Chiming in late in this conversation...and I still haven't read the whole 17 pages.
Working on it!!
I would consider GAS being the act to buy gear you really do not need.
I mean, who NEEDS a sixth Les Paul, a tenth Strat, yet another amp or a fourth ADA MP-1??
Looks like I do.
For some reason, there is a great rush to press that Buy it now button and then feel like
you shouldn't have done it but smirk at the idea the thing will show up at your door.
It feels like cheating on your wife actually.
That forbidden unruly wrong thing to do...But so pleasurable!!
I take comfort in the idea that I'd rather go the GAS way than cheating on my wife.
And no matter what, one day, I might sell most of it. So it's not a complete loss.
Especially that most of the gear I buy is high end.
So it ages well.
Lately I've been going in a Boston phase and started buying some of these components
that used to be out of reach monetarily at the time.
Great toys!!