How many guitars did you have growing up ?

[Synchro]

Started with a loaner from a local guitar teacher and then got a used Harmony Master, so I started out on an archtop. Next came a Harmony Rocket. About 2 1/2 years into playing guitar, the Master was given to a cousin and the Harmony was traded towards an Alvarez classical, which was a surprisingly good guitar. Got a Fender Coronado when I was 17.

 

[Rockabilly Doc]

I had my Dad's crappy acoustic until I was 15 where I got my first guitar which was a Gibson The Paul.

 

[Roy Clark]

How many guitars did you have growing up ?
Seems like most of us have quite an arsenal nowadays .

Let me use my High School years , 1973-1977 . When I was growing up , I had one guitar . My Yamaha FG-160 ( and I still have it ) Mom and Dad were not rich by any means . Blue collar household yet well provided . We as kids would earn our money , save it and buy the important things to us ....like my Schwinn 10 speed in 7th grade for $90 ... I could only dream of having other guitars and BIG amps . As a kid in high school , minimum wage was about $2.65 and it was only pocket money . Girlfriend and prom seemed like a million dollars to me back then too .

So , 1 guitar is all I had . Granted , as I entered adulthood and started making " real " money ( not that $2.65 hr wage ) I was able to afford more than one guitar .

But truth be told I was able to buy a 12 string with some of my high school graduation money . But that was it for a long long time .

So ... how many guitars did you grow up with ?

2 acoustics, 1 toy as big as I was, later on 1 acoustic and 1 electric. Toy piano, harmonic, and electric drum pad.

 

[Ktone]

I don’t think I had more than 2 at any given time until much later in life. Now we all make up for all the ones we wanted to have back than but couldn’t afford.

 

[6120mantis]

My first was a sears strat copy (not a silvertone or something cool) then I got a yahmaha rgx 111 so within a year of playing i had 2 it was that way until I turned 20 then I started getting out of hand.

 

[Chet Harrison]

I started with an acoustic I found in the back of a closet. When I upgraded to something else I always handed the old instrument down, usually to my younger brother. From my early twenties on, I often had an acoustic, an electric, and a bass. As I approached 40 I started picking up more guitars and basses. I’m still in my 40s, but I’ve narrowed the collection a bit since my peak; now rocking three electrics, one acoustic, and two basses. Still seems like a lot.

 

[Danno]

High School 1995-1999 Squier Strat
College 1999-2004 same Squier Strat, Rogue Bass, Fernandes Flying V, Ovation Acoustic Electric
Post College 2004-2006 Epiphone Flame Kat, Epiphone Hummingbird
Pre Children 2006-2009 Squier Telecaster, Alvarez Dreadnought
1 child 2009-2015 same Squier Telecaster, Ovation Acoustic
2 Children 2015-2020 no guitars
3 Children 2020 Kramer Strat
2021-2024 Gretsch Streamliner 2420
2024-3025 same Gretsch and Yamaha FG 830 Dreadnought
2025 same Gretsch

 

[GDP Refugee AndyJ]

Zero. I didn't start playing until I was 22.

 

[buckledknuckle]

I had 1/3 of a guitar growing up.

Allow me to explain:

My 3 uncles all played guitar. As my 3 aunts weren't keen on extravagances for their husbands, my 3 uncles went in on one guitar. The guitar would spend a few months in each uncle's possession on a rotating schedule.

Then I got interested...

My dad was a hockey coach and the least musical person I've ever known. Convincing my parents to buy me a guitar was hefty work. My dad came up with the idea to borrow the community guitar from his brothers... to which they kindly and generously agreed.

Realizing I only had a short window to prove my new passion, I learned as much as I could while I had the community guitar. Of course the day came when I had to return the guitar... leaving me without an instrument, but it had worked! My parents saw my commitment to my new found passion and managed to slip a small 3/4 sized classical guitar under the Christmas tree. It was a far cry from the Les Paul copy of my uncles', but I had a guitar and I couldn't have been happier.

That was 1977. I haven't stopped playing to this day.