When I was growing up getting a guitar wasn't easy... and I grew up in Fullerton, home of the Fender! At 12 (1970) I got my first strat, Fender amp and external reverb unit... I have been obsessed with music and gear ever since. Just holding a guitar is magical... now that I have what's known as "disposable income" I collect the guitars of my youth (I have 63)... but I'm in a local band and use most of them through out the year. Having them on the walls around me is like a museum of my love for guitars!
My dad rescued and restored a vandalized piano. My mother cleaned toilets to pay for lessons. Dirty jobs paid for a used keyboard and amp. Bar gigs paid my way through college. I wore out two keyboards over the years. I still have just one keyboard and one amp. It’s all I need and I’m so grateful.
So much respect for you in this clip. Yes, guitars are luxury items and we should re-learn to be thankful for simply having the time and peace to sit and play them…Yes, and to sit and listen to you. Blessings to you, Phil.
When I was 15 years old I never thought I'd have the amount of guitars I have now. Most people had no more than two. One electric. One acoustic. I now have over ten. Cheaper prices and higher quality made me go crazy. Mostly modded budget and Chinese guitars. They play and sound great. Not much resale value. They're not investments. But they are a lot of fun.
Phil just hearing your story about how your mom made sacrifices in order to get you your first guitar rig made me realize why so many people love and respect you. You speak from your heart and that fact shines through in all you do. We, as fans of your podcast are so lucky to get the “ skinny” on all things guitar . Add to that your sharing of life lessons and your technical knowledge mixed in with some Phil humor , I’d say we’re all pretty lucky to have you as a mentor and friend albeit online. Wishing you and your lovely wife nothing but the best ! Cheers and God bless. Bobby Wheels. 🙏🏼❤️🎸👨🏼🦽
I'm at the stage/age in life where I'm selling everything off. I don't resent or hate them. They just aren't important to me as they used to be. It's part of growing up.
you are correct, of course, but that is the first half of the equation. equations always have an = symbol, hence "equation". x+1=y where: x= the amount of guitars you currently have y= the ideal amount of guitars to have
Very true. But my problem is that I have multiple variations of the same guitar, with a couple of other guitars sprinkled on top. Would make more sense if all of my guitars were different models, but they're not. That's just how it is.
Not always a guitar is luxury. Sometimes it was and is a life saver. A necessity. A ssurvival tool. A lifeboat to escape from an insufferable surrounding and destiny. A way to communicate where words fail and nothing else would suffice. The old blues players... how would they survived without their guitars, harps and pianos? How many lives have been saved or remain bearable only thruogh music? Instruments are medicine!
After playing guitar professionally for 40 years I don't really care about having an expensive guitar. I've played incredible guitars for $100.00 / 300.00 / 500.00/ 1100.00. If the guitar feels great, subin whatever pickups you want and you have a gem! For a couple of years I actually played a $75 guitar. The neck was incredible and It felt great overall. I altered the pickups and played the crap out of it! I was playing jazz and fusion jazz with that axe and it just made me smile! One more story...I had a student show up for a lesson and he had purchased a squire strat with a pack of strings, strap and a handfull of picks for $100.00. I played it and said, man if you ever want to sell this guitar please ask me first. One of the best guitars I've ever played.
I find my audience doesn’t care what instrument I’m holding in my hands when I’m playing - it’s more how I make them feel when I perform, the smiles I see, the head bopping to the tempo, the memories I’m told that a song brought back.
If you buy a 75$ guitar, which doesn't exist now, and put in new pickups, then you spent more than 75$. Be honest in your math. Guys like you all sound the same, «my guitar was only $200 but then i put in new pickups, new tuners, new switches, had a fret job and its the best guitar and 200 i ever spent« Really? The definition of gaslighting.
@@matthouston8411 I hear what you're saying man, but dude, I honestly played a $75.00 guitar for 2 years because I didn't have money to get all of the trimmings. Yeah, I had all og those trimmings but not in the early years.
I'll tell you this. I bought a used 2014 Fender Standard. It had basically never been played, put in a case and controlled storage. The grain on the body and the neck are great. The pickups sound amazing. I was all ready to change them but they sound great clean, OD, doesn’t matter. I'll never buy another new guitar.
@@flonotflow I have two electric guitars, an acoustic guitar, an acoustic electric bass, and two electric basses (4 and 6 string). I struggle finding time to play and maintain each properly, and I hate how much restringing costs. Minimum of $85 if I were to do them all at once - I can afford it, I just don't like it. 🤣 And I still want a super strat with single coils and maybe a trem, and a fretless 4 string bass. I feel like a masochist. 🤣
@Vykk_Draygo I have 7, 3 acoustics and 4 electrics. And yes, it gets expensive to restring especially if you use premium strings, etc! I feel bad too that some of them are just sitting in cases when someone else could be enjoying them. Goal is to sell off 2 or three over the next year or so. Two for sure. I have found as my playing evolved, so have my wants and needs in regards to body style and tone. It's all a journey, isn't it?
@@flonotflow It is! And it's good to be able to go on that journey. I sold an electric last year, since I was gifted a new guitar and I just stopped playing the other one entirely. So I get it. When I took it in to the local shop, the guy who was working the sale was super stoked, so I'm betting he bought it (80's Cort Effector Explorer in white). It felt good seeing someone else love the guitar!
I bought a few of mine when they were still cheaper to buy used: Bought a '62 Gibson SG around 1970 for much less than a new one and others in those years because I could only afford USED guitars. (still in VG condition, no checking or buckle rash etc.) Now most folks can only afford NEW guitars... Honestly there is not that much difference, old is not better, just older.
