How much gear do you own, and how much do you actually use?

[nfe]

If just WANT a ton of gear. Fair enough  :) Why bother trying to justify it?  :lol:

You're right of course, but I do feel a need to justify it  :lol: .  Maybe it's just the way I was brought up, but I always feel guilty about spending money on things I don't need. 

So yeah, I spend a lot of time feeling guilty.  :|

I sit about as far to the militant left as you can whilst still living in Britain. But hell, if I'm on a low wage and save like hell to buy frivolous things, I'll bloody well do it!

[Adam.M]

Guitars:

CSL Hardtail Strat (made by Ibanez late 70's early 80's) got it for peanuts, and i LOVE it!
Ibanez SZ320
Fender P Bass

(Soon coming - a PRS!)

Amps:

Laney VH100R
Mac Amplification 2x12
Celestion G12S speakers from 1973

Pedals:

Old Boss DS-1
Old Dunlop Crybaby
Zoom Gsomething


I'd say i use it all except the Zoom Gsomething which we only bought as a cheap pedal to do a certain delay and reverb effect for a single song, can't complain for 30 quid it even has amp sims and they're 'ok'!

I'd love to get gigging once the PRS comes, but i'm too fat and ugly, im usually the bass player instead :P

[FernandoDuarte]

Gibson SG Silverburst GOTW

What is the meaning of GOTW?

[MDV]

Nothing terribly excessive. 10 guitars, 4 amps (H/C and 3 combos), a couple of modellers, couple of pres, couple of interfaces, couple of misc pedals (not a big effects person)

How much do I need? All of it, at various times. I want some more stuff actually

[JDC]

right now I just have my jackson and revalver

but I should have a blackstar HT5 soon (one that works!) and then I'll be investing in some pedals

although if I had a £1 for every second looking at gear I'd be a multi billionaire now

[ilÿti]

What I own:*
1 six-string electric (fixed bridge, Eb tuned)
1 seven-string electric (standard tuned)
1 Spanish acoustic that I did not yet bring to Canada
1 very bad 12-string acoustic that I do not intend to bring to Canada
+ a girly purple guitar that belongs to my GF but she never plays it.
2 practice amps (one in DK, one here in Ottawa)
Pedals that I use: one OD, one Wah, one tuner.
Pedals that I don't use: one compressor, one noise reduction, another wah.

What I need:
All of the above plus, a decent keyboard, a cheap but playable bass, a 7-string that's easier to play, a decent amp.

What I want:
Anything that will further my options in writing and recording music, but I don't see a reason to have more than one guitar for each purpose, IE more than one Les Paul in standard tuning. (unless you're paranoid about playing without an identical back-up. Or just a rich jerk)



*all of which I use unless otherwise stated

[gwEm]

Gibson SG Silverburst GOTW

What is the meaning of GOTW?

Guitar Of The Week...

as in those hit or miss Gibson limited editions

[dheim]

Nothing terribly excessive. 10 guitars, 4 amps (H/C and 3 combos), a couple of modellers, couple of pres, couple of interfaces, couple of misc pedals (not a big effects person)

How much do I need? All of it, at various times. I want some more stuff actually

i think you are in my same position... quite guilty but not done yet...  :)

[zf]

Guitars:

• Some Yamaha acoustic
• Washburn BT-8 Maverick series (circa '98, original pickups, retrofitted with LR Baggs piezo, using this in the cover band I play in, clocked some 50+ gigs with it and it's a wonderful, inexpensive guitar)
• Jackson Dinky DK2 (circa '99, Ceramic Nailbomb + Trilogy Suites, in drop-C)
• Esp Ltd EC-1000 vintage black (2006, original EMGs, selling this to a friend soon)
• Ibanez J-Custom RG8420ZD (2008, seymour duncans, my main axe in drop-C)
• PRS Singlecut Satin trem, black cherry (just bought this one! can't wait to get it)

Amp-wise,

Engl Invader 100 into a Framus Dragon 4x12"
Tech 21 Midi Moose
No effects (yet, gasp)

Pod XT Live straight into PA as the backup / cover band rig

My next project: deciding what BKPs to buy for the Ibanez and the PRS :) Probably trying Painkiller/Cold Sweat in the Ibanez and something different for the PRS... I'd like to try a MQ for the neck!

