OT: N=1 for guitars

[flydhest]

So, I have a steel string acoustic, a classical, and a Fender Strat (American). Realistically, I don't play very often these days. When I do, it is either scales to keep limber or blues. But once I a while, I play for the kids. And a buddy who lives in NC comes to visit a couple times a year and plays bass and we stay up late and drink beer and bourbon and pretend like we are young again. If you found yourself moving to NY and knew you had to downsize, which would you keep and why?

Right now, I suspect I will keep the Strat, as the other two are unremarkable and I could buy others in those genres if I feel like I miss them. Plus, I could play with headphones in an apartment, but I know there are other guitar players here, so curious how you would approach it.

[MattTuck]

Unless you're moving into a shoebox (which you may be doing :) ), I think you could put them all up on a wall, without taking up too much wall space. If that isn't going to work, you could sell me the strat ;)

[flydhest]

Good point, but I think n=3 for bikes (plus 2 for the wife) so wall space may be spoken for ...

[rounder]

I think it is sort of like bikes which means you should keep the one you love. It sounds like that, for you, would be your Strat.

For me, if I only had one guitar it would be an acoustic (HD28 Martin here). It does not need to be plugged into anything to sound its best.

I am no pro and my only electric was an ES345 Gibson that I had a long time ago. It was a nice guitar but got rid of it because I never played it through an amp so it was, for me, pretty useless.

Good luck.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I'm sure someone will argue with me, but if you truly need to get down to one guitar then a steel string, full size acoustic would be the one. If gear elimination is truly the goal you theoretically shed at least one amplifier when you shed the Stratocaster. And if you don't currently have an amp the Strat is doing nothing.

[benb]

I'd keep my acoustic too, which is just a real modest Alvarez. It sounds great, and I went through a ton of trouble (4 trips to the Luthier/tech in the first year!) to get it perfect.

I just got a Telecaster and it's insanely fun and I'm super excited but messing around with the Amp and everything is pretty obnoxious... the Acoustic just sounds perfect right away unless the strings are dead, and there is 0 distraction, you sit down and play and it's almost 100% productive and rewarding.

I approve of your 3 guitars.. I think the combo you have is by far the easiest combo to justify, you can play just about anything with those 3. You're like the guy who has 1 Road Bike, 1 MTB, and 1 Utility/Gravel/Commuter/Cross bike. Pretty practical. If I was to ever end up with a 3rd I think it would be a nylon classical/flamenco guitar. (That seems like a million miles away technique wise though, not happening anytime soon!)

It's not like you're the guy who has 5 Martin Dreadnoughts in the same body size with the same strings but with 5 different combinations of tone wood.

Biggest thing going for the electric is you can actually play it quieter than an acoustic if you use headphones.

[ColonelJLloyd]

^ If messing with your amp is obnoxious, look into a different amp.

[MattTuck]

I'm sure someone will argue with me, but if you truly need to get down to one guitar then a steel string, full size acoustic would be the one. If gear elimination is truly the goal you theoretically shed at least one amplifier when you shed the Stratocaster. And if you don't currently have an amp the Strat is doing nothing.

Why a full size? I'm new to the whole guitar thing, so I may be way off. If I were in an apartment and very space constrained, I'd be more inclined to go for something like a small (parlor size?) body guitar. Both for playability (he says he doesn't need to play much, and even my concert size body feels pretty big sometimes) and there's just no need in an apartment to be making huge amounts of noise.

[fuzzalow]

Wall space for guitars is out unless you have a bedroom for yourself as your office/man space.

But I've done what you're gonna do.

Electric unplugged is fine for noodling in an apartment but you gotta be careful playing always unplugged 'cos it'll heavy-hand your touch. I'm not fond of playing through headphones but it will do. Longer term, I'll like to get an Axe-FX and run it through studio monitors - makes the sound and touch of a dimed Superlead at TV volumes possible.

