For me “excessive” would be to collect instruments just to have a collecton of instruments AND not wanting to start running a museum for instruments 
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excess
[ɪkˈsɛs, ɛkˈsɛs, ˈɛksɛs]
NOUN
- an amount of something that is more than necessary, permitted, or desirable.
“are you suffering from an excess of gas in your life?”
mmmmmm
This is the best comment I’ve read on this forum
Hehe. True story. He owns possibly the biggest teaspoon collection in Australia. When flamed, he lightly threatens with leaving them to the offending party in his will. Ironically, my teenage son nowadays rolls his eyes at the music room and avidly avoids, so what went around came around.
On topic though, I staunchly refuse to feel guilt over such a beautiful thing as music equipment, life is too short not to appreciate some of the good things, and it partly pays for itself. This may all change up one day. The danger is in overly comparing and measuring to others, so going with your own intuition on need, excess and wastefulness seems sage advice.
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i have about twice more gear than i need for a single setup (the limit for a single setup is 12 mixer channels).
so, if something bad happens with some unit, i have a backup.
and if i feel bored with some unit, i just put it to closet, and take another.
i would consider my setup excessive if there were units with uncertain purpose. in current setups, i always know what unit does what, and why.
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STRAYA!!! Shout out from Byron.
I used to roll my eyes at my granfather playing “when the saints” to a polka beat on his organ.
Now my kids look at me like im stuck in a 90s techno nostalgia loop with the same expression on thier faces.
And…in defiance to this thread im thinking about adding an organ to my kit.
possibly some spoons…
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The feeling I have too much gear often crosses my mind as well … after I spent 6 months in a buddhist monastery, I sold a load of stuff, promising to just keep my OT Mk2, Nord drum 2 & Neumann monitors, as I was in my minimalist phase 
Slowly, however, my gear list has expanded again … but I do get so much joy from creating a piece of art from my gear, that the financial value is no longer relevant.
When I have one of these internal battles as you’ve mentioned, I add up the value of my gear, and justify it in the fact that I do not spend money on anything else, apart from essentials. My car is only worth £500 !
However, I have spent a lot of time working out what items are essential, are of a high audio quality and durable … everything else has gone
Just remember people often spend £5k+ on items like watches … 
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Something I always come back to is carry-on luggage weight.
At least in Australia we’re kind’ve limited to 7kg’s, some airlines will let you max that out with 10 or 12kg’s.
I gues if you’re prepared to check your gear then whatever, but for me it’s too precious. So always appreciate these shavings in weight whether its going from say an OT sized box to a DT size, or Apple slicing mm after mm off of the Macbook Pro year after year. It all helps.
So yeah I kind’ve like living with a setup that’s ‘backpackable’. Or wheel baggable. Take your choice. And I inevitably end up with a camera or battery or a few other things in there as well.
But yeah, finances also. Re: a previous post about being wreckless, I’ve always blown heaps of cash on gear, but I’ve always sold it, usually at not too much of a loss. I feel like that’s settled now. I’m happy with a laptop, DT, basic midi controller, monitors at home and some external monitors and a few other bits and pieces.
I would love to explore modular, but I feel my abstinance is related directly to cashflow. If I had an abundance of coin I would get into modular no doubt. As it stands these days I keep a pretty tight lid on things and instead prefer to travel and see new places.
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good point. i did not mention backpackability, because consider it as an axiom for myself.
(damn, and i have to save money for squarp pyramid).
Most Elektron (and/or Modular) users seem to have too much gear. Just thinking about all those expensive bleeps&blops on Youtube, which one could als create on an iPhone… never mind, it‘s a hobby and more fun to create a blop using big fat expensive knobs than with a cheap app.
With sports gear like longboards, snowboards or bikes, people usually need slightly different devices for slightly different purposes. What seems like a redundancy from outside (e.g., identical boards with just a different bounce) can make a huge difference for the user.
I used to judge excess by usage like some of you above. Meanwhile, I think that it‘s more tricky: For instance, my customized MPD32 controller always collects dust at home, but is perfect for gigs.
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I get anxious when I have too much stuff to really use it all properly. I kinda just follow that feeling and slim down accordingly. Sometimes it does feel like I’m just chasing the GAS though - always lusting for something new, always finding ways to justify swapping it in.
it’s excessive whenever I can not make “good” music with … but as soon as I get to a result that I like I think I have a little free space in my office 
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I used to have a couple of MPC’s, SPS and I don’t know how many synthesizers. Computer, Cubase, digital mixer from Yamaha which I later swapped for a 32 channel analog to make it all a lot simpler to use. Still too much stuff which I was constantly learning to master. Sold it all as I found it too time consuming next to my work, car hobby, etc…
Fast forward 10+ years. Had a hard time, family life got me back on track.
Bought a few soft synths and iMPC for the ipad and iPhone as well. Found the joy back in music making, but wanted to move away from the ‘virtual’ stuff. Got a Volca Sample and Bass to see if I would keep stay motivated with it. Actually, realised how much I missed it all. Last couple of months were big fun!
Received my Digitakt yesterday which I can’t take my hands off.
The only thing I’ll probably add is a Grandmother.
Will never want to go back to the GAS era.
Every piece after that will be exessive for me.
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OT, but this reminds me to go back in time and listen to some Soundgarden stuff…
I’m quite into watches but any time I start thinking about buying a serious one, I just think of how much music gear I could get for the same money, and snap right out of it.
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Simple: when productivity decreases
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Productivity was never high to begin with. 
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I look at my gear in two distinct ways. First, it is a set of tools. When does a mechanic have too many tools? When he wastes time digging through them all to find the right tool for the job at hand.
Secondly, I also think of much of my gear as works of art. When does someone have too many works of art? When there is no space left, and some are relegated to storage out-of-sight for extended periods of time. If that’s the case, they should be enjoyed by someone else who has the space.
So far, I’ve manage to make room for lots of tools and art… 
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when you have to keep the local synth tech on retainer.
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the only way is up 
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I’ve been there. My solution was to learn to fix it myself (or with the help of my electronics-savvy son)
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