The multi-instrumentalist problem
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@clioem Feb 2022
So I have a "problem" many of you I am sure are familiar with: SO MANY INSTRUMENTS, and so many more I want to acquire and learn.
What do you do to stop yourself? I am on a very limited budget and do it anyway every chance I get :/ -
@dragondreams Feb 2022
You lost me at "stop..." :-D
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@airbagtester Feb 2022
I was talking to a guy I know who owns his own machine shop, and he said "why would anyone need more than one guitar?" But he has 2 press brakes, three different lathes, two drill presses. :)
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@zecoop Feb 2022
Looks around nervously... ahem.... <steps out of the room>
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@tseaver Feb 2022
We just moved house, which drove the point home for me: two full-size pickup truck loads of instruments and music equipment (because would I trust the movers to handle it? Hell, no!).
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@jamkar Feb 2022
For me diverse but, not very deep. Oops you got my nose!
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@cblack Feb 2022
Space is my only limit.
Money? Even if I have to save up for a long time, that's not a deterrent. Running out of space is. -
@headfirstonly Feb 2022
What is this "stop" of which you speak?
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@carleybaer Feb 2022
Listen, I know instrument acquisition syndrome is real, and I know that space and money are finite, but all I’m saying is I really needed a lap steel at 1:30am the other day and there was none to be had so I had to do a poor approximation with my mouth. Does this mean I need a lap steel now for future theoretically similar circumstances, in addition to the ukuleles, guitars, accordions, bass, fiddle, mandolin, ocarina, clarinet, and aux percussion?? PROBABLY
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@wylddandelyon Feb 2022
I stopped myself from buying an all-mahogany Martin acoustic bass a long time ago, because budget and no time to play it with small kid that depended on me, and I wasn't playing around with bass lines I wasn't actually trying to play bass lines on the guitar way back then anyway. But now, well, I still wish I'd bought it.
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@coolparadiso Feb 2022
Yes you need a lapsteel @carleybaer I love mine although I have not used it much this year! . Keeping my full cupboards closed and away from prying eyes here on number of instruments.
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@dzdandcunfsd Feb 2022
@carleybaer no probably about it!
One thing you can do though is just either make/buy a nut extension to put on an already existing guitar if you don't want to pop the frets out of something. I've seen some that are removable in a triangle shape that just slip right over the existing nut so you can always switch back and forth.
@clioem I think you're asking for advice from all the wrong people here :D As far as budget concerns though I'd recommend learning to make some homemade approximations of things, or buying kits, pawn-shopping/etc. -
@dragondreams Feb 2022
@carleybaer @coolparadiso Dammit! Now I NEED a lap steel! :-D
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@dragondreams Feb 2022
@dzdandcunfsd - I have one of those nut dingus thingies for my resonator when I want to go all Delta blues bottleneck. But I still NEED a lap steel. ;-)
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@carleybaer Feb 2022
Aw hell, I just looked them up and Guitar Center has some that are only $80. Dang iiiiiiit
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@dzdandcunfsd Feb 2022
@carleybaer I've played one of thier Rogue? I think is the brand ones from the store chain who I shall not name :D I was pleasantly surprised even with the pickup that it came with.
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@gardeningangel1 Feb 2022
I HAD a Student DeLuxe lapslide and I sold it to pay a power bill... but it wouldn't work without power so whataya gonna do?
There is no such thing as too many instruments... the only problem is not enough space. -
@tuneslayer Feb 2022
Im on a fixed income these days which is the only thing stiooubg ne frin buying that 8-string baritone uke . . . that really nice looking 8-string baritone uke . . . the kona wood 8-string OHMEGARSHICANTTAKEITWHEREISTHEBUYNOWBUTTON?????
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@dzdandcunfsd Feb 2022
@dragondreams You've seen pictures of (I think) my telecaster that for all intents and purposes is a lap steel, but yeah... I could use one or two more just so I'm not switching tunings. I've got one in the works that is going to have a cajon for its stand lol.
@clioem Look what you've done now! LOL -
@clioem Feb 2022
It doesn't help the partner is a musician too. He contributes to this mad collection ;) We have been very seriously discussing the u-bass, but... I even sold a few things but we are still clocking in at: 1 classical guitar, 2 electrics, a guitarlele, 2 ukuleles, 2 controller keyboards, 2 keytars, 1 stage piano, recorder, ocarina, 2 violins, and over in Canada I have another guitar and viola I REALLY should sell off :/ and somehow, in Poland, a ukulele, a transverse flute, alto recorder, and a slovak traditional fujara, a requinto and a collection of folk flutes from Mexico...
