Perfection on a budget...

[TBman]

I think I've pretty much have a good base of guitars....

Gibson J-45, Seagull and Alvarez for the blues.

Martin D-16 for DADGAD and other music when I want that mellow bass.

Guild D-120ce and Larrivee OM-05 for DADGAD and other tunings where I want even tone with good sustain.

I could think of a couple/three more I'd like to add, but I'm not starving for more right now.

What's your solid base of guitars and their uses?

[wrathfuldeity]

All of these were found used at very unreasonable insane low cost

#1...early 60's Harmony H165 is heavily reworked player....not going anywhere, the notes just jump out of this gal

#2...Mia Peavey Predator...lengthy list of diy mods...not going anywhere, my strat killer

That could go somewhere...if a trade could be made for a toneful Goodall

Carvin DC135 hss hardtail, neck-through strat in great condition, nice player but the pu's are a tad too hot

1990 Takamine EN10C in 9/10 condition...all around player

early 60's Harmony H162 with a deArmond 210 set up for slide

[AndrewG]

All of them for everything; slide, flatpicking, fingerstyle etc. I don't designate specific guitars for specific styles.

[00-28]

9 guitars to cover your specific styles of play doesn't follow my budget sense.

.....Mike

[arwhite]

Martin D18 - flatpicking mostly, some strum and hum, some fingerpicking
Martin CEO7 - fingerpicking, blues, and it actually flatpicks pretty well
Gibson J35 - singing accompaniment because that's what it does best

Not really GASsing for anything else right now which is an odd feeling for me. Thought about selling the Gibby and maybe getting an OM instead, but the Gibby seems to have been the one out of the case being played the most this week so...

[TBman]

Originally Posted by 00-28

9 guitars to cover your specific styles of play doesn't follow my budget sense.

.....Mike

There's people here with multiple $4,000+ guitars here, and most don't do the signature thing. 5 of my guitars are under $450 with 2 under $200 (actually 6 if you count the D-55 bought 40 years ago). Math Mike, do math.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by 00-28

9 guitars to cover your specific styles of play doesn't follow my budget sense...

Originally Posted by TBman

There's people here with multiple $4,000+ guitars here, and most don't do the signature thing. 5 of my guitars are under $450 with 2 under $200 (actually 6 if you count the D-55 bought 40 years ago)...

I get it in the sense that Barry states: given today's market, it's not necessary to spend ludicrous amounts of money to obtain great tone/playability - and a player who needs a variety of specialized instruments to get the job done can accumulate a healthy stable for the price of one or two high-end pieces; here's my working rotation - none* of which cost me more than $1K brand-new w/warranty, and most far less:

• Electric - Gibson LP Studio '60s Tribute (P-90/goldtop), Godin CW II, Gretsch G5622T-CB, MIJ Fender/Squier Strat, Yamaha SSC-500
• Acoustic - Ovation Custom Balladeer, Martin D-15S, Martin J12-15, Carlo Robelli J-45 copy w/aftermarket Guitar Fetish dual-source (mag/mic) system, Godin 5th Avenue archtop
• Banjo - Deering Boston tenor*(used/near-mint w/OHSC - $325 @ Sam Ash Brooklyn), Gold Tone OB-250, Lanikai banjoele
• Bass - Gibson SG Faded, Ibanez SR405 5-string
• Amplification - Bugera V22, Bugera V5, Fender Frontman 212R, Ampeg PB250 1x12" combo (bass), Randall RB-120 1x15" combo (bass)

[00-28]

I'm kind of getting the impression that those who buy a lot of budget guitars never seem to be satisfied. Just my opinion.

............Mike

[DukeX]

For acoustics I have three and will soon add another.

For context, I'm not an entertainer. I only play by myself or with a couple of friends in environments where I don't want/need a cannon. I also have tinnitus, so loud guitars cause severe ringing (I recently had to return a Larrivee SD-40 that I absolutely adored ).

1. Webber OM (Cedar/RW) for fingerstyle. Cedar topped with light bracing, it is a magnificent fingerstyle guitar but can only handle very light strumming.

2. Taylor 324 Blackwood. Great all around guitar that can do anything well (which is what I wanted), but I mainly love strumming this guitar.

3. Larrivee L-30 nylon. It does that nylon thing! 'Nuff said.

4. Larrivee L-40 (I think I want) another all around guitar that offers a different flavor than the Taylor 324. Will mostly be used for strumming and flat picking.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by 00-28

I'm kind of getting the impression that those who buy a lot of budget guitars never seem to be satisfied. Just my opinion...

