Are Guitards as retarded as many of us with GAS and owning/selling/trading basses?

[Baird6869]

I play in 3 bands with 5 different guitarists. They all have high end gear but usually they focus on owning a Les Paul and a Strat or a ES335 and a Tele or a Flying V and a high end Ibanez, etc. No Sadowskys, Anderson, Alembec, etc.... PRS might be the most boutique-y I have seen in ANY of the bands I have played in over the last 25 years.

All 5 of these guitards shake their heads every time I go from a Bongo to a Sadowsky, a Fender to a Roscoe or a Stingray to a Lakland.

Anyone out there have a guitard friend that would actually fit in to our GAS filled TB world?

[mongo2]

Last night one of our guitarists had 3 guitars worth about $15,000 on stage at a local bar.

I had my SX bass at which he just shook his head.

People still danced.

[Jefenator]

I've found that pretty much all guitarists are completely immune to, and free of, GAS.

...NOT!!!

[Dave Siff]

I contracted G.A.S. from a guitarist I played in a band with about 15 years ago. He had about 30 guitars and 5 basses hanging on the wall. Still does. One of his basses is a '66 Precision which I intend to spirit away from him at some point.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by Baird6869

I play in 3 bands with 5 different guitarists. They all have high end gear but usually they focus on owning a Les Paul and a Strat or a ES335 and a Tele or a Flying V and a high end Ibanez, etc. No Sadowskys, Anderson, Alembec, etc.... PRS might be the most boutique-y I have seen in ANY of the bands I have played in over the last 25 years.

All 5 of these guitards shake their heads every time I go from a Bongo to a Sadowsky, a Fender to a Roscoe or a Stingray to a Lakland.

Anyone out there have a guitard friend that would actually fit in to our GAS filled TB world?

It's the same general relationship with gitards as it is with bassists:

1) As the number of basses goes up:
2) As the quality/boutiqueyness goes up:
=> Talent and ability goes down.

It's approx. the same with gitards.

Once the number of PRS guitars exceeds about 3 or 4, generally the player is so bad they shouldn't stay in the band, or the whole band is so bad you need to leave the club.

There are exceptions in both directions of course. Some players are still good even with a room full of boutique basses.

Some don't have enough. I.e. I have 4 basses, but the level of my playing suggests, as per the rule above, that I should have a lot more and a couple of those should be boutiques....

LS

[Kemet09]

The guitarist I play with has GAS, We were both pretty bad for a minute. We both resolved a long time ago to not even try to fight the feeling...! I've even influenced his GAS. I have a ART guitar amp thru which he plays when we practice @ my place. It is super light weight (cab made of plastic) & is 100 watts! He finally broke down & got one last month! He couldnt take he had to have 1. I, personally think I have better taste in selecting guitars than guitards!!! When they find out what kinda axes I got they either dont know about them or get that look on their face like why does this $%&$## Bass player have this!!!

[Joe Nerve]

I have 2 guitarist friends who have waaaaay more gas than any bassist I know. One of them is pretty much famous for his insanity over at the ernieball forum. I think he goes by the screenname of ernie66. he's got something like 50 MM guitars, and god only knows what else. Another guy I play with has about the same amount but in mostly gibsons. Has some in cases buried so deep he can't even get to them.

Come to think of it, I know a couple of others from my local store that put the majority of us here to shame.

Yeah - they've definitely got it too.

[KrisH]

In one band, the guitarists use strats, and one of them brings a tele to tune for slide work. I've never seen either with an acoustic. In the other band, the guitarist has probably close to 20 guitars of all makes and vintages -- Gibson, Fender, Gretch, Rics, cheap (and old) Japanese knock-offs. I haven't seen them all. He usually uses a paisley tele and a Gretch 12-string when playing electric, and a Gibson Jumbo and a Guild 12-string when we do acoustic. He also has several nice basses -- a 1978 Jazz, a 1973 Ric 4001, a Danelectro, a Hofner violin bass, an acoustic of some brand, and a few others. All in excellent shape. For some reason they don't GAS me, knowing they belong to a guitarist . . .

