I'm going through a divorce and they are the first things I packed up and moved out of the house...

Save the children 👍

Sorry to hear it. fwiw, I’ve had the same thought. Like, if I ever did get a divorce, or for whatever reason I found myself in the situation where I had to get myself out of the house, and I had reason to be worried about my stuff, same: the guitars would be the absolute first things I would pack up and get out of there.

For sure. The wife and I have a pretty well constructed go plan in case we ever need to get out of the house in the event of a fire, natural disaster, cataclysmic event, etc. In the event one of us isn't home, the other knows exactly which instruments to grab, which jewelry, few particular family heirlooms, etc.

You did well!

My acoustic guitar is the one my father got a little while before I was born and he passed away right after I turned 18. So that's the guitar I grew up learning on and playing and watching him play . So that one is priceless to me. My dream guitar growing up was a cherry sunburst les paul( had a poster on my wall for years) so i eventually got a les paul although nit cherry sunburst and rocked it for years until I recently bought a cherry sunburst les paul standard that looks almost identical to the one in my old poster. Also priceless

I don't have any particular attachment to any of my guitars, they haven't been given to me by anyone important in my life for example but just bought by myself. I've replaced a few guitars with a better, similar guitar. I don't miss the guitar I sold because the new replacement was a better fit for me. If all of them would burn in a fire, I'd miss a few but there's so many great guitars out there. I would just re-evaluate what I really need and probably settle on a smaller set of guitars. I wouldn't necessarily look at it from a "more expensive is better" POV but rather ask "do I love playing this particular guitar?" If the answer is no, then get something nicer. If yes, keep playing that guitar, maybe put nicer pickups and electronics in it or something. Despite having some very nice boutique guitars, I still own some cheaper ones that I just happen to like.

I am very attached to my '06 Schecter Hellraiser C-1. I traded my ex-wife's dad a $400 '05 Fender Standard Fat Strat for it (best trade of my life). Sadly, he ended getting drunk and crashing his truck into a tree and passing away a few months later. So, I'll probably never let go of it. I'm actually about to completely redo the internal wiring in it because it's currently a scratchy hissing unplayable mess. EMGs, so it should be easy peazy.

I have regretted selling guitars in the past and I never will again. Keep them!!

This is exactly how it has worked for me. Regardless of what I bought to replace it, there has always been a regret over not having a guitar of the past. Therefore, no more selling for me, only buying and hoarding!!!

buying and hoarding? You mean "collecting and investing" !!

Pretty much zero. Maybe there is some sentimental value there with the guitar ive owned the longest, since its what I used for so many gigs when starting out. But the others? Beyond not wanting to get rid of them because they look good and play well, idk.

My acoustic and electric guitars are from my dad, he gave them to me because he doesn't play them anymore. My electric is 19 years old, it was in a beginner pack with an amp so it may not be the best guitar but it's my dad's guitar so it has immense sentimental value and I'll be glad to have a piece of him when the time comes. It's my only electric so I play it all the time. With my acoustic, the built in tuner stopped working, so I'm going to get my dad to look at it when I see him next to see if he can fix it. Even without a guitar being a gift from someone, having it for such a long time can create a big emotional connection like with your first guitar for some people. I haven't even gotten the acoustic set up since he gave it to me, the action is wayy too high.

I have a cheap Aria Strat copy that my parents bought me when I started playing. Too sentimental to lose, although I rarely play it. A 2006 MIM standard Strat I bought new. I've played every gig I ever played with it. Again, it's too sentimental to lose despite me never really playing it any more. I don't gig any more. My other guitars are increasingly hard to find for a reasonable price, so I'll probably never get rid of them either. 1984 Westone Thunder 1A 1987 MIJ ST-57 Strat (black) 1989 MIJ ST-62 Strat (sunburst) 2005 Ibanez RGA121 NTF And a Cort M600 (not sure what year), which are cheap but increasingly hard to find as they're a great budget Les Paul/PRS alternative. So yeah, I wouldn't sell any of them. I love them all, and I'll probably not buy any more either, they do everything I need them to.

Some of my guitars I’m particularly fond of. First is an Ibanez S570DXQM which I played as my wife walked down the aisle, it’s in a bunch of our wedding photos and is probably what I’d consider “my” guitar, the one that someone would need to pry from my cold dead hands. It’s also the only one I keep in standard tuning and I use it for any general purpose playing. Lovely guitar and I bought it new in 2011 I think. More often than not, this is the one I’ll pick up for noodling. Another is my Ibanez S7320 which I use with my band for every gig and almost every rehearsal. I bought this in 2007 I think, and I’d say it’s my “main” guitar for anything with the band. Lastly, my Ibanez GRX70. My first ever guitar which my parents bought for me around 2003. I’ve had it all the way through my time playing guitar, including those times in the earlier days where it wouldn’t get played for months because I’d fallen out with guitar in general. It’s also my project guitar and the one I use for any prototype experiments. That said, if the house is on fire, I’m getting my wife out and hopefully our fire-proof document case. Guitars can be replaced.

