| I would say anyone who purchases a horn "just because they like its looks, history, etc." would be a collector. Someone who buys for investment purposes or who is trying to "turn a buck" would be a "dealer" or "investor" (or rabid Ebayer!)
I will probably get some flak for this but I don't think that one must actually be able to PLAY the horn(s) to be a collector, nor do I think there is a "magic number" or quantity of horns "collected". I seem to recall that there is a technical definition of a "collection" being an organized set of objects with a common theme. Your guitars would certainly qualify. I've had the pleasure of viewing a collection of old pianos (going back well over 100 years)
One could have a collection of trumpets, cornets, flugelhorns, trombones, rotary valved instruments... etc. ad nauseum. It just depends on what "theme" the owner has selected for his acquisitions.
As far as quantity is concerned... I think that anyone who purchases even one instrument for the purposes of admiring it and that they cannot and do not play could be defined as a collector. |