Making the case for only having one guitar. 

"Don't let what you want distract you from what you already have" I have to tell myself that often when itching for new gear.

Me, a long term beginner with a wall full of guitars I love dearly, clicking this video… fully prepared to hurt my own feelings.

I think all of us here in YT land would improve a lot if we would play our only guitar half the time we spent looking at other guitars in RU-vid or classified ads...

I’m 73, been playing for more than 55 years, had many hi test vintage guitars from the usual suspects over the course of that time, my favorites being ‘61-‘64 Gibsons/Epiphones. I’ve recently hit a minimalism pocket in my aging process, and to that end filtered out all of my expensive vintage pieces, leaving me with four examples of the same guitar, that being the vastly underpriced, relatively cheap as dirt vintage USA Peavey P90 Firenza. Can’t quite put my fingers on the pulse of my decision, but it just feels right, and has improved my comfort, focus and appreciation for what means the most to me creatively at this bend in my rode/road 👌

I love the minimalism thought of having only one guitar.. And even only one pickup to prevent my self from overthinking about tones.:-)

I agree, my one guitar will always be a strat.

Focusing on one guitar is good advice. It's also tons of fun trying out different guitars. If I could only have one it would be a strat followed by a SG and a Mustang. Tried playing a Tele for a while but always found myself looking around for my strat. Here lately have been spending time with my Mustang and really getting in to it. If I was stuck on a desert island and all I had was a Mustang I'd be happy. Still have the Tele but it lives in it's case for the most part. And so it goes. Take care. 🤘

I just got a 2004 Fender HH Strat with an S1 switch and it’s so flexible, I think I can probably just exist with this one only.

Between 2007 and 2018, despite owning other guitars, I almost exclusively played a stock, standard, Mexican made Fender Telecaster. I honestly think I was a better, and most importantly, a happier guitarist during that time. There was no dilemma of... "What guitar is appropriate for this song?" It was my Tele or nothing. That guitar has been retired for several years, but I pick it up and it still feels like nothing else.

This applies to gear in general. Limitations are good. They force us to dive deeply into what we have. I own two semi hollows, one Ibanez and one HB and I've never been happier. Pedalboard? Reduced to the absolute essentials. For a time I thought that I was playing pedals and not music. And there's another good reason to downsize, even though this doesn't apply for everyone: the world has become a lot more mobile. Job and location changes are more frequent. I travel a lot. Having a medium sized rig helps in so many ways. Get to know your gear. Know it inside and outside. You may discover many wonderful features that you didn't know before. Last but not least: Lots of options may very easily distract you from the essentials. Nowadays when I see a giant pedalboard it gives me anxiety :-D Ten or more guitars to choose from? Hell no, I know what I like. I have a wife (Ibanez AS73) and a mistress (HB35 plus). They know each other and get along well :)

Really interesting argument ! Food for thought ! Thanks for sharing !

One advantage of getting older is that I've had the time to acquire, let's just say, 'a few' guitars. But the one I can say I can always rely on for a gig is my rosewood fretboard Olympic White American Standard Strat. It's not too heavy, it's set up perfectly, the pickups sound great and always cut through, it stays in tune all night, the neck feels great with rolled edges and it seems to suit any style of music that I play. I routinely take that guitar to a gig plus one other guitar from my stable. While having only one guitar makes sense at home let me make the case for having more than one guitar. If I'm to do a gig with another guitarist and I know that they are going to bring a Strat I am definitely going to bring a different type of guitar to contrast our sounds. Then when I play a gig as the sole guitarist I always want to have another guitar for a backup in case of the rare instance when I break a string. I don't change guitars during a set just for tone but we used to open our second set with "Tell Mama" by Savoy Brown. So on the first break I would tune one guitar to open A for slide for that song then switch to the standard tuned guitar for the rest of the set then retune that second guitar on the next break. BTW the way I came up with this idea a few years ago where we would get a request or someone in the band would call out a song where I'd like to play slide in open G. What I would do is only tune down the high E string to D which I could do in a couple of seconds then we could play the song without losing any momentum on the dance floor. I could still play those signature open G slide riffs and chug standard tuned rhythm on the low strings. Then at the end of the song tune the D back to E in a flash.

