G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) Written by: James Krueger On: Sep 10th, 2021

I have the least number of guitars now than I have had in the last 30 years.  And yet, my wife still looks at me with that “you know, you can get professional help for this”, with a tilted head when she looks at the guitar wall, or the 4 amplifiers, and myriad of pedals in the guitar room.  “Why, do you need all this stuff?”

That my friends is the holy grail of all questions when it comes to us guitar collecting musician types …. whether we are professional, semi-pro or just weekend warriors.  I have my Tele (that I love) which I built for myself, my 58 LP which was built for me by a dear friend, 2 Strats (a Fender and a parts-caster) which will soon be replaced when I get time to finish building my custom strat, and 3 Hofner guitars (2 Verithins and a Jazzica) because I worked with Hofner for many, many years.  And I haven’t played an electric gig in forever.  Then there are the acoustics….

So why do we continue to add instruments to our collections whether we need them or not?  I have told Mrs, that guitars are my golf.  I like them, I play them and I collect them….and I can do all that from home.  She does not actually believe me, and then asks, what about the basses, and the keyboard and the Hammond organ …. or the drums.  At that point, I usually start staring at the floor and tell her I will look into the professional help lol.  In fact, I do look for the professional help, but it’s usually in the form of sales guys, or other collectors.  I still shop, need or not, and I will buy more guitars at some point …. or at least I will trade some.

What about you?  How many instruments do you have?  Are you buying outright, building from scratch or building from kits?  It is a great past-time, and it does keep you home to some degree.  It helps with your stress, and your fine motor skills….it gives you something to leave for your kids, maybe it’s something you can do with your kids.  The bottom line is there is no real downside, unless you break the bank buying gear.  We haven’t even touched on the benefits of actually playing music.

Back in the hay-days of the vintage market, I could always pass off my purchases as business…I buy, fix and sell for a profit, or trade up to something I want.  Of course, back then, I was also playing a couple nights a week, so again, it was a business thing.  There is an endless list of things that are far worse for you than collecting guitars, building them or even just playing them, so I encourage you to continue.

Now the worst thing about reducing the number of guitars in the collection is this…..back when I had 20-30 guitars on the wall at any given time, all I had to do was say “no honey, I didn’t get more, I just re-arranged the guitars on the wall”.  The last time I tried that, you know, with the 5 or 6 hanging over the couch, I got the tilted head, and was handed a phone and a business card for professional help……

We are open again folks!  If you are in the area, drop by and say hello …. you never know who you are going to see or meet at Solo Guitars!!!

2 Responses to “G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)”

  1. Tom Kirkby says:

    I have 9 electric guitars,2 acoustics,3 mandolins & a violin(my grandma’s I can’t play it)So I have this affliction as well.There’s nothing like the rush of seeing the FedEx truck!When I bought my Gretsch Billy Bo online it had a blemish that Made me nervous opening the case for the 1st time but it was on the back.It’s always good to play before buying.I can’t explain it.Something happened to me many years ago I guess.Fender/Squier & Gretsch my favourites

  2. guitarbites says:

    I love this site! I purchased some Electro Harmonix tubes for my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue, and I got them the next day! Somehow I knew I wasn’t the only guitar player suffering from GAS!!! I also posted an article about my condition on my website: https://guitarbites.com/how-my-gas-is-helping-me-through-the-lockdown/

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