An easy justification is for recording purposes. Different guitars yield different tones. Sometimes, you want a really good neck single coil sound. You ain't gettin' that from an RG550, even with an HFH in the neck.

And also, personally, I like my RGT3120. I play it the most in my house. But when I'm somewhere jamming with friends, I like to bring a hardtail- easier to tune to others, don't need to worry about string breakage and restringing, alternate tunings, etc.

If you're in a gigging band, it's even easier to justify owning nearly identical guitars for backup purposes.

-Ben

 

It really sort of depends on what you do. My tastes and styles in music vary greatly, and combine that with a over-developed sense of "if I want it, I just get it" and you wind up with several guitars to cover many tonal bases. An RG never cuts it as a surrogate strat so, want a strat...go get a strat.

Right now I've got the Taylor 714CE, UVPWH, J-C 1680, RG-Art, Strat and a nylon classical deal. About the only thing I can't cop is a hollow body tone and a 12 string acoustic (next on the list).

So I justify multiples because each of these guitars is unique in tone. The most similar stylistically are the 1680 and the Art, but the Art is basswood while the 1680 is mahogany...and it's got the single coil. Some folks just like one sound and collect everything that gets them that sound, and that's cool too...

 

For a while I had two guitars. One 7-string, and one six string. Now as soon as my order with Carvin comes through I'll have only one, but man, what a nice guitar it's going to be! :lol:

 

Now as soon as my order with Carvin comes through I'll have only one, but man, what a nice guitar it's going to be! :lol:

See, I wish I could get back to that. I don't think I ever could. It's like once you open Pandora's box, no going back.

 

i like the idea of having different guitars for different sounds and feels - live or in the studio. i also learn a lot about what i really like as you can only road test one in the store in small doses and i can play the one i own thru any combo of amps and uses at any time for comparison to other guitars.
i started with one main axe when i found jemsite (Strat USA Plus '91), two acoustics, a Stingray 4 string bass (sweet!) and my first guitar i ever bought myself - Charvel Model 4 '89. now over 2 years later i'm somewhere around 21 guitars including a bass (Stingray went bye - bye ) and a Tacoma acoustic. 8O
i have learned soooo much in this process about guitars (pups, woods, frets, necks, setneck vs bolt-on and even about different strings that i prefer. the strings just kinda fall in the mix as you are constanly changing them on sooo many guitars.
i have fallen in love w/ mahogany neck and body, tune a matic bridge and Seymour JB and '59 combo in the guitar. i wouldn't have a clue as how "I" feel about this combo w/out having had lots of time to play it thru my set up.
i have bought guitars and even though they sounded and felt awesome at the store - i get home and they sometimes don't have the same vibe i fell in love with at the store.
owning lots of guitars is a process rather than an event. it gets expensive to buy one only to take a hit re-selling it if it doesn't have a sound or feel you're looking for. because you go thru these trials w/ sooo many different guitars, when you do come across the right ones - you know it is for real. kinda like dateing :?
i'm starting to learn some of the things that makes a quality guitar for my tastes and style of playing but there are so many others i haven't tried - so back into GASland i go!! :wink:

 

For myself I see no reason needed to justify having a bunch of different guitars as long as they're just that--different guitars. If I had duplicates of the same model then I think it would be time to have a talk with myself in the back room :wink:

 

As long as you can afford´em and have room for´em I don´t see any reason why you should have to justify having lotsa guitars. Isn´t that what we all want?
8O :wink:

 

As long as you can afford´em and have room for´em I don´t see any reason why you should have to justify having lotsa guitars. Isn´t that what we all want?
8O :wink:

Yeah, of course, but having is something else than wanting. Sometimes just wanting is better. :wink:

I now own two electrics and one accoustic, with one electric I started and is rather crappy (LP-copy) compared to the new electric (Ibz J-C S540). I will keep them both to have different guitars, for different tones, floating/nonfloating bridge etc.etc.etc.. :arrow:

But I don't see any use in buying 3 of the same guitars unless you need them as backups on stage. I think even if they all had different pups it makes no sense. :roll:

 

"I have learned sooo much in this process about guitars..." - screamndemon69

That's a good point I hadn't thought of. I never would have got to this one I like so much had I not purchased all of the others. With each of the guitars there were problems that I had to fix myself, so I learned (like you said) about many different things. Thanks, I don't feel as bad now!

 

"I have learned sooo much in this process about guitars" - screamndemon69

That's a good point I hadn't thought of. I never would have got to this one I like so much had I not purchased all of the others. With each of the guitars there were problems that I had to fix myself, so I learned (like you said) about many different things. Thanks, I don't feel as bad now!

It's all part of the search for the holy grail...ehh, sorry axe.

 

Also, having different guitars that speak to you in different ways help to open up creatively. I am convinced that I play differently when I've got a strat versus when I'm holding the UV or the Art. Each guitars' tone influences what comes out of my hands...I guess more to the point of having guitars that sound different.

 

I have one guitar that i use (RG1550), but have another guitar which is crap and useless.
I'll buy a 2nd RG550 as a backup guitar, and I'd like a heavy set neck guitar for recording as it'll have better sustain for some solos

 

If I had duplicates of the same model then I think it would be time to have a talk with myself in the back room :wink:

What about having a backup for your main guitar? That woudl justify two totally (okay, nearly totally) identical guitar!

 

Now as soon as my order with Carvin comes through I'll have only one, but man, what a nice guitar it's going to be! :lol:

See, I wish I could get back to that. I don't think I ever could. It's like once you open Pandora's box, no going back.

