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Ever have a guitar you don't play due to value?

Roger65

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2003
Messages
283
Kinda like buying a car and not driving it to keep the miles down.

:biggrin:

Sadly, there are tons of people that do this.

Last year I was fortunate to buy my dream car. It’s red and Italian and I won’t mention the name but I think you know what I’m talking about.

It on had 2200 miles when I bought it and I was told if I kept the mileage under 5000 it woul be worth more when it came time to sell.

The hell with that! I‘ve been waiting all my life for that car, and I going to drive the hell out of it. What am going to do, save it for someone else to enjoy? No thank you.
 

ourmaninthenorth

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
7,119
Sadly, there are tons of people that do this.

Last year I was fortunate to buy my dream car. It’s red and Italian and I won’t mention the name but I think you know what I’m talking about.

It on had 2200 miles when I bought it and I was told if I kept the mileage under 5000 it woul be worth more when it came time to sell.

The hell with that! I‘ve been waiting all my life for that car, and I going to drive the hell out of it. What am going to do, save it for someone else to enjoy? No thank you.

Someone, somewhere...and hopefully not for many many years, will realise that your motor was loved and enjoyed, and not kept under a dust sheet.

I think it's called legacy; you're part of your car's story, and it sounds to me like you're writing a chapter called "lived experience"

I hope you put 100.000 miles on the clock.

Bloody good on you.

:salude:salude
 

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
Someone, somewhere...and hopefully not for many many years, will realise that your motor was loved and enjoyed, and not kept under a dust sheet.

Someone, either here or on another forum, mentioned that they were going to seldom play a guitar to keep down the wear and tear because they were going to pass it down to another generation at some point. I mentioned that the most wonderful thing about the mandolin that my grandfather passed down to me is the wear that he put on it! Seeing where his thumb and forefinger wore the finish down to the wood is an awesome memory of my grandfather!
 

Pat Boyack

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2011
Messages
4,510
Hi, I have a bourbon burst R9 in mint condition I love, but I don't play it because if I ever have to sell it I am trying to keep it mint. Is anyone else in that boat?
It seems dumb, but I've had to sell a bunch of equipment recently, including a bunch of Les Pauls and people want a mint guitar for nothing, including R8 & R9, I sold 2 R8 and 1 R9 recently. I have other guitars, a hummingbird(same story, mint like new don't play much), a Firebird V (mint), a 30 year Strat and some other cheaper stuff, tone king amps, etc. It's nuts I know but I'm putting out there.
:dang

My 2009 R9 was new and gloss when I bought it. I play it. I have buckle rash, nicks on the back of the neck. It's all me. :yah:yah
 

sonar

New member
Joined
Jan 10, 2003
Messages
3,589
My 2009 R9 was new and gloss when I bought it. I play it. I have buckle rash, nicks on the back of the neck. It's all me. :yah:yah

Love it!

Something about the journey of a once new guitar that becomes an old friend...

very cool.
 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
I do have one guitar I won't gig much anymore--a 61 ES-335. I no longer take it to some of the crappy joints I play in...too worried about it getting stolen or broken (big band, small stages :( ). I still play it at better places where I'm not that concerned about theft or room on stage.


Normally, I gig with one of my two collectors choice guitars. They're both banged up already, which was part of their appeal to me...don't have to worry about an more dings, nicks, buckle rash, etc. Love 'em!

 

cincyguitar

Active member
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
431
My new LP trad Pro.....I am always worrying about scratching it......so many guys like a relic guitar but I like it nice and shiny....just gonna give up and play the heck out of it from today on....:hank
 

CatManDoo88

Active member
Joined
Mar 3, 2019
Messages
156
My new LP trad Pro.....I am always worrying about scratching it......so many guys like a relic guitar but I like it nice and shiny....just gonna give up and play the heck out of it from today on....:hank

That is how I felt about my new CS9. I bought it used, but it was perfectly mint without a scratch or ding. (I don't know how the previous owner, a professional musician, who took it on gigs, did it for 4 years.) It's my first serious, expensive guitar. I've turned it into a Beano replica with OX4s and Grovers and it is just the perfect player for me.

