how much gear is too much?

[jaredrutledge]

i am bored at work and was thinking - where do all of you think the line is between having good gear and having too much gear? can you have too much?

i see a lot of value in picking a guitar / amp combo that works well and sticking with it. i can't wait to get my three channel TR over here in february and rock out. i've got a 97 american standard strat with a maple fretboard, and frankly, i can't really imagine playing anything else. might get some kind of double cut with humbuckers one day, but my strat is my main axe and i've had it for almost ten years.

where do you draw the line? discuss

 

[Charlie]

I think anything more than 5-6 guitars and 3-4 amps is starting to go overboard.

With that said... I have more than 5-6 guitars and 3-4 amps!!!

:wink:

 

[merkinball94]

I have wondered the same thing, but will admit I probably have too much. Here's what I have:

Electric Guitars:
Fender Jazzmaster '62 AVRI Surf Green
Fender Mustang '65 CIJ Reissue Daphne Blue
Gibson Les Paul Custom Heritage Cherry Sunburst
Fender Jaguar '66 CIJ Reissue Sonic Blue
Gibson Explorer Black
Fender Jaguar '62 AVRI 3-Tone Sunburst
Gibson RD Artist 1978 3-Tone Sunburst
Fender Jaguar '66 MIJ Reissue Blonde
Fender Mustang '69 CIJ Reissue Sonic Blue

Electric Basses:
Fender Mustang Bass Reissue Vintage White

Acoustic Guitars:
Martin D-15 Mahogany

Pedals:
Boss DS-1
Boss DS-2
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi
Electro Harmonix Small Clone
Electro Harmonix Polychorus
Ibanez Tubescreamer 9
Maxon Sonic Distortion 9
Tech 21 SansAmp Classic
ProCo Rat 2

Guitar Amps:
Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp
Mesa/Boogie Simulclass 295 Stereo Power Amp
Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier (2 channel)
Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King II
Fender '65 Reissue Twin Reverb

Guitar Cabinets:
Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Rectifier cabinet

Bass Amps:
Ampeg B-100R

 

[jaredrutledge]

next year, my rig will be as follows -

97 fender american standard strat
electro-harmonix stereo memory man w/ hazarai
mxr super comp
daphon tubescreamer OD
2000 TR three channel
whatever 2x12 i can get used in sydney

i'd like to get a guitar with buckers at some point, but i reckon that'll do me

 

[phyrexia]

"My guitar collection is only a couple guitars away from being complete..."

 

[boof]

I draw the line at what I can afford.


1. How much can you afford? if it is out of your budget then it is already out of the question.

2. What are you doing? Jamming out to your favorite Rush tunes at home? or
playing decent size gigs a few times every week? "Alex, Ill take over kill for
$500" "What is 10 Marshall stacks in an 800 sq foot apartment?"

3. technical If you are playing decent size gigs and you come to the party
with one guitar that would be putting all your eggs in one basket.

4. Warm Fuzzies. "honey! come look at this new PRS private stock modern
eagle i just bought for only 10,000$! don't touch it! just look at it. yes......."
Better example, Have you ever counted the number of pairs of shoes your
girlfriend/wife/sister have in their closet?


Side note; I have noticed that no matter how much planing on paper I do
to figure out what need/want in reality it never ends up like that and at the
end of the day it comes down to getting what it is you want and playing
around with it to figure out if it fits into what your goal is. you might very
well find yourself selling off stuff that you thought was perfect.

 

[Areola]

I'd be happy with 6 guitars. All the same. 2 set up perfectly to each of my 3 tunings. That would be all I'd ever need.

Amps wise, I'm pretty damned happy with my Mesa Collection. The only addition I'd like would be a Recto Recording Pre. I'd like some Orange gear though.

 

[TheBlackman]

i was thinking the topic header was a joke! anyone know the punchline?

btw, never ask your wife this question...we've probably all got too much in their eyes lol!

 

[Areola]

bah... my girlfriend is a drummer who likes guitar and bass.

i was going to sell my Dual Recto to free up some money, but she said "and what amp will I have to play on??"

Goldmine girlfriend.

 

[eltrain858]

that much :arrow:

(4nkam's rig from the post your rig thread :shock: )

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I would (and do) draw the line at having too much gear to play frequently. If one of my guitars or amps goes unplayed for a month, it usually gets sold.