I've only got 6 guitars left. I owned over 100 at some point in time. If I had had much more money I would probably go back to like 20, ost of them under 2k. And the 6 I have now would still be part of the collection. I needed years to settle on those. I have a single spot open on my wall and I'm buying guitars till I find the one to fill it, but I never have more than 2 candidates at once here. I sell before I buy a new one, because I totally was a guitar messi. About the professional guitarists: As a professional a guitar is first of all a tool. In most cases you don't want to play a "collectable" guitar on stage and in the studio I'd say it depends... But the job can be done with any guitar suiting the player if it stays in tune. No matter if it cost 100 bucks or 100k bucks.
My first electric guitar was two old wallhanger Sears guitars that two different friends gave me when I was a young teen. One had working pickups and a decent body and the other had a decent neck. They didn't fit together so I had to "make" them fit. It wa a total piece of crap but it worked and that got me started on a lifelong journey to being a guitar player
I recently bought my first Cort ever. And to be totally honest, it rivals any American made guitar I've ever had...better in many aspects. They might be making lots and lots of guitars, but they're making some great ones.
When I had my first Lafayette guitar (which I would love to still have ) I bought it from my cousin with paper route money . I used to fix stings if they broke behind the nut by tying the ends to a small washer . Nearest Sam Ash store or any music store was 6 miles away on a bicycle trip . Spent hours in there .
From a person who's seen this trend in every sector of manufacturing, it's also made worse with the race to the bottom. Here's their logic: the more units we build, the closer our build cost approaches zero, and the greater percentage we can undercut our nearest competitors. It just took longer for it to appear here because it's not thousands or more of chips on a wafer where giant leaps in quantities per wafer can happen with die shrinks (device size optimization) suddenly dropping the cost of generating the bare die for that device by an order of magnitude in some cases.
What is crazy about being enthusiastic about something is that people around you tend to look for things in the realm and gift you with those type of things for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, etc. This is how some acquire parts of their collection.
as long as there's good variety in your collection, go for it man. try different types of guitar. acoustic steel string, nylon string, electrics at 25.5 inch scale, electrics at 24.75 (or 24.6 for Gretsch), flat radius, curved radius, multiscale, 7 string, 12 string, etc find your groove
@@fistovuzi That's basically where I am at. I have a resonator, a nylon acoustic, a dreadnaught, a smaller cut away acoustic, a fake Les Paul, a real strat, a real Tele, and a real Ibanez with active pickups. It makes my lessons a little more fun, and it's cool to play with the different tones. But obviously it only went this way, because I'm an adult who can afford things others couldn't because they were kids when they learned.
😂😂😂 while fender makes guitars, Glock is able to continue making guns. On the same day! They dont share factory space. You're going to have to accept reality that violent crime victims exist and choose to defend themselves
Good points. We just had a Donner HSS Strat-style delivered with full sized body,bent-saddles,and zero sharp frets--plus a real guitar cable and a decent gigbag. ..,all for $75. The body is worth twice that. Cool with us🤘
I've declared that I'm done buying guitars several times now but then an idea for a sound will pop into my head and won't go away until it's realized. I've done an ok job managing this impulse by repurposing the ones that are getting dusty into more interesting tools that make me want to pick them up again. I just recently turned a squire strat into what is essentially a baritone and it's been a lot of fun. I really wanted a Dano, but spending $600 on that would be reckless right now. I'm glad I went this route though because I'm digging it a lot and it only cost me $20 and some time.
i knew bands, good bands, who struggle to buy instruments plus food. That movie, "Light of Day" is once of my favorite with Joan Jett and Micheal J. Fox was too close to reality for the majority of musician who struggle to play for their supper.
Even some rich (big name) musicians don't bring their vintage guitars on the road anymore because they're so valuable and hard to replace. Hobbyist or not, I'd rather see guitars USED at live performances and on recordings than sitting in some collection unused or where nobody hears it.
Actually most of those people own copies or other vintage guitars to play and keep their prime guitar at home for SENTIMENTAL reasons. Nobody cares if you came to the show to see a real 59 les paul
The statement that one guitar is a luxury item hit hard. That alone makes me glad that I clicked on the video. It’s 100% true. I remember sinking all of my money into my first two guitars. They were all I had for years and served me well. Once I got started in my career, they ballooned into 10 all worth more than the first two. My first guitar was a luxury which is why I still have it today. My next guitar will be a luxury too. Someday I’ll downsize but that’s not today.
NOS, new old stock... The companies can win with their excess holding onto it as an investment to sell later at a higher price or refinish them (like Gibson's Mod collection) I bought a faded Tea Burst LP and Long & McQuade has a special run of them... my store in town send all the excess ones back to Gibson... likely going to the Mod shop.
You and me both, duder. I got a MIM player series strat, Epiphone 335, Boss mkII amp, and a Yamaha FG830. I picked up a used Pacifica earlier this month but returned it the next day. Im not going that route. I got all the guitar I need.
It's never been easier, or cheaper, to get into playing guitar. New instruments aside, Craigslist can be a gold mine. I watched a ~$1K Charvel recently: I was mulling over buying it, posted at $600. The seller took it down to $525, and I decided to sleep on it. Someone snapped it up. By the pictures and description, the thing was like-new.
Gibson’s are more expensive than ever or Atleast from what I can remember back in 2014 ish they had tons of versions of their guitars for well under a grand. They claimed they were pleking their guitars after , Iv bought multiple guitars from them around 2019 and on and Iv played multiple new ones with bad nuts and bought one with a twisted neck without realizing atfirst. What a joke
I go to a lot of pawn shops state wide. One shop told me that they no longer take in any guitar's. They have three Conex box's full of just guitars, they had 150 guitars on display in the shop alone. Rows and rows of amps stacked up along with several boxes of cords and pedals. I aways hunt for older Vox AC30s and black faced Fender twins.
I say purchase one great guitar of electric and of acoustic and stay away from cheap junk... Your message Sir is spot on....I perceive you in a different light....❤
Saying a guitar is a "luxury item" to a working musician that needs that TOOL to survive is like saying a pen is a "luxury item" to a secretary. Guess we can't have digital files, damn computers are "luxury items."
