The Basics of Guitar Collecting with Utkarsh Mohan
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Ministry of Guitar Singapore collection owner Utkarsh Mohan shares the basic principles of Guitar Collecting, what you need to know and how to get started. Gibson, Fender, PRS, Ibanez, Musicman? It's all covered here
Episode Guide
0:00 Introduction
1:45 What makes a Guitar collectible?
6:49 Which brands of Guitar are most collectible
8:30 What should any 'decent' guitar collection contain?
11:11 How to get started in Guitar Collecting / How did I get started
Utkarsh Mohan is a Singapore based writer, philosopher, musician and artist of Indian origin. Formerly in corporate senior management, he now pursues his passions and is also the owner of the Ministry of Guitar collection
You can also follow him on Instagram @ministryofguitar
Another fun video! I have 17 guitars/basses currently, only my three vintage Gibson's (1962, 67, 76) would be considered "collectable", and when I acquired them in the late 70s/early 80s they were just "used" and I gigged them a lot. Got my 1983 Japanese Squier strat new, it could be considered vintage at over 40 years, and this has become a sought after model. The rest are a mix of Gretsch, Fender, Squier, Taylor, PRS, Guild, Epiphone, Hofner, all of which are post 2000. Never bought a guitar to collect it, just to gig, teach, or record with.
Its also the age of the guitarist, i am 59 now, have worked from my age of 15 and played guitar at the age of 11. I own 21 guitars now that are half scrab, and the half expensive. I am happy to own a Stevie Ray Vaughan signature from the first line with an Brazilian rosewood fretboard, not many manufactured. So you right what you said about tonewood and the rest. Have a blessed newyear.
I don't have nearly as large of a collection as Utkarsh, but I have bought/sold/traded/returned 70+ guitars and basses in the last several years and currently own about 22 guitars and 6 basses. I do not have a collector's mentality as I'm a musician, not a collector. So I only buy the guitars I will actually use in my recordings and practice routines, and if an instrument does not match the range of music I make or play, I wouldn't spend money on it. Ergonomics is also very important to me, which means there are a ton of guitars and basses out there that while might have the tone and aesthetics I like, are ergonomic nightmares that would only cause you discomfort and even damage if you played them long-term. Because of that, most traditionalist designs are not of interest to me because luthiers back then had very limited knowledge of ergonomics and human physiology. So for example, instead of a typical Fender Tele, I have modern Tele-shaped guitars with forearm contours and belly cuts, which makes them much more comfortable to play. I also like versatility, so my main guitars all have flexible pickup configurations and wirings, such as HSH, SSH, or HH with coil-split/tap. Pickup variety is another important consideration as I don't want too much overlap between my guitars. Humbucker, single-coil, overwound single-coil, P90, mini humbucker, wide-range humbucker, stacked blade humbucker, Filtertron, etc. 22 vs 24 frets is another consideration, as they place your picking hand at different distances from the neck and middle pickup when you palm-mute and you could hit the pickup with your pick in some instances like HSH with 24 frets. Having different neck profiles is another thing to consider, as for certain types of playing you might want a chunkier or thinner neck. Different tunings is another reason to have multiple guitars as retuning and changing string gauges is a PITA. And finally, I think modern guitar players all should have at least one headless guitar--especially one with a lower body carve that allows you to place the carve on your right thigh and angle the neck at roughly 45 degrees for very comfortable and ergonomic playing. Ergonomic stands like the Performaxe is also a must because it turns just about any guitar into an ergonomic one in terms of sitting playing position.
Great video,you really shine when you include the buisness side and marketing side of guitars in my opinion
Great video, Utkarsh. I love your collection, and it's wonderful to see your passion for collecting - and as a PRS fanboy myself, your passion for collecting PRS guitars. Thanks, man.
in 2018 i lost everything and had to sell all my gear. i went a long time without playing after selling my collection, and it really put things into perspective for me. as i slowly but steadilly picked up the pieces of my life, the first chance i got i bought a guitar, a practice amp, and a desk top modeler second hand from a pawnshop for about $350. after what i had been through i appreciate my single ibanez so much more than the many ibanez i had hanging all over my walls years ago
Enjoying the Ministry.
