Your "full house" of guitars?

AlanRatcliffe

So what do you consider having a "full house" of guitars?

I'm not talking filling your house with guitars (Joe!), but rather what you consider your essential collection to cover all the sounds/styles you will use/play. For some this might be one of everything, for others it might be a couple of subtly different flavours of Strat. For others it may be just an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar and a bass. I'm interested in what

For me it's a wide variety with some notable omissions and with the electrics more based on pickup type than other considerations. When I look at the holes in my collection, I don't think "I need a Tele", but rather "I need something with Filtertrons". So for me it boils down to eight instruments:

Fender style electric with single-coils
Nylon string
Gibson style humbucker electric
Rickenbacker style electric
Electric with Filtertrons
12-string electric
Fretted bass
Fretless bass

Anything more than this is either unneeded or duplication in my mind - If I have a Strat and a Tele, one always gets played to the exclusion of the other. The obvious omissions are anything with P90s, acoustic steels and hollow jazz guitars - none of which I'd ever play.

andrewjbryson

Studio Guitar Wishlist:

Fender Strat
Fender Tele
Gibson ESS335
Rickenbacker Electric
Taylor/Larivee Full Body Accoustic
Fender P-Bass
Yamaha Classical + pickup

chris77

So far I have most bases covered. Deep down I know that most of them are just nice to haves and will probably make way for a another decent acoustic somewhere along the line. What is great though is that by having different types of guitars with different pickup types to fiddle with I have come to known what I like and what I don't.

Currently have:

A decent electro acoustic - keeper
Acoustic 12 string - nope
Traditional strat - keeper
Traditional Tele - keeper
Es335 type - nope
HH mahogony/maple tele - keeper
P90 strat type - nope
LP type - nope
HH Superstrat type - nope
semi-hollow strat type - keeper
Acoustic beater - keeper for sentimental reasons
Thinline tele - keeper

Hmm, actually more keepers than nots atm. :-\

racman

What my view is:

1) Strat/Tele type
2) Les Paul/PRS - HB type
3) Acoustic with pickup
4) Nylon String

One of 1) or 2) must have piezo/acoustic capabilities. Nice to have but not absolutely essential.

Strangely enough I am playing a Strat 99% of the time now for live use and about 40% at home, so I guess I only really need a Strat and a good acoustic.

AlanRatcliffe

RoyC wrote: I guess I only really need a Strat and a good acoustic.

Oh sure! I only need my Strat and Carvin Nylon, the rest are for variety of texture. Heck, I can (and do) gig with just one of the two (I don't even usually carry a backup as I don't break strings ...ever). But, while the Strat can fake it well enough for live use, if I'm recording britpop janglies (for example), then nothing does it as good as the Ric and a Vox.

Thanks to the Carvin, I don't even carry along a bass to a jam unless I know that's what I'm specifically there for. ?

JeremyE

My List is as follows:

1: Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (have in wine red colour)
2: Fender Clapton Customshop loaded with Big Dipper Pickups
3: Fender Japanese Strat for random mods (have in seafoam green)
4: Gibson Les Paul with P90's
5: Gibson Flying V with tremolo
6: Gibson 335 with bigsby
7: Gretsch (either a Brian Setzer, Country Club or Chet Atkins)
8: A really great acoustic (always love the Takamine sante Fe limited ones)
9: A great Nylon as well.

Big-G

Gosh, wow! What a question Alan!

I'll have a go at answering......

Guitars.....
Hollowbody Tele
Gibson LP
Gretsch (just have a tone all of their own thats kinda LP ish but nicer! IMHO)
Rickenbacker
Maybe a Gibson 335 or similar?

Acoustics....
Lowden O series
Takamine Santa Fe
Some sort of 12 string for effect

Bass.... (this is the hard one being a bassist, as there's so much nice gear out there!)
Shuker P Bass (tone of a Fender P, but much nicer playability)
Jazz bass (again not fender, but one from any company like Lakland, Shuker, Overwater, etc)
MM Stingray 5 (whole tone of its own!
10 string (octaved 5 string) bass by any decent luthier again like Shuker, Overwater, Warrior, etc)).

Then the amps.....

Vox AC30
Mesa Dual Rec
Fender Twin (not a fender fan, as you may have guessed, but its a specific tone)

Probably a whole host more that I can't think of right now, and haven't even gone into effects! I'd consider the above to be the essential lineup though!

Cheers
G!

Sneaky-Pete

I'd add a nice swampy Resonator, with pickup.

And maybe one of the new Vox guitars with switchable single/HB pickups....yes!

AndyD

Here Goes

Strat - Chris Rea Signature
Tokai Tele
Epihone Les Paul
Ibanez Artcore Semi solid ( 335 Type )
Ovation Balladeer
Crafter Hybrid ( The One with the lipstick Pickup , Amazing Guitar )

That Covers everything and More For Me!

AlanRatcliffe

Good responses so far.

Big G wrote: Gosh, wow! What a question Alan!

I thought so too. That's why I asked it. ?

I suppose it's my attempt to get people to look at their collections a little differently, think about what they have and what they need. I still remember the day I realised that having 27 guitars (six of which were Strats - some chosen for colour alone) was kinda silly. It was kind of a turning point for me - I sold all but one (that I still have) and reinvested in PA and studio gear that I actually needed.