I brought a Tele, a Tokai Goldtop and the chassis of a Les Paul to our apartment when we left Manhasset. Everything else went into storage in various places. Since living in NYC I bought a Gibson Les Paul-SG reissue. Don't know about acoustic, an ES-335 (in storage) is as close as I get to acoustic.

3 bikes and 4 guitars in our apartment. Mrs. fuzz is a saint.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Why a full size? I'm new to the whole guitar thing, so I may be way off. If I were in an apartment and very space constrained, I'd be more inclined to go for something like a small (parlor size?) body guitar. Both for playability (he says he doesn't need to play much, and even my concert size body feels pretty big sometimes) and there's just no need in an apartment to be making huge amounts of noise.

Because the practical difference in real estate required to the store the guitar in a case is pretty meaningless. It comes down to tone and sound projection. An L-00 is a super fun guitar, but if I could only have one I'd choose a traditional dreadnaught or sloped shoulder shape. That might not be anyone else's preference, but it would be mine.

He says he likes to play with a bass player sometimes so the sound projection of a full size guitar makes a difference there.

[ojingoh]

Whatever guitar you play the most - get a good stand for it and keep that close. Everything else goes in a case under your bed or in a closet. I have a bass too, so it gets crowded around my desk. I play more bass now than guitar, especially with other players. Much harder to find a bass player in Seattle than a guitar player!

You didn't mention your amp, I'd recommend a combo. I have a 2x12 combo, it's about as loud and as big as you can get away with. I hate headphone/Line 6 setups but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Acoustics in a hard shell case can be stored safely. Get a hygrometer so you can monitor moisture levels in the case. Just set an alert on your phone to check on them once a month or so, twice in winter since it's drier in the winter. I'd put lighter strings on the steel string. If you don't play it or think about it, consider selling it.

[flydhest]

All good thoughts. I have two amps that take up space. A Fender Jazz tube amp (with the sweet tweed covering) and an old Ampeg. Would get rid of both and just get a mini solid-state amp and a set of head phones.

Keeping the steel string is the next thought and it could win out for all the reasons well articulated.

This thread was mostly to see how others will think about it.

[Bob Ross]

if you truly need to get down to one guitar then a steel string, full size acoustic would be the one. If gear elimination is truly the goal you theoretically shed at least one amplifier when you shed the Stratocaster. And if you don't currently have an amp the Strat is doing nothing.

^^^This...but with the caveat that a Strat really doesn't take up a whole lotta space, so, in the immortal words of the cute girl in the internet meme, "Why Not Both?"

[echelon_john]

One acoustic, one electric. Strat stays.

Are you Segovia or Thompson?

[marciero]

Is tough if you play different styles. Guitar is not like many other instruments that way, where one instrument-say violin-can be completely appropriate for jazz, tango, classical, cajun, slavic-you name it. Can you name another instrument where the instruments are so different from style to style?

That said, I would agree that the steel string flat top would be among the most versatile. You could pretty much play anything on that.

[happycampyer]

Good point, but I think n=3 for bikes (plus 2 for the wife) so wall space may be spoken for ...

Kill 2 birds with one stone and put the Strat on one of the bikes and your wife will never notice (ok, that was a bad joke).

The steel-string acoustic is the most versatile, but the Strat sounds like the emotional keeper. When you play into the night with your friend, what guitar do you play? I had a right-handed Strat (that I played Hendrix-style) many years ago that I sold, and wish now that I had kept it. I still have the left-handed 20th anniversary Les Paul Custom that I bought new bitd. I still play it occasionally through a small amp, and if I lived in an apartment, would set it up for headphones.

[plandy]

Depends on where in New York. away from the expensive manhattan....you can save a lot from rent ( if you're renting ), money saved can buy you a lot of guitars......

[happycampyer]

With apologies to the OP, for those of you have to keep the sound down, what small amps/headphone set-ups do you use?

