Who Gives Their Guitars a Name?

[benjammin420]

We've heard of Lucille, Blackie, Pearly Gates, but what do you name your babies? (feel encouraged to post names and pics)

[mototpsychel]

Never really got into that. I just call them my '9 and my '55.

[benjammin420]

this is "Liz" she's my newest, named after Elizabeth Reed


http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/benjammin420/DSCF1094.jpghttp://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/benjammin420/DSCF1093.jpg

[Blue Fin]

Mine are named "this one" and "that one".

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

I call one of them Les Paul, the other one SG and I have one named Strat! :drink

[prsflame]

I have only named 3 out of 9 guitars. I guess these are the one's I've bonded with on some level. Some of the names were bestowed upon them by former bandmates.

1) I refer to my Thorn #132 as" Pearl"
2) My Mcnaught Tequila Sunrise Doublecut is "Sunny"
3) My Mcnaught Singlecut is named "Greenie"

[Jahn]

The only one I named was my first guitar when I was a teen. It was stolen. Haven't named one since.

[eleanor296]

Alvarez Artist Series acoustic (forget the model number, one of their high end models):
Eleanor
Strat: Sarah
Ibanez S540: Laura

[Deacon]

I've never named my guitars, but my bandmates dubbed my 2002 R8 Les Paul "Thor".

It kinda stuck.

[jamo71]

I call one of them Les Paul, the other one SG and I have one named Strat! :drink

Me too! :drink

[Paul Conway]

Name them? No more than I name my cutlery.

[gtrfinder]

"Lilly" - the guitar, not the girl

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u117/gtrfinder/TeyePics024.jpg

[benjammin420]

No more than I name my cutlery.

i suppose youre going to say you dont name your socks either?

[kingsleyd]

I don't name them myself, but sometimes other people name them for me. If the name feels right, it sticks.

Lily
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10098/normal_Retro_Sport_KD_Sig.jpg

Amber
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10098/normal_Amber_labeled.jpg

Jeannie
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10098/normal_IMG_1274.JPG

Goldilocks
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/olddata/6ea2ef7311b482724a9b7b0bc0dd85c6/normal_3501_p46040.jpg

[aarondavis]

No, reminds me too much of bluesmen and straps with their initials on them. :dunno

I call them my:

"DL"
"Tele"
"Tornado"
"McCarty"
and
"Taylor"

In other words usually just the model of the guitar.

[aarondavis]

Goldilocks
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/olddata/6ea2ef7311b482724a9b7b0bc0dd85c6/normal_3501_p46040.jpg

That Klein is hawt!

[hudpucker]

this is "Liz" she's my newest, named after Elizabeth Reed


http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/benjammin420/DSCF1094.jpghttp://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/benjammin420/DSCF1093.jpg


Forgive me but I don't really see the resemblance...


Nice looking GUITAR though.

[hardys]

I built A Telecaster and a Strat and put decals on the headstock on each guitar. Instead of the word Fender, I put my last name. For the small model name font, I used a deacal on the Tele saying "Stephocaster" (named for my daughter Stephanie). I did the same on the Strat an used my wife's name "Bitchocaster", but now she's my ex, so I replaced it with "Steveocaster", which is my name.

Corny, I know. What can I say? :dunno

[BLUESMANVINTAGE]

I name them as follows..

"This one is 1.599, this one is 1,599, this one is sold, and that one is sold!"

I actiually DO name many of my PERSONAL guitars. But NOT the ones I sell.... those are for the customer to name.

[BLUESMANVINTAGE]

I was going to put an ex girlfriend's nickname on my guitar once, But i didnt feel that CHEAP SLUT look appropriate on my headstock.

[ohshait]

its usually just "the 335" or "the prs"

[chongo]

I've never named my guitars, but my bandmates dubbed my 2002 R8 Les Paul "Thor".

It kinda stuck.

Ith that becauth your thoulder was thor after playing it?

[DonW]

I named one guitar for awhile. I have some sweet pet names set aside when I do it again though.
Fuzznuts
Shitstain
Ballchin
Suzy

[chongo]

I was going to put an ex girlfriend's nickname on my guitar once, But i didnt feel that CHEAP SLUT look appropriate on my headstock.

Cheap Sluts are my favorite girlfriends.
Do I KNOW your ex girlfriend?

:Devil:Devil:Devil:Devil

[atomicmassunit]

Every time I name one it ends up getting sold. I think it's bad luck.

[hardys]

Cheap Sluts are my favorite girlfriends.
Do I KNOW your ex girlfriend?

:Devil:Devil:Devil:Devil

You might know my beyotch ex wife! :roll

[Dizi]

I usually don't name things. It was "the strat" for many years, until I started to get a couple more. Now I name them whatever color they are.

