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

[Mds53]

My 1967 Guild D-44. Bought it used in 1970 as a HS Senior. Never humidified, never needed a neck reset, no cracks, and just sounds better than ever.

I recently took it to a Luthier in St. Paul to see if a refret was needed. The clerk played it and said "wow, I'm a Martin lover, but the tone, sustain, and balance of this guitar is as good as any Martin." No fret changes needed.

It's been a workhorse.

[Humbuster]

have been though many guitars over my lifetime.

This one is is willed to my youngest son .



Fender 55 "Thin Skin" Telecaster. 1 pc ash body, 7.1 lbs.

[Sadie-f]

Originally Posted by cip

A guitar that you truly believe you will never ever get rid of.

I recall seeing grown men cry during this song that was about saying good bye to a guitar that the person loved.

I'm not sentimental or anything but recently bought a guitar that absolutely sings. I've never heard such a high caliber sounding guitar before, in any store or professional recording studio and I can't Believe I actually own it. I don't think this guitar will ever get sold.

Actually truly? :-)

Neverminding the hyperbole, first I'm not given to owning a lot of instruments, even less so to acquisition churn - some of that is philosophy/economics, there's a transaction cost to every sale of a guitar (commission fee at my LGS is 25% of the sale price).

I don't expect I will ever part with my Santa Cruz, or my hand built Strat style axes. I also have 2-3 guitars in my build queue/plans that I hope will be for-life guitars. Of course plans change, when I bought her, I hadn't expected to ever sell my OM-28 .. it's a great example of that model, and now well broken in. However on realizing how much more is possible, I began a search for a great custom, as well as learning how to build my own.

My Santa Cruz is so much better (to my ears and preferences) than the Martin (like I've only played one rosewood body guitar I like better, a 1934 OOO-28) .. and I don't have any desire to own two rosewood body guitars. And so, my just-finished maple body is the one that will replace the Martin (I don't feel any need for more than one rosewood guitar). The newly built axe is a wonderful contrast to the old growth Adi<rosewood SCGC guitar. I expect a second even better maple axe will replace the first, which I plan to gift to one of the many younger performers I follow.

[Jeremy]

I've yet to own a guitar that I wasn't willing to part with for one reason or another. I miss the days when guitar was just a tool to me, I would have saved myself a lot of money buying and selling (at a loss) countless instruments that I thought were "keepers." Not that I don't believe in the notion of a "for life" guitar, I just don't think it's compatible with my personal sensibilities.

[Silly Moustache]

For me, now aged 76, most of them will be my "for life" guitars, unless arthritis make it impossible to play - (it's working at it!) . .

[rule18]

I don't foresee selling/trading two of my current four. The J45 sounds great and we've played a metric poop-ton of gigs together. My new Hatcher won't go anywhere, it was designed by me and Mark to my specs and it's pretty perfect. If in the future I can no longer play, I know who they're going to.

The other two, well, one's for sale and if someone wanted my MexiStrat, it could go without a second thought.

[WolfmansBrother]

My Gibson Johnny A Standard.

[Br1ck]

I think when it comes down to it, the closest thing to a forever guitar would for me need to be emotional attachment. There was an article by Gryphon owner Richard where he told of a grandfather who had died, and the son and granddaughter came in with his guitars to consign. The father told his daughter she could pick a guitar to keep. The collection was pretty much nice player grade instruments. The daughter wanted an old L 00 I think it was, even thought there were Brazilian Martins worth more. The grandfather had taught her to play guitar on that one, and that's the one she kept.

I have no such story. I think I have two keepers at age 73, but I never say never. There will come a day I can't play dreads with .013 strings. At that point, everything will go for a small, hopefully old, guitar that will sound good with extra lights. We shall see what unfolds.

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by kizz

Everything changes with time, skills, sound, yourself and your hearing, your surroundings and your preferences, etc., therefore it is also natural to find guitars that fit your current needs...

Yes... What not to like about the Martin D-35 that I bought new in mid-1969?
Well, as 50 years went by, the body and fretboard needed repairs, the even-when-new unpleasantly high action kept creeping up, needing a couple of set ups, until finally the saddle was gone and it was going to need an expensive neck reset. The big body became uncomfortable to hold. And as I turned 80, I wondered what my wife would do with it when I passed. So I sold it and got a nice OM.
Everything had changed.

