Trouble letting go...please help!!!

sirdugh · #1 04-13-2010, 11:23 PM

I am very fortunate to be (relatively) GAS free for the first time since stumbling across TB some years back. However, I recently went into debt to purchase some pro audio gear. I oversee the audio of a local film fest and kept telling them for what we were paying in rent, we could purchase the equipment. They finally said "Why don't you do it?" So......I did. It will pay off in the near future but for now, I'm left with almost $5000 in credit card debt. I hate credit card debt.

To alleviate this problem, I could sell some of the bass gear that I don't use. Since acquiring my mesa WA with an extension cab, I can't bear to lug around a heavy amp/cab. I have a couple of ampeg tube heads (svtIInp and V4BH) and several cabs (a couple of svt15s and a berg nv610) that just sit. I do so love both amps, though. In addition, I have a '64 fender bassman with the matching cab and quite a few basses that I rarely touch.

A guitar player friend offered to buy the bassman from me the other night and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm afraid that if I actually sell any of this stuff, I'll regret it. I worry that I'll either buy similar stuff back once I'm out of debt and spend more doing so or not be able to buy it back and wish I had it later to pass on to my kids (they are only 4 and 7 but I can dream).

So what would you do, suck it up and learn to live with a bit of debt until it is paid off or sell the gear and risk potentially fatal GAS pains? Help a brother out.

SurferJoe46 · #2 04-13-2010, 11:28 PM

I'm dumping all my 6-string stuff - guitars (4) and a few half and full stacks of 412s.

It's kinda sad to sell my friends. I know what you mean.

BUT bass has re-bitten me for good I think.

johnk_10 · #3 04-13-2010, 11:28 PM

i almost always regret selling gear that i like, and if i do sell it, i often end up buying it again to replace it. so my advice it would be to keep it as long as you possibly can. to me, money is only money, and cool vintage gear is priceless.

Crazyeelboy · #4 04-13-2010, 11:47 PM

If you bought the equipment so that the film festival can save money, shouldn't the film festival pay you for it?

phatbass · #5 04-14-2010, 12:25 AM

I'd put up with the debt (provided I could make the payments). That's some cool gear you'll regret selling...

sirdugh · #6 04-14-2010, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

i almost always regret selling gear that i like, and if i do sell it, i often end up buying it again to replace it. so my advice it would be to keep it as long as you possibly can. to me, money is only money, and cool vintage gear is priceless.

This is exactly how I feel. The gear is worth more to me than the cash I could make from selling it. However, I do still feel rather ridiculous having stuff that I don't use.

I'm sure this answer is why I asked the question on TB rather than asking my brother who is a very sensible CFO.

sirdugh · #7 04-14-2010, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazyeelboy

If you bought the equipment so that the film festival can save money, shouldn't the film festival pay you for it?

They paid me quite well. The debt is what it left over. FWIW, I knew that I was going to have to carry some debt. I just wasn't prepared for the mental stress. I went through a debt crisis in my younger years and decided not to go down that path again. Even though this debt has a purpose, it still wears on me.

BassmanPaul · #8 04-14-2010, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirdugh

I'm left with almost $5000 in credit card debt. I hate credit card debt.

First thing you do is get to a bank and get a loan to pay off the credit cards. Paying that sort of interest rate is a fool's game. Credit cards are the most expensive way to borrow money on the planet!!!

Paul

BassmanPaul · #9 04-14-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirdugh

I just wasn't prepared for the mental stress. I went through a debt crisis in my younger years and decided not to go down that path again. Even though this debt has a purpose, it still wears on me.

Damn right! You should have learned the first time. I'm not trying to be offensive here, I've been where you are and it sucks big time. I really really hate credit cards! I use mine freely but always make sure I can pay the full amount every month. Your situation makes my head ache - too much stress.

Good luck...
Paul

babebambi · #10 04-14-2010, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

First thing you do is get to a bank and get a loan to pay off the credit cards. Paying that sort of interest rate is a fool's game. Credit cards are the most expensive way to borrow money on the planet!!!

Paul

That, and start a rental business

Seriously, I often find myself in the same situation, albeit in a much smaller scale. Whenever I went through a sale which I had doubt about, I developed seller remorse 100% of the time.

Groover · #11 04-14-2010, 03:23 PM

If you absolutely have to, sell the stuff that is currently still in production like the SVT stuff and/or even the Berg. Keep the older stuff if you really love it, or at least... save it for last.