I have been fortunate. I have maybe 25 guitars. I am 74 and started watching your channel when you started. Now, every time I acquire another one, I let one go. I either gift it or sell it. Like any collection, you have favorites. I live alone. They are my companions. I take good care of them and they respond by helping me make music. By the way, here is a tip, if you are selling something and the purchaser objects with, “If I bring another (insert here) she will kill me.” Casually respond with, “Well, don’t tell her…..”.😮
I have noticed the guys that play live in my local town also can not aford to employ several band members. They use tracks ,in place of drums,base etc.
After 70 years of guitar production it does make me wonder if the market could get saturated. Some will eventually get scrapped, a few are stored unused and of course many are circulating in the used market. There are a few collectors who have a large number of guitars but most guitarists probably only have 2 or 3. So saturation is a problem the manufacturers will have to keep an eye on.
I bought a 1982 Gibson Explorer in a pawn shop in 1989, for $300 bucks. It’s black with gold hardware. Turns out it’s a custom shop korina model neck through body. The numbers are stamped into the headstock. I saw the same guitar on eBay for $17,900.
Great post 👍, love the pragmatic insight that your years of experience has given you. Over the years, I've gone through phases of what I want from a guitar. Virtually always been a 24-fret superstrat guy, but wanted other guitar types to supplement the different tones you can get. Went through a Les Paul phase for a few years, but evetually settled firmly on the side of widdly shredders now. Got 7 in total, reality is that I only play 4 (and one of those is a partscaster) and I have no intention of buying any more. Last one I bought was a secondhand 2017 USA HSS Elite Strat, which I feel completed my collection. The ones I've got do everything I can ever see myself conceivably playing or recording again, so I'm actually out of the market for new guitars completely now after 45+ years of playing. Tbh, I only *ever* bought one guitar new in all my years anyway - a Gibson KZ-II with Dirty Fingers pickups when I was eighteen. Saved all my money from a summer labouring job and it cost me ~UK£500 back in 1981. Loved it but it had to go to part-pay college. IMHO, you definitely can have too many guitars, you can't play them all they way they deserve.
HELP! I have room for my guitars but how to store the hard cases? It is like having a washing machine in the room. I hate losing a closet to hard cases.
The smartest thing the vast majority of musicians (over 99%) can do is buy a used guitar for $300-$800, and have a professional technician replace the pickups and do a professional set up. The world needs 0 new massed produced guitars and there are a tiny handful of talented exceptions that need a guitar made to their specific needs by a talented small builder.
A guitar store owner here in the UK was asked about this. He said he’d increased stock of lefties a couple of times previously. Guess what? They sat unsold for months, sometimes years.
My first “decent” guitar was a JB Player I bought on layaway brand new in 1988. It looked great but had cheap pickups that caused bad feedback and a Kahler tremolo that was very uncomfortable for palm muting.
Have a guitar for each tuning you want. Or have left and right handed guitars like me. I’m trying to learn both ways. It only takes a few months to get somewhat comfortable with. You’re basically a beginner before that point relearning movements
You are an honest man, Phillip! What you're saying is true. Crunch time happens when the cost of living for the hobbyist exceeds his/her ability to maintain their gear collection. We are only at the very beginning of this economic recession, and it's going to be a whopper.
It's funny because on every video of a Rockstar smashing a guitar there's 20k comments from people saying that some kid could have used it, but there's absolutely 0 shortage of guitars. I've never walked into a guitar store and they were completely wiped out because pearl jam smashed a guitar last night.
Saw a doc about Gibson’s factory and they showed the Les Paul assembly line w dozens of LPs at various stages of the build process. Are there really enough pros and hobbyists willing to part with close to 3K to keep that factory cranking out LPs? It’s not like there is a shortage of clean used ones out there.
Its real interesting reading how guitars have affected everyone's life but there are a couple of problems coming that i don't think everyone realizes. At the numbers you mentioned it appears that the manufactirers are front loading their distribution network, if you produce above your orders without checking you stand the chance of putting yourself out of business. The second thing is interbrand competition, it's like GM they owned several brands and through the interbtand competition it cost them Pontiac.
Guitars have so many types. I mean you need a strat and a Les Paul. Then a semi hollow, a nylon string acoustic, steel string acoustic, 12 string electric, 12 string acoustic, and so on.
When I played in bands in the 70s and 80s I had 2 guitars and 1 Amp. Now that I'm old and rarely play, I have 20 guitars and 8 amps, 2 PA systems and all kinds of guitar cabs. I built all of it as an experiment. None of them duplicate another one. I'm not a collector. Just a craftsman.
Phil, you are a class act. I love your work. Maybe I'll run into you in Sweetwater some day and we'll talk about all the guitars we won't buy and insure. LOL!
I'm more interested in knowing why my local GCs have 400 guitars on the wall, and 85% of them are strats or strat clones. There's no way that is representative of what people actually want. That's like saying I want 4 strats and 1 other guitar.
Retail works on the very simple and basic principle of supply and demand.. A quick look at reverbs top selling electric guitars has a very similar breakdown to what you are describing that you see in musical instrument retail stores. However,..just because a particular product or design, or even a derivative of certain design might be super successful it doesnt mean YOU yourself are in any way obligated to buy the most popular product in some absurd "4 to 1' ratio LoL. You, can buy whatever the hell you want,.. Other people buy wtf ever they want! People have guitar collections made-up entirely of set-neck Gibsons or Rickenbachers loL People have collections that are all Telecasters. People have collections of guitars that are each and everyone either headless or semi-hollow ! Why,..why WHY,..would YOu feel obligated, in any way,.. to buy 4 strats or "strat clones" just because your local retailer is having more success selling those models? And by "strat clone" are you talking about the PRS Silver Sky or a Super Strat? Super Strats can be anything from a simple Strat with a humbucker in the bridge position, and possibly having a Floyd Rose stye bridge or,..a full on Kramer Baretta or Jackson soloist? Mos players buying Super Strats have no interest in Leo's traditional 3 single coil and curvy fretboard radius necks ( unless your name is Yngwie )
The reality is that no one ever throws away a good quality guitar. For something like a Gibson or a Fender even if they need a fairly big repair, they are going to get it and go on to outlive their owners. The number of guitars in existence just continues to grow every year at a rate that outpaces the number of new people/players. They take up a lot of space and sooner or later, the guys buying dozens of guitars just won 't be able to absorb the excess any longer as they have been.
