Rare are the active guitarists who do not accumulate guitars. For starters, it behooves professional performers to have at least one backup instrument ready to go should they break a string mid-set, start having technical issues with their electric pickups, or worse. Performers and studio musicians also often look to different guitars depending on the playing style, sound, and vibe being sought on any particular song or project. Even amateur pickers tend to collect guitars that they enjoy for various aesthetic and musical reasons. And when traveling, many guitarists don't trust their most valuable guitars to the vagaries of airline personnel and baggage handlers, opportunistic thieves, and other disasters waiting to harm their baby, so they pack a travel guitar.
As a budding guitarist and performer, I was no different. My prize was my Martin, but I later added an Ovation. I also owned a 12-string for awhile for its unique sound and a classical nylon-string guitar for more classical guitar music. The upshot is that guitarists are constantly changing up their lineup of instruments based on their current needs, desires, and checking account balances. Then there are those who purchase a guitar with the intention of learning to play and after six months or ten years of the instrument staying in the closet or under the bed they realize they never will. All this makes for a brisk market in used guitars for sale or trade that benefits those with the patience and cash flow to wait for the right instrument at the right price.
The other day I responded to a Craigslist add from a musician who needed to sell his second guitar for funds the same day. As I was going to be in his neighborhood later that day anyway, I texted him what I was willing to pay for his Breedlove Atlas Stage C25 SR electric-acoustic guitar if it was in good shape and he got no higher offers. We met up later in his building's lobby to check out the guitar and I finalized the deal.
The original Breedlove case had seen some travel, but perked up well after I used some solvent to peel off all the beat up airline FRAGILE stickers on the outside. The hardshell case had clearly done its job as the guitar itself was unscathed apart from one small ding in the finish on the top. I look forward to getting acquainted with my new find over the coming days.
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