Not so - just as Duke says about his acoustics, each of my electrics fills a particular niche, and/or gives me tones that the others can't in a given setting/with a given amp; just by way of example:

• The ultra-hot PU's in the Yamaha - my classic-rock/R&B horn-band/late-night practice (through the V5) axe - will hit the front end of a tube amp as hard as a humbucker, but with a definite single-coil tonality (P-90's aren't quite as powerful/crunchier and less defined, Strat doesn't have the garbanzos);
• The Strat doesn't do jazz or country well, even with flatwound 12's and a flush-mounted bridge the way Leo intended (it's the Godin/Gretsch and, surprisingly, the LP here; the Godin with the V22 also works for earlier, more rootsy country/honky-tonk - and I dare you to find a better jazz electric for the money);
• The Yamaha and Godin don't surf (if you're thinking "Strat," the LP and Gretsch - in that order - would probably get my first call; that LP sounds like a Ventures Mosrite through a Super Reverb, BTW - who'da thunk...);
• First-wave British Invasion - Gretsch all the way (my band played a Stones tribute show last week - nailed the Brian Jones tone through the V5), with the Godin a close second;
• NYC '50s/60s group harmony gets the Godin, followed by the Gretsch/LP (tie) - has "that" tone, weighs no more than a Seagull mini-jumbo (doesn't drag your rib cage down and restrict your breathing when you're singing lead - ever wonder why Paul McCartney only went to that ten-pound Rick after the Beatles stopped touring, and back to the Hofner when he turned fifty?);
• Strat, followed by the Gretsch, through the Frontman for funk/R&B rhythm (Gretsch has 3 PU's - gets those Strat-type in-between tones with a hollowbody flavor and Gretsch chime) - Yamaha (has a coil-tap mode) in a pinch, or if there are horns;
• LP/Godin (tie) are my blues/rockabilly boxes (Gretsch is more Brit and country), Yamaha through the V22's OD channel for the real down-&-dirty blooz...

I think you get the idea - and don't get me going on the acoustics...

Just as a competent mechanic has more than one size/type of screwdriver in his/her toolbox, guitarists who play a variety of styles generally have more than one instrument in their arsenal, each suited to its particular purpose(s) - and if it doesn't have to cost an arm, a leg, and a couple other highly-useful body parts , so much the better...

[Silly Moustache]

Mm, difficult !

1. 12 fret dreadnought(s) for performance
2. Martin 12 fret 12 string - as above (for the more bluesy numbers).
3. "Roy Smeck style short scale jumbo - possibly for solo performance but mainly "'cos I love it!"
4. 000 12 fret - because I thought I'd see it for performance of Jimmy Rodgers songs (lovely guitar, rarely used, but I need medium strings when playing out).
5. Waterloo WL-12 - because I wanted it!
6. Harmony H1270 - 12 string - see above!
7. '30s Archtop - because at one time I thought I might beabe to play western swing.
Dobro and mandolin - because I used to play in bluegrass bands and doubling always seemed necessary.
Weissenborn style - a lapsed experiment.
National Estralita - 'cos sometimes I like to play them ol' blues.

That'll do.

[HHP]

Martin D-18vms - Like it for solo flatpicking or when I play duo or trio as the big, wide sound fills in the background.

Bourgeois Slope D - When I play with larger groups or need a projective, cutting sound.

Lowden D32 - Kept in Drop d tuning and mostly used with Irish tunes

Martin D-28 - When I might do some of all of the above and don't want to carry more than one guitar

Avalon 201CE - Only guitar with a pickup, cheap back-up for the Lowden

Martin 00c-16DBM - Fulfills my need to buy any Martin I can get for less than half its value.

Flatiron A5 Performer - Give me the smooth Loar-ish sound with its carve and tone bars

Flatiron A5 Artist - When I really want to be noticed playing mandolin

Slingerland 17 fret tenor banjo - For when too many guitar and mandolin players show up to play Irish music.

[Greg Ballantyne]

My collection more illustrates a tonewood & body shape journey. I've got a couple of dreads I don't really need any more, but.....

Seagull Maritime dread, spruce/mahogany tonewoods
Taylor 418e, big body with unique complex tone, spruce/ovangkol tonewoods
Taylor 514ce-LTD, my "small body" guitar, wonderful cedar/granadillo tonewoods, ranges from complex overtones to chiming bell like tones - great lower end

I think I still need a rosewood guitar, and perhaps walnut, perhaps blackwood. I'd consider any unique tonewood combo to explore the different sounds.

[The Bard Rocks]

I like to think my guitars do many things, and they do,, but I find myself using certain ones for certain things more than another one. For instance:
Leach - lower tunings, love it in drop D, played publicly in conjunction with a Lithuanian folk fiddle, also tuned low.
Apollonio - when I want a fuller sound, often when recording
Sexauer - at home or when doing solo work
MacAllister - certain songs where it's low voice shines, also ones that I learned in an unsingable key
Goodall - when I worry about humidity and temperature swings when I can't control things, but, like the Hatcher, really it's good for anything I throw at it
Kinnaird - darker, quieter songs
National - gospel, some blues, a 16th century song - eclectic use

[AgentKooper]

Martin 00-18: finger style, picking, strumming, blues, country, folk, rock, open G, open E, DADGAD.

Blueridge 163A: in a case in the basement feeling sad.

Blueridge 240A: ditto