Hey guys/gals.. This will probably be a silly thing to most of you but lately I gravitate toward different guitars in my collection depending on my mood. I'm not saying that I play my Ibanez in C# when I'm pissed or my Affinity when I'm in a good mood. My modded Affinity for example has been my main guitar that I grab when I just want to "play'. But for the past couple of weeks I play it for a min or two and I'm just not feeling it. I'll move to something else and so on until I finally "feel it". Now my CV50 I've been loving for the past couple of days but there have been times when I played it that I just wasn't loving the sound. And this could really be said of just about every guitar I own. Sorry for the long rambling post but I was curious if this happens to anyone else? Heres a random pic of a guitar I'm currently in love with.
I dunno if it's so much a mood thing, but, yes, I rotate through my collection at a fairly steady clip. Variety is the spice of life. I start getting the hairy eyeball from my wife if the number of guitars in the living room exceeds 5. I think currently, the 2 in stands next to the TV are the 79 Les Paul Custom and my Squier VM Jazzmaster, and on or next to the couch are the 3 that I most recently modded: my Squier Std Telecaster, Epiphone SG G-310, and Bullet Mustang HH.
Not necissarily mood, more like whoses music I'm going to be playing along with. Cougar needs a Tele, Petty needs something with P90's, etc.
I try and play all my guitars, because they get mad at me and jealous of one another when I ignore them.
I mostly play my Strats (orange bullet mostly ) ,followed by Teles . The Fender acoustic gets alot of noodling time logged in on it . It's a whole nother world with the 11s and being tuned down a whole step
There is no doubt that different guitars evoke different feelings. Look, feel, color, style, weight. When I'm feeling sunny I gravitate towards my Jazzmaster. Sometimes I'll even go so far as to put on a hawaiian style shirt. This gets me feeling 'summery,' I'll put on a surf or Ventures track and let it take me to the beach. Other times it'll be a raunchier guitar for some raunchier music, or, more rarely, I'll gravitate towards something a bit more "mature" and sophisticated. Maybe even grab the D'Angelico. None of this is new. I went over to a Tele and wrote songs on it during what I came to call my "angry" period. The lyrics I wrote and the guitar with its biting tone took me where I then needed to be. These days I'm most often quietly happy, and my Supros' capture a playful mood. Fun stuff! Oh, and dboulders -- that is one GORGEOUS Strat!!!! -don
I'm such a stick in the mud that, after I dial in the sound I like, all my guitars, amps, and overdrive pedals sound so much the same that if I don't write down what was used on any recording I can't tell which was used on any recording because they all sound so much the same.
Those Indian made first generation VM Strats are awesome! I had the CSB with a flame maple top. I wish I hadn't sold it, but I say that about dozens of Strats that I used to own. I used to go thru Strats like regular people go thru socks.
I have 3 electric guitars, I have a American Fender Telecaster mint condition and I put Pure Vintage 58 pickups in it, I have a Fender M-8O which I put Gibson pickups in it, and I have a mint Ibanez es140 with Guitar Madness alnico single coils and a humbucker size P90 in the bridge. It seems like the first guitar I pick up is the Ibanez, the neck feels very comfortable to play.
I know the feeling. Some days I pick up one of my guitars and think it sounds terrible and put it down after a few minutes. But the next day I'll play it again on the same amp/pedals/settings and it sounds great and I'll play for an hour.
I absolutely get what you’re saying. I’ll add that if I start playing something that doesn’t sound, or “feel” right on the guitar I’m playing... I’ll switch to the guitar that I know does perfectly. If I start playing “Ticket to ride”, and it’s close (without too much tweaking of the amp, or guitar controls), I’ll keep playing that guitar... but twice now on my CV Starcaster, that rabbit hole has led me to putting it down, and picking up my Dot Studio (with BT Filtertrons), the CV is much lighter, and easy to play, but the pickups just can’t get to the level of bright needed for the opening riff. I pick up the DOT, and that chunky neck let’s me fret it perfect for the size of my hands, and it rings out through the amp (and acoustically) just perfect for that song... (even though its a almost ten pound log). I’ve gone back to my “Nail it on the acoustic, then you’ll wail it on the electric” (copyright radiotech music technologies 2005 ) rehearsal method, I almost always know by the time I’m going to move it to electric, which guitar I will use.
With 40+ guitars I'd have anxiety choosing one to play at night haha Post a pic of the orange bullet!! I have an Ibanez RG 2EX2 & its Tuned to C# for when I'm feeling aggressive haha.. I love the Ibanez body shape but I don't get along with the super flat necks anymore. I've fallen for the thicker Fender necks.. 23 is a Solid number!! I just wanted to clarify a bit. I don't pick up a guitar because I'm in a certain mood and I do believe that different guitars make you play differently but I noticed that when I want to play I'll head down to my makeshift studio and pickup a guitar and sometimes I'll go through 3/4 of them before I find the one that "feels right" at that moment.
I love that red Strat! And the picture is cool too. Very “artistic”! I get what you mean about guitars sounding good and then out of the blue One day they just don’t sound the same. For me I normally stick with one or two guitars for a period of time. Anywhere for a week to a couple months. I guess it starts with whatever guitar I perceive is the one that should sound like whatever it is I am working on. I’ll go through a few until I find what feels right. Then I normally stick with that one until I move on to something else. I have be stuck on this First Act for quite a while now. It’s my cheapest guitar, but it’s just fun to play. It’s comfortable and sounds pretty darn good. The Tele has been getting a lot of playtime lately as well!