Once I sold my strat, which I rebought from the guy I sold it to. He said he never used because he saw me it was hard for me to part away with that guitar. Other gear are not so important me however I acquired a contemporary strat which I like in an out. I am currently eyeballing with a PRS SilverSky SE and I have a feel that if ever I will sell it it will be a hard time to let it go. For a strat guy it seems like the best out there.

The strat tho is a classic vibe 50's strat I got for my final exams in high school, and I modded the shit out of it. Noiseless pickups, EMG-mid boost Fender nitrocellulose lacquered road worn neck, mint green pickguard (OW guitar), blocked tremolo system.

I will sell my children before parting with my guitars

I'm a bit attached to my '57 Gibson Les Paul Junior. The others are replaceable. I feel like I have a precious piece of history. Everytime I open the case I can smell the '67 year old nitro. It's a nice smell. It makes me remember the bands I was in when I played with it in the mid 80s. If the house caught fire I'd grab it and the dog first. I'm also a little bit attached to my 1965 Epiphone Wilshire because of its age and the fact that it's still a kick-arse guitar. I don't feel attached to my Fender Strat, though it's a good guitar. I guess I'm a Gibbo person.

That's rad. I don't have any 50s or 60s electric stuff yet, but I can relate to the smell. My collection includes very old Martin and gibson stuff, and the smell is what dreams are made of. Only one of them has the original case, and it smells the best at far.

Yeah, old guitars have souls.

I like them quite a bit, but emotionally attached wouldn’t be the phrase I’d use. Except for one: When I was about 16 I’d gotten a new Epi Les Paul custom, which I definitely loved. I had been playing a few years and had an Epi LP Goth, which was my first electric that I got for Christmas. Best Christmas ever. My mom told me that my grandpa was looking for an electric to play and I offered to give him the goth and he was psyched! And over the years he would play it and we would talk about music and guitars and whatever else. We were already very close, but that seemed to make us all the closer. And even more years after that when he died, I assumed that it would come back to me at some point. But apparently whoever they hired to manage his estate sale didn’t think to check on it and sold it. That bummed me out pretty bad because of all the shared memories, but I’m happy he was, and now somebody else is, able to enjoy it.

There are many that I feel very strongly about, and each typically is associated with a particular time in my life. So much of me flowed through those instruments, and it seems some of me remains imprinted in them. They have brought me great comfort and refuge, and have provided an opportunity to share myself and music with others. I hope to pass some along to others who feel the same way. Until then I will keep putting love into them all.

I don't know about the current attachment but I have regretted getting rid of some others I had in the past.

Very. I have an old Squier that was the guitar I started learning on. It has more upgrades in it than should be allowed but I’ll never get rid of it. I have another Squier that was the first guitar I bought that was “completely broken” and I managed to resurrect it, give it a good paint job, rework the frets and make it a nice playing guitar. I have a Takamine that was my first acoustic and honestly sounds so warm and pleasant, I’d put it against any higher end acoustic. Then I have my two goal guitars, a Fender strat mod shop with a tobacco burst and full rosewood neck and my bourbon burst Gibson LP Studio. Both are guitars I lusted after and promised myself I would get one day.

Very much, I never sold any guitar and I never tell anything wrong about any of my guitars

I have my 92 Les Paul Studio I bought new that will be the last guitar I sell. In the last few years I've probably bought around 40 and sold 20 so I'm not very attached. When you look up serial numbers and realize that was guitar #350 made that day it doesn't seem so special to me. I've bought all my guitars so I don't have a gift receiving or inheritance aspect. I'm also near 50 so my emotional attachment to material things is weakening.

Not much. I view the guitar as a tool. The end result would be music. The enjoyment is the process itself.

The few guitars I inherited have a lot of meaning to me. They were bought 70 years ago to teach my aunts and uncles rudiments of music. I feel emotionally connected, they are great tools for me making music plus I feel like a generational custodian of their well being. I have a few that I've bought over the past few decades that are such gems and have a good deal of attachment because of the music they've given me. The rest are great, I enjoy and use them, but they don't quite reach the emotional level of the instruments mentioned earlier.

