Gear Acquisition Syndrome is often called Guitar AS because of its prevalence among six-stringers. Granted, many guitarists are sufferers, and some of the most extreme manifestations (Steve Howe, Nigel Tufnel, Jimmy Page, and so on) do, indeed, play guitar, among other things.
My contention, however, is that other instrumentalists also exhibit symptoms -
Exhibit A - the professional reed player who doubles Sax and Flute may well have a collection of instruments including Piccolo, Alto and Bass Flutes, Soprano through Bass Saxes, other reeds like Clarinets (Eb, D, Bb, A, Bass, Contrabass maybe), World music flutes like Sakuhachi, Nose Flutes…
Exhibit B - Tubists, who may well have an F, C, BBb, Euphonium, Sousaphone, G, four valve, five valve, Serpent, Ophicleide, perhaps a collection of mutes…
Exhibit C - Keyboardists, who at the height of the seventies might have had a Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3, Clavinet, Moog, Mini Moog, ARP, Oberheim, Mellotron…
So, my question - how many of the musicians on the SDMB have more than one ‘flavour’ of their instrument, and why? I’m particularly interested in the non-guitar players, if only so that guitarists can share the stigma.
I have 5 guitars, one of which (a beater classical) I will not part with for sentimental reasons. The other 4 are a classical, a steel-string, a Telecaster and an 8-string, all of which have very different sounds and functions.
I went through it for a number of years. Not so much since my girls came along.
I’ve been a drummer all my life but have a thing for stringed instruments and composing with midi/keyboards and recording.
Fortunately for my budget my guitar acquisition lust ended quickly when I got my Taylor 712 for fingerstyle. After that, I never gave buying an acoustic a second thought. That was in the early 90’s. I got a strat in '96 or '97 and that was that. I play the Taylor mostly.
I gathered together a bunch of recording gear over the years and piled it high in my little dressing room/studio until I determined the situation was fire hazard.
I then decided to use the software route for a lot of functions.
I still have everything, though. Off the top of my head, 3 mixers, a couple of reverbs, a cassette 4-track, an old Revox reel-to-reel, a hard disk 8-track recorder, a minidisk 8-track, a couple of compressors, a Roland D-50 that I use mainly as a controller, 2 basses, 2 electric guitars, a bunch of effects pedals, 3 banjos, a hammered dulcimer, a dozen assorted hand drums and assorted percussion instruments, a Yamaha recording custom drum kit, a Roland electronic drum kit, 2 roland octapad type things, An old Simmons drums setup, a sampler, an Emu module, 2 or 3 drum machines, a bunch of microphones, preamps, a couple of 8 channel snakes. Headphones, monitors, 3 guitar amps, a little bass amp, a bunch of software for mac & pc. midi interfaces, firewire preamp, blah blah blah. It adds up over the years. probably 10-15% of it is broken down or otherwise unusable. I hate throwing electronics out.
These days I spend less time recording and composing with the keyboard and more time on the banjo and guitar so the recording side has fallen into neglect.
I keep wanting to get a new workstation keyboard, as I mainly use presets for composing and I’m tired of fussing with software and settings and interfaces. My employment’s been unstable these past couple of years and I have a family to support, so it’s not a priority, though.
I have never really had GAS in terms of complete instruments. I think the most instruments I’ve ever had is an electric guitar, a piano, a keyboard, a six string acoustic guitar, and a twelve string. At the moment I have an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar and a piano that resides in my mother’s house many thousands of kilometres of land and sea from my own home. I do have GAS for gadgets though. When I was playing my electric a lot I was forever buying new effects pedals for it, getting custom made ones, and stock ones customised. I have a long wish-list for instruments and gadgets, and I intend to gradually fulfill it as my disposable income increases. First though I have to get one of each instrument I want (a bass guitar and an electric piano for starters.) It’ll be a while before I’m so extravagant as to have TWO six string acoustics.
I’m a professional player, and a multi-instrumentalist. The only thing that keeps my fiancee from killing me is that I can’t afford it.
I currently have:
a piano
2 stage pianos
1 stage organ (cx-3)
2 steel-string guitars
1 electric guitar
1 classical guitar
1 lap steel
2 electric bass (4 & 5)
1 acoustic bass (not an upright - sold that a while back)
2 banjo (bg & open back)
1 mandolin
1.5 drum kits
3 tin whistles
2 recorders
a crapload of percussion
<waves stubby-fingered, non-guitar-playing hand>
I have quite a collection of instruments, mostly wind. I seldom see a new instrument without wanting it, at least a little.
Wind:
bamboo flute, transverse, G
bamboo flute, transverse, D
bamboo staff flute (a 5-foot bamboo walking stick with a transverse G flute in the middle section)
ceramic flute, transverse, G
Kiowa love flute
piccolo (traditional, and one of the few things I have that I can’t play at all–my fingers are too big)
bamboo tenor sax (two of them, one of which I made myself as an experiment)
double flute (end-blown, two melodic pipes)
double flute (end-blown, one melodic pipe, one drone pipe)
pennywhistle
didgeridoo
trumpet
String:
Celtic lap harp
Percussion:
gong
bodhran
Keyboard:
Casio keyboard (I haven’t played it in ages, and I’m not sure it still works.)
Have you seen the price of decent violins?!
In any case, along with violas and cellos, they are perhaps the instruments with which one tends to have the most individual and intimate connection. Even if I could afford another, I doubt I would opt to switch around much if at all. Knowing what a particular fiddle can offer, and how to get the best out of it, involves that very close involvement with a single particular instrument.