[Warpeg]

Originally Posted by mongo2

Last night one of our guitarists had 3 guitars worth about $15,000 on stage at a local bar.

I had my SX bass at which he just shook his head.

People still danced.

Technically, this quote pokes fun at people like me. I have high-end basses and no lower-priced basses. However, this quote describes the perfect example of why 'more expensive' does not always mean 'better.' This is a great quote! Hats off to you, mongo2!

[BluesWalker]

Gtarists are not immune to GAS. The guitarist in one of my bands owns about 8 Gibsons, a few Fenders and a couple of acoustics, not to mention a room full of pedals and replacement pickups. He has a couple of fav guitars, but there is a steady turnover via e-bay and Craig's list with the rest of them.

[Lady Kayri]

One of the Guitar magazines even mentioned GAS and gave a definition of it in a recent issue...Can't remember which one at the moment, but I couldn't help but laugh when I read them talking about GASing for new guitars and gear... Pat

[Eilif]

As a former GC employee, I can tell you that Guitarrists have just as much (probably more) GAS than Bassists. Asthetically, guitarrists may tend toward tradition (a debatable point) more than Bassists, but the price of some of the "better" Gibson, PRS, Suhr, etc guitars is right up there with Lakland, Sadowsky, etc, etc, and that's not even getting into the myriad of custom builders making guitars at price points near CT, Alembic, Roscoe, etc.

I think the main perception difference is that while guitarrists are buying more custom guitars, I seem to see more bassists actually showing up on stage with custom and exotic looking instruments.

Secondly,
The boutique to talent equasion does have a ring of truth, but economically, its the army of yuppie-basement-rockers spending money on high end guitars that supports a huge percent of the high-end instrument market. There would be alot fewer makers (both production and boutique) of guitars and bassists without that particular market.

It may rankle some folks to hear it, but lawyers with guitar collections have done alot to ensure the breath of gear (and corresponding lower prices) on much of the gear we buy.

Of course they've also driven the vintage market to ridiculous heights, but that's another story...

[Bongolation]

At the moment, I believe I have thirty-seven guitars and thirteen basses, roughly fifty instruments.

Make of that what you will.

[axpro]

As a guitard faking being a bass player, my GAS is CRAZY compared to my bass playing friends.

I am a Paul Reed Smith nut, and have had most of their models... at one time 12 american made models. ranging from 1.5k to about 7k

And multiple amps, tonnes of fx, i probably went through about 1k worth of boutique fuzz alone trying to find "the one"

Bass wize i am a lot more mellow, a good bass or 2, and a nice amp... a compressor and maybe a chorus or synth effect for fun.


I usually say bass players are way smarter than guitarists, as the time they (bassists) spend practicing, guitarsists spend looking for "pefect tone" (which you never find anyways!)

[BillMason]

I have a guitar player friend who just likes to noodle around, learn bits from songs, doesn't play with anyone, let alone a band. We tried him in my band for a while, but he couldn't remember any of the songs - not picking on him or anything, he's a good friend, he just doesn't have the type of memory that allows him to learn complete songs. Anyway, he has about 20 guitars, mostly Mexican and Japanese Fender Strats, some frankenfenders assembled by him, one which he built himself. He has great taste in guitars, I have to say, just not a lot of variety. Plus several acoustics, and three or four amps.

I have my main gigging rig, a broken practice amp, my Fender P bass, my Squier fretless, and my very first "real" bass, a Peavey Patriot that I got when I was 16. I get GAS, but I use what I have, it's paid for out of gigging, and whenever I've bought something in the past, something else went out the door shortly before or after. Finances dictate the amount of constraint I have....

[Jeff K]

Most guitarists I know are perfectly content with one or two electrics plus an acoustic. Of course there are exceptions, but I find they're generally pretty "loyal" to their main guitar. Unlike most of us bass whores.