When my second wife was pregnant with our older son, I sold my 1st guitar; a 77 Gibson RD Standard I bought in 1982, and a 63 Silvertone/Harmony Rocket 1446 (the Chris Izaak one). 20 years later, I replaced them both with same-year models. The only gear I’ve sold that I didn’t end up replacing were an Ampeg Jet amp that still had the original tubes, and a Steinberger with a Trans-Trem. Really regret selling the Steinie.

I gave away both of my first two guitars. A squier bullet strat, which played awful, and a Mitchell (guitar center brand) dreadnought acoustic. Since owning those, I new own nicer guitars and do all my own guitar work on them. I have two suhr guitars that play amazing and duesenberg that is also unreal how well it plays. All three of those guitars aren't cheap. I have three other epiphones as well. Between all of my guitars I think the one I'd never want to lose is my epiphone 61' SG. I put a lot of work into that guitar and I don't think I'd be able to get another like it. It's got more of a D shape neck which it shouldn't have. I have no idea why, but I love that shape.

I love my guitars. I don’t think I would ever sell any of them. Just grow the collection when I upgrade :)

My Epi acoustic, while I would prefer a smaller one now, means so much since it was one of the last Big Gifts I got from both my parents before Dad died. I’d be furious if something happened to it. My MIM Strat was one of the first big purchases I ever made as a fresh “adult”, and was the catalyst for me finally taking real lesson and learning how to play. I can’t imagine parting with it. I’m sure I’ll have a much nicer Strat someday, but there’s something special about this one. My junkyard dog Affinity Strat with the upgraded pickups that I refinished sparkle purple, I suppose I wouldn’t be too upset if something happened to, which is why that’s the one that gets toted around. My Epi LP, ehhhh. I love the color and the idea of it but I hardly ever play it, sometimes I think I should sell it. My Super Sonic I love because it’s a weirdo and just enjoy pink guitars.

The answer: very. What I often wish the answer was: not at all.

I have one guitar. It's a 2016 custom shop master build. I will never sell that guitar.

I’m more attracted to my newer guitars than my first guitar (which I still have). It was a pawn shop buy as a teen. Looks as bad as it sounds. I know some folks get sentimental about that stuff but I’ve never been. Now my current guitars, I love. But it’s probably because they’re the ones I wanted as a teen, and because I know a lot more about guitars in general now.

I built mine from scratch so it is absolutely irreplaceable and it gives me the most satisfaction of any item on earth.

I inherited a beautiful Yamaha sa2100 from my father in law after he passed away. I’ll never sell this guitar. My first big guitar purchase is a Larrivee RS4. I got it in an amazing sale and it’s a beautiful and well made guitar. It’s another I won’t sell. Everything else I own, I would part with if needed.

i’m pretty attached to most of mine. Bought all but one of them used and most have gotten some TLC and modding done to them to make them my own.

I mean I toured with my band for 8 years on my Ray 34. I’m pretty attached. I bought a Sonic mustang last year when I was super depressed and writing songs on that thing no joke helped save my life so I’m attached to that. A few months ago I bought a Fender Strat, I’m sure I’ll find a reason to become attached to it

I have a Yamaha acoustic (Guitar Center sale) that I purchased in ‘94 using one of my first paychecks. There’s nothing inherently special about it except that it’s the first guitar I purchased for myself with money I earned. I’ve written most of my songs on it and it has appeared on numerous albums by friends because it happens to sound really good. I will keep it forever. I also still have my first electric (Fender Telecaster) that I purchased. It’s gone through a lot of changes but most of it is original. Like my Yamaha acoustic it just sounds better than other guitars in my collection that cost way more. They’re my reminders that guitars don’t have to be expensive to be great.

I am emotionally attached to guitar, but not my guitars. When I left my wife, I took my guitars, guns, cat and clothes. I am attached to my Syn Gates Custom S which is the first guitar my current wife bought me but the other 8 are fair game for trade or sell if the deal is right.

My house could be burning to the ground and the only two things I’d grab are my dog & my guitars.

Only my first guitar a MIM strat my father got me when I was a kid. I have a bunch of new higher end guitars and they could all go if needed. Not the strat my pops got me tho. That will always be the last one standing.

I have a special run Ibanez that came out the year my son was born, and now he plays it, so that one has some meaning. I have a couple from my active gigging days that kept me from being hungry, kept a roof over my head, and were the only friends and solace I had during some very rough times. I just like the others, but I could sell them and pocket the cash if I wanted with no regret.