Man, I can honestly say I made the most improvements when I only had one guitar. Never thought I'd turn into a collector, maybe it's time to go back to those simpler times :) Hope you and the family are doing well!

Gorgeous Tele!!!

There's a lot of truth there my brother. In the back of my mind I think I always knew what your you're saying is true but of all the addictions I could have, a tendancy to buying too many guitars is not the worst thing possble. Fortunately for me money is not a problem. I've been buying 4 or 5 guitars a year then selling back three of them at half price with a smile on my face. In the end less is more and for me 3 or 4 guitars is about right. My favorite is a beat up Classic Vibe Telecaster I bought for $250-

Great advice, and that Tele is awesome. I need one in my life. 😄

I have one acoustic, a D28. I have two electrics, a Telecaster and a Gretsch semi hollow with a Bigsby. The Fender and Gretsch are so different that I use and love both. That said, I often wonder if I could just get a really nice Jazzmaster as my one electric.

I'm not so much a "one guitar sort of guy", but a "one guitar brand kind of guy". I have a Super-Sonic, a Lead II, a Strat, and a Duo-Sonic. If I had to be left with one, it'd be the Lead II.

Haha I think you know my number one guitar. While I love the few I’ve narrowed it down to, I always seem to come back to and be most inspired by it. And that’s so so important 😄 great video putting interesting points across as ever!

I started playing guitar around 2 years ago. I’ve had the same guitar for that whole time, I’m saving up for a hollow body or a telecaster but I’ll always love my strat

Youre mostly right but kinda miss how you couldnt find that les paul sound. I propose you have two guitars instead of one, one single coiled and one with humbuckers, and THEN cap it, get good on two imo. still, the reasoning here is sound

Have a number of guitars I love, favorite is a "Baby Paul" Epi Genesis Vintage Sunburst from '13. 2nd is a Black DZPL Tagliare Strat from '15. Every guitar has a "personality" with certain strengths & weakness. It's simply a matter of what do you want the guitar to do, the sound you're looking for. It's always more the artist than the instrument.

I've got several acoustic guitars - 2 dreadnoughts and an LP-shaped bowlback... all strung with ball-end classical strings - but I have two strats; an old 70's japanese copy and a modern Aria HSS. I've just got my Cube Baby dialed in with some new IRs -and I can get all the sounds I need from the Aria and the Cube Baby. There might be a jazz-box in my future now that I'm retiring... but dammit... the Aria sounds great - especially through an Orange combo!

Really good points. This video calms my GAS a bit. Thank you! p.s. If you could sync the audio to the video it would make it easier to watch. That's my opinion anyway. Cheers

It comes in waves - periods of acquisition and downsizing - until you make a conscious decision to be a better player. I’ve decided to keep a tele and a Les Paul, a 000 Martin and a classical parlor, a resonator, bass, and ukulele. Princeton Reverb, Magnatone 5W, an acoustic amp and Orange bass amp. That’s it. My #1 is an ‘86 MIJ tele in charcoal burst with Fralin pups (thanks to you). I also play piano and drums so it’s important to keep my stuff to the absolute minimum needed.

Most of my early career playing I had a Les Paul and an Ovation acoustic electric with a Jazz Chorus amp...I need an acoustic and an electric but now I have a dozen but really need 3...my Martin my 335 and my tele.....when you're young I think having fewer guitars is a better choice but I'm retired and enjoy having a dozen guitars but only one car....choices. If I had one guitar only, I'd probably take the Casino as it doubles as an acoustic and an electric

One of my guitars has an unfixable neck . I have to replace the neck. I have to wait a month until I have the money. if I did not have a second guitar I would not be playing guitar for a month. I dont think you need a ton of guitars but I think two guitars is the best option.

