Coming to terms with gear vs reality

[Ekulati]

If you're not sure you'll be gigging in the next five years, let alone ten, you need to get what you can now for that great gear BEFORE it becomes old and out of date. Then when you gig again, you get new rig, up to date for its time.

Edit: remember, musical equipment is a (rapidly) depreciating asset.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Good day all;

This is as much a journal entry to remind myself of where I have been and where I am going. It took several hours to reflect on and write. If you care to read through it all know that I appreciate it. TLDR is at the bottom. The events that follow happen to correspond roughly with my time since joining this site although I do not directly blame this site for anything. It's fun to joke about GAS, but seriously...
I'm sure this story could apply to the 'Basses' section as well. Perhaps a cautionary tale of just how successful company marketing departments can be? Know that I accept responsibility for my actions.

I guess I'm looking to get something off my chest. In November my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. He was 5 weeks early but she and him are both doing OK now. We're in our mid 30's and have full time jobs, etc. There were complications in the pregnancy which (to make a long story short) means this was an expen$ive experience for us. This whole situation has caused me to do some soul searching when it comes to gear.

Rewind 10 years ago and I was getting ready to graduate from college and was gigging with some buddy's in a cover band about once a week. In terms of amps I had a Mesa MPulse 600 running thru a Mesa PH410. It was gloriously powerful and, to be honest, probably way overkill for any gig I ever did. I was responsible with it and didn't pi$$ off any neighbors or sound guys. The gear was bulletproof and the experience of being out gigging was something I'll never forget. Perhaps this is what leads to the next section.

Just as we started to get a small following and a steady flow of gigs my guitar player (an old friend from High School) got a promotion at work and I graduated as an elementary teacher soon to find work of my own. Nether of us could commit to the band any longer and the group dissolved. Being a new teacher with very little free time I decided to sell off my rig and pick up a small Behringer Thunderbird amp for practice. Over time I would still get together with my guitar buddy and former band mate at his apartment for an impromptu jam. Soon I traded in the Behringer for a USA Ampeg 1x12 combo (which he still has at his place to this day). Eventually we both get busier with work and he ends up moving into an 11th floor high rise down-town. No more jamming. Eventually I get better work-life balance and start GASing for an actual practice amp with good tone (I had been DI'ing straight into a Focusrite interface for headphone practice). So I go to GC and find one of the last Mesa Walkabouts on Clearance and end up buying it at a great price. That amp was inspiring! Enough so, in fact, that I started looking for another group to play out with. There's a wedding and the purchase of a house sometime in this period of time but I never end up joining another band.

Putting the cart ahead of the horse I end up selling that Walkabout for my 'dream Rig'; the one to end all GAS: an SVT-CL Heritage head and brand new Heritage 810 from Sweetwater because, hey - I have a house/garage now and figure I'll be finding another band playing out again soon -right?

Wrong. I change careers from teaching to data analysis. Budget cuts at work lead to lateral movement within the company to avoid unemployment. I end up working Help Desk as a contractor (under-employed?). Need to manage my income better. I stop my search for a band to join and realize - "HEY! This stuff is heavy! I can't manage this much gear without additional help" -meaning that if I started looking for a band again I would absolutely need help moving gear in order to play out. Suddenly my confidence wains in my ability to ask/trust complete strangers for muscle with this kind of gear. In my mind: the gear became a hurdle to rejoining a band! Plus, Am I even good enough to deserve this level of equipment? Thanks to TB I end up selling the whole rig (read: rent an F150, ask friends/wife for help moving it, transport and deliver to shipping office or buyer, take a bath). I tell myself + wife never again will I be in that type of position with gear.

Still wanting to join a group and play out, I take to researching lighter weight, gig-worthy gear. I remember my experience with Mesa and find Mesa's WD800 along with 2 Mesa Traditional PH 2x10 cabs for a modular 410 rig. Sweetwater sells me these two cabs for a deal just as Mesa completely switches over to the Subway series of cabs. Great! I can split the rig up between a potential band/practice spot and home and combine it together when playing out as necessary. I can lift this gear with relative ease on my own! Now, let's see about a band..

