I was planning to buy a special guitar on my birthday two months ago but decided not to purchase it. I do have the funds and STILL want to get that guitar BUT I am not going to buy it because I do not NEED it.
Many of you here do not know who am I (some of you are personal/FB friends of mine) and I do not claim to be an expert when it comes to tone or playing the guitar but I do admit that I was afflicted with GAS and currently have 47 guitars in possession. I stared my collection way back, mostly with low and middle end class guitars. I remember having around 10 of them, mostly Korean and Japanese Ibanez RGs until a friend of mine gave me an advice that radically changed my views and collection. He said "I'd rather have a high end guitar than a couple of low, middle end priced guitars." I pondered on those words and started disposing and replacing my collection with more expensive guitars. After a couple of years my collection grew. I bought my first Washburn N4 back in 2007 and thought "I should buy a backup for this" and bought another N4. And then I bought a backup for my backup even though I do not play guitar professionally. And this led to the path to complete the Nuno Bettencourt line, from the N1 to the N8 and then the Malmsteens, the Petruccis, etc...
A few months ago I visited an engine shop division for the company that I am working for. A colleague of mine handed me a supplier catalogue of tools. From that catalogue you can purchase a monkey wrench ranging from $20 to $2000. WTH? $2000 dollars for a monkey wrench of the same size! It turns out that you cannot use a cheap chrome plated monkey wrench on sensitive equipment as the debris from the chipping of the chrome plating can contaminate the insides and may cause catastrophic damage.
Going back to the guitar and GAS, yes I agree that certain guitars are FIT FOR PURPOSE. It is much easier to get the tones and physically play an expensive guitar than your off the shelf, mid-priced guitar. But then again, a GUITAR is a musical TOOL. And a tool is WORTHLESS if it does not have a PURPOSE to fulfil. Someone can buy an original 59 Les Paul and call it as an investment, there is nothing wrong with that. Or buy a Raon branded guitar and play to your hearts content. To me both are valid scenarios. If one has the financial capability then buy it. But for many of us, financially (and talent) constrained, this would be a waste of time (and money).
HAPPINESS IS RELATIVE. In my youth I used to have a cheap Ovation copy and low end Fender electric guitar. I played my guitars every day until my fingers turned green. I remember my girlfriend back checking my hands and disgusted by the swelling. I was happy back then. I had a cheap Arion Metal Plus and a Samick 15 watt amp. I wished for the Zoom 4040 but would be content if I had the cheaper Zoom 1010. I was a student back then and I can't buy it with my allowance. Both guitars are gone, worn out, broken and unplayable but these guitars provided VALUE.
My tone probably sucked back then compared to the gear I have now. And my current tone would probably sucked compared to somebody else's setup. But does it matter? To me it's a big NO. Based on MY experience, TONE IS RELATIVE to the player as well, a preference. I never liked the sound of the Stratocaster/SRV tone because I am not a rock blues fan. I tried it, with a Deluxe Reverb, Tube Screamer and a Strat but I am not excited by it. BUT IT'S OK! Like many of you, I started chasing for my tone the economical way, with guitar pedals. I did the boutique, the modding, the multi effects unit, the big pedal board and never found contentment. I sold most of my pedals and moved my attention to tube amps. Again, I started with small combos to the impractical half stacks. I eventually found my tone, in a form of a Mesa Boogie Mark V 25. It is not as loud as a half stack and does not have that boxy sound of a combo. I've ended my search for tone. This was a painful and pointless process. I could have been happy with a cheaper/simpler setup but this idea of an ideal tone is stuff of aliens (or capitalist
). I had to admit, the unboxing of every pedal, amp is more exciting than spending time playing through them.
My point in this long post is that a musical instrument is only valuable if it is fulfilling a purpose set by the player/owner. No one should dictate you why you should not be happy or content with what you have. You should set your goals when searching for the right tone. Be HONEST TO YOURSELF and ask the question, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?
I'm ending this post with a music video by Extreme
VIDEO