I think though that during lockdown people officially bought more guitars than they have space for and that's why the 2nd hand market is flooded with stuff that's too highly priced. And new sales are down.
I suck at guitar playing, i definitely have an addiction. At one time I had 13 guitars, i sold a bunch and now im down to 3, but i collect and i will own more and more.
Agreed. I have way more guitars now than I did when I had my record deals. They are like cars. You only need one decent one. But, if you can swing it, why not get more?
How much did you pay for that 1000 year old single malt scotch? When buying anything you need to know what makes it the best. It’s so many nice things available then need, especially luxury items. Just have to search for them.
My 2nd wife,back in the day, literally stopped me in the middle of a park and said'you've gotta choose between me and the guitar (candy apple red Japan Strat😮
I own 7 guitars 4 of them are my good ones meaning they tune properly and sound good. One of my good ones is a 1953 arch top I inherited from my dad. Of the other three, one is a diy repair project the other two I let other people borrow. I like having 4 player guitars because that keeps me interested in practicing which is the real secret to playing well, not the guitar.
When I travel overseas to developing countries, I feel thankful for what I have, and sometimes I feel guilty for what I have. We are very lucky in the West, we need to remember that.
I have one acoustic which I play every day at work for kids at our school, one Malaysian plywood Strat style solid body electric which is a complete PoS as it doesn't stay in tune even with the trem locked down, and one old '60s Yugoslavian hollow body electric which I'm piecing back together to replace the PoS. My hobby is writing songs. Collecting guitars ..... not so much.
Unless you have a top-end guitar, once the frets wear significantly it is probably cheaper to buy another than get old one re-fretted. Thus they are a write-off. ☹
The tragedy is that the vast majority of the world’s diminishing supply of suitable guitarmaking materials are swallowed by these huge manufacturers spitting out sub optimal product…
You know, I've played a plywood bodied guitar. It sounded great. Electric guitars can be made out of pretty much anything, so it's only a concern as far as aesthetics. Acoustic is a different beast, obviously.
Nobody actually needs a collectible guitar to gig with that's more of a desire. Can't remember the guy's name, but he toured all over the world with a $250 guitar played almost every night. I can't remember how many shows he played..
My wife says if I buy one more guitar, she's leaving.
I'm gonna miss her, but I really need the room.
Plenty of fish out there my brother.
how many guitars do you have?
You will not miss her.
😂😂
Time to find a new wife who is as passionate about guitars as you are!
Loving these clip pulls from the live eps. Such a brilliant idea and easier to digest than the full 2 hours.
Ditto 👍
Oh me too! That last statement was powerful and will probably be used by others as they compete for office!!
Agreed! I like watching the whole thing, but I don't always have time, or I forget. This is awesome.
@@Vykk_Draygoexactly same as me ✌️
Bless your mum for getting you that guitar. She found a way no matter what. True love. ❤
When I was growing up getting a guitar wasn't easy... and I grew up in Fullerton, home of the Fender! At 12 (1970) I got my first strat, Fender amp and external reverb unit... I have been obsessed with music and gear ever since. Just holding a guitar is magical... now that I have what's known as "disposable income" I collect the guitars of my youth (I have 63)... but I'm in a local band and use most of them through out the year. Having them on the walls around me is like a museum of my love for guitars!
My dad rescued and restored a vandalized piano. My mother cleaned toilets to pay for lessons. Dirty jobs paid for a used keyboard and amp. Bar gigs paid my way through college. I wore out two keyboards over the years. I still have just one keyboard and one amp. It’s all I need and I’m so grateful.
A good & grateful attitude is EVERYTHING! ❤️
I hope you make videos some day on UA-cam to show off the talents your mom and dad sacrificed so much to cultivate in you. ⏳
Maybe he does already
I used to do dirty jobs for a dirty old man.
So much respect for you in this clip. Yes, guitars are luxury items and we should re-learn to be thankful for simply having the time and peace to sit and play them…Yes, and to sit and listen to you. Blessings to you, Phil.
When I was 15 years old I never thought I'd have the amount of guitars I have now. Most people had no more than two. One electric. One acoustic. I now have over ten. Cheaper prices and higher quality made me go crazy. Mostly modded budget and Chinese guitars. They play and sound great. Not much resale value. They're not investments. But they are a lot of fun.
I still have two.
I three but only because the third was going in end in the trash.
Non communist made guitars between 700 and 1100 ad infinitum!
I just bought 3 new basses at once. I must have been out of my mind! (But I sure do love 'em!)
I went from no guitars to 8 guitars in about 15 months. None of them cost more than $500. They play pretty great.
I wish you did more of these 20 minute posts. 2 hour videos are nuts. 🥜
Phil just hearing your story about how your mom made sacrifices in order to get you your first guitar rig made me realize why so many people love and respect you. You speak from your heart and that fact shines through in all you do. We, as fans of your podcast are so lucky to get the “ skinny” on all things guitar . Add to that your sharing of life lessons and your technical knowledge mixed in with some Phil humor , I’d say we’re all pretty lucky to have you as a mentor and friend albeit online. Wishing you and your lovely wife nothing but the best ! Cheers and God bless. Bobby Wheels. 🙏🏼❤️🎸👨🏼🦽
That must be why Badlands guitars are $3,000? So our mom's have to sacrifice too?
