New Rig, Great Bass, or Less Dept?!

basskababble · #1 07-15-2010, 10:08 AM

I have an offer on my Fender American Deluxe Precision bass. If I take it, I'll still have a great gigging bass (a no name warmoth that's getting a ton more playing time than the FADP "studio" bass that I'm too afraid to scratch).

I'll use the money for

A: Replacing my vintage Ampeg V4B that I've been complaining about for its low headroom in live situations.

B: Working towards getting rid of 13K in credit card dept, some of which I can easily attribute to this very website...

So in the end I'll have

1. A Fender American Deluxe Precision that's been discontinued and I'll never come across again, an Ampeg V4B that I can use to record but will allways complain about as a live rig, and 13K in dept...

2. A new rig that's loud enough and gives me confidence in my sound when we play out, and 13k in dept...

3. No Fender, Same distorted when live rig, and 12K in credit dept...

WHAT DO I DO???

mizzou541 · #2 07-15-2010, 10:10 AM

Keep the Fender, buy a new rig, apply for another credit card

Floridabwoy · #3 07-15-2010, 10:11 AM

keep the V4B.... maybe more speakers? Did you get rid of your VM yet? I will be in FTL in two weeks.

PSPookie · #4 07-15-2010, 10:20 AM

First, it's "debt" and you should probably work on that first.

Maybe you could take half of the proceeds from you FADP and use that for more/bigger cabs for the V4B and put the other half toward paying down that CC.

basskababble · #5 07-15-2010, 10:33 AM

Work on the spelling or the dep/bt?

I've used the V4B with this 118,112,208 cab that ampeg makes... it was loud, but still distorted at high volume. Truly adding a cab isn't really an option.

I did sell the VMTB. Sorry.

I've seen a few rigs that could work, without getting rid of the V4B...

both this:
http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/msg/1821824933.html
and this:
http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/msg/1783463379.html

making an offer on this:
http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/msg/1829332830.html

this an a 410 to acompany my ampeg 115...
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/msg/1825221762.html

this as a whole rig:
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/msg/1838511807.html

If I did sell the V4B I could probably throw about $500 towards the CC's after everything's said and done...

I still have no clue what to do. We're playing out at least once a month... and the bass I thought I'd keep forever is just sitting behind a futon waiting for someone to break into my house and steal it... and my CC's are maxed out. What the fart.

bassplayer7770 · #6 07-15-2010, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPookie

First, it's "debt" and you should probably work on that first.

Maybe you could take half of the proceeds from you FADP and use that for more/bigger cabs for the V4B and put the other half toward paying down that CC.

I agree, but does the OP have another bass?

msquared · #7 07-15-2010, 10:36 AM

Get rid of the debt first.

bassplayer7770 · #8 07-15-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basskababble

and my CC's are maxed out. What the fart.

Work on paying off the debt somehow. Do you budget? Are you making any money gigging?

basskababble · #9 07-15-2010, 11:11 AM

i do have another bass, a great one that's just not a name brand, which I couldn't care less about.

I don't budget very well. I do have a full-time job, and at $250/ month will be out of amex slavery in three years. My strategy is to pay rent, utilities, use debit on purchases, and throw whatever I can towards the cards at the end of the month. That's living check to check though, which is scary. I'd almost rather just put the $950 in a savings account and not touch it so there's some backup...

I'm leaning towards the new rig. The Fender is my third bass, including a great warmoth, and a great beater. I can't justify keeping a bass that I'm too afraid to touch, and if I kept it as a studio bass, my warmoth would do the job with no problem.

msquared · #10 07-15-2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basskababble

I'd almost rather just put the $950 in a savings account and not touch it so there's some backup...

Also a good idea (if you have the discipline to keep it there).

I wouldn't buy a new rig unless you were able to pay for it within a couple months using nothing but gig money.

billhilly66 · #11 07-15-2010, 03:08 PM

Put it on your cc debt. 12k is outrageous.

Thunderthumbs73 · #12 07-15-2010, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basskababble

I have an offer on my Fender American Deluxe Precision bass. If I take it, I'll still have a great gigging bass (a no name warmoth that's getting a ton more playing time than the FADP "studio" bass that I'm too afraid to scratch).