Although I own a Fender Telecaster which has been at my brother’s house for more than a decade, and an Ibanez Artcore hollowbody, I’ve hardly touched an electric guitar in five years. Most of my playing effort these days goes into classical, which I play on a Takamine dreadnought, fitted with nylon strings to give it a more ‘classical’ sound. I really need to get a classical guitar one of these years.
But even when I was heavily into playing electric, I just yawned when it came to effects and “equipment-centric” material in the magazines. When I got the yearly NAMM issue of Guitar Player, it mostly went unread.
Guitarists’ variety of GAS gets the most attention because there are so many more of them than any other instrumentalists. But saxophonists/woodwind doublers are right up there - although unless you are one or live with one, you’ll never hear about it.
What is a tolerable eccentricity when it comes to Les Pauls and Martin flattops becomes a secret shame when it extends to sarrusophones and Albert system clarinets. What’s more, woodwind collectors have no pretensions to cool, typically carrying an air of mold, mildew and spit-stained clothing even when gussied up for public interaction.
As a long-time sufferer (since recovered, but not to the point where I’m selling everything off!), a few years ago I developed this GAS test for saxophonists. The two final stages are Bipolar-Acquisitive Disorder with GAS (“BAD GAS”) and GAS Hoarder, Obsessive Genus (“GAS HOG”).
Is it the Yamaha MD-8 by any chance? I’ve had mine since '99 or so, and I’ve gotten so much mileage out of it!
As to the OP:
I’m a professional musician (pretty much my sole source of income for the past year, but I still feel weird calling myself ‘professional’), primarily a keyboardist, and my keyboard-specific gear includes (for the most part):
A 76 key non-weighted ROMpler (Alesis QS7.1)
A few rack-mount synths (Roland JV-1080, Oberheim Matrix 6R, Yamaha TX802)
A Virtual Analogue synth (Novation Supernova II)
A small ‘cheap’ analogue synth (Roland Alpha Juno 2)
A monster analogue polysynth (Oberheim OB-8)
A 49 key MIDI controller
As to why I’ve got what I do, some of it is professional necessity, and some of it is for fun.
I’ve had the Alesis board basically forever, and it’s served me reasonably well in a number of band, solo, and pit orchestra situations. A few years back I was doing a show and needed some sounds that I just wasn’t happy with or able to get on that board, so bought the JV-1080 and TX802 to cover those. I haven’t used the TX802 since, but the JV-1080 has become vital to a lot of my work (I use it exclusively for pit orchestra situations where I have to cover different orchestral parts).
The Supernova II and Alpha Juno 2 both get a fair amount of use when I’m doing rock shows (as does the Matrix, rarely), though often I just use the Alpha Juno to control one of the other synths.
The OB-8 just gets played at home. When I bought it I kind of thought about gigging with it, but I haven’t had a situation yet where I’ve felt that the sound I could get from it as opposed to something else I have was so vital that it would be worth trying to fit it into my car.
I’m really very satisfied at this point with what I’ve got at my disposal. I’m trying to make up my mind about one more board though. I’m planning on getting an 88 key weighted board this year so I can really do justice to solo playing (the semi-weighted Alesis board is just not adequate for piano playing, though it’s great for organ/synth/etc stuff).
I realise that I haven’t exactly answered “why” yet. Why is because each piece adds another bit of sonic possibility that I didn’t have before. I don’t have a lot of redundancy in my gear, though I freely admit to being able to get by with less than what I have. Really, the JV-1080 and Alesis QS7.1 are in many ways alike (at least for my purposes). However, the places in which they differ are dramatic, and they both serve different functions. Also, since the 1080 is a rack synth (no keyboard attached), I can bring it to places where they’ve already got a house keyboard without having to lug a whole keyboard of my own in order to get the sounds I want.
The OB-8 is really the one extravagance, but it’s sound is awesome, and the satisfaction of owning a truly classic instrument is worth it. And, I do make music with it at home.
But really, one thing I’ve discovered over the years is that part of getting the gig is having the right gear for the occasion. And, when it’s your job, and your purchases are a tax write-off, you get tempted a little more
But really, at this point, aside from the 88 key board I’m looking at, I’m running out of serious GAS. I’ve got so much to fiddle with already, and the instruments are so expensive that my desire for other awesome boards is outweighed by my satisfaction with what I have plus my lack of funds.
Shoot. Talk about acquisition syndromes, I can’t play a note and I’ve got a piano (of sorts–an old Korg full-size keyboard). It’s sitting right over there, mocking me. :mad:
I play Viola. A bit expensive to have GAS at a couple thousand bucks a pop (though I did inherit a 129 year old violin which brings me up to a violin, viola and three bows).
I go bonkers over accessories though, especially rosin. I’ve got 4 different mutes, 5 different kinds or rosin (Andrea David, Hill - Dark, Bernadel, the kind that came with the violin, and the one I use currently for viola, Kolstein Hard Bass Rosin), I change strings yearly and never get the same kind so I have a box full of them should one break (Dominant set, Pirastro Olive set, and Larson and Jaegar A strings). I’m torn over whether I should stay with my Evah Pirazzi’s, try the Obligatos (people raved when I had the pure gut strings on) or something else.
Could be worse. Here’s a guy who collects obsolete video equipment. Harmless enough, except some of these beasts weigh more than a ton and require 220 volt electricity and a source of compressed air to operate.