My girl always say's, He could be spending it on a lot worse things!!!!
Mine Also.
My dad always said “at least you’re not buying drugs”.
She's a keeper.
@@MrAustinMusic my dad always said, "you play better on drugs" 😭🤣
He was correct aswell 😂
We're more than happy if we can make around 1200 guitars per year haha. Cheers from Denmark!
I'm at the stage/age in life where I'm selling everything off. I don't resent or hate them. They just aren't important to me as they used to be. It's part of growing up.
I never want to grow up. im adding more at age 71.
Its not a moral battle
Growing up? More like growing away. Music isn't just for children.
The amount of guitars a person needs is X+1. This is a well known equation. X is the amount of guitars you currently have.
you are correct, of course, but that is the first half of the equation. equations always have an = symbol, hence "equation".
x+1=y
where:
x= the amount of guitars you currently have
y= the ideal amount of guitars to have
Very true. But my problem is that I have multiple variations of the same guitar, with a couple of other guitars sprinkled on top. Would make more sense if all of my guitars were different models, but they're not. That's just how it is.
The same applies to motorcycles
@@rsrmotoltd1144 My guitars (all stratocasters) match the colors of my motorcycles, or is it vice versa.🎸🏍️🤔
Math checks out 😂
Not always a guitar is luxury. Sometimes it was and is a life saver. A necessity. A ssurvival tool. A lifeboat to escape from an insufferable surrounding and destiny. A way to communicate where words fail and nothing else would suffice. The old blues players... how would they survived without their guitars, harps and pianos? How many lives have been saved or remain bearable only thruogh music? Instruments are medicine!
agree totally! add a few cats and I dont leave the house for days at a time! cats love quiet guitar playing.
They built their own instruments from scrap. Music may be fundamental, but guitars are still luxury items.
I get tired of tuning up and down with 1 guitar. So yes, i NEED at least 3.
I have 3 electrics and an acoustic. One is in E, one in Eb, one in D.
Exactly, looking for one to tune to C.
I have 5 guitars! Why? Because three have Floyd Rose trems.
After playing guitar professionally for 40 years I don't really care about having an expensive guitar. I've played incredible guitars for $100.00 / 300.00 / 500.00/ 1100.00. If the guitar feels great, subin whatever pickups you want and you have a gem! For a couple of years I actually played a $75 guitar. The neck was incredible and It felt great overall. I altered the pickups and played the crap out of it! I was playing jazz and fusion jazz with that axe and it just made me smile! One more story...I had a student show up for a lesson and he had purchased a squire strat with a pack of strings, strap and a handfull of picks for $100.00. I played it and said, man if you ever want to sell this guitar please ask me first. One of the best guitars I've ever played.
I find my audience doesn’t care what instrument I’m holding in my hands when I’m playing - it’s more how I make them feel when I perform, the smiles I see, the head bopping to the tempo, the memories I’m told that a song brought back.
If you buy a 75$ guitar, which doesn't exist now, and put in new pickups, then you spent more than 75$. Be honest in your math. Guys like you all sound the same, «my guitar was only $200 but then i put in new pickups, new tuners, new switches, had a fret job and its the best guitar and 200 i ever spent«
Really? The definition of gaslighting.
@@matthouston8411 I hear what you're saying man, but dude, I honestly played a $75.00 guitar for 2 years because I didn't have money to get all of the trimmings. Yeah, I had all og those trimmings but not in the early years.
@@jayumble8390 well that makes sense then
I'll tell you this. I bought a used 2014 Fender Standard. It had basically never been played, put in a case and controlled storage. The grain on the body and the neck are great. The pickups sound amazing. I was all ready to change them but they sound great clean, OD, doesn’t matter.
I'll never buy another new guitar.
Subscribed. This episode was your best coherent unbiased human-felt video I've seen on any subject.
Pros can write it off against income. Once you have more guitars than you can properly maintain it becomes more of a pain than pleasure.
This! Right now I have more guitars than I can play on a regular basis. So someone's gotta go.
@@flonotflow I have two electric guitars, an acoustic guitar, an acoustic electric bass, and two electric basses (4 and 6 string). I struggle finding time to play and maintain each properly, and I hate how much restringing costs. Minimum of $85 if I were to do them all at once - I can afford it, I just don't like it. 🤣
And I still want a super strat with single coils and maybe a trem, and a fretless 4 string bass. I feel like a masochist. 🤣
@Vykk_Draygo I have 7, 3 acoustics and 4 electrics. And yes, it gets expensive to restring especially if you use premium strings, etc! I feel bad too that some of them are just sitting in cases when someone else could be enjoying them. Goal is to sell off 2 or three over the next year or so. Two for sure. I have found as my playing evolved, so have my wants and needs in regards to body style and tone. It's all a journey, isn't it?
@@flonotflow It is! And it's good to be able to go on that journey. I sold an electric last year, since I was gifted a new guitar and I just stopped playing the other one entirely. So I get it. When I took it in to the local shop, the guy who was working the sale was super stoked, so I'm betting he bought it (80's Cort Effector Explorer in white). It felt good seeing someone else love the guitar!
How does one write it off for taxes , do you need to prove you made over a certain amount of money with music?
I bought a few of mine when they were still cheaper to buy used: Bought a '62 Gibson SG around 1970 for much less than a new one and others in those years because I could only afford USED guitars. (still in VG condition, no checking or buckle rash etc.) Now most folks can only afford NEW guitars... Honestly there is not that much difference, old is not better, just older.
I've only got 6 guitars left. I owned over 100 at some point in time. If I had had much more money I would probably go back to like 20, ost of them under 2k. And the 6 I have now would still be part of the collection. I needed years to settle on those. I have a single spot open on my wall and I'm buying guitars till I find the one to fill it, but I never have more than 2 candidates at once here. I sell before I buy a new one, because I totally was a guitar messi.