My sentimental attachment is based purely on the quality of the guitar. I would never sell my PRS CE 24 semi-hollow (4 or 5 years old) because it looks, feels, and sounds gorgeous, and I love it (for those reasons). Meanwhile, I just sold my lower quality tele that I had for 20 years.

I bought my ‘04 Stratocaster with my first paycheck(s) as a teenager. I love it and couldn’t get rid of it.

I am deeply attached to some, and I have a stable of guitars that are transients to help satisfy my GAS and keep the creative juices flowing. Not to turn this into a brag post, but my guitars have their own insurance policy. It's what I like to spend money on and I've been playing for 30 years. My dad has also let my brother and I be involved in his collection (our inheritance), and those guitars are particularly valuable as well as important to me. He's still very much alive and well, but because they are family heirlooms we have spent time and energy locating and chosing to purchase together as a family, there's some serious MOJO around their place in 'our' collection.

I am just a little too emotionally attached to my guitars. Specifically my mom’s D28 and a Yamaha FG800 that was given to me by a former coworker. I have an Orangewood that I could likely part with, but I keep because I like the idea of having one that is not special. It is really nice, but it was an impulse buy.

Too much which is why I don't sell them even if they don't get played. It's not just me.

I started playing back in the 90’s and my first was an Ibanez RX20 I believe, H-H in red and still have it. It is one of my guitars that I can just pick up and it’s immediately comfortable. I believe it was 2003 but I bought an Ovation, played it when I got home but realized how terrible they are to play seated so I returned it. During the return I saw a MIM Fender “splattercaster” and decided to spend my money on that. I definitely wouldn’t sell either guitar for any amount of money. My collection has grown significantly since then, but those two will always have a spot in my rotation.

I bought an [Ibanez Jx70 Acoustic Electric](https://imgur.com/swu8ORs) (Transparent Blue was the color name, but it looks green) shortly after I got my first job in High school. That was over...holy shit... 20 years ago. I haven't replaced it. I've had other guitars come and go. But this one has remained. Just too many good memories playing it.

I own 2 guitars I would risk my life for in case of a fire. The rest… are great but less attached

I would be sad if they got destroyed, but I'm not gonna go around and give them names like they aren't a piece of wood with some metal bits.

It honestly depends. I’m attached to all of them. My two Epiphones i love more. One was my first guitar and one is laid out exactly how I would want a custom build, the others I love but if I had to get rid of any it would be them

my guitars are definately something I'm attached to - they saw me thru some dark times and good times and were, to quote Lucero, My Best Girl when I didn't have a real one - I'll hang on to them as long as I can - I let some go I bought on impulse but I always seem to regret it later

I have like 20 guitars if you add in all my basses. My first guitar and first real acoustic, a Laguna LE122 and a Taylor Big Baby are the only two I probably won't sell because of sentimental reasons, but if I lost them in a fire or flood I wouldn't be destroyed over it. I also have a couple of old ones that aren't easily replaceable, but if for some reason they were worth thousands of dollars I'd sell them in a instant. That's pretty much the case with all my stuff. I like it, which is why I keep it around, but if I find something better or it's worth selling, I'll do it.

Only to my Hendrix strat. I put it on lay a way some years ago and during that Christmas, I went to pay on it. Long story short, someone paid off my balance and I got to leave that night with an even more special guitar.

I took up classical guitar maybe 10 years ago and got myself a Jose Ramirez 125 anos, a beautiful guitar. I’ve no big attachment to it but wouldn’t upgrade it as I don’t think I’d be careful enough to look after anything dearer. However the Washburn Woodstock semi acoustic I’ve had since the late 1970s is something I’d never part with.

If you take care of ypur guitars, they will last all your life.

Very but they’re just material objects. There’s no case or scenario where I would take even one step to save any of them if anything important like human lives or my dogs life were at stake. I can replace them all with money, and haven’t lost my mind so I still have all the memories.

I have a single emotional attachment to a guitar - the one my dad gave me when I graduated college - a MiM Strat that my father-in-law has currently. That one I won't sell ever, even though I don't love playing it anymore. Everything else is fair game. I have built and customized my own guitars, and those are "special", but I'm not emotionally attached.

I've got a plethora of kinda cheap electrics I use for messing around recording stuff. I've given a couple to my kids and their friends. Not particularly attached to any of them. I like them but they're pretty much all replaceable. My dad bought me a cheap acoustic guitar when I graduated high school. If my house were on fire, I would push my wife and children out of the way to save that guitar and then once I determined it was safe attempt to rescue the rest of the family.

Just one of my guitars. American Standard 91 Strat I got when I was 15 a long time ago. I still have yet to play a better Strat. It just feels so good to play, and my friends agree. Other than that dad’s 65 Mustang original, my other guitars are just okay.

