The easy answer to the question above is, of course “Yes, of course!” But it depends upon the availability of funds and storage space.
Like most active musicians, I suffer from “Instrument Acquisition Syndrome” (also known as IAS) to a degree. But nice instruments are expensive, so what to do?
I should mention at the outset that I am not in dire need of any new instruments right now. I admit that, but I still have cravings…
Some people acquire instruments and never, ever sell any off. Their collections only grow. Some collections grow faster than others, and I have seen some magnificent, museum-quality collections over the years. This is for people who crave possession of instruments – they can’t play them all (at least not often enough), they just love them and want to have them.
A subset of these collectors crave only top-of-the-line and/or vintage gear, and it can be a very expensive hobby indeed!
Some acquire any instruments they take a fancy to, and often include interesting, funky, sometimes barely playable instruments. Sometimes these people are skilled and luthiery and fix the instruments up.
I acquire for (perceived) need, and sometimes, for conversation pieces. I play a number of different styles, often in front of people, and feel I need appropriate, professional-quality instruments to deliver the music I’m trying to make. So, for bluegrass, I need a good dreadnaught guitar (and maybe a spare or two, in case one’s ‘in the shop’?), a bass, a mandolin, a banjo. For electric music, I feel I need guitars to deliver Fender Tele-and-Strat tones, hollow-body electric tone, and classic Gibson tone.
But I have some funky stuff, too, acquired for the heck of it – an OLD open back banjo, an OLD banjo-uke, a beat-up old autoharp, and these instruments aren’t really players – they just make me feel good.
Some folks are cullers and traders. I have friends who have a new instrument pretty much every month. But they justify (and to some degree, finance) this habit by trading in or selling instruments to get each new acquisition. Like most folks, I know it’s fun to have a new instrument, but I think it’s way more fun to live with an instrument over years and really get to know it, so mere novelty isn’t a big motivator for me.
The culler/traders are fun to play with, though. “Hey, whatcha got there? Wow, she’s a beauty! Can I play it for bit?”
IAS may be a disease of sorts, but I am not looking for a cure.
