Good news, bad news.

[Br1ck]

I guess I've been around long enough with a decent amount of prosperity, to have amassed some pretty good instruments. Not really the kind that would generate peer envy of any magnitude, that would really take high four finger expenditures, but plenty good I can walk out of the finest shops without a hint of remorse.

I've got a 65 Epiphone Texan, a 70 Guild D 35, an 80 Martin M36, along with a 00 15 custom and three or four other guitars. For mandolins I have my Silverangel A, a Gibson 1913 A1, and I built a dandy F. Now my peer group has folks with Manzer archtops, multiple Collings and Martin D42s and the like. Several have 25 to 30 instruments in the 5k+ to 25k+ range. I'm really happy for them, but not envious.

They are always telling me you can't take it with you. This week I played a 27 Gibson F5. As an instrument, it was not all that much better than what I've got. Beautiful, yes. Could I afford it? No. But if I really wanted to, I could buy a $6-8,000 mandolin. If I keep playing them, I'll bound to get bit someday. I have learned what it is like to not be able to put an instrument down for two hours, which happens every five to ten years. That is when I have the serious talk with myself.

I have a good friend, retired early because he was a two good income, no kids guy. He constantly buys gear, says it's the best, tires of it, sells it, then on to something new. I think he really likes buying it more than playing it. He's admitted as much and there are worse vices.

As I've climbed the ladder, I've reached a relatively modest level of instrument ownership that I am content with. Am I done? Ask me after two hours fly by with a $6k mandolin in my hands. LOL

Oh, one other thing, my baby I created with a year of loving care, is superior. So I've got the delusion thing down too.

Where are you all in your instrument acquisition journey? Does it jive with reality?

[LadysSolo]

I have a modest but comfortable income (I am still working,) and have been an amateur musician for most of my life (started music lessons on piano at age 9.) I started college as a music major for one year, discovered when out of my home range I was a "little fish in a big pond," which is why I stayed amateur. I have enough of an ear that mediocre instruments are unacceptable. I have 8 guitars (3 classical nylon-string, a 12-string, and 4 steel string,) and in mandos my the Loar LM220, a Pava, a Collings, and a Weber Bitterroot (all A-style, the Weber is oval hole.) I believe that all my instruments are equal to or better than I will ever be able to live up to, and will never hold me back. I will never need anything better. I consider all my instruments mid-level +, and believe it is realistic for me and my abilities. I also play recorder (soprano and alto,) and am teaching myself oboe and violin (and I also have a piano.)

[Mike Scott]

OK, I’ll play. At the tender age of 72, and after reading of the various health issues here and elsewhere I’m in a bit of a quandary over my modest collection of musical instruments. Not to mention a recent head injury from a fall on the ice. I play guitar, mandolin, dobro and Anglo concertina. I am at best an intermediate on all except the dobro. Recently, I’ve been trying to reduce my collection. I’m down 3 instruments in 2 weeks. Due to hand issues my dobro playing days could end tomorrow.

The funny thing is, I am suffering severely from MAS, GAS, DAS, and CAS. ��. The reduction of instruments is because no one else in my family plays anything and therefore would have no idea where or how to sell off my stuff in the event of my untimely demise. So, could I afford a more expensive mandolin or guitar or concertina? Sure, but what’s the point? I’ll still suck. I mainly play for my own enjoyment and attend the occasional jam, so I’m good to go with my current “quiver”........although the various “X”AS’s continue to gnaw at me.

[EdHanrahan]

Br!ck, you sound VERY familiar! Your array of instruments (and station in life: 2 decent incomes, no kids) is not much different from mine: '90s Flatiron F, '17 A-1, Stromberg-Voisinet, and '49 Martin A are the mandolins worth mentioning. Some other Martins: D-35s ('72 & a '68 12-string), custom shop 00-28, '56 tiple. Also a Rick 370 12-string, Mexican & Am-Deluxe Telecasters, '90s Fender P-Bass Lyte. A Kamaka uke!

The REAL funny thing -in this context- is that I love trying out stuff in music shops (I do miss Stan Jay!), but rarely end up salivating. When I do and get home, or worse yet re-visit with mine for a comparison, I most often decide that I'm way happy with what I already have. Go figure!

The last instrument that I truly lusted over was a used Huss & Dalton slope-shoulder version of a D-18. Not so expensive that I couldn't buy it, but so pristine that I'd not take it anywhere, as I do with everything else. I'm one of those "They're meant to be played!" kind of folks.

[Br1ck]

Let me be very clear, it is my friend who is the no kids guy. I've spent $200,000 + on college educations, and another $25,000 or so on viola and cello. both my daughters are professional musicians. I live in one of the most expensive areas of the country. What I spend on housing would buy me a Collings MF 5 every three months. While I'll never be free and clear with my house, I could sell it and pay cash for something very nice elseware, but why would I want to be far from my grandkids?

