Maybe I got lucky with it, because I can see myself playing my Epi SG Standard right till the end. It doesnāt mean that itās gonna stay my only electric guitar though. 
But Iāve been playing for 8 or 9 months before getting it, at first with a classical guitar, then with my dreadnought and Iāve watched enough YouTube to figure out what exactly I want. And it wasā¦ Les Paul. But the only one in the right color was reserved and buying a cheaper SG would allow me to buy an amp instead of saving up more. And Iāve never regretted it.
Of course, it doesnāt need to be perfect. I bought my first (and only) acoustic guitar in 1981 and I still play it every day. Itās not perfect, but itās certainly good enough for a hack like me. Plus, Iāve kind of grown fond of it over the years.
In addition to being fun, I suppose that having a few guitars can be a great learning tool. We learn about different pickups, wood, scale length, amp settings. What are the effect of each on the sound and playability.
At the beginning, to the untrained ear, the differences may be subtle but I guess that they become more apparent the more we experiment with our guitars.
Well, Iāll be able to test my hypothesis since I bought another electric guitar 
Only one?
One issue I have with electric guitars is the rabbit hole (more like the rabbit āCave of Caerbannogā) of accessory gear. I almost lost my head in there well before I could even play the dang guitar. I felt I was not able to focus my efforts on actually learning the instrument so I dropped it and am currently sticking to acoustic. Someday I will go back.
āThatās no ordinary rabbitā¦ā
Itās true that itās overwhelming at first because there are some many settings and presets for amp and pedals. Nowadays, I only use 4 presets (clean, crunch, lead and brown) when I am jamming. And when I want to experiment/explore, I change them, but it can get pretty time consuming
I use a amp sim in Reaper so it has many built-in pedals and amps.
You need an amp, and a cable.
Anything else is completely optional (even a guitar pick).
Cheers,
Keith
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My acoustic was given to me - not my fault.
My first electric I bought - completely my fault, but I needed an electric to learn to play rock.
My second electric was given to me - not my fault.
My third electric was so eye catching and like a beautiful, sad woman in the corner at a party no one was talking to, I just had to rescue her. Completely my fault.
My three electrics span a range of quality from entry level to north of $1000 (though the ones I purchased were pre-loved), and colors (black, orange, black cherry), and configuration with different necks and pickup types.
Im wishing my acoustic wasnāt a dreadnought, but it is. So do I want a small body acoustic that fits my frame? Yes. Donāt have one yet but I bet I get one in the future.
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You are assuming some level of self controlā¦
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Well, no really right answer to the question - how many I- itās personal.
Minimum is probably 4 ?
Strat typs - SSS or HSS - best overall Fender Ultra with compound radius ? locking tuners , HSS can split H if needed
Gibson Les Paul Modern - H-H - phase splitting , compound radius, Locking tuners, light weight , Improved neck an easier access to the last frets
Acoustics:
If you are not often on a stage - not to bid a body, with microphone , good neck , stable tuning
My choice 
Taylor Builders editon
324 ce 6 string
652 ce 12 string, stringed like a Rickenbacker
Well, I love them all but sometimes I would wish for an old style Tele with 7,25 " neck radius just of playing chords. Thats how it started. PSR do also make fantastic guitar but ā¦
In terms of sound, I think the pickup configuration makes a pretty substantial difference. I have 2 electrics, one has 3x single coils and the other has 2x humbuckers, and they sound quite distinct from each other.
Then thereās neck shape, which can make a guitar more or less comfortable for a particular playing style.
I could see myself having 4 or 5 guitars some day, but I doubt I would go beyond that.
For electric guitars its about the only thing.
This guy would agree, and he makes a pretty compelling case for it 
That is EXACTLY what I said about 5 years agoā¦ then during the Covid lockdown, new guitars were a means of battling depression. Now, I have lots of choices for which one to play but am a bit limited in discretionary income if another six-string lady catches my fancy!!! 
Hereās my take, which may go against the general consensus here.
I know many people like to collect stuff, have beautiful objects around, etc. Thatās cool, itās not necessary of course, but if it gives you pleasure, I get it.
However, I wanted to respond to the pots-and-pans argument made above (you wouldnāt have just 1 pot in your kitchen). Yes, different guitars can give you different sounds (nobody disputes that) and having a few guitars can be thought of as having different tools in your tool box. To me, this might be true for quite advanced players, but not relevant for less accomplished players. Hereās what I mean:
I can play (at some level) the solo from Let It Be. I use the gear I have (Epi 335, practice modelling amp) and the my tone is very far from the tone on the Beatlesā recording. Now, I could (probably) get closer to the recording by getting the right gear, but I could also get closer to the recording by playing the solo better. I would say that the difference of my version from the original comes 95% from my playing worse than George and 5% from not having the right guitar (Iām probably being generous to my playing here). So, I never think: what can I buy to help me get closer to Georgeās tone? Rather, I think: jeez, I need to tighten this up, itās a bit choppy in places (or whatever).
When my playing reaches 95% of Georgeās, I will look into getting the ārightā guitar.
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For a long time, I only had one electric guitar and didnāt really consider that I wanted, or could justify, another.
I also had a cheap acoustic which, originally, belonged to my wife, who bought it and then gave up trying to learn after one lesson because it made her fingers sore.
I ended up with one more electric guitar because my Brother-in-law emigrated and left it with me, and I ended up with another due to wanting something cheap to use whilst on an extended stay abroad. I also got an electro-acoustic on another trip.
Since then I have ended up with two more electrics to use whilst living abroad (one is a travel guitar) and I got another electric as part of a job lot of gear I bought off a friend.
Iāve bought and sold a couple along the way and, bought a cheap mini acoustic to use when camping.
I donāt actually need all of these guitars (currently 5 electric, 2 acoustic, and 1 bass) but whilst they werenāt taking up significant space, I saw no reason to get rid of any. And I did play, and enjoy playing, them all at one time or another.
But I plan to downsize when I come back to the UK. And itās going to be a little hard because I do have an emotional attachment to most of them.
Cheers,
Keith
Yes, that is exactly where I am at as well. I donāt see the point of having 5 different guitars so that I can play each one badly. Iāll consider getting more guitars once I feel like I have some level of control over my technique.
However, I did upgrade this year from a Butterscotch Squier Tele to a Butterscotch G&L ASAT Classic (also Tele model). This was more because I felt like I just couldnāt get attached to the Squier (and I have now sold it).
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Alan, your going to love that ASAT Classic
The reasons for acquiring multiple guitars are many.
Here is a haiku that describes my interaction with my 11 (5 acoustic, 6 electric).
Rotation:
Stable of many
Tugging at my heart always
Love changes each day
I do! I feel very privileged to have found it.