Guitar Players and Gear Acquisition Syndrome

Do you have G.A.S.? My Journey dealing with the syndrome!

By Lisa Lim

It’s that time of the year, well, for the music industry, that is, when the biggest trade show on earth, Winter NAMM, is held this month in Anaheim, California! The National Association of Music Merchants (aka known as NAMM to us musicians) showcases the latest and greatest music equipment all under one roof in the Anaheim Convention Center. This year, it all begins on January 25th.

And that just happens to bring this thought to mind. I spent one day recently chatting it up with a good friend who also plays guitar, and halfway into the conversation, she said, “You have G.A.S.!” I said, “Excuse me?” She said, “Yes, you suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome!” Really!

She explained the definition - “G.A.S.” is a term used to describe an urge to acquire and accumulate lots of music gear. This term is commonly associated with guitarists who tend to acquire guitars, amplifiers, pedals, and effects processors – just accumulating extensive quantities of gear over an extended period of time. Well, my guitar-playing pal was right! So, that brought up another valid question. Where did it all start? I found myself reflecting over the years all the gear I had acquired and that had come and gone. Visuals of my studio with every corner filled with, well, you know, gear!

For me, it started with the beater acoustic guitar my dad brought home one day after work and gave to me. It was true love! I played it for hours, developing massive blisters on my left hand fingertips, but still kept at it like some mad scientist! A few more acoustic beater guitars entered the picture after that.

Then, entered the desire to acquire an electric guitar and guitar amplifier. So, with a couple of trades and a little bit of extra cash, I had my first electric guitar and guitar amp! True love again! Who says you can’t find true love twice? I couldn’t put it down. Not for a minute. I scored a practice amp with two knobs - one for volume, the other for tone. Of course, both would get cranked to level 10 and my Strat-style electric would get kicked on the bridge single coil pickup position a lot of the time, doing everything I could to make the guitar scream and wail!

There’s no doubt my family wanted to strangle me. sigh. But I loved rock ‘n’ roll! And, I was on that quest for a wicked, overdriven sound. How to do that? Well, I’m sure I blew the speaker in my poor practice amp out within the first month, but I wasn’t too concerned because it screamed distortion!

The only other gizmos I had acquired at that point were a tuner, capo, extra strings, string winder and wire cutter, guitar picks, guitar slide, guitar strap, polish, a soft-shell case, and extra instrument cables. so, after about six months, absorbed, reading all of my guitar magazines, every column, and even studying every single advertisement, I learned about every effects pedal under the sun. A whole new chapter was about to unfold in my gear acquisition. I wanted a distortion pedal. Sigh. So, I went out and scored an MXR distortion pedal. Came home, plugged it in, and a whole new dimension of screaming overdrive and feedback came to life! Cool!

I’d been developing my guitar chops, immersed in my Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton records, listening for hours every day after school, and picking out lick after lick those guys played. Dissecting them. Sitting right beside my record player, moving the needle on my turntable back to the same place a thousand times, listening, absorbing, and determined to pick out each amazing phrase and chord progression.

I was playing so many styles of music. Rock, jazz, blues, country. At this point, I was just 13 years old and still jamming on my first electric guitar. Then, one day, leaving a guitar lesson, there it was hanging on the wall to my right as I was walking out of the music shop. What? A cool guitar! Yes, I stopped and picked it up. The salesman said, “Wanna plug it in?” Well, of course, I did. I just had to figure out how I was going to be able to afford to purchase that guitar, being a preteen with a small weekly allowance. I started adding together my allowance, along with money I had saved up, and then the “beg your parent ‘til they can’t take it anymore” trick thrown into the mix! The rest was pretty much history.

I had a new guitar! Another love affair sparked. I actually purchased it around my birthday, so I spent a good portion of my birthday gathering, and playing for my family and friends. I loved that guitar.

Well, time marched on and at that time, I was playing in various rock bands playing in standard, alternate, and open tunings. At this point, I had saved up more money and I wanted, yes, an extra electric guitar. Nothing fancy, but something that would be fun to bounce back and forth with. scored!

So you can see the pattern forming, right? Up to this point, I have just reflected on some early guitar acquisitions, and there have been quite a few since I acquired the syndrome at around the age of 10.

