Dedicated guitars for gigging, or just use what you have?

[Twinfan]

I'm guessing this may come down to a person's available income, but I'm wondering if I'm alone in this.

For some reason, I have it in my head that gigging is a risky business.  Risk of theft, accidental damage and excessive wear/tear on a guitar etc.  I play fairly aggresively/heavily, gig around once a month or so in a couple of bands and I use dedicated guitars for the job.  I know it's not world tour levels of abuse, but it's enough use to make me think about it.

YC/DC dictates that I have to use an SG so that's a no-brainer, plus we play in Eb, so I have the (replacable) SGR dedicated to that job.  In my covers band I use my Fender CS Esquire and PRS McCarty Korina, but I have other guitars that I could use instead (Fender CS Tele and PRS Modern Eagle/Pearly Gates LP).  They would be harder to replace if the worst happened (due to rarity or my personal attachment to them), and I'd be SERIOUSLY gutted if I lost them, but as they're my preferred guitars it would be nice to free up some cash by selling the Esquire/McCarty and enjoying my favourite guitars in a live environment.

I guess the question is am I worrying too much, and should I just use the tools as they were intended?  Or is the risk averse approach of dedicated working guitars a sensible one?

Any thoughts?

[tomjackson]

Do you have insurance?  If all your top guitars were insured with dedicated instrument insurance you would at least get the cash back if the worst happened.

If I had your Les Paul, I would use it, lifes too short not to enjoy these things but I would have it insured and for the dodgy gigs (like Stockport market on the side of a truck) I'd have backup, but something fairly cheap like an Epi LP with decent pickups or a second hand Japanese Tokai.

Just play em!

[Bob Gnarly]

I gave this some thought when my band reformed earlier this year.
I still have the guitars I used when I was playing  professionally and they have a few battle scars between them. (They wear them with pride)
I don't really play them anymore, and wanted to use the guitars I use now (and love).
I hesitated as I would like to keep them as nice as possible, but in the end I decided they were the best tools for the job.
I'll try and be as careful as possible, but am prepared to accept that they will get a bit more wear than if I just used them in my studio.
The guitars are Ibanez PGM 301 and 500 for reference, do not quite in the league as your quiver Twinfan.

[Bob Gnarly]

oops, sorry. `Double post

[Philly Q]

Well if you take it up a level (or three   ), I'd guess Joe Perry or Rick Nielsen have "workhorse" guitars for gigging and leave their really valuable old Gibsons at home.  And presumably John 5 doesn't take his early-'50s Tele collection on tour.  I don't think even Angus uses his original SG on stage any more.  Then on the other hand there's Yngwie....

In the unlikely event that I was to start gigging, I'd use my Epiphone or Edwards Les Paul Juniors rather than, say, a PRS.  That'd be more to do with being less worried about dinging the Juniors, not because of their value (I actually have more sentimental attachment to my cheap guitars than the more expensive ones).

I think you're going to get lots of "gig 'em, they're just tools" answers....  :lol:

[mikeluke]

There are 'gigs' and 'gigs' - some places the risk is fairly low - others, well... You'd be back to your Chinese Epiphone!

I guess you have to assess this beforehand, take into account the sounds that you need and then pick your tool accordingly

[HTH AMPS]

for me a guitar is to be used - if its sitting in the house as a 'sofa' guitar for noodling then its wasted (I'm thinking purely in 'gigging' terms here, I realise there are people who don't gig and have guitars at home to enjoy).

as previously mentioned, if you're worried about taking your more expensive guitars out to gig with, get them insured - I've done this before (the whole band's gear was insured under the policy for theft/damage).

to my mind having such nice guitars as you have sitting at home is madness - gig them or move them on.

[bucketshred]

I gig both my Gibson Les Paul and SG and I play rough and heavy handed with them. The only other guitar I have is a Jackson Kelly and that never sees any action, its just there incase I fancy some Whammy bar action.

Those two guitars pretty much cover me for anything that I need and other than a decent Strat or Tele (and an acoustic) I don't really want anything else in my arsenal. Yeah, it'd be great to own a load of other guitars but I dont NEED them.

My vote is just play and beat them and enjoy them as they should be. Surely owning those guitars and not gigging them/taking them out the house is like owning a Ferrari and never taking it out of the cul-de-sac?

Paddy

[choucas09]

Whilst I don't do gigs as such I'm a veteran of many a pub jam which is even worse as guitars get passed around between beery enthusiasts and get banged on tables chairs etc. But I still happily take expensive guitars out and put up with the odd ding because I like to see people playing my gear. I've noticed that people who take great care of their axes don't tend to really go for it.

[sgmypod]

Am in two minds on this.
I gig mainly with my duesy 49er
Plexi dan amrstrong
Both over grand guitars and swap out plexi for my cheap sd curlie.

But I won't take out my guild bluesbird in case I damage it.

[ToneMonkey]

My Patrick Eggle is out on long term loan and is going to get some gigging under it's belt.  It was a almost as new condition when it went out and I'm expecting it to return with ding or two, but I don't mind that much.

At the end of the day, it's a bit of wood with some wire on it...... although it's a considerably cheaper bit of wood than Daves.

[Philly Q]

Can I mention the "R" word....?

This is where Relics come into their own, isn't it?  Yes they're valuable, so the getting-nicked worry still applies, but they are (relatively) replaceable and it doesn't matter at all if they pick up a few scr@pes and dings.

[Telerocker]

I gig with my customstrat and american series tele. They are my workhorses and that's what they are made for. But I guard them in the breaks between the sets, because they are irreplaceble. I've grown into the neckfeel etc. And they are BKP'd. So I much not think of coming back and suddenly a guitar has left the building.

[choucas09]

Ah the "R" word. The irony therein is that if I were to play someone's expensive relic and put a new ding in it they'd go bloody mad.

[Roobubba]

Gig them.

I have an ibanez backup I haven't even looked at for months - I only play/record/practice/gig with my WezV custom. It's there to be played!

I play my guitar hard. I'm sure Wez will cringe if he sees videos of me playing - that's why I'm getting through so many damned picks, and V-picks simply aren't hard enough, but that's what it's for! I put it in the case as soon as I'm done playing, so the risk of damage is as minimal as it can be. I also have insurance, because I really can't afford to replace it, but I'll be damned if it's going to sit at home while I play something else out in front of people - that just goes completely against the grain for me.

I think the builders on here should probably listened to, though, rather than some grindcore monkey like me (is grindcore what we are? I really don't know).

Roo