Appreciate the channel. 🍻
Collections are very personal and I think it is ironic that PRS is only type of guitar that's missing in mine.
The 🔍 continues...
Same. I have a pretty well-rounded collection, as far as brands and models. PRS just hasn't done it for me. I set out last year for my 40th birthday to buy one, and was going to spend whatever it took to get one that checked all the boxes for me. I went to several PRS dealers in the Toronto area, tried close to 50 core and private stock models, from Cu22 and Cu24, DGT, Modern Eagles, Santana, West St, etc. Not one was enjoyable enough to buy. Some where incredible to look at, and others played okay, but were ugly. The core Custom 22, and Vela/Mira generally felt the best to me of all the models.
Pretty good breakdown!
Im guilty of buying expensive guitars just because my favorite player used it, or other people claim it's "the best." Most of those were traded or resold at a loss. I have a few models that have sentimental value, like my first guitar (Yamaha 60s red label acoustic), and my late father's Lowden acoustic and early Les Paul Supreme, but they are fun to play, too.
When I buy for looks, often I dont enjoy playing the guitar and end up selling it. My Gibson LP Custom, Gretsch Black Falcon, and the Gibson Dove all looked good enough for me to buy, but after putting in some time in on them, they weren't for me.
Now I think about playability as much as how cool, and also how aesthetically pleasing it is to me, equally. Of course, ill make some compromise if the price is right, but generally I try to go for guitars that I know Ill enjoy.
Thanks for another great video!
Very interesting video! Do you have any thoughts on new Martin’s available now that might become a good collectible? Eg the Martin OMJM (John Mayer?)
First of all, you have some very very nice guitars and just for the fact that many of them are a real beauty I think they are collectible. And I say collectibles because of the feeling they can create. Collecting because one wants to keep perhaps witnesses of history in good condition for oneself or later generations. Who doesn't want to see and touch something really beautiful. In that I agree with you without hesitation. Long live psychology 🤗
Second. But collecting for revaluation issues? Here there is a big MAYBE YES MAYBE NO. In this case so many things can intervene that can affect the evolution of the price - and I don't say value, because value is something else.
Here comes "the market" and its volatility. It is true that the current market offer is tremendously wide, but you can also see - and you only have to look at websites that sell first and second hand guitars - how the prices of boutique guitars are currently dropping. Keeping guitars in perfect condition for many, many years or decades ...
I would never recommend guitars as an investment and even less if they have no real historical ties that are important and historically necessary.
Let us be honest. All of us who love guitars just end up with a collection based on "guitars we love". I personally only buy limited editions but only those that I love. There are many I don't like and I don't care if they are collectable or not. Not my taste. If you are an entrepreneur who just want to see numbers, this is not your market. You will loose money and not enjoy anything that you buy because you don't like guitars nor play them. The chances to have a guitar that increases its value with time is extremely narrow and mainly due to just having a lot of luck.
Hello friend. Question. In a collection like yours is there room for a medium/ relatively low quality guitar, but with an added value for being historical? And low production numbers.
Maybe not now, although I have seen requests from people wanting to buy it on resale and at higher prices - the signed Donald Trump eagle guitar ....
??
How are you gonna basically afford all these guitars... given that they are expensive like 1000 dollars?
Despite having a rather large number of guitars myself, I don't see a point in collecting guitars unless you intent to use them. But since I understand the concept being an avid collector of many different kinds of things (to a point that is unbearable to the people in my life ), I would suggest that building a collection of guitars should not neglect other brands like e.g. Rickenbacker, Danelectro, (old) Vox, Mosrite, Guild, Framus, Hamer, Dean, BC Rich, Parker, Duesenberg, D'Angelico, Novo etc. etc. If you are purely a collector - and therefore resale value is not your only criterion for buying guitars - these other brands would better complete the picture. Just my opinion.
Makes sense . I agree on the brands and certainly agree you don’t have to collect guitars