I'm of the same mindset, if its not bringing me happiness. Let someone else enjoy them Be it basses, pedals, women.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Anyone ever have a problem "thining the heard"?
- Thread starter jimmyb
- Start date
I'm of the same mindset, if its not bringing me happiness. Let someone else enjoy them Be it basses, pedals, women.
Tough situation. Sell the wrong one and you may regret it forever.
The good news is, it's only space. It's not like they are losing value just sitting there, so you can take your sweet time deciding.
When I know I need to sell something I don't want to sell, I put it in the backroom until I forget It even exist.
Then about once a year, I go in the back room and get surprised by all the stuff I have. If you asked me right now what's I'm that room, I wouldn't be able to tell you.
That's the easiest way to break that emotional connection for me.
By putting the item out of sight, the connection fades without the hurt of knowing its gone for good.
Makes letting go WAY easier. Just keep adding to the hidden stash until the number of basses you own is where you want it to be. Then sell them all at one time.
That is exactly how i went about it. I sold 12 and only kept 1.
The good news is, it's only space. It's not like they are losing value just sitting there, so you can take your sweet time deciding.
When I know I need to sell something I don't want to sell, I put it in the backroom until I forget It even exist.
Then about once a year, I go in the back room and get surprised by all the stuff I have. If you asked me right now what's I'm that room, I wouldn't be able to tell you.
That's the easiest way to break that emotional connection for me.
By putting the item out of sight, the connection fades without the hurt of knowing its gone for good.
Makes letting go WAY easier. Just keep adding to the hidden stash until the number of basses you own is where you want it to be. Then sell them all at one time.
That is exactly how i went about it. I sold 12 and only kept 1.
These peeps can help you ...buy more!
Bass Hoarding Personality Disorder (BHPD) - You are not alone.
It's interesting to me how psychology affects our accumulation.
Volunteering to help a hoarder move into a smaller space may just cure me of my materialism once & for all. (Except, we're related - and I inherited some of the affliction. So it may not be quite that simple.)
I don't want to be one of those people whose place looks like a motel room. But I also don't want to keep wading through piles of **** I never use.
I was trying to cap my herd at 10 but last spring, it bloated up to 12. No harm done - the MIJ Gretsch turned out to be a worthy addition and I had some fun, building up a Warmothcaster. But now it's time to thin out again; I got my own move coming up...
"Use It Or Lose It" has served me well over the years.
It's ironic how the space available for my bass guitar collection is capped by the fact that I make my living with them.
Volunteering to help a hoarder move into a smaller space may just cure me of my materialism once & for all. (Except, we're related - and I inherited some of the affliction. So it may not be quite that simple.)
I don't want to be one of those people whose place looks like a motel room. But I also don't want to keep wading through piles of **** I never use.
I was trying to cap my herd at 10 but last spring, it bloated up to 12. No harm done - the MIJ Gretsch turned out to be a worthy addition and I had some fun, building up a Warmothcaster. But now it's time to thin out again; I got my own move coming up...
"Use It Or Lose It" has served me well over the years.
It's ironic how the space available for my bass guitar collection is capped by the fact that I make my living with them.
I topped out at a little over a dozen basses and three electric guitars. I had retired and was looking into the future of eventually moving to a smaller residence and gigging much less often or not at all due to infirmity.
My criteria for selling over the last ten years was this:
1. I have not used it on gigs for a long time.
2. It could be replaced in the future if needed without taking a huge price hit.
#1 meant I sold my EUB and last two fretless basses which had all gone unused for at least a decade. I never gigged on guitar (I suck at it) so I only kept the least valuable one. I also sold all but one guitar amp and a couple of bass amps that were only backups. I sold more basses I hadn’t been using. One was the first P-bass I ever owned, an 80s Elite in exc condition with case and candy. There was sentimental value but it was heavy so third in line behind my vintage Ps when deciding what to bring to the gig, so I let it go.
#2 meant rare instruments…vintage Fenders, a Danelectro and a Steinberger...were keepers. My Walter Woods amp isn’t going anywhere either For now I’m holding on to an upright that I have seldom gigged, although it did get used on a recording session last year, the first time it went out of the house in over 20 years.
I’m down to six bass guitars (2 fives, 4 fours) and two uprights at this point, at least 50% reduction in the herd.
My criteria for selling over the last ten years was this:
1. I have not used it on gigs for a long time.
2. It could be replaced in the future if needed without taking a huge price hit.
#1 meant I sold my EUB and last two fretless basses which had all gone unused for at least a decade. I never gigged on guitar (I suck at it) so I only kept the least valuable one. I also sold all but one guitar amp and a couple of bass amps that were only backups. I sold more basses I hadn’t been using. One was the first P-bass I ever owned, an 80s Elite in exc condition with case and candy. There was sentimental value but it was heavy so third in line behind my vintage Ps when deciding what to bring to the gig, so I let it go.
#2 meant rare instruments…vintage Fenders, a Danelectro and a Steinberger...were keepers. My Walter Woods amp isn’t going anywhere either
For now I’m holding on to an upright that I have seldom gigged, although it did get used on a recording session last year, the first time it went out of the house in over 20 years.I’m down to six bass guitars (2 fives, 4 fours) and two uprights at this point, at least 50% reduction in the herd.
I don’t have that big a problem with the fees. You’re paying for wider exposure and convenience.
It’s no different than processing a credit or ATM card, which is basically what Paypal is doing. Or with Reverb or EBay, it’s a listing fee or commission. Which has been a norm for musical instrument sales since forever. Try buying a quality concert instrument if you want to see what a real commission and handling fees are.