 

[jaredrutledge]

I would (and do) draw the line at having too much gear to play frequently. If one of my guitars or amps goes unplayed for a month, it usually gets sold.

that sounds like a decent rule of thumb imo

 

[jtb226]

i agree. that does sound like a pretty good rule of thumb.


i'm hoping to get to that excessive amount of gear starting soon. right now, i play pretty much everything i have, as i gig regularly. here's the rundown...everything with a * i play live

Electric Guitars:
*Gibson Les Paul DC Standard
*Epiphone Slash Signature Les Paul (hot rodded - my first serious electric and i still have it )
*Epiphone Les Paul Standard (backup)
Fender Telecaster '69 Reissue

Acoustic Guitars:
'71 Gibson J-45 (my dad and i bought it as a collector)
Ovation Pinnacle Deluxe

Amps:
*Mesa 3 channel DR
Vox AD30VT (practice)
Peavey Audition 110

Cabs:
*2 Mesa Recto 4x12's (w/ side armor) (play 1 live)

Effects/other:
*Samson Airline 77 wireless
*Boss TU-2
*Boss RV-5
*Boss CE-5
*Boss TR-2
*Boss DD-5
*Boss NS-2
*Dunlop Mr. Crybaby Super

*Pedal Pad MPS-XL pedal board


I have other PA gear too, but i also DJ and use some of it when we don't have a soundman. I wouldn't say my list of gear is excessive at all, simply because I put it to use very often. I'd actually like to add a PRS to the collection (maybe sell the Tele) and pick up a reliable backup amp for live purposes.

I would say it gets excessive when you don't play things enough to enjoy them, or you have them and simply just look at them. My dad and I bought the vintage Gibson acoustic as a collector, but I still play it in my bedroom all the time (it has an amazing sound to it).

 

[Vigo1999]

IMO if you gear worths more than you car, you're over the top. (if you're not professional, of course)

actually, checking again, i have more $$ stuck in gear than on my car. :shock:

im out of here . . .

 

[jtb226]

haha. imo, my gear is more important to me than my car (in most respects)

 

[masque]

the question is simple for me to answer. this is my life and I intend to enjoy it. I have responsibilites to my wife and family to provide not only today but to have some financial stability in the future as well. If I can afford to buy nice gear and still provide for my family then I have no problem with having very nice and expensive gear.

if my gear habit effects my ability to pay bills or fix my car when something unexpected happens then I am going to far.

i have friends that enjoy fishing....they buy $30,000 bass boats and of course have to have a $30,000 truck to haul the boat around....pay $4 a gallon to run the boat on the lake and spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars buying fishing equipment and tackle....the same can be said for people that golf, ride dirt bikes, enjoy exotic vacations etc.....we all spend our "disposable" income in ways that to others may not make sense. I personally would never spend $30k plus on fishing equipment but I would not blink an eye top spend that on music gear if able.

i remember a few years back my dad was highly criticizing me for finding out that back in the mid 90's i paid around $2500 for a PRS custom 22.....he told me that was outrageous etc.......a "black hole" etc....i then calmly pointed out to him that not only have I enjoyed playing that guitar every day of my life for the past ten years but I still own it and it still has considerable value that could be liquidated if necessary.....AND that other than the inital $2500 layout I've spent less than $100 per year for new strings, maintenace and repair during the time I have owned it. Then on the other hand I pointed to him that he has spent roughly $3000-$4000 per year on cigerettes with nothing but a real nasty cough to show for it. It was pretty much the end of our conversation and proved my point on how people will choose different things to spend their money on...mine is gadgets and gear!

 

[metal190]

Yeah - it's all relative. A guy who sucks at guitar and can't hear the difference between a $50 Behringer and a $2000 Boogie really doesn't have much business wasting money on the Boogie. Although a person's financial situation can change everything. If he's earned his millions, he's got a right to buy one. And on the other hand if Yngwie went broke, I'd still tell him to splurge on whatever gear he could afford.

 

[DeFrag]

I'm slowly building a bedroom studio & don't mind all the gear. I do my homework & buy the right thing the first time. I tend to overbuy just a bit in feature-set so I can grow into it as my needs & experience progresses. But I NEVER skimp on quality & eat Ramen if I have to save money & buy what I want. There's so much to dabble around with as I see myself as a cross between an engineer & musician.

 

[metal190]

Well put, Defrag. +1. Over the last year or so I've come to care as much about tweaking and sound engineering as just rockin on the guitar. I find that spending the time and money on the former makes the latter more enjoyable. And yeah, nothing sucks worse then spending $500 and 6 months down the road realizing that you really need some of those features found in the $700 version, you just didn't realize it yet.

 

[Shep]

quote

"When music is your life. There can be no price.."

-Tom Shepherd