So I live a modest life, free from second homes, car payments, etc. I've never had a boring day of retirement. I like to camp, grow stuff and play music, and read, plus live with three to eight dogs. We have three and foster. I have 70 year old friends scared to death to retire because they have 3500 sq ft. houses for two people, fine wine habits and a half paid for Porsche in the driveway they don't drive. To each his own.

I do have a plan to sell off a bunch of electric guitars, PA stuff that's too heavy, and I have a bunch of nice tube audio amps, turntables, etc. Since I built my Bottlehead Stereomour amplifier andrenovated my Thorens TD 124 turntable, Everything else is collecting dust. Shopping with that kind of cash would be fun.

I'm going for quality over quantity these days, but I find it hard to part with guitars I've owned for two or three decades. I never have been a flipper. What I have been doing is practicing with discipline, and I now have a teacher who is a friend I've given gear to, so what has gone around is coming around.

Plus a puppy we are fostering is coming home. This sweetest of creatures, it seems she growls and snarls at strangers. : )

[allenhopkins]

A while ago, I estimated that I owned 75 stringed and reed instruments, ranging from quite desirable to quite ordinary. I "justified" the accumulation by buying them with funds I made playing music; I get about 200 gigs annually, most <$100 but some more.

Now I've hit age 75, retired with a decent civil service stipend, house and cars paid off, two kids self-sufficient. I'm realizing that I need to get some of the instruments I own back into circulation -- but there are still ones I would like to own out there. So I've been trading off some of the less-frequently-played ones to dealers to get ones I covet. I've acquired in the past 18 months two Larson Brothers instruments, a Stahl mando-bass and mandola, and have traded in a '57 Martin D-18 (a real nice one!), Guild F-212XL 12-string from the '70's, a '20's Gibson TG-0 tenor guitar, Eastman DGM-1 mandolin and MDA-615 mandola, '30's Regal tiple -- plus a little cash. So, six instruments out, two in.

Plan to keep this up, to the extent time and resources permit. I love having nice instruments, but I don't need so many, and honestly some have sat unplayed for months and months. It's the busy St. Pat's season, and mando-wise, I've been gigging with my Sobell mandola, Flatiron OM, Strad-O-Lin mandolin, plus of course guitar, banjo and concertina. Five jobs this week, nine next week, keeping me hopping.

I've never been seriously tempted to purchase one of the super-expensive "Holy Grail" instruments -- Lloyd Loar F-5, herringbone D-28, or similar; most I've spent was $4K on a custom built five-course mando from a local luthier. And I try to strictly avoid "churning," with instruments going in and out the door frequently. Others may take a different course: YMMV, as they say.

[Mandobart]

As the pics I've posted before show (see this thread, post #7), I have what my wife and most normal people acknowledge as "too many instruments."

The funny thing is before 10 years ago I only had 3. Then I started playing mandolin which was the gateway to 'dola, OM, 'cello.....and once I became known as "that mando guy" these instruments just threw themselves at me.

I'm real happy with what I have and where I'm at. I've got a great income, no debts, bulging 401k and 457 plus a defined benefit state retirement coming my way in 9 years. I can afford to spend a lot more on more instruments if I were inclined. About the only instruments I'm considering are a real sweet toned round neck reso guitar and maybe an upright bass if I made the space for it.

[catmandu2]

There's no way I could have hung onto everything I've loved. I've had an excellent example of nearly all the instruments I've studied, and still fondly recall and revere erstwhile companions pedal steels, drum kits/cymbals, guitars/banjos, uprights, horns.. I've loved many.

But I feel most fortunate to still have lovely things about me. And I've reached the age where I still have more than I can use.. Turn em loose when they're no longer being used - just healthy ecology.

[Frankdolin]

wow

[pheffernan]

Where are you all in your instrument acquisition journey? Does it jive with reality

I have acquired a collection of instruments that exceeds my needs, abilities, or purposes. After selling off my beloved 1977 Guild D55 (which felt like holding a standup bass under my arm upon taking up the mandolin), I picked up an Oxnard Guild M20 last year for when I occasionally feel like working out a song on the guitar. I still have my Rickenbacker 360 — my first good instrument after a youth spent listening to college radio — and I have a David Newton tenor which deserves more of my time.

Migrating to mandolins, I started on domestic flattops (Mid-Missouri, Flatiron, Gypsy, Redlines) before going vintage (my Gibson) and eventually trying my hand at f-holes (first a Collings MT and a Pava, later a Stanley and a Silverangel). All were bought used, appropriately depreciated, and outside of the Gibson, all have moved on, allowing me to break even while learning a great deal in the process.

