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January 31, 2007

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First of all, this is not a bragging message. I just had to share, and possibly clear up a few things.
But minus one 12-string guitar at a friend's house, and another old broken guitar in a case, this is currently my whole collection.
A friend once told me, "Too many guitars? You can never have TOO many guitars."

Over the years, in my quest for being able to play any instrument and any type of music, I have accumulated a few musical instruments. Now, in that time, I have also maintained that there should be no good, practical reason for anybody to own too many guitars. But it appears as though I have accumulated a few myself, and have contradicted myself. So, after all those questions that every guitar player gets asked, "Why do you need all these guitars?" Let me explain my perspective. Many guitar players can probably look at this picture and totally understand, others might look and say, "Dude, non of those are worth that much money."

Well, true, all of these guitars are pretty much, inexpensive and older models. But they all serve a different purpose. As many musicians collect various different instruments for various different reasons, we all have our own. Some collect them just because they are collector's items, or they just like to have more and more guitars, and quite often, of the same type. However, mine are all quite different, and I am not really in to collecting anything at all. But over the years, by needing this or that, for whatever purpose, I have accumulated a few things. 

So now I'll describe all my guitars, in order of acquisition...

1. "Harmony Patrician" / 6-string acoustic, wood grain. (not pictured) When I was 17 years old, my first guitar was given to me by a friend of my father. It was a very old guitar that his grandmother had given to him, and she got when she was very young. So it was very old and a bit worn out. But to me was the most beautiful thing in the world. Years later, in a fit of rage, and out of spite, my ex-wife destroyed it into splinters on the sidewalk in front of our house. What's left of it now resides in a case as a reminder.

2. "Mateo" / 12-string acoustic, wood grain. (not pictured) My second was actually my first purchase. Fascinated with the sound of a 12-string guitar I saved money and , after layaway, bought one for $145 from a local music store. A cheap brand, "Mateo". But it was pretty and new and sounded great. That was in 1983. Since then it still looks practically new, but the neck has developed a crack and is now at a friend's house. With the neck problem it doesn't handle all 12 strings any more, but works great as a 6-string, and with a nice wide neck makes it a nice guitar, and it still sounds awesome.

3. "Memphis" / 6-string electric, Les Paul copy, black. (second to last in the row) In joining a band back in the late 80's I had the need for an electric guitar so I purchased the Memphis, very used, from a pawn shop. It has a great sound but has the strangest problem with the G-string easily going out of tune. The band never played out anywhere and eventually broke up. Or "dis-banded". 

4. "Fender" / 6-string acoustic electric, black. (last on) After picking up and playing keyboards as my main instrument for many years I didn't get another guitar for some time. After all, I had an electric and an acoustic, so I found no need for any more. But after I moved to Virginia, in 1997, I found a desire to pick up the guitar again and possible record some parts. An acoustic with an electric pickup in it was a good option.

5. "Vicente Torres" / 6-string classical, wood grain. (#3) When I purchased the Fender I also saw this one and had to get it. I'd always wanted a classical guitar so I got it was well. With the nylon strings it has that soft mellow tone and is great for finger style playing. Although I soon realized that I was growing more and more comfortable with picking up the classical when just playing around the house, (softer strings). Eventually I was losing my calluses and it was making it more difficult to play my other guitars.

6. "Samick Fairlane" / electric bass, black. (#5) Always wanting to learn as many instruments as I could, and needing it for various tracks in some of my recordings, I decided to get one. I also thought that too much of my music was sounding a bit stale and heartless with a keyboard bass in the recordings. I got this one at a very good price while I was working at a music store. 

7. "Fender Squier Stratocaster" / 6-string electric, wood grain. (#4) When moving to Arizona in 2004, and leaving the Ni River Community Church, my good friend, Mike Wheelehan surprised me with this gift at my last service there. With all the time I struggled with my cheap Memphis, he made the comment that at least the G-string would stay in tune on this one. It's a great guitar and definitely has a different sound and feel than the Memphis and was a perfect addition to my collection.

8. "Yamaha AEX500" / 6-string acoustic electric, black. (#2) After my accident back in March of 2006, I was having difficulty in playing the guitar again and a good friend, Chris Abraham, gave me two of his guitars to work on and hopefully get my abilities back. The Yamaha was one of them, and with it's lighter and thinner frame, is great for being able to put light gauge strings on, making it easier to play. With such a thin body, it doesn't make much sound on it's own, but sounds great through a sound system.

9. "Ibanez Talman" / 6-string acoustic electric, wood grain. (#1) This one, the other guitar from Chris, has turned out to be my favorite. A deeper body, it sounds great without being plugged in, but sounds even better through the amp. It's still much easier to play than my Fender acoustic and has been a great tool in getting me back out in front of the public.

So that's my list of guitars, and hopefully answers all those questions why a musician might need so many guitars. 
What's next? Well, I guess now I might have to explain why I have 6 different keyboards.

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