I never play my favorite guitar and that's dumb

[cardinal]

I realize this is really dumb. I have a guitar that is my favorite looking, sounding, and playing guitar. So naturally I never play it for fear of messing it up.

That's dumb, right? If I don't actually use it, I'd be in the same place if I sold it or lit in on fire. And never in 20+ years of playing guitar have I ever somehow messed up a guitar in any meaningful way.

And yet. It just sits there. I let myself noodle on it for a bit here or there for a moment but then it goes away and I use some other guitar that I don't like as well.

 

[Crungy]

It must have some sentimental value then?

 

[budda]

if you never play it its not your favourite

 

[MaxOfMetal]

There's nothing really to say, you know it's "dumb", which it kinda is, but we're all dumb about stuff like this sometimes.

I used to be like this, and sometimes still am, and looking back it just made me hoard gear and I regret missing out on time to actually play it.

 

[odibrom]

I try the best I can to play all my guitars. There are some, however, that are left unattended for large periods of time. I'll first rotate within my 7s with trem, then the 7s without trem, then the 6s and seldom the 8 stringer. The acoustic gets more playtime than the 8 stringer. 95+% of my playing time goes for the 7s with trems...

 

[USMarine75]

I have a bunch of favorites I never play - for example a PRS PS, a PRS one-off Tremonti, and a Gibson Custom Shop Custom Flamed LP come to mind. I always say I'm going to pull them out and play them yet I don't. Maybe it's because I have a few others...

 

[gnoll]

I'm the same. I have one guitar which really sucks ass, and it's literally the ONLY one I play.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Yeah that's dumb. Just play the damn guitar.

I like to make it a point to play and rotate through my guitars every couple of weeks.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

In college I had a number one that I played hours every day for a couple years. By the time I graduated it had deep deep divots in half of the frets - and they were already low vintage from the factory. It's practically unplayable these days and I don't even list it in my signature bc it just lives in a closet. It needs a full refret but it has a poly-finished maple fretboard so there's a good chance that a refret ruins it and I just can't bring myself to do that.

I am genuinely terrified of my H-I or my PRS ending up in that state, and I know the more I play them the closer I get to the day when they need a refret. The PRS has finish over the fret ends, so a refret is death for that guitar. The Horizon has the beautiful ESP CS fret ends so a refret is death for that guitar too.

I do generally hate having "special occasion" guitars laying around. I've sold some guitars I truly loved because they didn't ever get played. But man some guitars I just really want to stay as special as when I got them, even though that isn't really possible..

 

[SalsaWood]

You picking it up now and then without wiping it down each time is doing the most harm out of anything. Guitars can stay in decent shape for a lifetime if you use them properly and just keep them clean.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Dumb is coming here and asking if co-mingling gloss and satin hardware on a guitar is bothersome. Having a guitar that for whatever reason you don't want to potentially damage so you minimize playing it isn't dumb. It's understandable. But as others have suggested... play it! Life is sometimes shorter than what we think it will be. Utilize and enjoy the things that you have access to... Gotta peel that plastic off the pick-guard at some point.

 

[Crungy]

Dumb is coming here and asking if co-mingling gloss and satin hardware on a guitar is bothersome

This

But as others have suggested... play it! Life is sometimes shorter than what we think it will be. Utilize and enjoy the things that you have access to... Gotta peel that plastic off the pick-guard at some point.

Definitely this and for the love god I hope all of the plastic has been peeled off

 

[High Plains Drifter]

@Crungy In my defense... well... I have no defense lol aside from my OCD. I really thought that maybe some people would chime in that it would've bothered them too. Didn't matter in the end though. I love the look of the new satin black trem... doesn't look mismatched.

 

[Moongrum]

I realize this is really dumb. I have a guitar that is my favorite looking, sounding, and playing guitar. So naturally I never play it for fear of messing it up.

That's dumb, right? If I don't actually use it, I'd be in the same place if I sold it or lit in on fire. And never in 20+ years of playing guitar have I ever somehow messed up a guitar in any meaningful way.

And yet. It just sits there. I let myself noodle on it for a bit here or there for a moment but then it goes away and I use some other guitar that I don't like as well.

Sounds like you have too many guitars. If the only guitar you owned was your favorite one, I reckon you would play it

 

[Briz]

I had a JEM that I refused to play because I wanted to keep it mint. Steve Vai signed the pickguard at a meet and greet. I had it out of the case on a stand and I accidentally dropped a tube optical compressor on it while upgrading studio gear. The compressor took a chunk out of the finish. I took it to my luthier, had the finish repaired, took the pickguard off and stored it, and now I play it at least once a week and I pull it out for recording. Moral of the story: Drop a heavy piece of rack gear on your guitar and start playing it. Fin.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I had one of those Gibson alpine white bari SGs for a while and I loved it but it was nicer (see: more expensive) than all my other guitars so I treated it like a museum piece and as such never really developed a personal connection with it. I miss it all the time and regularly think about trying to buy it back from the guy I sold it to, but I know it will be the same as it was. I'm a lot more comfy with a mid-tier guitar that I can buckle rash and do all kinds of weird noise shit to without worrying about scuffing the paint.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

In college I had a number one that I played hours every day for a couple years. By the time I graduated it had deep deep divots in half of the frets - and they were already low vintage from the factory. It's practically unplayable these days and I don't even list it in my signature bc it just lives in a closet. It needs a full refret but it has a poly-finished maple fretboard so there's a good chance that a refret ruins it and I just can't bring myself to do that.

I am genuinely terrified of my H-I or my PRS ending up in that state, and I know the more I play them the closer I get to the day when they need a refret. The PRS has finish over the fret ends, so a refret is death for that guitar. The Horizon has the beautiful ESP CS fret ends so a refret is death for that guitar too.

A re-fret is death but leaving it with unplayable pitted frets isn't?

I've never thought about this specific predicament, because I don't own a single guitar with a finished fretboard. Is it not just a matter of finding a competent and trustworthy luthier? If not, this seems a pretty significant design flaw that limits the lifespan of many high-end guitars.

Another reason to add to my list for sticking to Ibbys with rosewood / ebony fretboards.

 

[Stiman]

The trick is to get a second one of the same. Play one of them, keep the other clean. Win win.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

The trick is to get a second one of the same. Play one of them, keep the other clean. Win win.

This is the most ss.org answer since the last time someone typed "used prestige," which we basically already covered in this thread. Good job everyone.

 

[Alberto7]

My PIA in Sun Dew Gold is seeing less play time now than it used to during the first year that I had it. It is still my favorite guitar, I'm just super conscious that it is a cool and hard to replace collectible due to the color, so nowadays I keep it in a case most of the time instead of keeping it on a rack like the rest of my guitars, so I kinda forget about it sometimes. (I'm very much an out of sight, out of mind type of person.) I do make it a point to play it at least once a week for at least an hour or so. I have thought of selling it and getting a white one that I will be less afraid to play, but I can't bear the thought! I try to remember the story of how I got it and how I almost didn't get it, and that makes me want to play it.

I guess that would be a thing to try. Try and remember why you like the guitar, and whether you have any cool stories attached to it. Maybe it'll make you want to play it more.

My most played guitar is still my AZ2402. I take very good care of my guitars and so it is still in like new condition after 3 years, (except the electronics, which I've replaced back and forth a few times) but I could care less if I ever put a dent in it. Absolute workhorse.