[H165]

I'll keep my 00, my deep body SJ, and my resophonic. And possibly my LR Baggs guitar.

[caperrob]

As a guy who told his wife that he was thinking about upgrading his Yamaha F-310, but was going to save and was in no rush.....that was in 2015

Then the Martin bug hit but a HD-28V was waaay over budget, so a GPCPA4 rosewood was bought. I wasn't a fan of the neck and wanted a smaller body, so I went with a 000-18, which I enjoyed, except for feeling cramped up towards the 12th fret. Then, one photo of a Lakewood jumbo cutaway caught my eye and I had to have it, so the 000-18 was gone. I played the Lakewood so much, I know that my skill level really improved. I couldn't put it down. It was an amazing guitar.

Then I started to get a lot of pain in my right shoulder- so much that I couldn't play the Lakewood. I hardly picked it up for a few months. I ended up ordering a Martin OM-21, thinking that it was close enough to an OM-28 for the rosewood tone and body sze.

Unfortunately, the look of the neck on the OM-21 really concerned me. It probably wasn't cracks but I thought that eventually, it could be. Cosmetic and nothing to worry about maybe but for what I paid for the guitar, couldn't accept it. So I went back to a Lakewood M32CP - another absolutely amazing instrument. Slightly larger body than an OM with a wide neck though.

Then, a used Boucher SG-21 became available........Trigger Pulled!!!

I demoed a Boucher SG-21 some years ago and it stayed in my head for months. I don't know for sure it the one I have now is the same one. I understand that the previous owner is from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, so if you are on here, I would love to know when you bought it. It would be pretty cool it it is the same guitar.

My last guitar? I am a one in, one out guy as the Boucher is way, way over my budget. I basically bought in steps as I went along - started at one price and kinda paid the same as I moved up the ladder. The SG-21 was a used guitar, with swirls and scratches on the back but I don't care - I buffed most of them out. The neck is perfect in every way - I didn't realize how important this is until I got it. For what I do with it - mostly couch and a weekly jam, the body size is ideal for me. Bubinga wood is different - definitely between rosewood and mahogany but really has its own sound. I will use the phrase, you never know what you need until you finally find it

[Mr Bojangles]

Let's see now...

My 1968 Gibson Blonde Hummingbird is staying with me, I didn't buy it new, but I traded for it back in 1972. I had just got back from a train trip to NYC with a brand-new Gibson SG in Cherry Red. Someone was at my house that wanted to see the SG as I was walking in the door and said that he had to have it! He went out to his car and came back with the Hummingbird, something I had always wanted. We exchanged guitars on the spot, even trade. I have owned the Hummingbird ever since, just about one year longer than I have been married to my wife.

Another lifer is my 1934 Montgomery Ward catalogue wood resonator slothead.
It was passed down to me by an old friend just before he died (he was the original owner).

The list is long of other guitars that should have been lifers, and are now irreplaceable. Live and learn as the saying goes...

[fazool]

I have a Taylor GC7 that I bought new back in 2011-ish

It remains the most incredible guitar I've ever owned and I feel like it is an extension of myself when I play it.

This is one purchased thing I will never part with (willingly).

So, yes, I do have a lifetime keeper guitar.

I've also bought and sold about three dozen guitars over the years and none has ever made me think twice about it. So I have a lot of anecdotal evidence to support my claim.

[Dan Winheld]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

For me, now aged 76, most of them will be my "for life" guitars, unless arthritis make it impossible to play - (it's working at it!) . .

I am one year further along; my three steel strings & one classical have earned themselves permanent squatter’s rights, I’m lucky if they don’t get rid of me first.

Seriously, my 7-string Dean “Performer” model, internally hotrodded & set up by one of the best luthiers in the industry, is one instrument I would rather drag through all nine circles of Dante’s “Inferno”, the Apocalypse, and a very bad open mic. night rather than have it pried out my old cold dirty fingers. Yep, that one’s for life, (but so are the others.)

[fazool]

Originally Posted by 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.

I didnt read it as JUST one keeper guitar to do it all. Like you, I have several guitars to meet different needs....but *ONE* of mine is a "keeper"