Buy Another Guitar or Play The One You Have
Buy another guitar or play the one(s) you already have? That is the question.
Maybe you, like me, already have around 30 guitars. Many are sitting in the closet in their cases. Some of them haven’t been played in months. However, you still want to buy a new guitar to add to the collection.
I’ll admit I spend ample time browsing sites like Reverb.com looking for deals on long lost guitars I sold and want to replace.
Watching shows on Youtube like Trogly’s Guitar show is a daily pastime of mine. Of course I also have to make a trip over to Reverb again to see what’s in Trogly’s Reverb Shop. Then once I’m there I’m compelled to check out what is in the new Gibson Demo Shop too!
How To Decide
Buying another guitar boils down to 2 things in my opinion.
One, can you afford it?
Two, do you need it?
Now under those two main reasons there can be a lot of justifications to buy another guitar.
You can easily justify the purchase if you have disposable income to cover the cost. If you can willy-nilly buy a PRS Dragon for 25k then by all means go for it! In this case you can clearly afford to buy whatever guitar you want.
But do you actually need that guitar.
If you are a guitar collector and happen to be a multimillionaire then buying a 25k guitar isn’t a problem if you “need” to add it to your collection.
On the other hand you may have a goal of being a better guitarist. In this case you may already own a $1500 American Professional Stratocaster, for example.
In this situation you really don’t need another guitar. Your goal is to get better at playing guitar. You already have an extremely functional guitar to learn on. Here what you need to do is take more lessons or buy a new book to go through.
That’s precisely what I’m doing now. I know I’ve been using shopping for new guitars to buy as an avoidance technique.
What To Do Instead of Buying Another Guitar
So instead I’ve decided to work through a book I already own by Garrison Fewell.
Interestingly, I can see the same behavior in my guitar book buying. I have bought at least as many guitar books and videos as I have guitars. They suffer the same fate as my guitars. I always think I need another one, a different one, or a better one.
Then I have a pile of guitar books that I never look thought or didn’t work all the way through to begin with.
I also have online memberships that I don’t use as frequently as I should. It’s been a couple months since I logged onto my lessons with Paul Gilbert on Artistworks.
If I look at the cost of a year with one of the 8 or so teachers they have on their vs the cost of a guitar then I’d see it’s a better value in regards to improving my guitar playing.
A new guitar will make me happy for a while. However, the newness quickly wears off. Then I’m back where I started wishing my skills were improving.
Are You A Player or A Collector?
Either is fine.
Trust me. I love to buy guitars. Browsing options is fun. There are more finishes, tone woods, and pickup configurations than one can imagine. I enjoy a good window shopping session as much as the next guitarist.
It’s unlikely that I’ll ever pare the collection down to a single guitar. I like having a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, Ibanez Prestige, PRS McCarty, and my Carvin among others.
But, I also realize I don’t actually need 2 PRS, 12 Ibanez, 4 Les Pauls, and 13 Strats!
I’m not a collector who is deeply into buying vintage guitars or keeping up with every new model of a particular brand.
That being said, I am easily swayed to look at the new finish and specs on Strats, Les Pauls, and Ibanez every year. Just yesterday I was getting excited about the new Squier models coming in April. Then there are those new Ibanez RG models…
Working Guitarists
In this case there can be an actual need for a specific instrument.
If you don’t own an acoustic and a band director wants you to play an acoustic then you either need to borrow one or buy one. Borrowing for a single gig is one thing. However, if it turns into a regular gig then you’ll probably need to buy one. I guess it depends on how good of a friend it was who lent you the guitar.
It could also be a jazz gig where they want you to have a big arch top. A metal band requires a completely different gear cache.
A musician who plays multiple styles with multiple groups will likely need to buy another guitar or three in their career.
Bottom Line
If your goal is collecting and you have the money. Buy it. Goal achieved.
But, if your goal is learning to be a better guitarist in general. Use the one you have.
Redirect your energy, time, and money towards education and practice. File it under “Goal yet to be achieved. Guitar purchases postponed.”
Stay Weird!