[dheim]

If just WANT a ton of gear. Fair enough  :) Why bother trying to justify it?  :lol:

You're right of course, but I do feel a need to justify it  :lol: .  Maybe it's just the way I was brought up, but I always feel guilty about spending money on things I don't need. 

So yeah, I spend a lot of time feeling guilty.  :|

nfe is right, of course... almost every professional musician i know sticks with a couple of guitars, plays them extensively, doesn't spend years to try every possible pickup combination to achieve that sound - maybe because he has already got it in his hands...
it's strange, now that i've got a bit more money (as twinfan said is a great thing to have music as an "hobby", you can still have a lot of fun without being concrete...) to buy gear i've almost completely lost the time to play it. i'm becoming more a guitar collector rather than a guitar player. i was thinking about it yesterday, in the wave of sense of guilt that came together with my 11th electric guitar...

[38thBeatle]

Thanks for the compliment Philly but you make me sound too noble.

[AndyR]

Feel NO guilt chaps!

If you can afford it, haven't ripped anybody off, aren't starving your children, aren't refusing/forgetting to make your legal contirbutions to society, etc, etc, ... then it's your hard-earned "disposable" spending power.

Some people spend large portions of their disposable on A, some on B, some on C... we lot like guitars and stuff.

Who gives a monkey's whether we're collectors/players/whatever - as long as we're enjoying it and not causing hurt to anyone else then I reckon it's OK and there is no reason to feel guilty :D

Envy (or fear of causing envy in others) might be another matter though! :lol: (But I try and keep that under control in myself, not always successfully, and others' envy, or fear of it, is their own problem... :D)

To answer the original questions though:
- Too much gear, but not enough :D, but it's all I can afford or find the space for at the moment.
- Aside from some of the old amps, and guitar leads that no longer work (why do I keep them ?!! :roll:) I use all of it, some of it not that often, but I do use it all.

If I had to cut down to 2 guitars, at the moment I would probably want to choose a strat and a tele (I assume accoustics and basses aren't included in this notional "2"!). But if I really did have to cut down, I'd be stupid to part with the Variaxes - I ought to keep one of those... :roll:... OK, I'll keep my strat and a variax :D (Variax does a good tele, but not a strat, and my favourite feeling guitar is and always will be a strat)

EDIT: Do I need to explain the "envy" bit?
Er, I need to pick on a few folks to do it, sorry guys...
eg, I don't envy Twinfan's guitars at all (not my cup of tea) nor his spending power (good on 'im :D).
I do sometimes lust over Philking's guitars though, almost to the point of envy!
But I do envy something about 38th, and others like him. The fact he's somehow got the energy to do his job, family, etc... and still get out and do gigs.

I do miss entertaining and playing with other people, but I don't miss the constant tiredness it brought, the fact it always got in the way of the day-job and meant I was never that ambitious career-wise, how it got in the way of relationships, and all the other little things it brought that were eventually detrimental to my life and well-being...

So I do kinda envy 38th (and Twinfan and all the others who "get out and do it") - but it doesn't make me feel guilty that I can afford a bunch of kit that I might never use in battle :lol:

[d1dsj]

Feel NO guilt chaps!

If you can afford it, haven't ripped anybody off, aren't starving your children, aren't refusing/forgetting to make your legal contirbutions to society, etc, etc, ... then it's your hard-earned "disposable" spending power.

Some people spend large portions of their disposable on A, some on B, some on C... we lot like guitars and stuff.

