Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS)

Over the past several months, I have indulged an interest that I have had for a long time - basses and guitars.  As outlined elsewhere on this blog, I have been interested in (obsessed by?) these musical instruments for a very long time.  I recently purchased a bass and started online lessons.  I also purchased an acoustic/electric guitar and am attempting to learn this instrument (sore fingers - ouch!).

Along with buying a couple of relatively inexpensive instruments, I have also been spending a lot of time researching gear.  It has, at times, been both incredibly fun but also quite overwhelming.  There is so much gear from not only the basses and guitars but amplifiers, strings, amps, pickups, tuners, pedals, and on and on.  It is exciting because there is so much to learn.  It is overwhelming given that there is so much product out there and so many differing opinions.  The result is that I have come close to succumbing to an affliction known as Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS).

I first came across this term in a post at Justin Guitar on "What to look for when buying a guitar".  He outlines 10 items to consider, the last of which is GAS.  Here is what he says:

Avoid G.A.S. - I swear if we spent as much time practicing as we do deciding which guitar to buy there would be a lot more great guitar players in the world. Seriously, dudes and dudettes, when you are starting out, just get yourself a guitar that plays well. If you dig playing the guitar and play for a few years you are almost certainly going to want another guitar, even if your first guitar was awesome. It's called G.A.S. (Guitar  [or Gear] Acquisition Syndrome) and it's a very painful condition for the wallet... I've been suffering for many years so now I'm just used to it!

Buying guitars is fun, and searching for the right one is fun too, but make sure you are actually doing enough practice as well, so you can enjoy your new toy when you get it!

So true! I have spent way more time looking at gear than I have doing actual practice. This cannot continue. So, I should probably stop writing about this disease and go try to learn some music.

If anyone out there has also suffered from Gear Acquisition Syndrome, please let me know how you overcame it and how you were able to focus on learning to play instead.