About the professional guitarists: As a professional a guitar is first of all a tool. In most cases you don't want to play a "collectable" guitar on stage and in the studio I'd say it depends... But the job can be done with any guitar suiting the player if it stays in tune. No matter if it cost 100 bucks or 100k bucks.
My first electric guitar was two old wallhanger Sears guitars that two different friends gave me when I was a young teen. One had working pickups and a decent body and the other had a decent neck. They didn't fit together so I had to "make" them fit. It wa a total piece of crap but it worked and that got me started on a lifelong journey to being a guitar player
That was a touching story about your Mom and your first guitar. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I recently bought my first Cort ever. And to be totally honest, it rivals any American made guitar I've ever had...better in many aspects. They might be making lots and lots of guitars, but they're making some great ones.
Your honesty is a breath of fresh air sir.
When I had my first Lafayette guitar (which I would love to still have ) I bought it from my cousin with paper route money . I used to fix stings if they broke behind the nut by tying the ends to a small washer . Nearest Sam Ash store or any music store was 6 miles away on a bicycle trip . Spent hours in there .
From a person who's seen this trend in every sector of manufacturing, it's also made worse with the race to the bottom.
Here's their logic: the more units we build, the closer our build cost approaches zero, and the greater percentage we can undercut our nearest competitors.
It just took longer for it to appear here because it's not thousands or more of chips on a wafer where giant leaps in quantities per wafer can happen with die shrinks (device size optimization) suddenly dropping the cost of generating the bare die for that device by an order of magnitude in some cases.
1:51 i love this 😂
What is crazy about being enthusiastic about something is that people around you tend to look for things in the realm and gift you with those type of things for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, etc. This is how some acquire parts of their collection.
I'm still a noob taking lessons and I have like 8. Starting this as an adult hasn't been the best financial decision. =)
as long as there's good variety in your collection, go for it man.
try different types of guitar. acoustic steel string, nylon string, electrics at 25.5 inch scale, electrics at 24.75 (or 24.6 for Gretsch), flat radius, curved radius, multiscale, 7 string, 12 string, etc
find your groove
@@fistovuzi That's basically where I am at. I have a resonator, a nylon acoustic, a dreadnaught, a smaller cut away acoustic, a fake Les Paul, a real strat, a real Tele, and a real Ibanez with active pickups. It makes my lessons a little more fun, and it's cool to play with the different tones. But obviously it only went this way, because I'm an adult who can afford things others couldn't because they were kids when they learned.
Making More Guitars Than We Can Buy? Sweet! More Guitars, Not Guns! 💚
Both are awesome.
Can't protect your guitars without a gun
😂😂😂 while fender makes guitars, Glock is able to continue making guns. On the same day! They dont share factory space. You're going to have to accept reality that violent crime victims exist and choose to defend themselves
Good points. We just had a Donner HSS Strat-style delivered with full sized body,bent-saddles,and zero sharp frets--plus a real guitar cable and a decent gigbag. ..,all for $75. The body is worth twice that. Cool with us🤘
I've declared that I'm done buying guitars several times now but then an idea for a sound will pop into my head and won't go away until it's realized. I've done an ok job managing this impulse by repurposing the ones that are getting dusty into more interesting tools that make me want to pick them up again. I just recently turned a squire strat into what is essentially a baritone and it's been a lot of fun. I really wanted a Dano, but spending $600 on that would be reckless right now. I'm glad I went this route though because I'm digging it a lot and it only cost me $20 and some time.
i knew bands, good bands, who struggle to buy instruments plus food. That movie, "Light of Day" is once of my favorite with Joan Jett and Micheal J. Fox was too close to reality for the majority of musician who struggle to play for their supper.
Even some rich (big name) musicians don't bring their vintage guitars on the road anymore because they're so valuable and hard to replace. Hobbyist or not, I'd rather see guitars USED at live performances and on recordings than sitting in some collection unused or where nobody hears it.
Actually most of those people own copies or other vintage guitars to play and keep their prime guitar at home for SENTIMENTAL reasons. Nobody cares if you came to the show to see a real 59 les paul
The statement that one guitar is a luxury item hit hard.
That alone makes me glad that I clicked on the video. It’s 100% true.
I remember sinking all of my money into my first two guitars. They were all I had for years and served me well. Once I got started in my career, they ballooned into 10 all worth more than the first two.
My first guitar was a luxury which is why I still have it today. My next guitar will be a luxury too. Someday I’ll downsize but that’s not today.
Does a professional really need a vintage guitar or can he do his job on a upper price-range Squire just as well?
NOS, new old stock... The companies can win with their excess holding onto it as an investment to sell later at a higher price or refinish them (like Gibson's Mod collection)
I bought a faded Tea Burst LP and Long & McQuade has a special run of them... my store in town send all the excess ones back to Gibson... likely going to the Mod shop.
I total of three guitars. A solid body electric a semi hollow and small acoustic. I petty much stop there. more guitar mean more strings to buy.
You and me both, duder. I got a MIM player series strat, Epiphone 335, Boss mkII amp, and a Yamaha FG830.
I picked up a used Pacifica earlier this month but returned it the next day. Im not going that route. I got all the guitar I need.
Great perspective!
A better question is....why are they so dang expensive then?
Well, they're not, actually....
You can buy a good guitar for $300 - $600 (sometimes less). That's significantly less than many people spend on a new phone.
It's never been easier, or cheaper, to get into playing guitar. New instruments aside, Craigslist can be a gold mine. I watched a ~$1K Charvel recently: I was mulling over buying it, posted at $600. The seller took it down to $525, and I decided to sleep on it. Someone snapped it up. By the pictures and description, the thing was like-new.