Who gives a monkey's whether we're collectors/players/whatever - as long as we're enjoying it and not causing hurt to anyone else then I reckon it's OK and there is no reason to feel guilty :D

Envy (or fear of causing envy in others) might be another matter though! :lol: (But I try and keep that under control in myself, not always successfully, and others' envy, or fear of it, is their own problem... :D)


EDIT: Do I need to explain the "envy" bit?
Er, I need to pick on a few folks to do it, sorry guys...
eg, I don't envy Twinfan's guitars at all (not my cup of tea) nor his spending power (good on 'im :D).
I do sometimes lust over Philking's guitars though, almost to the point of envy!
But I do envy something about 38th, and others like him. The fact he's somehow got the energy to do his job, family, etc... and still get out and do gigs.

I do miss entertaining and playing with other people, but I don't miss the constant tiredness it brought, the fact it always got in the way of the day-job and meant I was never that ambitious career-wise, how it got in the way of relationships, and all the other little things it brought that were eventually detrimental to my life and well-being...

So I do kinda envy 38th (and Twinfan and all the others who "get out and do it") - but it doesn't make me feel guilty that I can afford a bunch of kit that I might never use in battle :lol:

This is a great post! Lots of good points. My thread wasn't intended to judge anyone... I agree with what Andy says about NOT feeling guilty.. you earn it and if you can buy the things that make you happy once all other priorities are paid then go for it.

Now ref the envy/ jealousy part. I'm not that way inclined at all... when my mates (anyone else for that matter who's worked hard and earned it) has something new... be it a nice house, car, girlfriend (lol) or guitar I'm happy for them. It's great... like seeing my kids at christmas I guess... to see someone have something they really want. I love to see what guitars and amps people have got, to know what pick ups suit them best.... it's how we learn... how we find out what WE want. The tech who sorted my Wayne guitar has 47 guitars.. some of them are old Gretch's, Guilds, Pre-CBS Strats/ Teles and bass's... it's took him a long time... and I think it's cool that has them. My old bass player from the Yardbirds, Smallfaces covers band had 82 !!!!! yes 82 Bass guitars when I left that band 4/5 years ago... infact he had to store them at parents/ friends houses... I used to laugh my head off at some them.. real junkers but he loved them. But he had Gibson EB's, L.P bass, Pre CBS's .... about 14 I think!

So I don't think people should feel guilty for spending what they work hard for, and they certainly shouldn't be embarrassed by having top flight equipment. The only time  not to flaunt it is when you're gigging I guess... I've heard horror stories of people being followed home after gigs and being mugged etc.

Enjoy all your gear fellas... that's what it's for whether you play them all or not... guitars rule! 

[Zaned]

I pretty much use all that I have! I've sold the things that I have grown not to like, or have replaced with what I consider a better one.

Guitars:

2002 PRS McCarty, with a BKP Cold Sweat set
1990 LQG Stratocaster (great strat, built by a finnish luthier Lassi Nurmi), BKP 'No. 1' single coil set
80's Ibanez steel string acoustic (my first guitar, given to me by my father).

Amps:
ENGL Ritchie Blackmore signature head
ENGL E212VH cabinet, with 2 V30 Celestions
Vox valvetronix 50 watt 1x12 combo (for home use)

Pedals (in pedalboard):
MI Audio Boost'n Buff (a high impedance buffer / clean boost / treble booster)
Fulltone Clyde wah
Planet waves tuner
Mad Professor Little Green Wonder (overdrive pedal)
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive
Boss DD-20 digital delay (the only pedal in effects loop)
Powered by Voodoo Lab Pedal Power II

Some leftover microfones for electrics and an acoustic guitar soundhole pickup (Seymour Duncan) laying around somewhere.

And oh yeah, an Amfisound superstrat being built  8) With a BKP Nailbomb-IT-IT set.

Zaned

[MDV]

Nothing terribly excessive. 10 guitars, 4 amps (H/C and 3 combos), a couple of modellers, couple of pres, couple of interfaces, couple of misc pedals (not a big effects person)

How much do I need? All of it, at various times. I want some more stuff actually

i think you are in my same position... quite guilty but not done yet...  :)

I havent a hint of guilt. I do what I like with my time and money *shrugs*