Enough guitars? Never!

So little time, so many guitars to play! (Photo by Jim Lawrence)

SOMEBODY RECENTLY ASKED how many guitars I have. Truth is, I'm not sure. I'll know after I count them up.

It's not the guitars you have, it's the ones you might someday have, and the ones that got away. I foolishly sold the first electric guitar I ever bought, a Kramer, and I've kicked myself ever since. I let a really nice Cort jumbo acoustic and an LTD hollow body get away in an ill-advised trade for a hot tub. The hot tub lasted a year. C'est la vie.

I just sold my electric Jon Kammerer guitar. The young man who now owns it is a much better player and he makes it sing. I also sold my Breedlove acoustic to a young man, who, in a few short months, will become a better player than me. Such is life.

But, I still have ....

1. Lotus acoustic: The first guitar I ever bought, in 1984, from Rainbow Music in Grand Rapids. It was in pieces a few years ago until Sheryl and Don Rust fixed the cracked saddle and did other repairs. It sits in the man cave of my house in open D tuning, and I strum it once in a while. That's the guitar I really learned to play on, had through college, etc. It's not worth much. I'll never sell it.

2. Washburn acoustic: I bought this from a friend in the early 2000s. I think it was the guitar used on the Funions CDs we did at Copper Mine Studios. I gave it to Emily, who never played it, so I got it back. I restrung it last year and the neck was really bad, so it's sitting at home in a case. Sad ....

Mom's Strat .....

3. Fender Highway Strat: Purchased in 2005 right after my mom died. Has been the go-to electric guitar for many years, with many dings and scratches. Replaced the original Fender neck and middle pickups with Seymour Duncan 59s, much quieter and more potent. I try to bring it to Cheeseburger practice as much as possible so it still gets played.

4. Takamine P3: Again, dinged up and scratched and chipped from about four years of heavy use. Main acoustic performance axe. The Cool Tube pickup is incredible.

5. Alvarez AG 70 acoustic: Look, if we are going to carry Alvarez guitars, I might as well have one. Right? Works for an excuse. Great sounding guitar, decent pickup, used now in lessons.

6. Gretsch Broadcaster: Guh. That's about all there is to say about an incredible hollow body electric. Double GUH. Main Cheeseburger axe right now, along with ....

7. G&L Legacy Telecaster: Just picked this up from our Alvarez salesman. Did I need it? Of course not! Don't be fooled or told that Teles are just for country music - the front pickup is a rock and roll monster.

8. 1968 Gretsch Cutter electric hollow body: This was one of those rare finds where a guy walked in last year and said, "I have this old guitar. I know it's worth something. But I just need to get rid of it." The original owner etched her Social Security Number into the plate, and it turns out it belonged to the guy's mom. Sheryl and Steve Rees did their usual magic to get it playable. All original parts and still sounds like a million bucks, and it was made by the Fred Gretsch Co. in Brooklyn, N.Y.

9. Late 1980s Gibson Shadow: Another rare find. It keeps getting more and more valuable with time, since there were only a few thousand made in Korea. Then Paul Reed Smith sued Gibson and production halted. One of the rare guitars that has Gibson and Epiphone labels on the headstock. It rarely comes out.

10. Reverend Flatroc electric: We bought several Reverend guitars after I met the owners at the Dallas Guitar show a few years ago. Sold them all, but I kept this one. Amazing guitar. I need to either sell it to someone who will play it, or play it myself a little bit more. Ahhhh ... so many guitars, and so little time to play them all!

11. Jon Kammerer acoustic electric hollow body. A unique instrument (pictured at top), to be sure. Jon makes these up in Keokuk, Iowa, and they are works of art. I don't own this guitar but I'm playing it out a bit to keep Jon's name out there. I played it at the Washington Theater last Saturday and it sounded amazing coming out of Jacki Kaufman's Bose PA. It also sounds incredible hooked up to the Fender Princeton amp, believe it or not.

So there it is. I'm in double figures! Uh oh .... we just got some guitars in on consignment. Walk away, walk away!