Suddenly, we're pregnant! Same job as mentioned above. Same house. Same friend "let's jam again soon!", still no band. Things come to pass as mentioned in the beginning which is where I currently find myself and, to be clear: family comes first.

It's been 10 years now since I've played out or even, for that matter, really jammed with anyone. I have a 3 month old baby boy. Medical debt sucks. I have relatively light 2x210 killer Mesa Rig w/ Mesa WD800. I don't know guys, I just don't see playing out as an attainable goal anymore? Not even thinking about those threads where people are talking about "is it worth it to gig" and so on. I mean, for my personal situation, man, it has literally been a hotdog dangling on a stick. Maybe someday again in the next 10 years once my son is a little older? But, that line of thinking sounds vaguely familiar...

So, this is my reality. I appreciate and respect the gear I have/had but I don't think I can justify this much firepower for just home practice anymore -especially with a wife, kid, and bills. The WD800 has great tone and a headphone jack and can DI to record with but so can many other options for several hundy cheaper and with cash back in my pocket - I'm having a hard time justifying it to myself. As for the cabs - forget it I guess and let them go? Way too much. Again, cash is king. Could just sock them in a corner and say the same "some day" thing over and over again or use them with the WD800 and barely touch the volume. Seems a waste of power and money though to do that - I don't even care about having that much overhead Gain, especially at home.

I recently saw someone comment on a thread that really made me reflect on things. It read something like this: " It is amazing what you can afford when you stop being a professional."
_______________________________________________________________________

TLDR; kids/life can be a lot of work. I am an average dude who happens to have professional/studio grade gig-ready equipment right now but haven't played out in 10 years and don't see being able to again for minimum another 2-3 if ever?. I'm lucky to practice/play in my home office once a week; probably too much cash tied up in gear. If I record it is for home practice/self betterment only. Leaning towards selling off likely never to rebuy this much unless a situation actually presents itself where this type of gear would be justified. Famous last words?

Anyone ever been through this? Am I nuts to part with this gear? I would like to keep playing. See poll for options I am considering and if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

So at the moment I have you pegged at 40ish. Tough decision for sure. My best advice is to take care of your family, and cherish every moment you can get with your children. They will be gone before you know it.

As for the gear, I don’t see the need for top professional gear if you have other financial obligations. If you were making money with it (to pay off debt) I’d feel different.

In my case, gigs I did when children were home, were done with borrowed or rented gear and paid decent money. About 7 years after my youngest son left the nest, I started buying gently used top quality gear at thousands off retail and after 5 years, I had a collection of gear that retailed for well over $13,000 for about $3,000. It’s little older, but still very much presentable, and the feedback I get my musical colleagues and sound engineers is alway on the lines of “Man, does your gear sound great!”.

One last thing, playing at age 67 is still as much of a blast as it was in my 20s. Like I said enjoy your kids and keep in mind, your # 1 job as a parent is to make sure they have everything they need to be independent as an adult. It’s a challenge to do that when you are not around.

 

[Madhouse27]

I wouldn’t have any problem selling the whole rig. It’s nothing you can’t identically replace at some point down the road. Get one of those little Vox headphone amp things for $45 and occasionally lock yourself in the bathroom and play your bass. In a few years we’ll all be giving input on your new rig.

 

[red_rhino]

The events that follow happen to correspond roughly with my time since joining this site although I do not directly blame this site for anything.

Oh, I absolutely blame this site for many bouts of GAS inflicted madness. But from that, I've learned what I've always known: It's easy to be carried away on the shoulders of other people's enthusiasm. Having figured that out, I've found it easy to tame my gear cravings, or at least, put them into better perspective.

That said, I've been where you are. Starting a family, changing careers, juggling work/life, going to school, taking a break from playing in bands, etc. In fact, I think it's safe to say that almost everyone here has had to question their priorities and refocus their energies in order for their lives to make sense. You are no different in that regard, but that doesn't mean it's easy. In fact, give yourself a pat on the back for being introspective and taking the time to figure it out.