My one guitar would be the Les Paul. Having 4 control knobs is so versatile

Strat is the only guitar I don't like :) Used to hate Teles too but I just got one for 150 bucks that's gorgeous and plays great. Fantastic sound. I would say minimum 2, a Tele and some sort of humbucker PAF type guitar. Of course it depends ln the style. For some a super Strat is better. I started on super Strats so regulars feel ancient. Not quite the roar of a LP and not quite the shimmering loveliness of a Tele. Too much of compromise. I'd rather have a guitar that does something insanely well than one that can do everything. Sacrilege I know. Even more sacrilege? Flying V are the best beginner guitars. Easy to have the neck at comfortable angle, upper frets accessibility with the V shape and set neck is way better than a Strat ans beginners shouldn't have tremolos or whammy bars anyway. And if you select the center position and blend the volumes and tone you can get pretty much any sound. Adding a coil solit to mine, so I can get Strat players to shut up :) ypu may hang me now.

I improved as a guitarist and bass guitarist when I started playing with others and FOR others. For public playing I stuck to one bass, one (maybe two) electrics and one electroacoustic. But at home? I rotate all my lovelies.❤

Excellent video. Let's focus on playing, not buying

Wise words my friend...I see this all the time here in NYC...tons of guys who have 7 to 12 guitars...they suck ..or actually dont even play lmao!!! I am down to 2 a beautiful Novo I just got yesterday and a gorgeous martin d 18. Thats it...and I appreciate and play them alot!!! great video

Such Words of Wisdom!!!!! In hindsight I wish I knew this 3 yrs ago I burned and embarrassing amount of $$$ on GAS Current I play an art & Lutherie acoustic and practice on it. And I enjoy it.....as I improve....I will have a plethora of electrics to play with.....

I had only one guitar for 20 years, a gibson SG, it was on every stage as me. But a couple of years ago I tried mushrooms, and they told me to get a strat. I have 12 guitars now. I love teles, SG’s les pauls, strats, 335, prs, i can’t pick just one anymore

Well apart from a tiny bit of Piano as a kid my first guitar was bought when I was 19, in 1983 LOL. Back then the internet was a mainframe computer and a strange and limited wang terminal, in the corner, and it was not even called the internet to 99.99% and that was an office environment. It was all I had and it worked to standard. Years later, knowing more, I bought a basic strat. That guitar served me OK and then both of my sons for learning the basics on. After that, sure they got something more suited to their styles. It's me that has more than I need these days but I fully agree that's a distraction, not a help to getting better. Was it Keef Richards who said, you can make almost any guitar sound as good as you need......

I need a 7 string, 6 string for Drop C or B and a Tele. I love too many diff genres to just have one and I will miss the sound of the others to get rid of them.

I've had a lot of guitars over the years and been recently working on getting it down to just a few. There was a time when my boys were little I had to sell most of my collection of 80s guitars and only kept an LTD EC-1000 for about 7 years. I probably have about 10 right now with another on the way but want to get that down to about 5 electrics. Interestingly enough I've always avoided Telecasters but picked up an Ultra a couple of months ago and it's been what I pickup daily and what I've been gigging with since...

I have 2 American Teles in of course red and my Nashville, also American. I have owned many others and these are the guitars i fall back on always.

I have two main guitars a Strat and a Les Paul. I have two acoustics as well but only because one is permanently set up Nashville high strung. I have friends who have dozens of guitars and I just don't see the point but each to their own.

What piano is behind you?

Strat would be it!

Man I’m on board with this, but… I enjoy both acoustic and electric, and while I can approximate an acoustic sound with an electric it’s always a little off. It might not be so bad if necks and string spacing on acoustics were closer to what you find on the average electric, because it really does take some adjustment when I switch between the two, but it’s something I just have to deal with.

3:47 ha, I really wanted the same thing for my guitar when I was a teenager. I had a Mexican Strat, and I put different pick ups in it. Almost nothing worked in order to get that heavy sound.

