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

[nfe]

I'm much better than I used to be. I don't own any gear I don't use a lot, which I used to. I get hankerings for stuff but I'm pretty good at ignoring them when it's stuff I wouldn't gig or record with.

Years of spending a lot of time working/dealing with full time musicians who only own one or two guitars and one amp made me a bit of a pragmatist with regards to gear.

[_tom_]

Just realised the reason I never spend money on guitar any more (I haven't even bought new strings for ages) is because I spend it all on my bikes :lol: MTB is an expensive hobby, the forks on mine cost more than my entire bmx!

[JDC]

More time spent buying gear also means less time learning to dial in properly, then if you do find "perfect tone" as soon as you move the amp your going to have different room acoustics, and putting it in a mix is whole other thing!

I don't own a lot of gear but I certainly stopped wasting hours looking at it.

[Ian Price]

I have been way too gear obsessed in the past. I'm not so bad nowadays and have a very simple set up of guitar and amp (I have ordered a Bad Monkey though).

I am much more into Guitars than amps or effects. If I had my way I would have a strat, tele, LP, 335, SG, PRS (SC and Custom) and a great acoustic. I don't have the money though so can't  :(

[Muttley]

What's that you say?  I'm sorry, I can't hear you over all the fans:



Seriously, we probably are but what the hell! It's FUN!  :D

[38thBeatle]

I have 4 electric 6 strings, 3 acoustic 6 strings and a bass.All get used a lot so I consider them all justified though in truth I could probably make do with 2 electrics and 2 acoustics I do around 60 gigs a year so I feel no guilt- they have all more than paid for themselves over the years and given me tons of fun.

[gwEm]

i have no guilt about my gear selection... /but/ the experimentation has taught me what are generally good gear combinations, and what i like personally. as a result, i might get rid of some stuff..

[Dr. Stein]

I don't have a vast array of gear but I'm pretty sure I spend more time looking interesting stuff up online than I do playing. I've been trying recently to limit my GAS problems by telling myself that I want to own exclusively red guitars, which has worked to some extent, but it turns out I now need more effects pedals than I probably have the floorspace for to make up for how good I've been. There really is no cure.

[Philly Q]

I've been trying recently to limit my GAS problems by telling myself that I want to own exclusively red guitars, which has worked to some extent

Not a bad idea, but red is a very "available" colour so you're still left with lots of choices.  Maybe if you went for something like chartreuse sparkle?

[Dr. Stein]

^Problem with totally weird colours is you pretty much have to get everything custom made, which ain't cheap. Red is available but it means I can't have a V or an explorer or a tele at least (I'm sure there are others which look horrible in red too).

[Denim n Leather]

i have no guilt about my gear selection... /but/ the experimentation has taught me what are generally good gear combinations, and what i like personally. as a result, i might get rid of some stuff..

Nothing wrong with culling the herd!

[BigB]

Everything you say is true, and we all know it.

Unfortunately there is no known cure for GAS.

Yes there's one : poverty :mrgreen:

[Alex]

Seriously, we probably are but what the hell! It's FUN!  :D

I think that was one of the main reasons for me most of the time - it was just fun to check out new stuff.

[ToneMonkey]

However the money is best spent on other stuff (like the 2010 guitars or having a holiday later in the year

That's a lot of guitars,  I think you should limit it to under 2000  :lol:

[tomjackson]

Everything you say is true, and we all know it.

Unfortunately there is no known cure for GAS.

Yes there's one : poverty :mrgreen:

Or Kids.  In fact you could say the two are related :?