Gear-wise, sell it, downsize to a nice combo so that you can play when you want and maybe jam with a buddy. If life lets up enough to let you venture out into playing in a band again (and it will), buy new gear. All this technology improves over time anyway.

 

[Samatza]

Any time you sell you're losing money and then later if a gig comes along you'll go out and buy the same gear you had. Keep the gear, look after the job and the family and before you know it the kids will be older and you'll find some time to get out and gig.

 

[IamGroot]

Im old, the kids are grown and gone and I have gear and chops.

And all the gig calls are for someone under 35.

 

[Yogi Bear]

First off, congratulations, and glad to hear your son and wife are doing well.

I can relate to a degree. I have two kids, one is two and the other will be 1 in a month. My daughter was in physical therapy for her neck from about 3 to 9 months, - which was pricey! I also have a WD-800 head and a MAS 18 cab. I think about selling my gear and switch back and forth on deciding what to do almost every week. I struggle with the fact that my gear is paid for - and, while I know I can get close to what I paid for the Mesa, in the long run how will that truly effect my debt. After all is said and done, will I truly be happy with a less expensive amp? After buying something "less expensive" how much will I have left, and will it really make a difference. Plus will it sound as good, even through headphones only. Will you eventually be on the hunt for something better again? My gigging days are done for the foreseeable future, unless you count the late night jams I have with Yes or Genesis through headphones after the kids and wife have gone to bed.

I will echo what everyone else has said, and that is that family ALWAYS comes first and only you really know your situation. Absolutely do what's best for your family, but dont be too hasty if the decision you make is only a bandaid and not a true solution.

A side note. I know you can get the most money for the WD - however, if you sell the head you'll need something to play through. If you sell the cabs you at least have something you can still play through using headphones, since the head can operate without being connected to a cabinet. Granted you won't get as much for the cabs, it's still a thought.

 

[Skillet]

I'd keep the cabs and sell the head. Those cabs will sound great through a sub $300 class D head (TC) or whatever you can find used. Heads are easy to come by (they can be shipped). Cabinets not so much, depending on your location.

 

[benthughes]

Same boat here. I used to have a stable of basses and an amp/cab selection for gigging. I met my wife who had kids when I met her then we had our own last December. Time is a premium and , now, my priority is making time for the gym as opposed to playing. I just don’t have time to jam a lot much play regular gigs and I don’t regret it.

Anyway I’m down to maybe 5 basses that make me happy and that I don’t have a lot of money in to. For amps and pedals, like many people have said, it’s harder to replace gear down the line if you sold it now as , with kids, priorities shift. I bought my Mesa M9 new and I could never justify paying what I paid for it now. If I sell it I’d get maybe half of what I paid. If we needed the money it’d be an option but we’re sitting pretty well. It’s sitting on a Mesa Diesel 4x10 and the combo is overkill for practicing at home so it lives in the basement. I have a Mesa Big Block 750 sitting on a SWR Go-Lite 2x10 upstairs and that’s what I play when the urge hits and is honestly as much as I’ve ever needed for any gig I’ve played.

Congrats, by the way. Being a dad is awesome.

 

[juancaminos]

When my fourth child was born I stopped playing out and decided it was time to help the wife. She never complained and always supported my heavy work schedule along with weekly gigs. But I just felt it was time. This was 1984 to 1990 or so. Then I put together a music room to play and record in. By 1996 I joined a band and man it was hard getting back into the grind. The BL was a gig monster. In 2001 me and another guy from that band started our own band and played pretty solid until about 5 years ago when we went on hiatus due to burn out. Then came two to four gigs a year. Now we are in the process of reviving the band but its been so slow going, we are amazed at how we found the time before. During our hey day I was in a very demanding job at a large company, going to night school full time, working on a new house, raising kids, etc. Now we are barely able to get everyone together two Sunday a month.

 

[byacey]

I had my bass and rig years before I met my wife. When we got married I kept playing weekends, recording, or live sound mixing, and that paid for our groceries. It was a juggling act sometimes when we had kids, but somehow everything still worked out. I considered that my leisure time, and the extra money was a bonus.