I also find them a bit oblivious when it comes to recognizing basses. I normally alternate my basses when my band gets together, be it for a gig or just for practice/jamming. If I bring a new bass into my rotation (which probably happens all too often ), half the time they don't even realize it. Conversely, if one of the guitarists would break out a new guitar, I'd realize it immediately. Maybe we bassists are simply a different breed of animal...

[Lady Kayri]

Hmmm... speaking of being aware when the guitarist brings in a new guitar and such, I wonder if many guitarists start asking themselves "what guitar is that guy using in such-and-such ad on TV?" Heh. Pat

[Nedmundo]

Guitards are just as bad. One of my best friends, and a sometimes bandmate, is a serious whore for guitar gear, but more for amps than guitars. Sure, at times he's had ten guitars including expensive Gibsons and Gretsches, but also a huge collection of vintage Gibson amps, Hiwatts, new and vintage Fenders, Orange, Silvertone, a custom Vox clone, vintage Sunn heads, multiple cabs, etc. His band has maybe three gigs per year, and almost never records. (They are very good though. I subbed in for a summer, and had a blast.)

Then there's the lead player in my current band, who just turned 40 and has been playing for over 20 years. Until this band, he had never played on stage. Nevertheless, he has fifteen guitars, including some very high end Gibsons, a few PRS's, and a custom Schecter Strat clone. One of his Gibbys is a chambered Les Paul doublecut with a blue quilted maple top. It's freakin' amazing. And he is a very good lead player, despite the PRS fixation! (Actually, in this band I've started to understand the PRS thing.)

But the most artistic guitarist I've ever worked with has one amp, and only two electrics: American Vintage Jazzmaster and Epiphone Casino. He also has a Highway One Precision, and is a fabulous bassist. He just gets something that works, and plays. He seems GAS-free, but if he had some money, I suspect things might be different.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a total geek about pickups, but I still think guitards, on average, are more obsessive about minute tonal details than bassists. The hair-splitting when it comes to Strat tone, for example, borders on the absurd. I know many of us on TB are like this about bass tone, but it seems to be more the norm for guitards.

[mwiles30]

Originally Posted by Baird6869

I play in 3 bands with 5 different guitarists. They all have high end gear but usually they focus on owning a Les Paul and a Strat or a ES335 and a Tele or a Flying V and a high end Ibanez, etc. No Sadowskys, Anderson, Alembec, etc.... PRS might be the most boutique-y I have seen in ANY of the bands I have played in over the last 25 years.

All 5 of these guitards shake their heads every time I go from a Bongo to a Sadowsky, a Fender to a Roscoe or a Stingray to a Lakland.

Anyone out there have a guitard friend that would actually fit in to our GAS filled TB world?

Everyone's GAS details are different. The guitarist I used to play with went from an Epiphone Les Paul to a Gibson SG to a borrowed Strat, followed by a borrowed '76 Gibson Firebird (borrowed from the same guy), and is now back to the strat, which he now owns and has given it a maple neck w/ maple fretboard.

Don't get me started on his amps: a Johnson modeling amp, a Crate Palamino, a Marshall vintage-modern head paired with the Johnson for the speakers (I absolutely HATED that amp), a Fender super-sonic (paired with the Johnson), and has finally settled on a Mesa Engineering LoneStar.

Also, you imply that GAS-ing for boutique equipment is a positive thing. I somewhat disagree; the band I played keyboards in had a 'boutique' bassist, and it pissed the hell out of me. Kubicki Factor bass, a stereo amp (can't remember the make), a BBE preamp, homemade cabs (the ports were too big, so the resulting tone was absolute MUD), and a $100 Zaolla cable. On top of this, he used to exclusively play into an interface into the Ampeg plug-in on his laptop.

My guitarist used a '79 Les Paul KM and a 70's Fender Vibrolux. The tone was beautiful.

Boutique equipment is nice, but don't let it take over your better judgement.

[baalroo]

Seems generally speaking guitarist prefer quantity, and bassists prefer quality. I'm not sayin' either route is better, I'm just sayin'.