Gear Acquisition Syndrome (sometimes Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, both abbreviated to
GAS) is a term used to describe an urge to acquire and accumulate lots of gear. This term commonly associated with:
Guitarists (tend to acquire guitars, guitar amplifiers, pedals, effects processors, etc.)
Keyboard / synth players (keyboards, synthesizers, samplers, effects units, etc.)
Drummers (various drums, percussion, drumsticks, etc.)
The term "GAS" was coined by Walter Becker in 1996 in his article G.A.S. in Guitar Player[1] as "Guitar Acquisition Syndrome". The term started to be frequently used by guitarists and spread out to other people of creative professions who were familiar with similar tendencies. As it no longer concerned guitars only, GAS became a backronym for "Gear Acquisition Syndrome".
GAS shouldn't be confused with collecting.
GAS is similar in many ways to very mild obsessive compulsive disorder. However, the urge or impulse to buy can be resisted without too much discomfort, and does not lead to panic attacks. Indeed, if it did, then the diagnosis would be obsessive compulsive disorder.
There are some traits, noticeble in many musicians that lead to this behaviour. Guitarists frequently deride their own playing, and encourage within themselves a self-loathing. They do this to spur themselves on to greater playing, often unconsciously. It backfires, worsening their self esteem.
Self-doubt, and self-hatred are a potent combination that are the precursors of this desire to buy. I have observed anecdotally, how a new guitar or amplifier is imbued with the hopes and dreams around that "perfect guitar solo". In this sense, the belief is more in keeping with the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder rather than OCD.
Underlying this purchase-mania is a feeling of not being sure of oneself: an inability to judge one's performance. Worse still, there appears to be an inability to gauge the reactions of others, especially reagrding the performance. Many guitarists are "blind" to the compliments of others, or do not recognise when others derive pleasure from their playing. Naturally this fits in nicely with their self-loathing. When unsure of their ability, an easy way to deal with uncertainty is to purchase more equipment.
The cycle begins again. And even if the new guitar does sound or play better, or give the audience (or the guitarist) more pleasure, the performer remains unable to comprehend this and thus acknowledge this.
In this way GAS can be seens as a type of deafness/blindness to the feelings and minds of others. In other words, mild autistic traits. The "control freak" and rigid mentality of many popular musicians fits neatly into this description.
Treatment
GAS hasn't received any major medical attention. GAS is not a medical, but a psychological condition. However, numerous articles address GAS issue and try to propose an methods to plan one's desires, incomes and expenses better. In addition, GAS can often be relieved with TUMS (Time to Unload My Stuff).
References
[1] Walter Becker (1996-05-31). "G.A.S.". Guitar Player.
http://www.steelydan.com/gas.html.
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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