How many guitars did you have growing up ?

[tartanphantom]

Zero.

I didn't take up guitar until I was 22, out of college and on my own.
Up until then, I was primarily a drummer and mallet percussionist.

 

[tartanphantom]

Me neither ........

View attachment 257709

That was definitely NOT written by youse.... I don't see "fahgedaboudit" anywhere in the text.

 

[dmunson]

One at a time.
1956-1964, I had a Kent solid body
1964-1968 I had a Fender Mustang
I got out of college in '69 just as Gibson re-released the LPC.
I played that through the eighties.

 

[cielski]

Me neither ........

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I started on piano when I was 6. Guitar came later.
Piano and organ are still my primary instruments.
I can still play the keys even when the arthritis stops me from playing guitar.

 

[juks]

I srarted with Maya which was awful. Still have it as i don't even want to donate it. Converted to Aria bass. Then upgraded to Ric 4001 but that was after the timescale in question.

 

[MeVote]

I acquired my first guitar by trading headrooms with my brother. It was a Kingston with a rollercoaster neck and a floating bridge that was not set up. It also had original strings that were unwinding themselves. I believe we inherited it from one of my aunts, but neither of them remember ever having it. It got me hooked, so I went and saved all my money when I was 15 and bought a brand new Fender Redondo acoustic from the California beach series. I really wanted a Malibu, but they were another $130 or so. I got my dad to drive me to the store, and put all my money on the counter, including 20lbs of it in change. They rang it up, and I found out I forgot to account for the sales tax. My dad took pity on me, and fronted the taxes; plus brought me a cardboard case. Still have the guitar, but not the case. My jr year, I walked into the shop and caught my eye on a Mapleglo Rickenbacker 335 with toasters on it for $400. Borrowed $200 bucks from my dad, who didn’t want me to buy it; and picked up the guitar. I found out it was a ‘67 a few years later, as the shop had it listed as a ‘74. About 6 months later, was back in the shop and found a ‘85 MIJ Squire strat. I picked it up for $120 as a backup to keep from damaging my Ric. Still have that. Then dried up my buying habits till I was out of college. Then started to acquire a lot more, starting with my Danalectro I bought as a birthday present to myself the fall after I graduated. Having a full time job can definitely enable you, ya know?

 

[Ricochet]

In Junior High I started with a nylon acoustic, then got my first electric. Then a slew of home builds. About 4 I think. In college I got a Charvel, and build another, so 6.

 

[ellengtrgrl]

1 guitar as a teenager (an acoustic), and when I graduated high school until the early 90s, 2 guitars (an acoustic and an electric, or 2 electrics [no acoustic]),

 

[Faye]

I think that fingerboard might be telling quite a story.

I still play it, although the tuners are rubbish so it won't hold tune above C#. I like the sound of that, so I've tuned my Taylor to C# as well.

and it was all history from there

Not quite... I didn't keep the '74 for long because it had mini-humbuckers, and I convinced myself they weren't what I needed. Went on a long odyssey through various guitars before I eventually ended up with the SG I've been playing for the last 22 years.

 

[Memphis Soul]

Didn’t have any. Didn’t start playing until around 17 years old.

 

[sharps4590]

My addiction to German automobiles

Yeah...there's 3 MG's and a Morris Minor in the upper garage. German toys, look in my gun safe. What's the old saying about men and boys? Something to do with the price of their toys?

 

[Powdog]

Just one, a Hohner acoustic. Bought it in 1977. Still have it, still plays nice. I only played drums in bands, but the acoustic went everywhere for impromptu beach/desert/high sierra jams. I think it only survived due to the nice case. Didn’t get my first “real” electric til college and that was a 1962 Guild T-100. Still have that one too.

 

[JC higgy]

Between 1980 and 1989 I had 9,but not all at the same time.
First was a used Satellite 65t bought used by my dad to see if I was serious.
Then a Kay Les Paul Custom copy out of the Kay's catalogue.
Next was my first bass a brand new Westone Spectrum ,dad put money down and paid it off weekly ,it was a Christmas gift.
Then dad came home one night after a gig with a used Hondo 335 that he bought for £65 ,he seen I was getting into Chet and i was looking at big f hole guitars,this was used on my first gigs. This kinda thing happened a lot as dad was gigging regularly, he would hear about someone selling gear,but that was the only time he actually bought something.
Next was another gift an Epiphone Sheraton ,lovely guitar and my first really good guitar when I started gigging around 1986/87 when I was 16/17.
I bought a used Hondo Rick 4001/3 copy ,the action was terrible and i thought I could fix it,i was wrong so sold it . It looked good from 10 feet away though.
I also sold the Hondo 335 and Kay Les and give my Satellite to a friend
Traded the Westone bass for Fame 760/12 cause we were doing a lot of 60s tunes that needed an electric 12.
Sold that to a friend of a friend along with assorted other stuff as I was going to put money down on my first Gretsch, a 65/66 6120,that took a while to pay off as I was 6 months short of my 18th Birthday at the time .
A year later and with the blessing of father I sold my Epiphone to help with the purchase of my first Rickenbacker, 360/12V64.
My father and I bought a 68 Hofner beatle bass around 88 /89 .
So at that point I had 3 ,the Gretsch the Rickenbacker and Hofner.

