Intro | guitars

Why bother?

I collect guitars, but I'm not a "Guitar Collector"; I don't have rows and rows of immaculately labelled cases, with examples of each colour made in each year (although I know a few folks who DO that, and why not)? My gear is all played on rotation, and none of it is in immaculate, showroom condition. I will admit to even deliberately denting a couple of very nice (and quite expensive) guitars to relieve the pressure of not wanting to scratch or dent them that first time. Once they had their first dent, I relaxed around them and got on with enjoying them. That isn't the sort of thing that a proper collector would do, now is it?

One of the issues of having several dozen guitars is that it takes some time to get round to playing each of them, so you actually miss the ones that you're not playing. So this site is my version of a family photo album, so I get to see them whenever I want. It isn't intended to be a showcase, there's nothing fancy ... no ticker-tape ... no lasers ... just a collection of random photos of my gear, accompanied by a few paragraphs of my characteristic 'train-of-thought' drivel on each guitar. Hope you like it.

It is structured in brand-order, and runs from the hand-made luthier stuff, to the Gibsons, the Charvels, Jacksons, Fender, then the other stuff. Don't get the impression that I don't like the other stuff; I LOVE these things.

By the way, I think that there is a central and very important factor that runs through this "Collection" (if you must call it that) ... NOTHING is here just because it is expensive or rare. Dont get me wrong ... there is quite a lot of expensive stuff here, along with quite a lot of rare stuff, but the only reason that ANY of it is here is ... generally ... awesomeness. If it isn't awesome, it isn't staying. Simple.

Justification?

Why not?

I don't drink, don't smoke, I stopped buying sports cars a long time ago, and have never dabbled with drugs or 'other' women. What I earn is used to get my family what they need, then what is left is used to get them what they want, then what is left, I sometimes spend on gear.

So no issues, right?!

That said, the journey hasn't all been straightforward, and I will admit that things got out of control back there. Things got to a head when my guitar-count got to over 90 (thats NINETY), with guitars and cases crammed into every available space. Pragmatically, that wasn't a particularly comfortable time. Although I enjoyed the guitars, I lost sight of what I really wanted, and simply started buying for the sake of it. Again, I can think of worse things to do with money, but something had to give. SO I embarked on several rounds of sales, durign which I shed an absolute shit-load of guitars ... you'll see the 'fallen' on the sister site to this; there's a link. What is left is the stuff that really makes me tingle, and the stuff that makes me happiest. Less mess, less fuss, and fewer guitars.

OK, OK, so I used most of the sale proceeds to buy more guitars, but it generally worked out that the proceeds from three or four sales went to buy one replacement, so the 'collection' became rather a lot more ... er ... high end. So shoot me.

Storage?

It may be a little odd, but my main storage space at home is an area which is hidden behind a huge wardrobe ... it's a very old house (1700s) with lots of odd places. The wardrobe is on wheels, so I slide it out of the way to get at the gear, then slide it back to prevent access by sticky young fingers. I call it "Narnia". Obviously.

Well ... its a magical place behind a wardrobe, right?

Names?

These things have their own personalities, so I see no issue with naming them. It is far easier when discussing them not to say "The Les Paul ... the sunburst one ... you know ... the one with the Floyd" but just to say "Gaffer". Easy. Several have retained the names given to them by previous owners. I don't really know why, but that makes me happy inside.