Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey Chris, I don't know about anyone else, but I had to give up my GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome) when I got WAS and started making my own. Too many tools and too much wood to buy :/

Too Right, Beth. I had about 25 in my "collection." Then I started building. Now, I have a tele, and an old Ibanez 2469 that I restored, two of my acoustics(OM and Dread) and an electric(Tele thinline style) I just finished.

No room for more, though I wil build myself an acoustic 12-string soon, I think, but a parlour first, or a, but it could be a, oh, it'll be what it turns out to be.....

American Standard Strat
some $75 plywood Strat - used for pickup wiring experiments
Larrivee L-9
Larrivee Parlor
Guild Jumbo 12 -can't remember model - the one with the laminated maple back - F512?
Kentucky A mandolin
Lone Star Requinto
A Tele of my own with EMG pickups and a power bridge
A Tele of my own that is way too complicated - 3 DiMarzio pickups and every switching/splitting combination possible, plus a PUTW acoustic pickup
A Reyes flamenco copy of my own
A Barbero flamenco copy of my own
A Supro lap steel copy of my own.
Everything else I've built is off somewhere in the world.

and I don't play anything anymore

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

The first acoustic was that "special one", I got pretty lucky and it came out ok; I'm still playing it. Of course now I have another "special one" in the works - after all, the other was my first, for crying out loud. Problem is that special guitar now seems to be a moving target. Last one I built was supposed to be special but I didn't like it - took the top off of it last weekend so I could redo it.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I can't keep up with the ones headed out the door much less build more things for myself (except the flamencos - no market here). I guess that's a good thing. ??

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

This is a great thread. I have really enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if it applies to me because I'm just a hobby builder, but I'll join the fun.
1) Gibson ES-125: I love the grit that this old box and the single p-90 has.
2) Gibson J-50: This one needs work, but I love to play bottleneck on it. Kinda gets that old Lightnin' flop tone.
3) Mossman 12 string: This one was custom made for my father in early '74. One of the earliest 12 strings examples if I understand the history correctly.
4) Bagot Gypsy Prototype: A guitar I had built for me by a local builder. It was my introduction to the rabbit hole that is luthiery.
5) Fender P-bass from the 60's (forgot the actual production year)
6) Crappy old Gibson C-O classical:This guitar sounds absolutely horrible, but I keep it on a stand for a quick grab when inspiration hits me.
7) Mexi Strat that has a Floyd Rose on it. I hate this guitar.
8) A Martin ukulele that my son oldest plays all the time.
9) 2 peruvian charangos my mother got me on her jet setting.
10) A ditson that I built with Jesse Burge. This is my everyday player. I love it beyond words.

I won't go into the stuff I have built or is in various stages of being built. And.... let's not even start with the woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

I have a friend who suffers with a severe case of GAS--asked him a couple years ago how many were in his collection --38. Had run out of closet, under bed and wherever else space to park them. His wife just rolls her eyes when he would come home with another one and claim, "This is the best sounding guitar I've ever played!"

I have a couple dozen still. From guitars and violins to banjos and mandolins. I have had many different guitars over the years that have come and gone. Some I miss and some I don't....Mike

_________________
Another day, another dollar.