How many of you actually truly believe you have a "for life" guitar? Not possible?

[FingahPickah]

I have several carefully selected "keepers"

.. but these are truly lifers:

1973 Guild D44M
1987 Guild JF65-12
2008 Fender American Standard Telecaster

[The Bard Rocks]

I am blessed to have several that will completely satisfy me all my life and have no plans to move any along while I am still able to play. A exception is the Goodman, a great guitar, but one which was bought with the potential purpose of gifting it to my son, which should take place in less than a month now. Don't tell him. No plans to change anything else out and no desire for another.

That said, "never say never". Who knows what the future may bring? I have never owned a guitar that just stunned me every day. I don't think I am the kind of person that would react that way, so do not search for one. But if one found me....

[Pdubs76]

I’m growing doubtful. Too many variables that need to come together to create the perfect guitar for me. I suspect that it will be a lifelong search, but you never know. Maybe if I ever write my own music, I’ll be able to find something that fits my style, but as long as I’m playing the music of other artists, no guitar can do it all.

[fwphoto]

Bought my '74 D-18 in '75 & we've been through a lot together over the last 50 years. Even though I have a few other really great "better" guitars it's still my "go to." I can't imagine being without it.

So, yea, I believe I have a "for life" guitar. Definitely possible for the right person & the right guitar.

Frank

[KevWind]

As Bob mentioned Ultimately no one knows what the future may hold

So we are really left with only perspective intent and or contentment.
My self I have never been much of a buy and sell type with guitars.
So my intent is to keep the guitars I have and as someone else mentioned especially the one Taylor 12 my wife bought for me .

That said I also subscribe to the philosophy that guitars are just things, and that clinging to things, can be a path to needless emotional suffering...

[abn556]

I have a curated guitar collection. Over 50 years of playing I have bought and sold many guitars. So many I cannot even remember them all. The 14 guitars that I have now are probably all staying with me for the rest of my playing time. I have a one that I have kept for nearly 40 years and many that I have held onto for 20-30 years.

The acoustics that I have started buying recently were all guitars that I really researched and spent time playing before buying. My 4 acoustics that are going to stay with me are:

New J-45 Custom Shop Engelmann bear claw over Koa.
2022 Martin 000-18
2022 Larrivee OM-40R
1963 Gibson LG-0

I might add a maple backed acoustic as a final guitar. I am thinking about a 52 J-185 Reissue Custom Shop. As a secondary choice I am still interested in a good HD-28 or a rosewood backed Southern Jumbo Banner.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by donlyn

How many of you actually truly believe you have a "for life" guitar? Not possible?

It's a bit easier to imagine if most of your life is behind you. As a practicing septuagenarian, as long as I can play, I will always have some guitars around.

My top tier are all spruce over rosewood, unless noted otherwise.

My bought-new in 1985 Gibson J-200 Jumbo with the fancy inlaid headstock done only for that year.
- Not only is it a great guitar, but also has a sentimental tie.
My bought-new 2014 Taylor 818e Grand Orchestra.
My bought used 2016 Taylor 458e-R Grand Orchestra 12 string.
My bought used 2016 Taylor 412e-R short-scale Grand Concert.
And,
My bought-new in 1999 Taylor 355 spruce over sapele Jumbo 12 string, which I usually have in DADGAD tuning, is one I would certainly miss.

I also kept one electric, a cherry sunburst Les Paul standard, with a great flamed maple top and an incredible sound.

So that would be six.

Be well and play well.

Don
.

Originally Posted by cip

Why did you switch to Taylor between 1985 and 2014?

The simple version is that I stopped playing electric in the 80s, which was punctuated by getting my bought-new Gibson J-200 Jumbo. I had also been looking for a good 12 string for some years. Found a really nice one just by walking into a guitar shop one 1999 day and trying out a new Taylor 355 spruce over sapele Jumbo. Lovely to look at and even better to play. So it followed me home.

Only having one good acoustic six string and really liking the Taylor, I got a Taylor catalog and decided I had to try out an 815 spruce over rosewood Jumbo. Never found one I liked enough to buy, mostly because nothing came close to my J-200 guitar's sound. Then I attended a Taylor RoadShow which featured a re-design of the 800 series guitars. Gone was the Jumbo, being replaced by a deeper and fatter-waisted Grand Orchestra. Played it extensively and bought it right then and there. A very serendipitous RoadShow that was.