Now, had I had sold my bass rig, it would have been a much more expensive proposition every time a playing job came along, as I would have to buy, beg, borrow or rent equipment for the event. My rig was paid for years ago, so it just made sense to keep it; in fact, it was paid off after about 3 gigs.

Recently I was yearning for a change, so I bought a more recent, used head and built a 212 cabinet. Total cost was about $400, so the cash outlay didn't hurt too much, plus I still have the old rig to fall back on, if necessary.

As long as you're generating a profit playing, the gear investment makes sense.

 

[richntiff]

I’ll chime in! Sell it! Minimize your loss on gear that is very good, but will be worth substantially less in short order. Build yourself a rig based on silent practice. Jam out, let the family sleep. Seriously - in this day and age you can have a killer live rig delivered to your home in what - like 3-5 days? Bonus - more room in the house!

 

[eddododo]

Good day all;

This is as much a journal entry to remind myself of where I have been and where I am going. It took several hours to reflect on and write. If you care to read through it all know that I appreciate it. TLDR is at the bottom. The events that follow happen to correspond roughly with my time since joining this site although I do not directly blame this site for anything. It's fun to joke about GAS, but seriously...
I'm sure this story could apply to the 'Basses' section as well. Perhaps a cautionary tale of just how successful company marketing departments can be? Know that I accept responsibility for my actions.

I guess I'm looking to get something off my chest. In November my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. He was 5 weeks early but she and him are both doing OK now. We're in our mid 30's and have full time jobs, etc. There were complications in the pregnancy which (to make a long story short) means this was an expen$ive experience for us. This whole situation has caused me to do some soul searching when it comes to gear.

Rewind 10 years ago and I was getting ready to graduate from college and was gigging with some buddy's in a cover band about once a week. In terms of amps I had a Mesa MPulse 600 running thru a Mesa PH410. It was gloriously powerful and, to be honest, probably way overkill for any gig I ever did. I was responsible with it and didn't pi$$ off any neighbors or sound guys. The gear was bulletproof and the experience of being out gigging was something I'll never forget. Perhaps this is what leads to the next section.

Just as we started to get a small following and a steady flow of gigs my guitar player (an old friend from High School) got a promotion at work and I graduated as an elementary teacher soon to find work of my own. Nether of us could commit to the band any longer and the group dissolved. Being a new teacher with very little free time I decided to sell off my rig and pick up a small Behringer Thunderbird amp for practice. Over time I would still get together with my guitar buddy and former band mate at his apartment for an impromptu jam. Soon I traded in the Behringer for a USA Ampeg 1x12 combo (which he still has at his place to this day). Eventually we both get busier with work and he ends up moving into an 11th floor high rise down-town. No more jamming. Eventually I get better work-life balance and start GASing for an actual practice amp with good tone (I had been DI'ing straight into a Focusrite interface for headphone practice). So I go to GC and find one of the last Mesa Walkabouts on Clearance and end up buying it at a great price. That amp was inspiring! Enough so, in fact, that I started looking for another group to play out with. There's a wedding and the purchase of a house sometime in this period of time but I never end up joining another band.

Putting the cart ahead of the horse I end up selling that Walkabout for my 'dream Rig'; the one to end all GAS: an SVT-CL Heritage head and brand new Heritage 810 from Sweetwater because, hey - I have a house/garage now and figure I'll be finding another band playing out again soon -right?

Wrong. I change careers from teaching to data analysis. Budget cuts at work lead to lateral movement within the company to avoid unemployment. I end up working Help Desk as a contractor (under-employed?). Need to manage my income better. I stop my search for a band to join and realize - "HEY! This stuff is heavy! I can't manage this much gear without additional help" -meaning that if I started looking for a band again I would absolutely need help moving gear in order to play out. Suddenly my confidence wains in my ability to ask/trust complete strangers for muscle with this kind of gear. In my mind: the gear became a hurdle to rejoining a band! Plus, Am I even good enough to deserve this level of equipment? Thanks to TB I end up selling the whole rig (read: rent an F150, ask friends/wife for help moving it, transport and deliver to shipping office or buyer, take a bath). I tell myself + wife never again will I be in that type of position with gear.