Good luck and I see the delemma. I have stuff I know I won't use too, like bass necks, bodies, pups, extra cabs, etc, but I just can't part with them 'cause I always have a plan in my mind for them. Maybe some day...

Spinal Tapper · #12 04-14-2010, 03:49 PM

I'd keep the vintage or rare stuff. Sell off the stuff that's easier to find...

sirdugh · #13 04-14-2010, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babebambi

That, and start a rental business

I'm seriously considering that. Some of the folks from the fest have been talking about starting a production company.

There is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel as I talked my wife into selling our second car. I received a company car a while back and the car has been sitting out front ever since. It isn't worth a ton but I should be able to get $3000 - $3500 out of it.

sirdugh · #14 04-14-2010, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Damn right! You should have learned the first time. I'm not trying to be offensive here, I've been where you are and it sucks big time. I really really hate credit cards! I use mine freely but always make sure I can pay the full amount every month. Your situation makes my head ache - too much stress.

Good luck...
Paul

Not offensive in the least. In hopes of making myself look a bit less like an idiot, I did have it pretty well figured out prior to the fest. A few bills surprised me just before the fest and then just following the fest, my wife had to have her 40th birthday along with our 10 year anniversary. Like the sap that I am, I bought her a diamond ring. The timing could have been better but she deserves it.

babebambi · #15 04-14-2010, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirdugh

... my wife had to have her birthday along with our 10 year anniversary. Like the sap that I am, I bought her a diamond ring. The timing could have been better but she deserves it.

ha, now everything cancels out that you gave her age away ...

craig.p · #16 04-14-2010, 07:14 PM

I agree with Paul but I'll go him one better and say you should sell whatever it takes to wipe out the $5K debt entirely. It's one thing to be a collector and to appreciate nice things, but if the collection is causing you mental and financial pain then we're getting into something called GPS (gear possessiveness syndrome) which is just a five-dollar psychiatric term for idol worship, and idol worship is not a good thing. Run the numbers on a spreadsheet and see what keeping all that stuff is REALLY gonna cost you in interest.

Crazyeelboy · #17 04-15-2010, 01:28 AM

Sirduh:

The situation isn't as complicated as it may seem. You made a business decision on behalf of the film festival, so look at the debt like a business debt.

Map out how much you owe and then work out a realistic time frame in which you will be able to pay it back.

Then, calculate the approximate income you might receive directly from this investment and the interest you will pay over the time frame of the plan and then you'll know the cost of this debt and you'll have a plan to deal with it.

If you are not comfortable with the cost of the debt or the plan, then start looking at other options like selling stuff.

DiabolicLow B · #18 04-15-2010, 10:50 AM

Keep what you use and sell the rest.

In the last two years I have sold 8 bass guitars , including a couple of Lakands and a few Fenders I have had for years as well as 4 bass amps including a 72' Fender Bassman 50, along with assorted PA stuff and some pedals.

Part of me hated to see the stuff go and I didn't even need the money but I hadn't used it in a few years so it was nice to get some cash which of course allowed me to purchase some nice new equipment including my first Dingwall (wow, what a bass!)

Once you let it go it can be quite liberating.

Billnc · #19 04-15-2010, 10:58 AM

I've bought sold, traded etc, never regretted any, the point is the gear is always out there to buy again, if you want another SVT badly sell an asset and get another SVT. I've never gone back to what I've sold anyway. Gear is simply a commodity, unless you've landed that really rare instrument that just really sings, like the bass of doom, pearly gates or the black strat.

kittyboy · #20 04-15-2010, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiabolicLow B

Keep what you use and sell the rest.

In the last two years I have sold 8 bass guitars , including a couple of Lakands and a few Fenders I have had for years as well as 4 bass amps including a 72' Fender Bassman 50, along with assorted PA stuff and some pedals.

Part of me hated to see the stuff go and I didn't even need the money but I hadn't used it in a few years so it was nice to get some cash which of course allowed me to purchase some nice new equipment including my first Dingwall (wow, what a bass!)

Once you let it go it can be quite liberating.

+1,000,000

Keeping stuff (of any kind) that you don't use is silly if you have debt, and only weighs you down and clutters up your space.

It's only stuff. Yeah, I know it's super-cool stuff, but it's still just stuff.

The music is what matters, and that can't be sold, lost, or stolen. Keep what you need to make music, and pay down your debt so you can have more freedom--freedom to play music!