So not really being able to justify or afford another Gibson J-200, this new lighter build 818e Grand Orchestra more than filled exactly what I wanted. I had a lot more patience then. And found the Taylors had a standard nut/neck width of 1+3/4" for their six strings and they felt good in my hands. And they were well built. And I started exploring the Taylor line-up, mostly looking at used instruments, and culminated in getting a spruce over rosewood 458e-R Grand Orchestra 12 string from a forum member. Used it was and still is. A lot.

Sorry if this ran long, but it is a part of my guitar journey. Last (maybe literally) guitar I got was a tremendous all-solid wood spruce over rosewood Guild F-1512 Jumbo 12 string. And I am done looking, but still keep my guitar-fishing line handy. Never say never, but I thought I was done about six years ago. Still think I am done.

I fingerpick all my instruments using my nails as picks.
And I tune my 12 strings down a semi-tone to D#.

And about the "for life" aspect of the thread, I've owned my Gibson J-200 for about half my life. And used it playing out. Like me it is now retired from work and is now just for sport. The last two in my "Heard" are my current playing-out guitars. Especially the F-1512.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[guitarman68]

I have about thirty stringed instruments: guitars, mandolins, mandola, mandocello, octave mandolin, banjos, Weissenborn, dobro, lap steel, pedal steel, dulcimer, electric bass, upright bass.

After trying, buying and selling for more than 30 years, now at 56 years it looks like I have found several keepers in the guitar section: My Blazer & Henkes guitars and a 1941 Gibson J-35. I love my vintage Martins, too.
The journey was great fun.

[Joseph Hanna]

There is but no question, no doubt, no hesitation. My Yamaha LS-36 is here to stay. I can't say in the past I've ever felt that way about a guitar. This one won't go anywhere.

[Sdrew22]

My Foley isn't going anywhere. It was made exactly the way I wanted and sounds incredible.

[The Old Gaffer]

My parents gave me a brand new Epiphone Granada guitar in 1964. I have owned it ever since. I think it already qualifies as a “for life” guitar. But in case it doesn’t, I do plan to hold onto it for the duration. How much longer can that be?

[zuzu]

Two, I suppose. A 1964 Harmony Bobkat I got for my birthday in 1965 and still play today, and a Guild B301 bass purchased new 1977 and remained my #1 bass until 2019.

I suppose my grandfather's 1908 Gibson mandocello would qualify in some sense, but I consider it more of a family heirloom than my personal instrument. I do very much enjoy playing it though, and to accompany a male/female vocal harmony mix it is superior to guitar in achieving harmonic sympathy across the vocal frequencies normally found in that singing.

[Neil K Walk]

Well, I was raised by a packrat so selling things is not in my vocabulary. Instead, it have guitars that have “become part of me.”

One is another example of a model that I fell in love with in a music store but didn’t bond with the arrival (that’s a hint to brand name; it’s a Larrivee OM-03R) that came to my door. That second guitar “grew up” in my house and I am growing old with it. Frankly, I’m tempted to be buried with it. It feels like part of me and I love how it sings to me when I use a capo at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th frets - especially in altered tunings.

The other is my Martin D-16GT which I bought only because I couldn’t afford a HD-28V or HD-35. I never thought I’d fall for a mahogany/sitka dread but this one worked its way into my heart. I actually prefer its tone to my Larrivee but have to basically wrap myself around it or shorten up the strap and wear it like a pair of old man pants to make it work.

There are also a couple I’ve whittled together but they’re more keepsakes to my determination to see something through. They don’t play nearly as well as the previous two guitars.

PS: there’s also my Strat (a wedding present from my wife that just feels “right” when I play, and the McKnight ukulele that they gifted me with several years ago. I can’t “get rid” of either of those either! ;-)

[Joe Beamish]

I bought my Santa Cruz OM before I had kids and before my business got crushed by Covid lockdowns. I’ll never be financially able to justify another purchase on that level, and I love the guitar and never plan to trade it away. So while I may add to it, I’m pretty sure it’s a lifer. Which was always the plan. The versatility of the thing was always a big factor.

[TheGITM]

I only buy guitars. I don't sell them. But that's just me.