GAS....a good thing?

[avenger]

I think there is a limit fo guitars one should have if you are approaching guitars as a player.

That said everyone is different. Myself I have one six, two sevens, one eight, one classical, one acoustic, one fretless six, one 5 string bass, and of course, one 5 string banjo.

For someone else it could be more or it could be less. For a true collector there is no limit.

 

[Konfyouzd]

^ Agreed

But have you seen how many fuckin' guitars Vai has?

 

[avenger]

^ Well money and free guitars from sponsers also helps!

 

[Dwellingers]

Money makes the world go around, so wtf - why not

 

[Mettle209]

GAS to me is the desire and motivation to play, own, and experience everything guitar at least once. Hey, you only have one life so you might as well devote it to something you love.

 

[dwoodard]

Agree with above comment ^^. Why does it have to be a fad? Not sure it's something the majority do to be "cool," but rather to satisfy an insatiable desire to obtain and collect a wide variety (or maybe the same??) of guitars and musical gear because being a musician is a passion, one that is fueled by experimentation and trying new things, thus collecting more and more gear

 

[ZackP3750]

Alright, got some good feedback here! I only posted this to see how people felt about GAS, as that Steely Dan article was the first thing I've read that "calls out" people with GAS. I love having guitars around, and I probably wouldn't mind that much if I had 10 HH superstrats so long as there was something I enjoyed about the guitar. I love playing guitar, but I almost love walking into a room filled with guitar shit just as much as playing them.


I always hear people say "my dream guitar", but if you did end up with your "dream guitar" would you be completely satisfied and never buy a guitar again?

 

[Mordacain]

Alright, got some good feedback here! I only posted this to see how people felt about GAS, as that Steely Dan article was the first thing I've read that "calls out" people with GAS. I love having guitars around, and I probably wouldn't mind that much if I had 10 HH superstrats so long as there was something I enjoyed about the guitar. I love playing guitar, but I almost love walking into a room filled with guitar shit just as much as playing them.


I always hear people say "my dream guitar", but if you did end up with your "dream guitar" would you be completely satisfied and never buy a guitar again?

I can't speak for everyone else, but a "dream guitar" for me really would take the place of 99% of my guitar needs for recording / touring. It would be constantly evolving, as is a dream.

Example: Petrucci's model for example has not remained static in the 10+ years he has had a Sig model with Ernie Ball Music Man. It is constantly getting reworked, comes in 6, Baritone and 7 strings variant and is 100% on anything Petrucci does (barring recording where he uses actual acoustics).

That being said, I'm sure Petrucci has other guitars and will buy something if he thinks it cool but he's in a position where he can do that and not injure himself financially.

 

[SirMyghin]

I can't speak for everyone else, but a "dream guitar" for me really would take the place of 99% of my guitar needs for recording / touring. It would be constantly evolving, as is a dream.

This, I have a current dream 7 being built right now. It is kind of different from my other dream guitars, which were a Contour C66 and a ASAT special. I find myself wanting to get my feet wet on the synth guitar side of things nowadays (which I find very odd) also, but that would be more a utility guitar). As my influences and focus broadens, what I look for in a guitar does too. I would classify 'dream guitars' as any top quality guitar you buy without involving compromise in the process.

 

[SW Davion]

I work hard for my money...
I have four guitars.
All get played.
Some people have more, and I think that is a great thing.


The question I have is:


Who died and made Steely Dan the authority on anything???

 

[Ryan-ZenGtr-]

Here is my counter-G*A*S* treatise:

Just imagine being one of those guys in the early 60's who sold their original Strat...

OR...

Selling your original Fender Twin...

etc. all the old junk that is now collector's retirement funds, all in the name of "progressing your tone".

I don't have G*A*S*, I'm just a bargain hunter.... Oh, wait, that means I have G*A*S*... oh...

 

[Mordacain]

Here is my counter-G*A*S* treatise:

Just imagine being one of those guys in the early 60's who sold their original Strat...

OR...

Selling your original Fender Twin...

etc. all the old junk that is now collector's retirement funds, all in the name of "progressing your tone".

I don't have G*A*S*, I'm just a bargain hunter.... Oh, wait, that means I have G*A*S*... oh...

I'm a bit of a bargain hunter myself. However, I also tend go through gear pretty quickly. I think I've found what will keep me sustained for the immediate future. I can think of a few things I got just because it was a bargain. Some have turned out to really work for me (like my recent Ampeg acquisition) where others were only cool for a little while and didn't hold up for me (Carvin Head).

 

[steve1]

These days my guitar GAS is under control, my pedal GAS however is a bastard. im a sucker for a pedal that makes a crazy cool sound that i will probably never need.

 

[Explorer]

First off, I like how many people embrace the idea that wanting to acquire gear is cool. I tend to buy instructional books and work my way through them, as I think accumlating skills is cooler than just buying gear.

----

Every few years, I try to clear out what I haven't played in quite a while, and which I likely won't play again in my lifetime. That "lifetime" idea makes it easy to focus on what really matters.

Usually GAS. like most fantasy purchases, is based on someone's imagined future. "It would be cool to play that out! It would be cool to sound like this!" To me, this isn't far off from the women I know who buy clothes which are just a little too tight. "I can just diet a little bit, and this will fit just fine!"