I'll use the money for

A: Replacing my vintage Ampeg V4B that I've been complaining about for its low headroom in live situations.

B: Working towards getting rid of 13K in credit card dept, some of which I can easily attribute to this very website...

So in the end I'll have

1. A Fender American Deluxe Precision that's been discontinued and I'll never come across again, an Ampeg V4B that I can use to record but will allways complain about as a live rig, and 13K in dept...

2. A new rig that's loud enough and gives me confidence in my sound when we play out, and 13k in dept...

3. No Fender, Same distorted when live rig, and 12K in credit dept...

WHAT DO I DO???

If you can seriously and realistically use your musical situations to help you demonstrably and methodically pay down your debt, then invest in yourself and your musicality to do just that. I suspect if you are like many of us, music may pay somewhat but it's sporadic and pays well, or is continuous, and doesn't pay much.

Baring that, pay down your debt.

And now if I could just take the advice I just gave.

will33 · #13 07-15-2010, 07:17 PM

I'd say get a little less "department".

blendermassacre · #14 07-15-2010, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billhilly66

Put it on your cc debt. 12k is outrageous.

What country to you live in? How many commercials have you seen to help people with over $20k in CC debt? $12k is high, but in the grand scheme of $500k houses and $40k car loans, it's not that bad

Lay off people...

that being said, I'd pay off debt.

rnilson · #15 07-15-2010, 07:23 PM

I love gear, but pay off the credit card dude.....

basskababble · #16 07-16-2010, 06:58 AM

I only have two cards, they're high credit limits because I paid my balance in full every month until I moved out of the parents' garage. The dept comes from having no budget for bar outings, restaurants, supplies for the home, and musical equipment... That's changed. I'm eating more at home, watching what I spend on entertainment, and trying not to buy T-shirts from teefury anymore.

They're both around 20%. I don't think the preiodic rate is monthly, although they're both racking up about $80 each in interest monthly.

The commercials are out there, and i guess after finance reform they'll help you out with over 10K in dept. The thing is, that program makes you actually stop paying your cards entirely for 2-3 years, then negotiates with the credit card companies to pay less. They take their cut of course, and you just destroyed your credit, said eff you to the card companies, and paid someone to "save" you money.

I TOTALLY get the need to pay off the dept. Paying gigs aren't an option for a punk band that's playing originals (we tried the coverband thing... the cash was spent on the bar tab, and the rest went to band supplies like the banner and stickers).

The thing is... and i'll make one last argument... the difference between 12K and 13K isn't that big. It's about $10 a month in interest fees, and maybe 3-4 less months in debt a few years from now.

Upgrading from the V4B and an ampeg 115 to an SVT and and ampeg 810 however, still leaves me hopefully somewhere in the range of $300-$500 to throw at the credit cards. I keep the new rig under $1000 and sell the V4B and Cab, or keep the cab and buy a 410.

JimmyM · #17 07-16-2010, 11:35 AM

sell the cab, buy a used 810, and i think you will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of headroom you'll suddenly get with the v4b.

jonathanhughes · #18 07-16-2010, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basskababble

I don't budget very well. I do have a full-time job, and at $250/ month will be out of amex slavery in three years.

Unless I'm missing something, your math is off. $250 per month for 36 months is only $9000, and of course, the interest on your $12k in debt (or "dept" if you prefer) will keep adding up over time. Accoring to this calculator, at $250 per month, paying off $12k in debt on a credit card that has a 20% APR will take 97 months. Yikes. I say work on paying off the debt.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

Smurf-o-Deth · #19 07-16-2010, 12:58 PM

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blendermassacre · #20 07-16-2010, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanhughes

Unless I'm missing something, your math is off. $250 per month for 36 months is only $9000, and of course, the interest on your $12k in debt (or "dept" if you prefer) will keep adding up over time. Accoring to this calculator, at $250 per month, paying off $12k in debt on a credit card that has a 20% APR will take 97 months. Yikes. I say work on paying off the debt.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

he said he has two cards, so I'm not sure if he meant just paying off one amex or not...