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Aloha_Mark

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Dec 15, 2011
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495
I've been reading the thread about buying before trying, and I have to admit that I have done even worse. Buying and not trying. Suppose you have more than one piece of gear arrive in a week. Other than checking for physical damage, I may put one guitar aside, and just play the other. After two years, a Gretsch Falcon has still not been plugged in and checked out. With a manufacturer's lifetime guarantee, there is no need to check out the electronics. Also, big box hollowbody guitars don't excite me at the moment. So many guitars, so little time. All time record for never plugging in a piece of equipment is 20 years: a Sansamp preamp still sits in its original box. At least six sets of pickups have never seen the tip of a soldering iron. Mea culpa.
 

Ryan Givhan

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Apr 13, 2009
Messages
3,220
let me be the first to say that you are free to do what you want with your money, but coming from me (a non collector) it seems a little ridiculous. why would you not even try it? you must have gear flooding in to not even try the thing over the course of 2 years. why buy things that you clearly dont want?

once again i know why, because you can and you wanted to. if i were you i would go down to the local music store and find a kid that needs a good guitar, and deserves one, and give him one!
 

tdarian

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 25, 2008
Messages
3,575
Whatever serves you in your life. At least guitars don't spoil or go bad, like food.
 

reswot

Active member
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Jan 22, 2004
Messages
3,295
if i were you i would go down to the local music store and find a kid that needs a good guitar, and deserves one, and give him one!

Easy to say; harder to do. You have no idea what you'd do if you were him -- because you're not him. Who knows why he does this? He might not even know, himself.

I could say that it sounds strange, but I have several guitars that I don't regularly play -- some have not been played in years.

It's not a big deal. He's not hoarding necessities and keeping them out the hands of people who need them. There are plenty of guitars to go around.
 

John Potter

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
430
I, too, have been guilty of buying 'just because'...

I finally decided to sell a bunch of stuff and move things around so that everything I have is out in the open and I can now play everything easily.

Next step will be to discover those items 'out in the open' that are just gathering dust...

I don't feel guilty about it... by buying, I helped support the music industry. I feel more foolish about it because I could have spent/saved the money...

With regards to kids in music stores... get a part-time job and save up, you'll appreciate the fact that you had to sweat to get that first guitar AND first-guitars nowadays are a heck of a lot better than first-guitars when I was growing up!
 

MikeSlub

Administrator
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
15,166
Wow Mark!

As you know, I have WAY too many guitars, but I always play new ones when they arrive for at least a week. And one of my joys is rotating through ALL of them (playing them) by pulling another one out every few days on a scheduled basis. Same thing with my amps. I have the joy of "rediscovering" many of them this way, as well as to determine those which ones (perhaps) should be sold to a new owner who can appreciate them more than I do. :hank
 

ch willie

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Joined
Jun 7, 2007
Messages
1,114
Look, some guys pay tens of thousands for motor cycles or boats. Some people spend a fortune on this or that. The point is, the man's invested in musical equipment, which is durable and will outlast most cars. On the grand scheme of things, having a $2000+ guitar sitting around is not a crime against humanity.
 
Y

yeti

Guest
I've been reading the thread about buying before trying, and I have to admit that I have done even worse. Buying and not trying. Suppose you have more than one piece of gear arrive in a week. Other than checking for physical damage, I may put one guitar aside, and just play the other. After two years, a Gretsch Falcon has still not been plugged in and checked out. With a manufacturer's lifetime guarantee, there is no need to check out the electronics. Also, big box hollowbody guitars don't excite me at the moment. So many guitars, so little time. All time record for never plugging in a piece of equipment is 20 years: a Sansamp preamp still sits in its original box. At least six sets of pickups have never seen the tip of a soldering iron. Mea culpa.

Is there any method to your "madness" or are you just buying stuff? Just curious.
 

frazettafan

New member
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
4,072
I'm guilty of doing a helluva lot of 'trying with absolutely no intention of buying'……..

Which one is worse?
 
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Aloha_Mark

New member
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Messages
495
Is there any method to your "madness" or are you just buying stuff? Just curious.

Lots of reasons. One of my relatives decided to study recording engineering, and wants to set up a studio. What better idea than to buy a modern version of one of the classic guitars of all time.

It's big, fat and bold; and with its gold sparkle accents, makes a statement like no other guitar. The Gretsch White Falcon has been used since the dawn of rock and roll for its distinctive sound and flash appeal. Past and current players of this guitar are The Edge of U2, Pete Townsend of the Who, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Chet Atkins, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Robert Smith of the Cure, and the two who probably made it one of the most famous guitars in rock: Stephen Stills and Neil Young. This guitar can be heard on countless recordings by Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield and later with Crazy Horse. Its distinctive fat and round sound and endless feedback abilities make it the choice for guitarists who value a unique and classic sound.
What studio would be complete without a Rickenbacker 12-string, 6-string, and a few Rick basses? I do not believe that a Fractal Audio Systems or Line 6 processor can make a Gibson Les Paul sound like a Gretsch, Fender Telecaster, or Rick.

The trouble with modern life is interrupts. Be you a lawyer, surgeon, broker, architect, engineer, or even a practicing musician, emergencies pop up. Then you have to travel on business. Annoying people call you on the phone, and relatives and friends drop by. I have scheduled the untried Falcon and the Wampler Red Dirt pedal for a vacation day in the future. Think about The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and how our lives are ruled by distractions. To earn enough money to afford a good guitar, you slave away at work. At home, should you reach that destination, your family imposes its demands. And then, there are these forums, which detour you into the endless study of your very hobby, one that is supposed to make you happy, but causes you to worry about unanswerable questions, like is one guitar better than another, due to age, wood, or mojo dust? Last, but not least, there is that evil Ebay site, which offers up treasures more tempting than Salome.
 

Stevedenver

Active member
Joined
Jul 17, 2001
Messages
2,565
aloha...its true and I get it

and, I know what it is to not always have the time, yet to have the fantasy

-its not unlike wearing clothing that reflects where you'd rather be or rather be doing-like wearing your hiking clothes on the weekend, when you're in the office working a trial brief......
 

6950whead

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
337
let me be the first to say that you are free to do what you want with your money, but coming from me (a non collector) it seems a little ridiculous.

I suspect the guy employed at the manufacturing facility that made those products would disagree. As would the guy selling hamburgers to the workers at that plant....and company that supplies the hamburger meat. You get the idea.

To the OP, I say thanks for stimulating the economy and helping to provide jobs. Thanks also for being the kind of collector that ensures years from now we have unmolested examples of guitars to drool over.

I see nothing ridiculous with any voluntary transaction between adults. Nothing.
 
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