I'd rather have things I can use right now. I don't want to be that chick with all kinds of unworn shoes and swimsuits in her closet.

That's not to say that you're not cool if you do that kind of thing, with guitars or whatever. Who am I to say that chick is wrong?

----

I'm lucky, though. I do a huge amount of research on high-dollar stuff, and normally wait a bit before dropping money on something.

I almost moved on an HD500 today. I decided to work a bit more with my M9, and to really compare it to my GT-10 in terms of effects. A lot of feedback online, from people who own both the HD500 and the GT-10, say that the HD sounds really good, but the GT-10 can sound just as good in terms of amps, and better as far as effects. Is that a good reason to save $400 for the moment, and to dig further into my GT-10? Absolutely! If I wait, the price on the HD will slowly drop, and if I don't need it in the end, then I'll have learned to make my GT that much more versatile. (Current project, though... try out some settings I found online to finally be able to use "Sound Hold," which a lot of people claim is impossible on this unit.)

My new Agile Intrepid Pro 25.5" with ebony board will accomplish what I really like about my two FM-408s, and be a little prettier. Once it passes the unboxing and the once-over-for-Agile-flaws process, I'll install that active EMG TBC system in it, and then sell my Intrepid 28.625".

I'm about to sell my Rainsong 12-string because I think I'll get more use out of an Emerald composite 8-string or 9-string acoustic.

For me, having less gear means that I won't just be focusing on a far-away fantasy. I'll be actually using something cool which works for me *right now*.

I am a sucker, though, for non-MIDI guitar synthesis. I'm about to clear out a bunch of pedals which are redundant, but it's hard to let some of them go.

But when I think about how cool those Nord electric pianos sound, and how I've been using an old FM module to get those sounds, and I can live with getting rid of redundancy to buy a unique new-to-me piece of kit.

 

[ahull123]

Imagine this.... Everybody buys only 1 guitar and thats it... 1 pedal... that's it... what would happen? There would be no innovation, no new finishes, no new little electronic gizmo with flashing lights that does something we haven't quite figured out what "it" is, that's a must have. The mfg's would not innovate because there would be no market.
Condemning GAS is stupid, and just puts the writer on a pedestal as having been one of "us" but better now... and someday "we" will see the light (sounds like a liberal to me). Ignorance knows no bounds and to each is own, It seems to me the writer had GAS envy and can't afford what the other guys have.. I might be wrong?

 

[georg_f]

I sometimes think that having so much gear is sort of the equivalent of being a weird cat lady

But as long as you really use all your gear, you're good. Or as long as you don't withdraw all your savings for gear.

 

[Customisbetter]

I'd say that as I progress and change as a person, my requirements and preferences in instruments changes.

I may have thought that Ibby Xiphos was the sickest shit a few years ago, but now not so much. I'll stick to my old beat up Cloudy and guitars that i pour my soul and sweat into.

 

[datalore]

My parents were both born to German refugees of WWII. As a direct result of their parenting and some personal idiosyncrasies, I have some money/possession issues. I've never been able to collect anything. For me, instruments are tools, and I am only able to keep the ones that serve a specific function. At any given time, I usually have one electric guitar for standard tuning (usually a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster), one for low tunings (currently an SX Telecaster in drop B), a bass and an acoustic guitar. I switch guitars in and out of that general framework pretty often, but I rarely own more than 4 instruments at a time. I never buy new, so I've been able to keep re-investing the same $2-3k over the years. When I look back at the guitars I've owned, there are some that I really wish I still had, but there are several that I wouldn't have been able to afford if I held onto everything. I've also had the benefit of owning just about every major type of standard 6-string out there, so I have a pretty good sense of what does and does not work for me.

Summary: GAS feels a lot healthier and is less financially destructive if you don't let gear accumulate, and if you buy things that have good resale value.

 

[infernalservice]

Its weird that an article from 1996 on a Steely Dan website is trying to tell us collecting guitars isn't cool. Anyway the guy's argument is kind of moot in that he uses a session player as his example. A session played has to stay versatile and guitars are tools that enable this. The more guitars the more versatility the more possible jobs. Ever heard of a carpenter only owning one saw? Me neither.

 

[Mordacain]

My parents were both born to German refugees of WWII. As a direct result of their parenting and some personal idiosyncrasies, I have some money/possession issues. I've never been able to collect anything. For me, instruments are tools, and I am only able to keep the ones that serve a specific function. At any given time, I usually have one electric guitar for standard tuning (usually a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster), one for low tunings (currently an SX Telecaster in drop B), a bass and an acoustic guitar. I switch guitars in and out of that general framework pretty often, but I rarely own more than 4 instruments at a time. I never buy new, so I've been able to keep re-investing the same $2-3k over the years. When I look back at the guitars I've owned, there are some that I really wish I still had, but there are several that I wouldn't have been able to afford if I held onto everything. I've also had the benefit of owning just about every major type of standard 6-string out there, so I have a pretty good sense of what does and does not work for me.

Summary: GAS feels a lot healthier and is less financially destructive if you don't let gear accumulate, and if you buy things that have good resale value.

completely. I've been recycling almost the same amount of investment into different instruments over the last couple of years (since I started playing actively again) and have tried a lot of different designs with the idea I would find something that I could have a long-term bond with.