I now am left, as my signature suggests, with a modern resonator, a vintage and a new carved oval, a Griffith and a modern A5, a commissioned flattop, an F5, and an octave. I could be convinced that I need a mandola (as I nearly am every time that Gary Vessel lists one), and I wonder what is out there better than my mandolins, how much better there is, and how much that better costs.

At this point, I am not immune to MAS; in fact, I’ve had a hankering to buy an instrument this Spring (as I often do when the tax refund arrives). I nearly bit recently on a torrefied Red Diamond A5 offered at a very attractive price. But I’m leery of adding one more A5 to the collection. No, any next mandolin is going to have to displace a couple of others, which means I’m most likely going to have to play the instrument first and know that it is a clear upgrade. And since I don’t live near Gryphon, or frequent occasions where such a mandolin is likely to be placed into my hands, I sit, wait, and wonder, while enjoying the instruments I am so very fortunate to own.

[Matt DeBlass]

In my early 40s with a low-paying blue collar job and a daughter just entering college, my instrument acquisition journey is more about learning to be happy with what I've got. I've been fortunate enough to get a few good no-frills instruments used and play them out regularly at paying gigs, which bring in a very welcome secondary income.
But while I do occasionally feel a little twinge of MAS, mostly I find myself wishing I had more practice time and that my hands didn't hurt so much from work sometimes.

[HonketyHank]

Step zero of twelve:
Hello, my name is Hank and I am a mandoholic.

[Charles E.]

After years of gradual downsizing ( I once had seven tenor guitars and a few mandolins and tenor banjos ) I am very happy with two tenor guitars, two mandolins and one tenor banjo. The only other mandolin I dream of ,after playing one, is a Heiden F-5. But that will likely never happen.

[Br1ck]

I've also noticed a trend, in that folks who like pristine new instruments tend to flip their cars every two ore three years. Small sample size for sure. Maybe it's feeling you have enough money to buy new and take the depreciation. I love old well loved instruments. Much rather have an old instrument than a new one of equal value. Probably why my house is 1918, and filled with pre 1940 furniture, and we didn't blow out walls for the open concept look when we re did the kitchen. Scrounged reclaimed bricks for walkways, and like cracked concrete. All my stereo is analogue, with tubes in evidence. My preference predates my youth by a generation, generally speaking.

So do you follow the same aesthetic in all your stuff?

[RustyMadd]

When paring down my instrument collection I always set aside one or two instruments to GIVE to another musician or aspiring musician. I had no such benefactor when I was without an instrument to play and so I become that which would've helped me.

There are many who subscribe to targeted acts of generosity and we should remember that there are more options than simply recovering the cash from an instrument. Oh yeah, and in the case of a generous act, you do kinda get to take that with you.

Blessings

[foldedpath]

Ugh, you want the whole messy history? Okay. There have been three main stages in my musical life, leaving aside the foundation of piano lessons and church choir as a kid.

The first one was playing rock drums as a teenager. Then playing acoustic and later electric guitar from my 20's through my late 40's. The last stage started in my 50's, where I swerved into playing Irish/Scottish and related traditional tunes. I fell pretty far down that rabbit hole and I'm still falling.

I started on guitar having to buy cheap used instruments, but the later part of the guitar-focused period was the highest income portion of my life, so I was fortunate to be able to commission several custom guitars. I learned what "quality" meant at the higher levels beyond what you could buy off the rack at a store, and also the pleasure of working with a luthier on something a little out of the ordinary. That led to buying a fairly high-end mandolin when I made the swerve into "fiddle tunes" and eventually fell down the Irish/Scottish trad well. I'm still playing that first mandolin.

After The Big Guitar Sell-Off a few years ago (12 guitars sold), I'm down to the following instruments:

1) The legacy "keeper" guitars -- a custom koa/spruce Santa Cruz FS steel string acoustic, and a custom rosewood/Port Orford Cedar Holst nylon string. The steel string for strummed Irish backing, the nylon string for fingerstyle slower arrangements.

2) The mandolins -- a Lebeda F5 with a redwood top, and a Weber F5 Yellowstone octave mandolin.

3) The new frontier: "Irish" flutes acquired in the last couple of years -- a Windward keyless D in blackwood, and an Aeibi 8-key D in cocus wood.

I sometimes miss my electric guitars. I had some really nice ones. And I sometimes miss the several metal-body 1930's Dobros I used for slide guitar. But there just isn't enough time left (I'm 65) or mental capacity to finish the journey I had started on moving from Blues to Jazz on guitar. Given enough time and practice, I could be a good Jazz player or a good Trad player, but not both. Not at my age.

