Practicing with two different guitars

If a person is fortunate enough to have two nice guitars how should one spread the practicing between them in the early stages of learning? I realize that I am fortunate to have a nice Strat American Standard and a Les Paul Studio. For the last year or more I have just been switching between them haphazardly. I went a period of months playing the LP and just for no real reason didn't want to pick up the Strat. Then something snapped and for the last couple months I reach for the Strat.

But during the early years should a person have a schedule to switch between them?

1) One day one guitar, then the next day the other?
2) One week one guitar, then the next week the other?
3) One month each?
4) Some sort of schedule based on what I am practicing?
5) I'm over thinking this and tell me to shut the heck up and go practice with which ever one moves me at the time?

Or any other thoughts are appreciated.

I depends... :-).

I'm in a similar situation and considered this very question a couple of years ago. I like both of my guitars for different reasons and each has a slightly different feel. I didn't want to become fully comfortable with only a single guitar. Bends, palm muting, pinch harmonics...these all are executed slightly differently on each guitar. You might wonder about bends, but I have a maple fretboard on my strat and rosewood on my LP - different feel under the fingers between them. Also different scale lengths, which means different string tension, which means more/less force to bend between them.

So...if I'm in a mode where I'm working on a lot of theory, scale shapes, chord shapes, I'll switch off once a day. If I'm learning a song, I'll choose whichver guitar fits the desired tone the best. Once I've learned the song, I'll play it on the other guitar just to see what it will sound like and also develop some flexibility in switching. If applicable, I'll throw my acoustic into the mix as well.

When I was playing in a band for a couple of months, I used my strat exclusively since I was using that guitar to play out. There, comfort and familiarity with the guitar was important.

This all may seem silly, but when I first got my faded LP a couple of years ago, I noticed a big difference between the 2 guitars. Since I've been switching back and forth , I find I don't really notice much. Guess my switching worked :-).

So I think you are smart to do this. From doing it myself, I find now it doesn't really matter much, which is where you ultimately want to be.

I play three guitars every practice session. That wasn't planned, it's mostly based on what I'm practicing.

My practice sessions are a combo of GT lessons, songs and drills (scales, chords, stretching/flexibility exercises). Almost all the songs are played on my acoustic. But two of the songs sound great on the 12-string so that's what I use for them (one is the 12-string traditional from the Eagles, Best of My Love, the other, Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl because I needed a cut away my acoustic doesn't have to play the intro riff...more songs for the 12-string are planned). GT lessons are played on an electric and the same guitar is used for the bulk of the drill work.

It's a fun session! :)

I often play both my Strat and LP in the same practise session, but didn't want to have to deal with the scale length issue, so I built a strat with a Warmoth conversion neck so the strat is a 24 3/4 scale length like my LP.

Given the same scale length the only real difference I notice besides the sound is the strat naturally leans back so I can see the fret board better which is kind of making it my favorite.

This is coming from a newbie for sure but I didn't want to have to learn two different muscle memory locations for each chord at this point.

I say switch as your mood does. The longer you play the more you will find different guitars bring different things out of you. Have you noticed you tend to play some songs on one guitar and not on the other so much?

I'm not saying go buy guitars, on the other hand a lot of people who have been playing for 20 - 30 plus years own 3 or 4 or more guitars for a reason.

My thought is; I don't think it matters.

I think it is more driven on which one you enjoy playing at the moment. I most often practice anything on an acoustic because it makes you work for it. When you return to an electric, the electric seems so easy.

With two nice electrics, it doesn't matter as much. I suppose I would say 'play the one that challenges you more' but I'm not sure that the difference in the two really would be all that much.

So, yep, I go with haghj500 > go with your mood.

"I say switch as your mood does. The longer you play the more you will find different guitars bring different things out of you. Have you noticed you tend to play some songs on one guitar and not on the other so much?" post:Hagh

Dead on. I have a "stable" of guitars and switching between them is a big source of inspiration for me. If I leave the big ol' Gretsch hollowbody out I'll find myself finger-picking Beatles, old Eagles type stuff, maybe even some old country standards.(Stray Cats type "mood") After a week or so I'll put her up and set out a Paul and my mood changes to harder, faster and more distorted stuff.(Led Zeppelin type "mood") When I feel like I've beat that horse to death I'll put out a Strat which (for me) inspires more complex playing with an emphasis on chord and right-hand work . ( Steely Dan type "mood"). When my inspiration to play is deteriorating I'll clean-up and re-case that guitar - look at all the guitars I have and usually at least one "speaks" to me - begging to come out and play.

I've been told, by people whose opinion I respect, that I've kind of "missed the boat" by not marrying one guitar and taken the benefit of "familiarity" to it's peak. Could be true- but I will never know because I'm always going to be a stable-of-guitars guy. When I die my wife is going to have a garage sale you all don't want to miss! :)

Which evers closet play!.