thoughts
Tools
Guitars are tools. They are tools designed to create music. It's easy to loose sight of that. Now every good workman appreciates quality tools. They make their job easier and more enjoyable. But they are still tools. Designed to do a job. A hammer drives nails. A guitar makes music. I think sometimes we guitar players get so hung up on our tools we forget about making music. Now don’t get me wrong. I love buying and tweaking gear as much as the next guy, but the ultimate goal should be to make better music.
However, in some cases, collecting tools becomes the goal. I guess that's alright if you can afford it, but guitars were not originally designed to sit in cases for years simply increasing in monetary value. This is a corruption of their real function, which is to make music. That is where the value of an instrument should really be found. An inexpensive acoustic guitar played for friends is creating a priceless experience that a 1950’s Les Paul sitting in a bank vault can’t touch.
Sure, guitars can also be viewed as works of art, but that should be secondary to making music. So let the rich boys lock away their toys (investments) for profit, and use whatever guitar you can afford to make something far more valuable: music.