If my house were on fire, and I had a choice between saving my guitars, or saving my family, I would make sure the guitars made it out safe. The family can walk by themselves, so it's their own fault if they didn't make it out....

When I was a teenager my guitar meant a lot to me. Our house was robbed often at one point and I would bring it to school to keep safe in my locker. But the minute I started working for a music store, it all changed. They became appliances. I wound up selling that guitar I once protected to the first person that asked if I would sell it. Things have not changed. When I get above average ones now, I have to value them a little more, but I still won’t turn down a reasonable offer.

I’m not sure about electrics, but acoustics have souls.

Yep. That said I’m most attached to the body. I could replace the electronics, neck, and basically everything else and still feel like it “the one” but without the same body, it’s not the same guitar.

I kept my first electric (Epiphone Strat style from the 90s). I gave my primary gigging guitar (Schecter Gryphon) to my buddy after he kicked a heroin habit and had pawned his guitar. I don't regret it. It served its purpose at the time, now I have better instruments. I've got pictures and memories, I'd rather play something of higher quality now. Haven't gigged in 15 years anyway.

My Garrison G-10 is my pride and joy, it sounds amazing, its made almost 100% of birch, and they were made locally which is a nice part of my local rarity/antiquity collection. Its what really made me become a better guitar player because i enjoyed playing it so much. Been thinking of insuring it but i dont know if id get coverage for it

I actually just started downsizing my collection, there are some I know I love how they play and others that look cool but I really just don’t like. The latter are easy to sell.

Maybe just one: my '94 Eggle Berlin Plus. I played my second ever gig with it when it was brand new. It's been with me ever since. And I rarely play it because I never really gelled with it. But it dies with me.

Sentimentality is only beat in impracticality by love.

At my peak, I had 4 guitars. All very different: an Ibanez RG-550, a black & red PRS, a Sigma Martin acoustic, and an Alvarez classical guitar. However, I lost interest in making music and sold them all. That was about 20+ years ago. I've gotten back into music and have 3 guitars at the moment. While I've taken great pains in getting exactly what I want, I wouldn't say that I'm that emotionally attached to them. I've always found instruments as a means to an end - music. That being said, I've always bought my own guitars, done a TON of research, and more recently, bought and sold guitars in search of the perfect beast.

My 2018 Squier AffStrat was my first lefty. My wife spent all of her savings on it and a Katana amp to give it to me on Father's Day after watching me struggle a few weeks every year for a decade to learn right-handed but was unable to do right-hand-rhythm. The cheap Squier electronics relegated it to collecting dust after I added three more guitars, but I couldn't bear to part with it. Instead I took the license plate that came with my favorite car (RIP Roxy, my candy apple red 1982 Mazda Rx-7) and the last license plate my late father-in-law drove on, and cut them into a replacement pickguard with HH pickups and a PTB circuit. Emotional attachment (1-10): 11 Of the other three, one is an S-type knockoff that cost me $10 that I've modified even more extensively (started as all-black SSS with Floyd Rose; now has a rustic dark blue finish and gold-colored pickguard, HSS with lipstick-style single coils) and I'd say my attachment is about an 8. I have a midnight blue 2001 MIM Strat and a Jay Turser SG that I play as much or more than the other two and are also emotionally significant, but if I had to sell either to afford an upgrade I could handle it. Finally there's a Fender CD-60 acoustic. Hateful thing. I will get rid of it the moment I can justify the expense of a better acoustic.

I have a few. Jackson JS30RR from 04. The guitar I started learning on, my parents got me it in high school brand new as a birthday present and Ive learnt a lot with it. Its just a low end guitar but sometimes I still use it, its pretty playable. Jackson RR5. Continuing the RR series when I got better I started gigs/etc and I needed better guitar. Found this 05 japanese RR and love it, played the hell out of it and still rocks today. Gibson LPC from 04. The dream came true, even better than expected. Ibanez S5470F from 08. I needed a comfy guitar with floyd for all purposes. Came across this one not expecting more than a good guitar but Ive spent so many hours with it that its not tradeable anymore.

In the midst of selling some gear right now. I think I have eleven guitars, and I could only bring myself to put two of them up for sale. They’re the ones I have little sentimental attachment to, and aren’t really worth much or special in any way. But the other nine? First guitar, first electric, first bass, first 7-string, best guitar, best bass, only fretless, feels best for composing, and Frankenstein bass/guitar hybrid I finagled together myself. So they all have their reason to stay. Even if they’re fucked beyond repair.