which unfortunately makes my GAS list rather expensive :?

Sounds like a good policy, in theory, but I'm not convinced quality necessarily guarantees satisfaction, guitars are such personal-taste things.  Even an amazing guitar can have things about it you wish were different.  And then, in fact, I suspect it just goes spiralling up to ever-more-expensive gear....  :|

Having said that, I've gone into a similar phase myself  :? .  I'm no longer looking at Japanese guitars on eBay (perhaps partly because the exchange rates have caused prices to rocket!), I'm contemplating PRS and Fender Custom Shop.  But maybe that's good, it makes impulse-buys much more daunting.

[tomjackson]

I'm not so bad with guitars, my 2 Partscasters meet my quality requirements, good wood, good hardware and pickups and feel right to me.  I would really like a CS Tele or Strat but I wouldn't really be getting anything additional except the vibe of a real reliced Fender, but that said my Strat and Tele are taking on a personal vibe of their own so I'm happy with them.  I certainly don't GAS for anything better

But amp l wise you really do get what you pay for. I've been through so many amps over the years that have sounded okay but once you try something better quality you really notice a difference in the detail and purity of tone. For example I tried a Balckstar HT40 the other day, it was okay, Guitarist gave it a choice award, it is very versatile, loud and portable.  But it would never have that dynamic 3d sound you get from a handwired booteek amp so I'd end up selling it and trying something else in search of tonal bliss. 

So I'm going to get a very nice amp and that should last me a lifetime:D

[Philly Q]

Yeah, good point about amps.  I tend not to think about amps too much because I'm strictly a stay-at-home, low-volume, rubbish-player sort of chap and I have absolutely zero need of an expensive amp (which shouldn't stop me GASing for one, but luckily for me amps don't appeal in the same way guitars do).

[Roobubba]

One electric that I play, the Ibanez as a gig backup, haven't even plugged it in or strummed it for over a year... One acoustic at home for those few minutes (or hours?) while the wife is getting ready to go out, for example. And one proper amp. Oh I suppose I have a few pedals, well, three, but I never use the Zoom unit any more, and haven't used a wah for a long time either, so I don't think I'm doing too badly gear-wise.

Now if only I wasn't shite...

[bucketshred]

I've got One head, One Cab, Two Gibsons and an array of pedals which almost get every tone I need (although I'd like a Bad Monkey for those bluesier moments). The only other thing that I'd like in my rig is a nice Strat or Tele.

I've also got two knackered electrics at home which I NEVER use. Must get my Epi SG sorted so I can use take it to gigs when I can't take two guitars in flightcases...

Paddy

[MDV]

On the one hand, theres nothing wrong with having whatever gear you want.

On the other, for me, it becomes a problem when I'm playing with the gear more than I'm playing guitar. Sitting there tweaking and fine  tuning a sound is fine to an extent, but when it reaches the point that youre not really doing that much guitar playing then thats where youre missing the point.

IMO.

The only exception is recording and experimenting with recorded tones. I've been known to spend a couple of days on that, with several total room recalls, and only end up liking the first sounds I got, but not being able to recreate them accurately enough and just going '$%&# it' and getting it done anyway.

Bottom line in all cases - if the sound services the music, its a good sound, and provided its *more or less* there less time should be spent pissing about, more playing the damned music, which is what its all for (for me at least; I seem to recall Dave dissagreed with me once on that one and its about the thrill of buying and trading to him; I cant empathise with that, but thats fine too).

[MDV]

One electric that I play, the Ibanez as a gig backup, haven't even plugged it in or strummed it for over a year... One acoustic at home for those few minutes (or hours?) while the wife is getting ready to go out, for example. And one proper amp. Oh I suppose I have a few pedals, well, three, but I never use the Zoom unit any more, and haven't used a wah for a long time either, so I don't think I'm doing too badly gear-wise.

Now if only I wasn't shitee...

There was a day that I had a few guitars, but all were cr@p but one. It was, and is a great guitar, was 'my guitar', and it was pretty much the only one I played. To all intents and purposes I had one guitar.

It simplified things A LOT. I probably spent more time learning and wrting and generally 'just playing' when I just had one guitar and no thought of getting another, and it was great.

Now I have (a very modest by this forums standards) 9 guitars, of which 5 are 'main electrics' that take the place of that one guitar years ago (one of them IS that guitar). I "know" that I only really need one of them, but I also cant do without the others!

Well, I could do without 2, I suppose. The 3 core guitars, I NEED!!

But dont.

But DO!

But really dont

Except that I do, damnit!

But I know I dont.

But I do.

[AndyR]

:lol:

^ That sums me up

[Twinfan]

Jeez, you guys analyse things WAAAAY too much  :lol:

Do what makes you happy  :D

[dave_mc]

i agree that buying quality is a good idea, it's daft if you're continually buying and selling on and then buying again (though i would add that buying expensive stuff, if all the forums I go to, is no defence against that- some people just buy and sell a lot, and others don't). But it depends on the situation, too. If you play a wide range of stuff, 4 "good" guitars (say a strat, tele, LP and LP special) would arguably make more sense than one "awesome" guitar costing the same as those four put together. Ditto with amps.

EDIT: ^ yeah, i agree. I don't agree with rationalising it at all. I don't drink or smoke, and I don't see drinkers or smokers rationalising that (or anyone else who buys anything, ever), so forgive me if I don't feel bad because I like buying and playing guitars and amps. At least it's something constructive. EDIT: cr@p, that's a rationalisation.

[Alex]

Well buying lots of expensive gear even if you suck at playing (like me  :D ) is till ok for me for the simple reason that you are
a) indulging in a hobby that you enjoy
b) are doing something good for the economy, creating jobs and paying taxes.

I wouldn't ever want to say someone doesn't "deserve" a guitar or amp (because he is simply not a great player).

I just wanted to express that I feel that I personally have been chasing to long after gear as a way to improve my playing/sound, when I realized that the other way around - being more ascetic and focusing on only the bare essential playing - is what it really is about.

[chrisola]

Agree'd...i've spent more time reading \ buying \ talking about guitars than playing them...finally got my Legra customer a couple of years back,just been playing that through a GuitarPort on my PC and enjoying it. I got my Legra after essentialy running out of guitars to try, so i combined the best bits of the ones i liked into it, i will never sell it :)

Now i have some spare money i want an actual amp....i bought a Blackstar HT5 a couple months ago which is great but not hi gain enough for me, so i'm going to get myself another ENGL Screamer - i've had 2 before which i had to sell due to being in crippling debt at various points in the past couple of years, and i loved both of them. Then i will be set, 1 guitar, 1 amp.

Unless of course a 1987 Kramer Stagemaster Deluxe comes up on ebay for reasonable money, which i've wanted for about 7 years after playing one owned by someone in the local guitar shop...that and his Gibson Les Paul 25/50 Anniversary are the best guitars i'll never own!!!!!