Shipping charges are based on a number of factors besides distance and direct costs like fuel and the driver’s salary.
Commercial carriers aren’t really that interested in dealing with one-off retail shippers. You’re actually more of a nuisance to them than anything else. A single shipment of 500 packages to a single destination is good business for them. 500 separate shipments to 500 different addresses is a royal PITA.
I haven’t analyzed the economic factors related to shipping charges in quite awhile since I’m no longer involved in product fulfillment. However, what I think is now happening is that whatever retail level customers are currently being charged to ship something more accurately reflects the actual full costs associated with handling such packages. And with the boom in online sales, large volume shippers are looking for even better rates and bigger discounts. So whatever rate slack individual shippers were getting due to the revenues generated by volume shippers has become a thing of the past. The volume shippers are now demanding any savings they’re generating for the carrier be reflected in what they’re paying, rather than us. In a nutshell, the free ride is over.
Last edited:
Take pictures of the ones you want to thin out and whatever you paid for them was the "cost of admission." The memories are yours to keep. After you sell 1 or 2, it becomes a lot easier to sell the others off. Going to a pawn shop or GC you're going to give your gear away. I've used online resources to sell my stuff.
I had gotten up to 8 basses and am now down to 4. I chose the ones I would let get go and listed them on the internet. No regrets and I"ve gotten what I wanted for them. I know that I will thin out the herd even further somewhere down the line and I'll be ok with it.
I had gotten up to 8 basses and am now down to 4. I chose the ones I would let get go and listed them on the internet. No regrets and I"ve gotten what I wanted for them. I know that I will thin out the herd even further somewhere down the line and I'll be ok with it.
I agree. I tried to sell one of them before, and the complete lack of response was telling me I wasn’t going to net its worth. The other one is similar inasmuch as I may have paid too much for it to begin with. But yeah, maybe I will try again…..
40 basses crosses the threshold of "too many" and becomes a wonderful collection with potential museum ascetics. Instead of thinning the heard. Consider maybe finding a local school you can lend some to, or a local music camp for the summer. Plenty of things to do with unused instruments that frees up space.
Today my guitar and bass collection stands at 27 (22 are basses). There are a number of instruments that I never play. That said, I have a small climate controlled 5x5 storage unit (it's amazing how much you can fit in one of these) and I keep most all of them insured. They aren't in my way. I am slowly thinning the heard - I sold a Danelectro U1 just this past week. Even so, I probably have about 12 basses that I will have an impossible time letting go of.
I unloaded a bunch of stuff last summer. The way I nationalized it was - the more old stuff I get rid off the more new stuff I can get. Nature seems to hate a vacuum
So Anyway, the OP needs to lose the emotional attachment. Not an easy thing to do.
I've never had 40 instruments, but I did go through a couple of collecting stages. I was gigging a lot, and also had two rehearsal spots that needed an instrument and an amp. And if you're declaring music income, then you'll also need some deductions.
When I finally started selling some of my inventory, I found it liberating. I was also able to focus on playing rather than always contemplating what instrument and amp combination worked best. I also believe that my gear needs to earn its keep. If I'm not able to gig with it, then I should let it go to someone else.
Good Luck with your journey.
I've never had 40 instruments, but I did go through a couple of collecting stages. I was gigging a lot, and also had two rehearsal spots that needed an instrument and an amp. And if you're declaring music income, then you'll also need some deductions.
When I finally started selling some of my inventory, I found it liberating. I was also able to focus on playing rather than always contemplating what instrument and amp combination worked best. I also believe that my gear needs to earn its keep. If I'm not able to gig with it, then I should let it go to someone else.
Good Luck with your journey.
I dont know your selling history but it sounds like you don't have a ton of experience selling nicer stuff.
Patience is key if you want the items actual value. The more expensive an item, the more patience is required. Put one up for sale at the value you want and wait. I can promise you, if you sell it cheap, eventually someone will come along after the sale and offer you your full selling price. This has happened to me more than I care to admit. But I learned my lesson. Now I just list things and wait it out. People need time to come up with money and with instruments you need the right buyer. They are out there. They just may not be ready in your time frame.
I STILL get offers on items I sold years ago. I've sold stuff for half irs value only to turn around and get an offer for full asking prices days later. Don't be me.
I have 24 and I don’t need probably 20 of them. Still can’t bring myself to let them go. On the plus side, I really don’t have any room for GAS.
I have nine trumpets or so. Only play one of them regularly, and three others that are "niche" horns that I enjoy playing but only in very specific settings (which rarely crop up). The rest need to go. If I only owned the daily player (Bach strad), I'd NEVER miss the other three (Martin Committee, Burbank Benge, and a '59 Olds Ambassador)... but can't bring myself to get rid of them.
Basses? Almost the same deal, but only five of them. Yesterday, i did the same thing the OP did.. played them all to decide which one to sell, since I really only play one most of the time, and almost never play three of them. Guess what? Nope.... I "need" them all right now. Sigh.
Basses? Almost the same deal, but only five of them. Yesterday, i did the same thing the OP did.. played them all to decide which one to sell, since I really only play one most of the time, and almost never play three of them. Guess what? Nope.... I "need" them all right now. Sigh.
Notice these kind of threads on tb gain lots of pages fast? That’s a tell.
Thin the "heard" is hilarious. Its "herd".
And it’s always about basses. Never about shoes. My wife has soooooo many shoes….