 

[teahead]

When i was growing up most people had 1 or 2. Maybe their parents also had an acoustic if they were lucky. I started with a telecaster. Played it into whatever amp wasn't blown up. Mostly small weird amps you could get for 25 bucks. Some of them were nice like Premier and Valco. Couldn't get the big names but I liked diming the little things when my parents left me home alone.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

Zero. Unless growing up happens past the age of twenty-one,
Come to think of it…

 

[Edison]

Essentially 2, 3 at peak. I took up the guitar at age 14, dusting off an old jumbo acoustic my mom had for years. I don't recall the make but it wasn't that good. Terrible action, a challenge to play. When I was 16 my folks bought me a Stratocaster knock-off with a natural finish, maple fretboard. Aside from a couple of cheap acoustics (one to replace the aforementioned unplayable relic), that was it for years.
After graduating from college and moving to Philadelphia I eventually treated myself to a proper USA-made Fender Strat. This was 1987, although the guitar was minted in '84. I still have it.
That same day I picked up a Marshall Silver Jubilee combo, which I eventually sold. I had unloaded the first Strat before moving to Philly, along with my acoustics.
At some point while I was married, my (then) wife bought me an Ovation Elite acoustic. That was it again, until I bought a Gibson SG '61 reissue about 20 years ago, making it 3 guitars total, for about a 30 year stretsch.

Then about 10 years ago I started getting my ducks in a row, eliminated a lot of debt, sold my last house. While finishing up my last place I bought my first Gretsch, an aspen greeen 5420.
I've been empty-nesting in my new place for the past 5+. It feels good to lighten the load and have more free income. I've had some work done on the newer place, updates, made some bank.
Otherwise I've just been indulging my GAS. I've got a pretty respectable arsenal of guitars and vintage amps, along with a decent home recording studio.
The 14 year old kid still inside me is pretty happy with all that.

 

[Rckt-Brew]

Zero.

I got my 1st when out of college around 1986 or 87. An Ibanez Artist (I think it was called). I never learned to play, I knew a lot of riffs but could not play a complete song. I always wanted to cut it up to make a Devo La Baye 2X4 type guitar. Mount the pedals on it etc. Glad I didn't, sold it in 2012 time frame for 3x what I bought it for.

Around 2012 my son wanted to learn bass. So I thought this was a good time to learn guitar. Sold the Ibanez (not punk enough) and bought a silver /black burst Ibanez. Billy Zoom has been an idol since the late 70's when I 1st saw X. A silver jet was my next guitar, then I was able to acquire a BZ custom shop silver jet. Now I have 16 guitars, 10 of which are Gretschs. And I do have an Eastwood La Baye 2x4 Devo tribute guitar.

I can play numerous songs through now and I am still taking lessons. I have reached the height of mediocrity and perhaps once I retire in a few years I will be able to go further. Right now it is a wonderful cathartic exercise for me.

 

[tartanphantom]

Yeah...there's 3 MG's and a Morris Minor in the upper garage. German toys, look in my gun safe. What's the old saying about men and boys? Something to do with the price of their toys?

Obviously, with a motor stable like that, you enjoy working on cars much more than driving them.

 

[sharps4590]

Obviously, with a motor stable like that, you enjoy working on cars much more than driving them.

I drive them a LOT more than I work on them. Trick is to keep them maintained in the first place and you eliminate the vast majority of that 'work'. I've had my 1974 MG-B for 14 years and all it's seen in normal maintenance and it's all original with 86,000 miles. It gets driven every week, weather permitting.

 

[Maguchi]

When I first started playing I only had a nylon string acoustic what my parents bought me. Then in middle school I got a beat up pawn shop Gibson LP Special what I bought with my own money. After that I had different guitars but had to keep it at one electric and one acoustic (usually steel string) for a long time because I didn't have no money. Until I got into my late 20s early 30s when I started accumulating guitars.