[false_Aest]

If I were to make a choice I'd sell them and get a swamp ash Telle with soap bars -- 2 tones and 2 volumes. You choose the neck but I'm pretty partial to the EVH Wolfgang neck (a warm wood to cut the highs from the swamp ash) with jumbo stainless frets.

Drop all the amps and buy a Kemper, a nice cab with a 10" speaker and a wonderful set of headphones.

[OtayBW]

Maybe think about a Fender Champ (preferably an old, ~late 50's tweed!). 5w and 8 in speaker. Nice compression at low volume, and easily overdriven at higher volume. Tons of character with these things. EC sound on Layla was Brownie through a Champ.

[batman1425]

All good thoughts. I have two amps that take up space. A Fender Jazz tube amp (with the sweet tweed covering) and an old Ampeg. Would get rid of both and just get a mini solid-state amp and a set of head phones.

Keeping the steel string is the next thought and it could win out for all the reasons well articulated.

This thread was mostly to see how others will think about it.

Keep the stuff that will be hard to find/replace again and pair down to what's left. In grad school my playing slowed down to the point of not - I had 3 guitars and 2 amps. I was about to move in with my now wife into a small 600 sqft apt and also had 4 bikes. Bad combination. I decided to sell of all my music gear - most of it was turn key stuff that I had tweaked slightly to my liking - nut work, pickups, etc. The only thing I regret selling was my Mesa DC-5. 50watt class A, 6L6 powered. Not the most well known of the Mesa line, but think of it as a poor mans Mark IV. I loved that amp and got it when I was in high school. You can still find them around, but part of me wishes I parked it in the closet in case I want to get back into music at some point.

For quiet apartment playing, I actually like electric more because of headphone options. Can't mute an acoustic.

[fuzzalow]

Depends on where in New York. away from the expensive manhattan....you can save a lot from rent ( if you're renting ), money saved can buy you a lot of guitars......

I think the OP is doing, or has already done, his homework on the NYC Metro area so he knows what he's up against.

Truth is, all of the NYC Metro area is expensive. All of it. And the expense radiates outwards from the epicenter of Manhattan to most of the 5 boroughs of NYC except parts of the Bronx and much of Staten Island. All the surrounding NYC burbs are expensive. And as always, cost/expense is relative. Lotta money in this town and there's always somebody richer.

Back to guitars: apartment living and almost any real guitar amp, even a Fender Champ, is gonna run roughshod on the good neighbor policy. And if you live in a nice building you are gonna be surrounded by your socioeconomic peers so being ill mannered just isn't cool to do. For example guitar playing might be OK in the afternoon but I still wouldn't wanna hear it anytime after work. And sound travels more than you think in an apartment building.

I use the headphone out on an old Marshall JMP1. It's terrible. Or I play electric unplugged.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

I think the OP is doing, or has already done, his homework on the NYC Metro area so he knows what he's up against.

Truth is, all of the NYC Metro area is expensive. All of it. And the expense radiates outwards from the epicenter of Manhattan to most of the 5 boroughs of NYC except parts of the Bronx and much of Staten Island. All the surrounding NYC burbs are expensive. And as always, cost/expense is relative. Lotta money in this town and there's always somebody richer.

Back to guitars: apartment living and almost any real guitar amp, even a Fender Champ, is gonna run roughshod on the good neighbor policy. And if you live in a nice building you are gonna be surrounded by your socioeconomic peers so being ill mannered just isn't cool to do. For example guitar playing might be OK in the afternoon but I still wouldn't wanna hear it anytime after work. And sound travels more than you think in an apartment building.

I use the headphone out on an old Marshall JMP1. It's terrible. Or I play electric unplugged.

Bill, is there a headphone that isn't terrible to play though?

And agree on NYC metro being expensive. The apt. in Maspeth, Queens we moved to CT from 9 years ago, the rent has TRIPLED!!!!!!!!!!!