Keira-WitherKay

now that i'm in my world music/jazz stage of my career life has become easy ......... just one great playing electric jazz guitar with one fat clean jazz tone and one amp and one nylon string

jazz guitar wise at moment i'm sorted with my "jazzcaster" a strat recently modified with a single humbucker pup in neck and i get the jazz tone i like.......... and had it in the studio doing a jazz session yesterday and it sounded awesome so no more gas...

nylon string wise i use a 70's yamaha( with 660 scale length not modern 650 ) with LR baggs and happy enough and get great nylon tone live again if a nylon gives me a tone i like thats all i need just one sound and playability

but would love a top end Ramirez (just cos i can ) ?

more than that i don't need or want more ........ my music requires one trick ponies and i got them

from here on in , i'm focussing on my playing not my gear ( ? lets see how long it lasts but i'm pretty resolute ...)

singemonkey

I must aways have a double humbucker hard tail LP - check
Then a Fender type with a fairly wide ranging vibrato tailpiece - check
A Gibson scale-length with P90s and Bigsby - check
Another Gibson scale-length double humbucker guitar specifically for slide. Ideally with a lot of neck access (SG/Flying V) - check
I'm also thinking a 335 type with a bucker in the bridge, P90 in the neck, and piezo saddles to handle all live acoustic sounds while being fantastically versatile - nope
A nylon string acoustic - check
A decent resonator banjo - nope (my banjo does not qualify as decent)

racman

No Singe! You lost me at the Banjo!

AlanRatcliffe

RoyC wrote: No Singe! You lost me at the Banjo!

Two words: Gallows Pole...

Somewhere on my (rather long) GAS list is a decent six string banjo.

DonovanB

singemonkey wrote: nope (my banjo does not qualify as decent)

No banjo qualifies as decent... or is that bagpipes?

My list would be;
Strat with Piezo pup
Les Paul type with hard tail
Tele (I'd go with a piezo as well)
A good Nylon string, my current isn't good enough.
I'd like one of those thin bodied Crafters that are a Taylor copy. Someone here has/had one?
A full bodied, Epi/Gibson Jazz guitar. Maybe even a Cort Yorktown.

Bob-Dubery

For what I do currently I'd need a couple of good acoustics. Spruce top with rosewood back and sides would be my first choice of woods, but other wood combinations do offer usefully different tones. I wouldn't want any dreadnoughts. I think that in most maker's lines the dreadnoughts are the least sonically interesting guitars.

I'm actually pretty well set at the moment with my Morgan (OM body shape, spruce top, rosewood back and sides) and my Larrivee (Larrivee "L" shape body, spruce top, mahogany back and sides).

But good as the Morgan is, I'd trade it for a Lowden O-Series with the same woods. I played one in the UK a while back and it was the best acoustic guitar I've ever played full stop.

Then a cedar/rosewood guitar would come in handy for a darker, earthier tone.

And you have to have a spare in case you break a string, right?

So I'd keep my current two and add two, which would give me:

Morgan OMR - Spruce and rosewood
Larrivee LV-05 - Spruce and mahogany
Lowden O-35 - Spruce and rosewood
Webber 00 with cedar top and rosewood back and sides

Alll with Baggs dual-source pick up systems installed.

If I were to start looking more seriously at electric playing I'd want something with single coil pickups. P90s would be OK, but I'd not want any humbuckers. Sorry about that, some folks are just wired that way. I'm thinking a nice Tele (or clone thereof) with a real baseball bat of a neck and a P90 in the front, or maybe a Danelectro.

AndyD

Check out that crafter Donovan. I was really surprised. Its very versatile too. Had mine for 2 weeks now and love it!

V8

Well timed question - after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I'm continuing with the letting go of gear ☹

I'd keep/need
A inspiring nylon acoustic string - Still looking, the yamaha I got is definitely good enough for now, but I played a few Takamine's (they're highly regarded by the GFSA's) and they were real good.
A humbucker'ed guitar w/whammy for those metal moments - Hohner GT2, look no further (aside from swopping out the EMG's)
A single coiled fender for non metal moments - Mod'ed MIJ strat, super comfy neck.
A bass, for when I'm not feeling the guitar - Hohner Jack bass, the more I play it, the more I like it. Although it is quite heavy :-\
A electronic drumkit, more fun than a dog could have with two tails (or the postman). - Roland TD8, never regretted spending the $ on this.

Don't need
Nylon string w/Piezo - never gets played
Levin Nylon string acoustic - ditto
Levin Steel string acoustic - ditto
Semi acoustic bass - ditto

I'm really liking the flexability of a Carvin ala Alan and the ingenuity of Kiera's jazzcaster (sounds great w/contact pickup & flamenco techniques) - so this list would be a work-in-progress - thankfully!

chris77

X-rated Bob wrote: So I'd keep my current two and add two, which would give me:

Morgan OMR - Spruce and rosewood

Larrivee LV-05 - Spruce and mahogany

Lowden O-35 - Spruce and rosewood

Webber 00 with cedar top and rosewood back and sides

Alll with Baggs dual-source pick up systems installed.

I have a sneaky suspicion that in a few years time I will also rather have 2/3 decent acoustics than a bunch of electrics. Thinking a Dreadnought (which I already have), a Jumbo and an OM type.

Read somewhere that Lowden, or rather the company that's making them now, have gone bust. Good time to get one of the older ones now I reckon, because their value is sure to go up substantially pretty soon.

Ray

Lots of the above but also:

A steel body reso
A lapstell (6-string)
A banjitar