@SpartacusColo you are no alone having regrets for not jumping on a good deal fast😊
Gibson’s are more expensive than ever or Atleast from what I can remember back in 2014 ish they had tons of versions of their guitars for well under a grand. They claimed they were pleking their guitars after , Iv bought multiple guitars from them around 2019 and on and Iv played multiple new ones with bad nuts and bought one with a twisted neck without realizing atfirst.
What a joke
Dude the video editing and memes here makes these so worth re watching
I go to a lot of pawn shops state wide. One shop told me that they no longer take in any guitar's. They have three Conex box's full of just guitars, they had 150 guitars on display in the shop alone. Rows and rows of amps stacked up along with several boxes of cords and pedals. I aways hunt for older Vox AC30s and black faced Fender twins.
I think of my collection of cheap guitars as functional decoration. I like the way they look on the wall and I can pull one down and play it.
I say purchase one great guitar of electric and of acoustic and stay away from cheap junk... Your message Sir is spot on....I perceive you in a different light....❤
Saying a guitar is a "luxury item" to a working musician that needs that TOOL to survive is like saying a pen is a "luxury item" to a secretary. Guess we can't have digital files, damn computers are "luxury items."
I have been fortunate. I have maybe 25 guitars. I am 74 and started watching your channel when you started. Now, every time I acquire another one, I let one go. I either gift it or sell it. Like any collection, you have favorites. I live alone. They are my companions. I take good care of them and they respond by helping me make music.
By the way, here is a tip, if you are selling something and the purchaser objects with, “If I bring another (insert here) she will kill me.” Casually respond with, “Well, don’t tell her…..”.😮
If I was rich, I might become a collector, but got too much stuff already.
"As I've done better in my life, I've gotten sillier with it." Touché.
Your Mom is GLORIOUS!!!
An item you love and appreciate is much more than a mere luxury. A luxury is something you don't need. Something you love and appreciate is treasure.
I have noticed the guys that play live in my local town also can not aford to employ several band members. They use tracks ,in place of drums,base etc.
Great video Phil, all good points. I have a very small collection just eleven guitars, 6 amps and 1 multi effects unit.
Why are guitar manufacturers making more guitars than we buy?
Guy in video with 15 guitars in backgdound :
After 70 years of guitar production it does make me wonder if the market could get saturated. Some will eventually get scrapped, a few are stored unused and of course many are circulating in the used market. There are a few collectors who have a large number of guitars but most guitarists probably only have 2 or 3. So saturation is a problem the manufacturers will have to keep an eye on.
I love that comment you made about your mom buying you that guitar.
I bought a 1982 Gibson Explorer in a pawn shop in 1989, for $300 bucks. It’s black with gold hardware. Turns out it’s a custom shop korina model neck through body. The numbers are stamped into the headstock. I saw the same guitar on eBay for $17,900.
I once owned 33 guitars. No idea why. I now own 6 which is probably still twice as many as I need/want.
Great post 👍, love the pragmatic insight that your years of experience has given you.
Over the years, I've gone through phases of what I want from a guitar. Virtually always been a 24-fret superstrat guy, but wanted other guitar types to supplement the different tones you can get. Went through a Les Paul phase for a few years, but evetually settled firmly on the side of widdly shredders now. Got 7 in total, reality is that I only play 4 (and one of those is a partscaster) and I have no intention of buying any more. Last one I bought was a secondhand 2017 USA HSS Elite Strat, which I feel completed my collection. The ones I've got do everything I can ever see myself conceivably playing or recording again, so I'm actually out of the market for new guitars completely now after 45+ years of playing.
Tbh, I only *ever* bought one guitar new in all my years anyway - a Gibson KZ-II with Dirty Fingers pickups when I was eighteen. Saved all my money from a summer labouring job and it cost me ~UK£500 back in 1981. Loved it but it had to go to part-pay college.
IMHO, you definitely can have too many guitars, you can't play them all they way they deserve.
HELP! I have room for my guitars but how to store the hard cases? It is like having a washing machine in the room. I hate losing a closet to hard cases.
The smartest thing the vast majority of musicians (over 99%) can do is buy a used guitar for $300-$800, and have a professional technician replace the pickups and do a professional set up. The world needs 0 new massed produced guitars and there are a tiny handful of talented exceptions that need a guitar made to their specific needs by a talented small builder.
Best testimony of a great Mother ever )))
Sir, you are low key always saying some wise or thought provoking things. That's why I keep coming back. 👍
Definitely not an over supply of lefty guitars.
A guitar store owner here in the UK was asked about this. He said he’d increased stock of lefties a couple of times previously. Guess what? They sat unsold for months, sometimes years.
I'm relieved to be lefty. If I wasn't, I'd buy too many guitars. There's about 10:1 ratio of right to left guitars an the market; that's enough.
My first “decent” guitar was a JB Player I bought on layaway brand new in 1988. It looked great but had cheap pickups that caused bad feedback and a Kahler tremolo that was very uncomfortable for palm muting.
Have a guitar for each tuning you want. Or have left and right handed guitars like me. I’m trying to learn both ways. It only takes a few months to get somewhat comfortable with. You’re basically a beginner before that point relearning movements
Hmm. As a failed guitarist turned bassist turned hobbyist, I see your point. 1 old Nissan, no boats or $$$ supercars, either....
I'd take an old 510, Z-car or Skyline over any supercar.
Laurel and Gloria too, for that matter.
You are an honest man, Phillip! What you're saying is true. Crunch time happens when the cost of living for the hobbyist exceeds his/her ability to maintain their gear collection. We are only at the very beginning of this economic recession, and it's going to be a whopper.
It's funny because on every video of a Rockstar smashing a guitar there's 20k comments from people saying that some kid could have used it, but there's absolutely 0 shortage of guitars. I've never walked into a guitar store and they were completely wiped out because pearl jam smashed a guitar last night.
