Acquisition Syndrome . . . or Crisis?

[Steve Ostrander]

Funny but if you live where I live I swear the roads are the worst ever and I've been in and drove in many states!

Everyone knows that Michigan is the pothole capitol of the world. The local paper has a "biggest pothole" contest. Similar to a biggest pumpkin contest, only a pumpkin won't destroy your car.

[William Smith]

Michigan may have bad roads also but I've never went through so many tires in my life, in the past 10 years I pry could've bought a new car with all the $$ spent on tires broken belts, sidewall holes etc...

[stevedenver]

I too seem to find, when im focused on making music, one instrument that i love and know is perfect. Everything else is a distraction from the task of making music. Lots of time with an instrument is essential, imho.

For decades, i had 1 acoustic and 1 electric guitar. One mandolin, an F, for almost my first ten years of playing (again after a very long hiatus).


There is another part of me. One that loves beauty. And another part that is sparked by forums and books, and from which i get an insatiable curiosity. This happened when i revisted electrics, Les Pauls, and began to study them (pompous word but true). I so wanted to know first hand differences in pick ups, woods, etc, that because many guitars were not available for a test drive, i simply bought a few from different decades, models, odd balls, slowly, to learn.

There is this aspect to GAS (despite playing, and music), the instrument itself; wood, frets, inlay, finish, necks etc that fascinates me. Perhaps because i used to build dreds and lutes as a young teen and into college.

Being on this forum caused me to buy three more mandolins than i need or merit. But again, i learned a great deal from doing so. And, i love them all. Different, not better, per se.

Like fat dad, though, as i get a bit broader in the brain, i find certain things less important than they once were to me. But the instrument i play is part of me and in a sense, a refelction of me. What i value.

I can say, i have not found any instrument in which there isnt some aspect i like or appreciate, low cost or otherwise.

I like my Rigel A almost as much as my boutique Fs,.........go figure.

And, there is the bourgeois pig in me...........ill admit, once Every few years , there is a short lived rush with a new instrument.

[gweetarpicker]

Jay Wright wrote an amusing and sometimes telling book called " GAS Living with Guitar Acquisition Syndrome" in which he surveyed many players and collectors about their buying habits. One of the questions he asked everyone was "If you could reasonably and comfortably afford it, what would be the ideal size of your instrument collection?" 5% of folks said 1 to 3 instruments, 30% said 4 to 6, 21% said 7 to 10, 23% said 11 to 20, 8% said 21 to 30, 4% said 31 to 50 and 13% said more than 50. I'm not sure if his survey responses are truly representative of all pickers since his focus was on GAS. Still though, the results show the majority would have ten or less instruments.


www.vintagefrettedinstruments.com

[Eric Platt]

With me, it's not so much that I have too many instruments, but rather that I've gone through too many instruments over the years. In fact, it was a running joke on Flatpick-L that I had at least one different acoustic guitar every month for a few years. In part for trying different "flavors". And in part because the jam I was part of at the time was so large that no guitar I tried was loud enough to be heard.

Thing is, on both guitars and mandolins, if I had just never been swapping around and trading, probably could have afforded something "good" by now. Then again, my first decent acoustic, a 1992 Martin D-16H was probably a good enough stopping point and I never should have moved on from it.

The bigger problem that I had or still have, is getting rid of instruments that in hindsight I should have kept. Not that they were worth much in the way of monetary value, but I would be a better musician if I hadn't kept chasing "something."

FWIW, even now, I have some regrets about getting my Breedlove. Yes, I love it and play it a ton. But for the musical direction I'm currently going, the Gibson A Jr. is good enough.

[fatt-dad]

the correct size of my instrument collection is not the same thing as the size of my instrument holdings.

f-d

[Mandobar]

If you don't want massive MAS don't go into the Music Emporium. They have a Gil A right now (although I think it is going out on approval this week), and a new Girouard A5.........it's dangerous to live within a hour from that place. Gotta love the selection though.

[Reinhardt]

I have a ton of instruments, bouzoukis, mandolins, tenor guitars, ukuleles, dulcimer, guitars oh yeah and a Charango with the hair of the armadillo still attached to the shell!!

My dream is to win the lottery ( a big one ) and go to Carters and Gruhn in Nashville and clean them out of their Gilchrists, Duffs, Dudenbostels and Loars. Then I'll order a few bouzoukis off Nigel Forster, Andy Tobin and Stefan Sobell!! You can never have enough instruments!! Hmmmmm... Cant wait to go to sleep tonight!!!!

Anyone know a good psychiatrist??

John

[Br1ck]

If you don't want massive MAS don't go into the Music Emporium. They have a Gil A right now (although I think it is going out on approval this week), and a new Girouard A5.........it's dangerous to live within a hour from that place. Gotta love the selection though.

See my recent thread on Gryphon. I limit myself, or try, to quarterly visits, and I don't ask to try the high end stuff.

[PugetPicker]

For me, my instrument acquisition is always a process with an end clearly in mind. I am always looking for my lifetime instrument for each that I play. But at the same time, I also want a starter instrument (usually low end intermediate level) to learn with to make sure it is something that I want to stick with before I truly invest. For mandolins, I started with a Big Muddy and upgraded to a Collings MT2-O. Guitars, seagull to Martin. Banjos, deering goodtime to Enoch Tradesman. I am currently awaiting my fiddle upgrade to a Royce Burt revoiced 5 string. But the key to my process is that I always ALWAYS sell my learner so I am not accumulating. I am always hunting for the keeper, the one I can grow with over the years, and eventually pass along to one of my kids (hopefully if they are interested). I too am helped by thinking "I should learn to play the one I have to fullest abilities first..."

[Kevin Stueve]

I own two Harleys and one Mandolin....and I'm trying to sell one of the Harleys to buy a second Mandolin.

I don't know whether to call my current state a crisis or syndrome....or simply irresponsible???

what kind of Harley