As you can imagine, it is a miracle that my practice amp had made it this far, so, of course, I began the quest of investing in another guitar amplifier. I remember scoring a Peavey Bandit 112 solid-state Guitar Amp. Man, that amp wailed. It had more tone controls, highs, mids, lows, built-in overdrive, and reverb! Watch out! Reverb! Addicted instantly. I ran that amp into the ground. In fact, I smoked it! Onward!

I then decided I needed to get a guitar amp half stack. 100-watt head, solid state, and a 4 12’s cabinet. Why? Well, why not? Did you ever watch Headbanger’s Ball on MTV or go to a concert? Well, there were stacks and stacks of guitar amps across the stage! Being a rock guitar player, how could you not want that? Rock on!

But now, I need pedals. Ah, a BOSS pedalboard with a BOSS distortion pedal, chorus pedal, equalizer pedal, tuner pedal, and a power pedal to power up all pedals on the pedal board. Yeah! Next, a Cry Baby Wah Pedal. It was quite the wall of sound coming out of my bedroom, under my parents’ roof, as a teenager. summer days, windows opened, and I played for all to hear. luckily, my neighbors were incredibly understanding with the rebellious teenage girl living next door cranking up her half stack! slightly rebellious, huh?

I was playing in garage bands, freelancing occasionally with regional bands, still taking guitar lessons, and continuing to learn about all the cool gear that was constantly coming out and being reviewed in guitar magazines. Yes, guitar magazines, an excellent source for G.A.S.!

Oh, man! The ultimate guitar revealed itself one day when I was leaving a guitar lesson. sound familiar? Yes. It was an American Kramer Pacer Imperial. The guitar was built after Eddie Van Halen’s designed specs for his Kramer at the time. locking Floyd Rose Tremolo, Seymour Duncan double humbucker pickups, maple neck, medium jumbo frets, 3-way pickup switch, and a custom body finished with killer graphics. It was sitting in an enclosed display case, hanging on the wall at my favorite local music shop. Of course, a big price tag was hanging on it, too. I had to play it. It was the most amazing guitar I had ever laid my hands on. How many times have you said that? Well, I drove myself insane trying to figure out how I was going to buy this guitar. This guitar was so unique and played like butter. The Floyd Rose Tremolo was tantalizing. The guitar was set up for speed. Once again, a big price tag. Sigh.

I’m a musician. I’m not rich by any means, at least when reviewing my monthly banking statements. I’m a musician by choice. I have no regrets. I love what I do. So, yes, guilty as charged! I have G.A.S.! And being that the Winter NAMM trade show is this month, we can all assume there will be more musicians with G.A.S.!

I went home and went through all my gear, deciding what I absolutely could live without. This was a major investment. I had money saved up. Gear to trade in. So, after parting with two guitars and $800 in cash, that guitar was mine. And I’ll have you know, after all of these years, I still have that guitar! That one was truly a keeper! I jokingly tell my husband to bury that guitar with me when I depart this amazing world. He just shakes his head but knows I’m serious. That guitar has brought me so much joy over the years. It’s played hundreds of gigs, traveled across the country touring, and been through the best and worst of times. Oh, the stories it could tell. Whew! At this juncture, it really needs a fret job. That guitar survived hundreds of gigs. These days, it stays stored most of the time in its hard case close by in my studio. And on occasion, I break open its hard case, take it out, and go down memory lane with it.

Fast forward to today. so much gear has since entered the picture. Now, it’s tube amps, boutique amps, and more effects pedals. solid body and hollow body electrics. Teles and Strats. Resonators, Floating trems and Bigsby’s, stop tail bridges, D-Tunas, various single coil and boutique guitar pickups, recording gear for laying guitar tracks, and computer apps. Custom-built guitars. Microphones for my guitar amps. Guitar stands, guitar amp stands, guitar amp road cases. Guitar road cases. And the whole amazing world of acoustic guitars with all of the choices and options that exist there. So much gear!

With today’s technology, there are so many outlets for acquiring and learning about gear. Just about every music gear catalog is accessible online; you have guitar forums, online lesson companies, eBay, and YouTube; every music product company has its own website with lesson portals, and just about every music magazine is accessible online, too! Wow! So many resources to tap into!

Fact. I’m a musician. I’m not rich by any means, at least when reviewing my monthly banking statements. I’m a musician by choice. I have no regrets. I love what I do. so, yes, guilty as charged! I have G.A.S.! And being that the Winter NAMM trade show is this month, we can all assume there will be more musicians with G.A.S.!

True gearhead signing off at Guitar Girl Magazine! Pick up your guitar and play!