Saw a doc about Gibson’s factory and they showed the Les Paul assembly line w dozens of LPs at various stages of the build process. Are there really enough pros and hobbyists willing to part with close to 3K to keep that factory cranking out LPs? It’s not like there is a shortage of clean used ones out there.
the earth will be consumed by the sun at some point so using the trees for guitars is better than just letting them burn eventually :O)
Love your videos. They are joyful to watch.
Everyone needs at least one instrument. Guitars are great.
Its real interesting reading how guitars have affected everyone's life but there are a couple of problems coming that i don't think everyone realizes. At the numbers you mentioned it appears that the manufactirers are front loading their distribution network, if you produce above your orders without checking you stand the chance of putting yourself out of business. The second thing is interbrand competition, it's like GM they owned several brands and through the interbtand competition it cost them Pontiac.
easier to make a guitar than a player
Guitars have so many types. I mean you need a strat and a Les Paul. Then a semi hollow, a nylon string acoustic, steel string acoustic, 12 string electric, 12 string acoustic, and so on.
Hobbyists keep the entire industry in business.
When I played in bands in the 70s and 80s I had 2 guitars and 1 Amp. Now that I'm old and rarely play, I have 20 guitars and 8 amps, 2 PA systems and all kinds of guitar cabs. I built all of it as an experiment. None of them duplicate another one. I'm not a collector. Just a craftsman.
Why are most Harley Benton guitars out of stock 7 weeks etc
Phil, you are a class act. I love your work. Maybe I'll run into you in Sweetwater some day and we'll talk about all the guitars we won't buy and insure. LOL!
I'm more interested in knowing why my local GCs have 400 guitars on the wall, and 85% of them are strats or strat clones.
There's no way that is representative of what people actually want. That's like saying I want 4 strats and 1 other guitar.
Retail works on the very simple and basic principle of supply and demand..
A quick look at reverbs top selling electric guitars has a very similar breakdown to what you are describing that you see in musical instrument retail stores.
However,..just because a particular product or design, or even a derivative of certain design might be super successful it doesnt mean YOU yourself are in any way obligated to buy the most popular product in some absurd "4 to 1' ratio LoL.
You, can buy whatever the hell you want,..
Other people buy wtf ever they want!
People have guitar collections made-up entirely of set-neck Gibsons or Rickenbachers loL
People have collections that are all Telecasters.
People have collections of guitars that are each and everyone either headless or semi-hollow !
Why,..why WHY,..would YOu feel obligated, in any way,.. to buy 4 strats or "strat clones" just because your local retailer is having more success selling those models?
And by "strat clone" are you talking about the PRS Silver Sky or a Super Strat?
Super Strats can be anything from a simple Strat with a humbucker in the bridge position, and possibly having a Floyd Rose stye bridge or,..a full on Kramer Baretta or Jackson soloist?
Mos players buying Super Strats have no interest in Leo's traditional 3 single coil and curvy fretboard radius necks ( unless your name is Yngwie )
The reality is that no one ever throws away a good quality guitar. For something like a Gibson or a Fender even if they need a fairly big repair, they are going to get it and go on to outlive their owners. The number of guitars in existence just continues to grow every year at a rate that outpaces the number of new people/players. They take up a lot of space and sooner or later, the guys buying dozens of guitars just won 't be able to absorb the excess any longer as they have been.
What an intelligent post. Thanks for your honesty.
24 million guitars is more than we can buy? Oh please ...You haven't met some of my musician friends.
I think though that during lockdown people officially bought more guitars than they have space for and that's why the 2nd hand market is flooded with stuff that's too highly priced. And new sales are down.
I suck at guitar playing, i definitely have an addiction. At one time I had 13 guitars, i sold a bunch and now im down to 3, but i collect and i will own more and more.
Agreed. I have way more guitars now than I did when I had my record deals. They are like cars. You only need one decent one. But, if you can swing it, why not get more?
How much did you pay for that 1000 year old single malt scotch? When buying anything you need to know what makes it the best. It’s so many nice things available then need, especially luxury items. Just have to search for them.
This is why Gibson and Fender force us to buy Chinese Replicas, and I'm ok with that, they work for me.
Hey Phil, have you done any archtop comparison reviews?
My 2nd wife,back in the day, literally stopped me in the middle of a park and said'you've gotta choose between me and the guitar (candy apple red Japan Strat😮
I own 7 guitars 4 of them are my good ones meaning they tune properly and sound good. One of my good ones is a 1953 arch top I inherited from my dad. Of the other three, one is a diy repair project the other two I let other people borrow. I like having 4 player guitars because that keeps me interested in practicing which is the real secret to playing well, not the guitar.
When I travel overseas to developing countries, I feel thankful for what I have, and sometimes I feel guilty for what I have. We are very lucky in the West, we need to remember that.
I agree with your viewpoint. Good video. Thank you
2 acoustics guild f47, f212xl. 2 electrics, Ric 330, Epiphone dot. All I need.
I have one acoustic which I play every day at work for kids at our school, one Malaysian plywood Strat style solid body electric which is a complete PoS as it doesn't stay in tune even with the trem locked down, and one old '60s Yugoslavian hollow body electric which I'm piecing back together to replace the PoS. My hobby is writing songs. Collecting guitars ..... not so much.
Unless you have a top-end guitar, once the frets wear significantly it is probably cheaper to buy another than get old one re-fretted. Thus they are a write-off. ☹
The tragedy is that the vast majority of the world’s diminishing supply of suitable guitarmaking materials are swallowed by these huge manufacturers spitting out sub optimal product…
You know, I've played a plywood bodied guitar. It sounded great. Electric guitars can be made out of pretty much anything, so it's only a concern as far as aesthetics. Acoustic is a different beast, obviously.
Nobody actually needs a collectible guitar to gig with that's more of a desire.
Can't remember the guy's name, but he toured all over the world with a $250 guitar played almost every night. I can't remember how many shows he played..
The gun market is similar. Still curious about your thoughts on the future market the title eluded to.