Anyways, I had it for a month and was super careful with it at all times and didn't want to take it to my guitar lessons since the lesson rooms are super small and it was just a matter of time before it bumped into a wall or sheet music stand. Then, I accidentally bumped the corner of the headstock against a wall while trying to get my amp to feedback at home. Then, I had a butter fingers moment about a month later when tweaking the pickup heights and the Gibson multitool slipped out of my hand and put a tiny ding in the clearcoat on the lower bout of the top.

I've just accepted that its going to get dinged and scratched since I play it everyday. The recent image dump of pictures of Jimmy Page's Number 1 and others at the MET made realize how worn those iconic guitars are up close. I'm now looking forward to this one getting beat, ambered, and checked over the coming years.
 

Axelorox

New member
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Messages
83
If you have more guitars to rotate between, that reduces the wear on each one. :peace2
 

Blackie59

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2004
Messages
111
I only have an R8 I bought a couple of years ago and I play it all the time. It’s got binding bleed all over the neck, where my arm rests on the top, and on the binding where it sits on my leg. The top is starting to look like it has reverse fading. It’s getting redder in places rather than fading like a vintage top. It’s a great guitar and I don’t care who gets it after I’m gone. My kids can figure that out themselves.
 

deytookerjaabs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,592
I've never done it, but in years surfing "for sale" stuff like everyone else I see the people who have that frame of mind. I don't blame them, y'all know the sales spiel in person of buying random stuff for collector's stake on to some of the customer base. Back up north I gave lessons to and know a fella with 30+ PRS's (fancy USA ones) and as far as I'm concerned he's bankrolled his local GC's "platinum room." This guys main squeeze was a normal strat. Doesn't bother me a bit...yet when ya've 400 guitars and "bought them for playing" it's tough no to think that mentality is a huge leap of faith/logic! Again, nothing wrong with owning ****, just "knowing thyself" or living in what we call "reality" must set in at some point.
 

sonar

New member
Joined
Jan 10, 2003
Messages
3,589
I've never done it, but in years surfing "for sale" stuff like everyone else I see the people who have that frame of mind. I don't blame them, y'all know the sales spiel in person of buying random stuff for collector's stake on to some of the customer base. Back up north I gave lessons to and know a fella with 30+ PRS's (fancy USA ones) and as far as I'm concerned he's bankrolled his local GC's "platinum room." This guys main squeeze was a normal strat. Doesn't bother me a bit...yet when ya've 400 guitars and "bought them for playing" it's tough no to think that mentality is a huge leap of faith/logic! Again, nothing wrong with owning ****, just "knowing thyself" or living in what we call "reality" must set in at some point.

It's a different game when you get into mega sized collections.
 

mustachio

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
178
My tech always used to say to me, “You’re my favorite pain in the ass because you play the fuck out of your guitar. You always want something necessary done to your nice guitars, but you play ‘em.” I don’t mod my guitars much anymore other than Faber tailpieces, etc. But parts, plastics, stock pickups are light years ahead of 2010 specs. But, I beat the piss out of my instruments. That’s how they get their voice.

But not playing them in dives is a different story. Most J.Q. Public knows what a nice Les Paul is. And bringing one in a sketchy coke bar is tempting fate. That’s what Tele’s are for. And their pick guards are flatter and black. Good contrast. That’s real aging.
 

Shocktop99

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
92
Nope, I pay to play!! I wouldn't have bought it, if I wasn't going to play it!!!:rofl
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
Ever have a guitar you don't play due to value?

Yes, I have a few.
Some of my old stencil guitars are unplayable. They aren't worth enough to make playable. So, they are wall hangers and very enjoyable. :ganz
 

mustachio

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
178
Ever have a guitar you don't play due to value?

Yes, I have a few.
Some of my old stencil guitars are unplayable. They aren't worth enough to make playable. So, they are wall hangers and very enjoyable. :ganz

valuable is subjective. I can’t say I have the pleasure of a vintage burst (cough, cough!), and if I had, I would play it....very carefully. 👍
 
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