I inquired about a cello. Luckily the price was 4 figures, I say lucky because it stopped me from getting a cello.
AND I LOVE ALL THE INSTRUMENTS AND WANT MORE!
This is an illness, people. We need a support group ;) -
@clioem Feb 2022
I also have a mini theremin kicking around somewhere, and I forgot the tambora colombiana folk drum.
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@clioem Feb 2022
To be fair, this has been slow and steady acquisition, and I am very careful with spending, as is partner. The last thing I bought was a GORGEOUS flight tenor ukulele, name: Mustang, quality: ridiculously awesome
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@dzdandcunfsd Feb 2022
@clioem Now you've got me having cello dreams again ;) ... I've had worse addictions this one can at least be productive and beneficial at times LOL.
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@dragondreams Feb 2022
I look around and there are 14 bass guitars, 7 acoustic guitars, an electric and an acoustic baritone, 3 electric guitars, a banjitar, and 13 recorders all within picking-up distance here in the living room. :-D
Then the expensive recorders are in a case not too far behind the PC trolley where I'm typing this.
So I think you have a way to go yet before we need worry about you, @clioem :-D -
@carleybaer Feb 2022
@clioem that’s quite a collection, and internationally quartered to boot! Nice. If you do decide to get a ubass, I love the Journeyman model. It comes with steel strings that you can replace with flatwounds, and it’s such a joy to play (I always wanted a ubass but I never loved the fwappy rubber strings they typically come with).
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@gardeningangel1 Feb 2022
@airbagtester Oh great- now, in addition to an endless list of instruments, I want my own machine shop, too.
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@gubna Feb 2022
I go back and forth all the time. Buy gear, sell gear..
Do I have too much? Probably. I don't really need 3 basses and 4 guitars, but I have them. If I could narrow it down to 3 or 4 overall, that would be better. At the height, many years back, probably 2015? I had 7 guitars and 14 basses. I don't think I had too many synths back then, maybe one. Right now, the synths would be the thing that are the most at 7, plus iOS apps with a keyboard controller. That's a lot of stuff, and money tied up in it that I could probably use elsewhere in my life. Do I want to sell some of it? Yeah, I have ads up, and should post more soon. Will I ever be gear-less? I doubt it, at least not for a long time. -
@andygetch Feb 2022
All the instrument spaces are full with SRO, and most would (sometimes even I) wonder why I have as many as I do, as it is. The only way I can buy another is to sell or give one away. I'm content with the current line-up. Plus I don't go looking anymore.
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@jtsteam Feb 2022
I want a ubass but I don't know how to play it. But then I'll never know how to play it if I don't have one will I? Argh...
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@improvyssey Feb 2022
I have too many instruments, but my life is such a disaster in other ways that I don't even care. *Charges recklessly forward*
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@scubed Feb 2022
My instrument wall is full - banjo, three guitars, fiddle, mandolin, ukulele, guitalele - and I have various other instruments stashed in a closet, under the guest bed, etc. (not to mention a digital piano and a lovely bouquet of tin whistles sitting in a crystal vase). I can stop anytime I want to, really I can….
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@whispermouse Feb 2022
@cblack you've got the right idea. Space is the only limit.
Also, I need a lap steel. I've got my eye on one with a couple of palm benders to get that pedal steel sound. I also need a Les Paul. And something with P90s - maybe a Les Paul Jr? And a nice Strat. That might hold me for a while... -
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@standup Feb 2022
I. Um. I have a problem. I'm in my 50's and now I have almost everything I want. I picked up a cheap lap steel, and over the years I've learned to make cool sounds with it. I'm not a hot player. Not doing hot licks, but after messing with it for 15 years I can make cool sounds.
And uke bass. I bought one for $139 I believe, several years ago. "Hadean" brand. It hangs on the wall near my desk, and during FAWM it ends up being the bass on more tracks than anything else. Because it's close. And easy. Easy to play. I'm a bass player. There's an upright bass in the middle of the floor right now. And a Guild fretless. And a Reverend bass with roundwound strings, and a Fender Precision with flatwounds. But the uke bass gets used more than any of these very fine instruments. -
@whispermouse Feb 2022
@standup I am SCANDALIZED. Also I have an upright and a P-bass and I don't play either of them enough to be "skilled" any more, and I'm wondering if a uke bass is the solution :D
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@standup Feb 2022
I highly recommend the uke bass.
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@sph Feb 2022
Hm, I'm afraid your self-help group has another member: my stylophone just arrived...
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