Man your best point here is at the end about the mystique being gone. New guitars aren’t as exciting to me either as they used to be.

Totally agree, it's too time consuming having more guitars. I just have a question if you have time, how's the neck thickness of fender player plus strat maple neck vs harley bentoj fusion 3? I'm just really curious, thanks in advance🙏🙏🙏

Like many people I started on a Strat but 26 years later I just now like as of a week finally get it (the Strat) it clicked for me.

I have played one guitar at different times and I have been happy, but my amps and pedals? No sir need 'em all.Great advice, though if you play in different tuning's it's nice to have multiple guitars, acoustic & electric. No number one though, the rest of the harem would get jealous! Do not 'fret if your wired' be at Peace.

I own five electrics, three acoustics. I play three of the electrics regularly, and two of the acoustics. BUT, I played a single cheap ass classical for about 15 years. Before that, I had a single electric at any one time. Of my current guitars it’s a tie between my Eastman Romeo and my EBMM BFR Albert Lee. Mostly I play my two acoustic guitars though as they are both otherworldly.

I basically only had one guitar most of my life. Only until last year did I get a second one, I sure am glad I did! #1 is a martin d18 #2 is my breedlove c25/sse (smaller body size). I think I kind of lucked into a good setup in all honesty. I'm still trying to determine if and where an electric fits in. I've settled on a hollowbody or semi hollow body but saving my dollars up now in hopes for a new rig soonish!

I have 4 guitars slash les Paul tele music man valentine and music Man cutlass. I find I play the cutlass almost exclusively. It's comfortable easy to play and sounds. Good I've had a bunch come and go but I always play that one I might sell the others but once I don't have a lespaul any more I find I want another one even though I don't get along with them as well as a strat or tele. So I just leave the les Paul under the bed and when I get bored and pull it out it's like getting a new guitar

Hey bud, I am very confused...I´m kind of a newbie and don't know whether I should get an offset tele, a Strat or a Jazzmaster. I don't do metal and whichever guitar I get, I will use amps and pedals simulators for everything I do in my guitar. I'm planning to do guitar covers of Coldplay, Oasis, and some rock anthems like comfortably numb. Also, I´d love to create chill/pastel songs (those ones that are trendy, I think they are called Lo-fi or something like that) and experiment with other new genres. Tbh I don´t like the generic look of a strat, but if that's really my best bet, I´ll go for it. I love the look of the jaguar, the JM and the offset tele... Which one should I go for? Thanks in advance!

"Just smoke crack once a day. Or on weekends!" Takes balls to make a brutal truth video like this. I had a fender twin reverb, a Jackson HSS super strat, and a metalzone, in my teens and 20's. That's when I made the most progress, hands down.

Is that an Ibanez on the wall?

I’m trying this approach. I want to have one great instrument but a bit stumped on what to get and how much I need to spend to get a high quality guitar.

I feel it depends on what type of musician you are. For tour you definitely need multiple guitars. Yes there are big artists that do tour with one guitar. I will say though I have had two Jazzmasters and a Gibson SG for 4 years. I got rid of the SG and second Jazzmaster for a MIJ 69 Fender Mustang. Because I knew those guitars for many years I am able to understand what a Mustang is good for and how to use it effectively. In a way it covers my weaknesses on the jazzmaster so instead of modding it to hell I accept the guitar for what it is and pull out a different guitar for whatever sonic needs or musical situations I come across.

ADVICE REQUIRED: My first guitar was a Yamaha ERG 121, 13.5 radius 22 frets, back in 2004. After that one i got a LP and a Strat, both sound way better! but i always feel home on the Yamaha, on that neck,with that string spacing. So, what should I do?😳

I was very surprised it wasn’t a Jazzmaster or Jag you pulled out!

Yes. I only need one guitar. One tele, one strat, one jazz master....... Oh........ ! Seriously, I find my mood changes every once in a while and I pick up a different guitar. I guess it stops me getting bored or in a rut. Often, it's the last one I've added to the collection. However, I think once you've been through all the guitars and had the experience of them all, maybe you're ready to consider which is 'the one'. 🙂🙂🎸🎸

What Tele do you recommend for under 700,Sire or Fender Player or HB or EART?