Actually, I think unless you're a working pro, Pandora's box detracts you from actually playing the stuff that you own. For me simplicity is key. I've been through the "rack" phase and found I spend more time tweaking my rack than actually playing. With multiple guitars it would be pretty much the same thing. Having a 7-month old kid to look after I don't have much time to play my guitar. So whenever I do have time, I'd rather spend it playing. So give me a tube combo and one 6-string guitar any day.

 

HA! Having only played 2 years i only have 2 guitars: My first strat copy I got for my 14th and my B.C. Rich body-art assasin. (Really under-rated, I set mine up myself from a book and now whenever i go into a guitar shop that doesn't carry 'high-spec' models *such as JEMs haha* i find myself wanting mine!) My first guitar i lent to my best friend and he's learning on that, but it's such a heap of junk, the tuning goes flat while you're playing! Eternal frustration for him! But since i've just got a pretty well-paying part time job, i'm spoiling myself and getting a JEM7VWH for christmas hehe. And a peavey 5150II... I think half the pleasure of things is in the anticipation, so i'm kinda glad i can't jsut go into a store and say 'Okay, today i want THAT guitar...' But I definately think i'm gonna have as much gear as I can fit in my room! Hell, i'm 16 and completely guitar mad, so what else am i gonna spend my bucks on? :?:

 

If you can afford them. fine. Thats the way to justify having multiple guitars.

I dont own two guitars od the same model, but most of them are similar guitars (all of them are double locking electric guitars). I dont own a single guitar that I dont like for a particular reason. :wink:

 

The only time I've ever had a hard time justifying a bunch of guitars is a couple of years ago when I was up to about 38. Most of those were J-Customs or JEMs that were great to look at but never actually got played. I really don't have too much difficulty having the 2 dozen or so that I've got now though. If you can afford them and enjoy having them, then there's no need to justify them

 

Thats exactly my point. I agree with vaijem. I can understand peoples theory when they say "you only need 1 or 2", but if you can afford more and you generally like collecting guitars, I say why not. Everyone needs hobbies, so why not make guitars one of them!

There are a million different ways to look at it though!

 

I don't smoke...

If I calculate the avarage amount of money a day that I have spend in 10 years of music playing it is less than a pack of cigarettes!

 

grant you, I own 29 guitars of different brands and styles.
I play every day, shows on weekends, plus work a day job, and have time for my wife and 2 yr old daughter. Hey! I don't need more guitars, I need more time!

My real answer is each guitar is an individual. They have wonderful little nuances compared to each other, and I like to use them whenever I can.
PLUS>>>>> a return on my investment in about 30 years will<hopefully> be well worth it.

 

Apart from the "I have enough free cash" type arguements, I've found that as I have very little time and spend a lot of my playing time playing along to records, so it's handy to have a guitar in standard E tuning, one in Eb, one in drop D, one in etc etc etc.

I also simply enjoy owning them, which is why I like to have several.

At the moment I'd a few years behing Chris (perhaps) in that all mine are Ibanez rock guitars, all the sounds I like, I can make so I'm happy just to change the tunings (and the colours )

 

I hear both arguements. Though it depends on who you are. If you're a serious gigging musician with gigs every couple of days, I can totally understand having duplicate backups (i.e. Evo/Flo/EvoII). Then again, if you're a collector, I can definately understand wanting to get a whole bunch of pretty ones (I still have yet to get myself an FP). But if you're doing the simple thing, I find having two guitars is more than fulfilling. I have a FR guitar and a hardtail, and I take both of them to all my practices and gigs as well as here at home. It's because they're different, yes. The RG is more of a rock guitar and for performance, it would look wrong to play jazz with a 1988 RG550 RF (roadflare red). My Schecter is a much more conservative guitar and has great clean tones, but it also has some wonderful crunch tones as well. So I take both for two reasons: they're different and if I break a string, I have my trusty hardtail to back me up. Since I'm poor, I have the hardtail coil tapped that way I can get it sounding like a tele. In the same way, I can get the RG sounding like a strat and I can get everything I'm looking for in two convenient packages. So for me, two is more than enough, although I'd like to eventually get a 7-string and a jazz guitar. But 4 guitars is still very practical.

 

i think most of the best points about multiple guitars have been made here.
for me, guitars and playing is a PASSION and channels into therapy for my soul.
if i'm not playing them, selling them (that's my day job), teaching them (also my day job), i'm home working on them or reading (mostly jemsite) about them.
it's who i am and what i do.
if i didn't have guitars in my life - i'd be pretty lost. sad but true.
since i was 13yrs old (now 33), music has been a HUGE part of me.
these last few years i have made music/guitars into my means to an income and i choose to spend most of it on gear/guitars. some people buy cars, i buy guitars. :wink:

 

i'm with jono that i like to have guitars in multiple tunings.
i have one in standard, one in 1/2 step down, and one in d...covers all my hair rock needs...lol

 

My main guitar is a Les Paul standard, which i justify cause i love it, but it's an expensive guitar and therefore i need to have another guitar for everyday practice abuse. it also only has 22 frets and no trem.
Therefore i need a guitar with a trem and a full set of frets so here is guitar number two an RG550, now those two are great but i also like single coil pick ups and strat noises so i bought a strat to cover that, then the reasoning gets thiner you see i've got an SG special because it looks good on me and then theres the 3rd of my learner guitars (after a vox les paul copy and a squier strat) The Jackson PS2 which i took to pieces scraped all the paint off,covered with dalmation fur (fake dalmation fur), changed the electrics to just the one humbucker and a volume knob (that doesn't work) which i keep around because well - who in their right mind would buy such a monstrosity !