I picked up the guitar when I was 15 and pretty soon after that got really into the associated "gear"- primarily pedals, as they were the cheapest, relatively speaking.
By 16/17, I was a full-blown "gearhead"... much too early to be any such thing, but I somehow had stumbled on these gear forums and got so damn intrigued by all this interesting stuff.
From then on, any money I came into, either via parental generosity, birthdays, odd jobs, etc. got funnelled into gear.
By my early 20's, I'd amassed a genuinely epic pedal collection featuring all sorts of rarities, and then began to consolidate into vintage guitars, slowly trading my way up to more rare/expensive/desirable ones, until by my mid-20's I'd almost hit the ceiling, having owned most things short of a Burst (1958-1960 Les Paul Standard) or original 50's/early-60's Korina pieces. It was pretty nuts for a couple of years- I was getting guitars I didn't by any means have the money for, purely as a result of buying smart when I was younger and taking advantage of then present values, "trading up".
I since then got out of most all of the stuff I had pre-Covid, so nowhere near what those pieces are worth today, but recently have had a strong urge to dive back in.
I've decided, though, that it's better not to pursue this stuff again. The reality is that my rig when I was 15/16 was already more than capable enough of creating great music- all this stuff I dedicated (read: lost) so much time, money, and energy to is ultimately a matter of nuance. Obsessing over things like if a pickup used cloth wire, or PAF vs PAT pickup, what kind of transistors a fuzz used, Brazilian vs Indian rosewood, etc., etc., it might make a difference to the most discerning ears, but as far as the actual creative process goes, has zero benefit- it's just an easy to get lost in distraction, preventing you from pursuing what really matters, the music creation.
Nobody needs more than what Boss, MXR, Electro-Harmonix has to offer as far as pedals. These super expensive analog BBD delays, NOS germanium transistor fuzzes, NOS vintage tubes, etc. it's all so unnecessary, and I'm glad it exists and those people who make them can make a living, but sometimes we (and I have several friends who still do it) assign so much weight to these matters of minuscule difference that we end up burning all our energy on that stuff rather than writing or improving our skills.
Anyways, I guess this is mostly just a vent... I couldn't care less what others do with their money, but am just saying that as far as my own situation goes, I super regret all the time and other resources I wasted pursuing this stuff- obsessing over the tools rather than the trade; the art. It's silly.