[bluesjunior]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/bluesjunior/S3010014-2.jpgHere are mine my 335 Blondie and Strat Sweet Thing.:aok

[hardys]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/bluesjunior/S3010014-2.jpgHere are mine my 335 Blondie and Strat Sweet Thing.:aok

What do you call that chair? Man, I can't remember the last time I've seen one of those. I had one in the 70's, but it self destructed.

[Paul Conway]

i suppose youre going to say you dont name your socks either?

Don't be daft, everyone names their socks, for safety purposes.

Mine are called 'Ian.'

[Willie Johnson]

I've always named my guitars. But, I tend to keep them for a very long time....I have one acoustic that I bought in 1966; another acoustic that I bought in 1975; a Les Paul that I bought in 1972 and a Strat that I bought in 1990. They all have names. I have a CP Thornton Fusion that I've only had for a couple of months and it doesn't yet have a name. I think if you tend to buy and sell guitars all of the time and don't hang onto them, then you most likely wouldn't bother naming them. I tend to "bond" with my instruments and honestly view them as old friends, so I like to call them by name.
Not that this has anything to do with the original post but I think a lot of players never really keep their instruments very long and therefore don't get to experience something very wonderful. I can't really put it into words but there is nothing like picking up a guitar that you have played (practically) every day for 30 or 40 years. Comfortable doesn't even begin to describe it. It would be interesting to know of people who do name their guitars how long they keep them. And, of those who say why would I do that, how long do they typically keep their instruments?

[stevieboy]

I named my socks "the left one" and "the other one."

The Clintons named their cat "Socks." I wonder if they named their socks "Jinx" and "Felix."

[808Beat]

Thanks guys! This is the best laugh I've had in a long time.

Aloha,

808

[khromagi]

Guitars are like cats, they don't deserve names. Dogs are another story.

[DrumBob]

This question has come up before here, and I'll say what I said the last time; if someone wants to name their guitar, that's fine for them. Who am I to tell BB King, Billy Gibbons and Eric Clapton they're wrong?

Personally, I think it's dumb, so it's not for me.

It's, my Strat, my Tele, my Les Paul Junior, my Flying V, My Gretsch, my Moderne, etc.

[bluesjunior]

What do you call that chair? Man, I can't remember the last time I've seen one of those. I had one in the 70's, but it self destructed.
I think we bought it in Denmark in the 80's and it has eventually ended up with me in the loft. It isn't particularly comfy but I guess we have had it so long it would be a shame to dump it.http://www.thegearpage.net/board/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ghoti]

I call them the model names or shape names. Anything else is silly unless it has a good story to it.

[pcovers]

I don't do names or gender. They are guitars.

[WordMan]

Observations:

- Yes, guitars are tools first
- Yes, most are best referred to by some easily-defining characteristic like model name, color or year
- Yes, randomly naming a guitar comes across as a wannabee move
- However, a name that has a story with it and just sorta happens is a very cool thing, especially when the guitar is one of your keepers

I have tried names on guitars and pretty much none of them stuck - I always drifted back to model, color or year. But after playing through a lot of guitars, I came across a '54 Reissue Black Beauty LP Custom from 1973 that taught me how a truly great guitar can be different from merely good ones. It sounds much better when I play better - it is less forgiving. and the improvement in tone when I clean up my technique stands out. I would try to describe how demanding-in-a-good-way the guitar was and refer to our then-also-new cat, who was also black and loud and demanding - she talks a lot - but is very affectionate when she is getting her way. Pretty much everyone started referring to the guitar as Gracie, after the cat, and it's not that it stuck - the guitar is simply "Gracie*." If that makes me a wannabee - I can live with that.

Photo of the two which I have shared on TGP a few times:

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n86/WordMan567/AAGracieandGracie-2006-07.jpg

*but no gender; it's an it.

[Stratophile]

I pick names but gender never really enters the equation. I have a Strat named "Woody" cause it gives me a woody every time I play it. I have an Ibanez s470 I named "Flow"....cause ideas just flow out of me when I play it. The NEz is also referred to as "The Stunt Guitar". I call my Acoustic Electric "Bess" for no reason other than it looks like a Bess to me.

I've always named guitars. They generally have to speak to me though. If I have one for a time and cannot name it....I sell it.

[mkr1]

I have an '82 walnut The Strat that bandmates dubbed "The Dinosaur" because it was brown, heavy, and extinct.

[mysticaxe]

Anderson - Tom
Jackson - Kelly (guess what model it is)
Former Gibson - Paul
Partsocaster - #1 (as in first guitar I assembled)
Only othe one is called "Strat."

[paul1122]

My wife has names form them because she could care less what they are. Firebird= brown pretty one, SG= The red ugly one, 335(Natural)= The wood one.