I've made my choice of genre to focus on, and I'm happy with it. Frankly a big part of that is having a Significant Other who plays fiddle and is deeply into trad music. We have fun playing music together. That wouldn't have happened if I had stuck with Blues and Jazz guitar. The local Jazz scene is also somewhat insular, compared to the wider opportunities for playing in Irish/Scottish sessions. So there's that, as well.

[Randi Gormley]

An interesting thread. All my instruments (except the Rogue and the snake) are mid-level instruments and around or less than $500. Although I love good quality, I'm perfectly happy with second-hand. My furniture is mostly second-hand, my cars are always used, the books I read (minus the occasional gift) are bought at library book sales or from abebooks, which means they're older than I am (i am addicted to novels from 1899 to about 1928) and I only rarely buy high-end clothing. So you can say my mandolins are pretty much in step with my life. I do play the occasional gig for those tens of dollars but even the majority of my time playing out is either for my own entertainment or for the community band I belong to which uses the gig money to put on house concerts and pay the traveling musicians or to support musicians -- help pay for recording CDs or printing music books. I seldom suffer from envy of any kind, i don't even envy the brilliant players I've met or heard who are 30 years younger than I (!), so i don't envy other people their high-end instruments (although I certainly admire them!) or other fancy things. As long as I can enjoy making music on whatever is to hand, I'm pretty much content.

[jim simpson]

I've had some great breaks in acquiring musical instruments. My first good guitar came from a friend who would buy and sell on the side. He sold me a Gibson J50 for about $200.00 and let me pay it off in installments. Later I found a mint Gibson Melody Maker in a pawn shop for $150.00, then a one-year-old P-bass for $100.00. This all happened in the 70's. In the 80's, I picked up a National Steel style 0 guitar for the opening and only bid of $15.00. 10 years later I swapped it for a new Martin D-28. There are more stories but you get the idea. Nice instruments can be had with some luck and patience.

[fredfrank]

I have two mandolins. An older Red Diamond Vintage model, and a brand new Ellis Fern.
I’m done shopping forever.

[JeffD]

I have acquired a collection of instruments that exceeds my needs, abilities, or purposes. .

That happened to me upon the purchase of my second mandolin.

[Br1ck]

Needs, abilities, purpose.

Needs: this could go from none to hundreds. Does one actually need an instrument of any kind? Not needed to sustain life.

Abilities: an instrument does not exceed one's abilities, except perhaps the very cheapest instrument which is beyond anyone's abilities. Those who subscribe to the I am not worthy school of thought, please get over it. Really, flush that misguided thought. If you can play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, there is no reason not to buy a Gilchrist, except inability to pay for it. Don't confuse this with worthiness.

Purpose: a tricky one. A single instrument could cover everything. I'll bet you'd be forgiven if you showed up at a session with a Loar, or an old time jam, or a symphonic concert hall. So purpose as a reason to buy more instruments is a much used justification for one's self and spouse.Dear, I could be getting Irish gigs if I only had an oval hole. Please don't figure the ten years it will take to pay off.

So this pretty much leaves us with want. One would be wise to come to grips with this. Some will want one nice mandolin, others want dozens. This will change over time.

[Denny Gies]

Over the past 40 years I have been fortunate enough to progress as follows:
Mandolins....Auria,Kentucky 1000, Gibson A 1 (1917), Randy Wood F 5, Gibson A 4 1916. Only have the last two now
Guitars.......Giannini, Martin D 28 (mid 70's). Only have the Martin now.
I am a contented old man so far as my instruments go.

[Jim DeSalvio]

Some interesting comments above! I have a "small collection" of acoustic guitars and mandolins. On the guitar side, I have some very nice instruments from Martin, Santa Cruz, Huss & Dalton, and Bourgeois. All of my guitars are in the class of "keepers", and my kids know which ones to hang on to. For mandolins, I have gone with Eastman, a Silverangel A, and a Big Muddy. Have not ventured "upstream', and based on my abilities, most likely will not. An Eastman is all the mandolin I need.

I am at a point now, where just keeping these instruments in fine playing condition, is a fun hobby. I enjoy changing strings, and doing minor set-up work as needed.

Jim D

[yankees1]

Need vs want ! A delimina in the journey of life ! After putting food on the table, providing for your family and putting back for retirement which comes quicker than one thinks, do what you want or need !

[JEStanek]

I'm pretty much done for buying mandolins. I have two that hit all my needs and are better than my abilities (and willingness to practice). I used to hunt around (see my blog posts) but, that's not my thing anymore. I think it's great that people can find happiness of the hunt and in trying lots of new things. Sometimes when I see some of the hunt threads I wonder is the issue the mandolins or the player. My signature says where I'm at.

Jamie