5 electric 6 strings, here's the rub, you Fender Tele MSRP (perhaps even preowned resale) cost more than all 5. 1 LP, 2 Teles & 2 Strats. The LP is the GC Epiphone P90 Special, the Teles are same Monoprice Chinese $ 99 guitars & the Strats are a Squier hardtail & tremolo. The Squier HT Strat is more like a 3 pickup Tele in a lot of ways. 7 total guitars, a Jackson 4 string bass & Ovation acoustic electric, add those 2 for cost and your Tele probably costs more than all 7. Why have 1 when you can have 7 ?

I don't know why people say squiers are not "real guitars " just because they're "cheap" I been playing for 13 years a Squier affinity strat and did everything with it stock from the factory, did everything, played in bands, rehearsals, live shows, and made an entire record by myself with only that guitar, if you set it up the way you want and it feels good, it's a perfect guitar for everything, now i got a Squier tele and I'm getting used to it , it's another great instrument that can do it's job very well

I cannot find you playing anywhere? I don't understand. Do you play?

Any good guitar is all anyone needs. But "needs" is not "wants". Having played and owned many dozens of guitars over the years, I have, as you might expect, encountered a few really good ones. They are the "keepers". When I am playing any one of them, I feel that if I had only that one, it would be sufficient. However, I think that playing different ones from time to time helps me to be a better player. I play differently on each one and that broadens my technique and musical imagination. Also, it's so interesting to hear how each one sounds, even if I play the same songs on them.

been wondering about that for a while now....beginning to see evidence in myself....a Strat is what I seem to really shine on...and the SG. So, it's no wonder that 90% of YT teachers play Strats. On the other hand...with 16 guitars...I never get bored and play thru them week to week. At some point, I'll sell a few and get my first USA PRS...or other high-end guitar.

STOP! such blastphemy! No such thing should even be joked about! I like your channel we shall let this time slide 🤣

Keep going back to a 1989 Squier made in japan even thou the frets need replacing lol!

That's why all of my guitars are strats....note if they are all one color management thinks you have only one Strat 😂🎉😅

As a gigging musician having a spare is a requirement. I cannot have any downtime if I break a string on a paid gig.

Forgive me if you’ve covered this, but have you refretted the JV?

I always play one guitar, I only have two hands. I have one tele in standerd, one tele in drop d, one tele half step down, one strat, one Ibanez in c tuning, one Ibanez in standard, one gibson and one aria, one acoestic steelstring, one nylonstring, one laney, one marchall, one yamaha, one boss katana......

My goto guitar is quite surprising. I have a strat, tele, jazzmaster, and my guitar that I always pick up and play is my Duo-Sonic HS. I love that guitar.

The opposite has happened to me. Getting a bunch of guitars has inspired me to play more and get better than I’ve ever been. I get your points. It makes sense. Just not my experience. I need something new to inspire me to keep playing and learning new things. I’m sure there are others like that too.

I love every guitar in my collection. However if I had to part with all except one it would be a Strat.

Doesn't everybody have there #1 anyway? I have plenty of guitars but I play #1 farrrrr more ..the others are just to change it up from time to time

Yeah, you really can do it all with a Strat. If I had one, it'd be that.

G.A.S.

I think you misspelled "one more."

TELE ALL THE WAY

Not to mention bonus points and interest free financing. It is hard to only have one guitar.

Telecaster for me

For beginners yes, one is more than enough, but when you start to advance, one per tuning you use is a good idea, retuning and setting up guitars constantly is a hassle that get in the way of practice.

Does my Tele have to be a Fender ? It is a Harley Benton. 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️😝

you definitely need 2, in case you break a string on stage, need another ready to go

Okay, so I have seen two of your videos. You can talk (ALOT) can you even play a guitar? Please let us know, thank you

Nope nope nope