Collecting, Hoarding, and Minimalism

I was just having a conversation today with a good friend of mine, about whether or not he should sell one of his nice bass heads or not.  He has a two very nice bass heads, but he tends to prefer the sound of one over the other, therefore one gathers dust.  We've actually had this same conversation three times this week, and each time I gave him three different answers.  The first time, my gut reaction told him "Keep it!  You'll regret selling it later!".  The second time I told him, "Sell it, but only if you're using the dough to buy something you really want.".  And just now I told him, "If it has been sitting around, you may as well get rid of it.".  His situation never changed, I'm apparently just bipolar, er... tripolar.

After thinking it over, I've come to the realization that aside from being insane, I am equal parts hoarder, collector, and minimalist.  Doesn't make sense does it?  But it does.  I don't see each of those characteristics in a linear fashion, where one eventually evolves into the next.  I merely see different means to an end goal.

Hoarding

Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is fabled to have an enormous collection of guitars, numbering (most likely) in the thousands.  Last year I watched a ZZ Top's Premier Guitar Rig Rundown with Billy's Guitar Tech Elwood Francis.  One comment that was made was "We don't change guitars nightly, we change a round of guitars a couple times a year..." Which means getting 7 and 8 brand new guitars from Gibson/Gretsch, and sending the old models to a storage facility.  Then Elwood goes on to say (16:15 in the video) "...just in ZZ Headquarters in Houston, over 12 years ago just in stage guitars, I counted over 450 guitars".  450 guitars... what the hell.  Jeff Tweedy is the same way.  I was the same way.  I use to keep every gadget I ever bought, and was picking up cool pedals on a regular basis.  I had some weird satisfaction knowing that when I returned to my mancave, I'd have 4 different versions of a Proco Rat awaiting me.  They all sounded awesome and slightly different.  Each little stomp or weird guitar carved out a little niche.

Why did I do it?  The ultimate goal was that if I kept this junk, someday I'll need that one sound for a recording/song.  It's not a bad thing, I suppose, and most people who hoard end up making a small studio out of it.  I just ran out of money.  I also was not getting any better at guitar, because I was too busy playing with all my toys.  But I get distracted easily.  Not everyone's like that.  My uncle has over 40 guitars and he gigs way more and writes better songs than I do.

Minimalism

If you're a semi-regular reader of my blog, I probably come off as a minimalist.  Yes to a certain extent, but I've still got plenty of shit at my house, so I wouldn't say that I'm a true minimalist.  However, I can greatly appreciate qualities of minimalism, especially on a gigging guitar rig:

1. More reliable.  Less patch cables.  Less shit to go wrong.
2. Less weight, size, and floor space.  Crap like that matters when you're loading a van, playing small stage, or being 25 years old with the back of a 75 year old brick layer.  
3. More focus on playing.  Less distraction with stomping correct pedals on.  I can't hide behind FX.

There was a certain time where I took minimalism super seriously, and sold everything except maybe 5 stompboxes, 2 guitars, and one amp.  Fucking stupid.  I sold off a bunch of stuff that I actually did enjoy, and ended up buying some of it back at a loss.  I did it to focus more on my playing, which was a success.  I learned how to read sheet music during this time, and I developed a healthy practice routine.  But in the end, I just got bored.  It's like having a paint brush, and only letting yourself use primary colors.  

Collecting

I think there's a nice middle ground between hoarding and minimalism, and I simply call it collecting.  I like what I like.  And I like sounding like me.  I enjoy having my 3 Moogerfoogers and getting crazy fucked up sounds when I record.  But when I play out with my electric rig, I tailor my pedalboard to the set.  It usually ends up being 4 -5 pedals, with maybe one fun one thrown in for me to play with.  I've filled in for a friends on acoustic guitar at churches, and the other guitarist showed up with a massive pedalboard.  I watched him play the same boring U2 licks/volume swells, and he just moved a capo around when the key changed.  I even had to explain to him how to add a 7th to a chord, and trust me, I'm not that theory savvy.  That's just silly.  

So I've got a nice little collection.  I play all my gear, all the time.  I don't really keep niche items around anymore.  If I can't swap it out and dial in a bunch of cool sounds to generate ideas, it usually doesn't last very long at my house.  I call it my 6 month rule.  If I haven't used it for 6 months, it gets moved to the chopping/trading block.  I'd much rather sell that stuff off and have a few extra dollars in savings.  Then when a guitar/amp/mic/whatever shows up for a great deal I can afford it.  I can think of at least 2-3 dream guitars that have slipped through my fingers, because I didn't have the cash and I couldn't sell my extra crap off in time.  Also to help curb my insatiable hunger for buying guitars, I've established a rule with myself where I can only buy one guitar a year.  A year is a long time.  It makes me really think about what I really want to get.  If I get a guitar, and I find myself wanting something different even more, then I probably didn't want the other guitar in the first place.  That Guild S-100 I kept promising pictures of is a good example.  It had a cool vibe and was a fun restoration project, but it held me back from getting a Rickenbacker I have been drooling over for years.  Now I have the Ric, and I'm much more satisfied.

YMMV.

-  Stonewall