Still wanting to join a group and play out, I take to researching lighter weight, gig-worthy gear. I remember my experience with Mesa and find Mesa's WD800 along with 2 Mesa Traditional PH 2x10 cabs for a modular 410 rig. Sweetwater sells me these two cabs for a deal just as Mesa completely switches over to the Subway series of cabs. Great! I can split the rig up between a potential band/practice spot and home and combine it together when playing out as necessary. I can lift this gear with relative ease on my own! Now, let's see about a band..

Suddenly, we're pregnant! Same job as mentioned above. Same house. Same friend "let's jam again soon!", still no band. Things come to pass as mentioned in the beginning which is where I currently find myself and, to be clear: family comes first.

It's been 10 years now since I've played out or even, for that matter, really jammed with anyone. I have a 3 month old baby boy. Medical debt sucks. I have relatively light 2x210 killer Mesa Rig w/ Mesa WD800. I don't know guys, I just don't see playing out as an attainable goal anymore? Not even thinking about those threads where people are talking about "is it worth it to gig" and so on. I mean, for my personal situation, man, it has literally been a hotdog dangling on a stick. Maybe someday again in the next 10 years once my son is a little older? But, that line of thinking sounds vaguely familiar...

So, this is my reality. I appreciate and respect the gear I have/had but I don't think I can justify this much firepower for just home practice anymore -especially with a wife, kid, and bills. The WD800 has great tone and a headphone jack and can DI to record with but so can many other options for several hundy cheaper and with cash back in my pocket - I'm having a hard time justifying it to myself. As for the cabs - forget it I guess and let them go? Way too much. Again, cash is king. Could just sock them in a corner and say the same "some day" thing over and over again or use them with the WD800 and barely touch the volume. Seems a waste of power and money though to do that - I don't even care about having that much overhead Gain, especially at home.

I recently saw someone comment on a thread that really made me reflect on things. It read something like this: " It is amazing what you can afford when you stop being a professional."
_______________________________________________________________________

TLDR; kids/life can be a lot of work. I am an average dude who happens to have professional/studio grade gig-ready equipment right now but haven't played out in 10 years and don't see being able to again for minimum another 2-3 if ever?. I'm lucky to practice/play in my home office once a week; probably too much cash tied up in gear. If I record it is for home practice/self betterment only. Leaning towards selling off likely never to rebuy this much unless a situation actually presents itself where this type of gear would be justified. Famous last words?

Anyone ever been through this? Am I nuts to part with this gear? I would like to keep playing. See poll for options I am considering and if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

I only read the tldr so forgive me if this is covered. Do you NEEED to sell it? If so, sell it. If not, in my opinion it’s not worth selling gear you like. Let it collect dust, who cares; I’ve regretted selling so much gear in my life, sometimes because I saw it as $$$ waiting to be had, and sometimes as an impulse. I’m currently in the process of rebuying everything I’ve ever owned and liked. It’s way more expensive a process than just keeping it

 

[gh0st42]

Edit: remember, musical equipment is a (rapidly) depreciating asset.

Not always the case, but likely true for most Amps and cabs.

I sold the bulk of my gear about 20 ish years years back, and have recently started playing again and trying to recapture much of what I sold and have missed having.

I kid you not, if I would have kept my pedals and a couple basses I sold for around $1000-$1500 total, and sold them at today’s market prices, I’d easily be able to buy a decent car/put a good down payment on a house. About $20,000+ last time I tallied it all up.

The right music gear can be a VERY good medium to long term investment if you hold onto it long enough and take good care of it.

Probably pretty safe to let recent Amps and Cabs go, but depending on your basses and any pedals, those could be your kiddos College fund for anything that’s around 10 years old now.

 

[Balog]

If you were debt free it’s be one thing, but debt is evil and medical debt doubly so. Love to live in the richest society in the history of the world where people are driven by penury for having the gall to not want to die.


Sell it and get your old combo back. What you’ll save in interest by applying the cash you make from the sale to the principal of your debt will be worth it. You’re not going to be gigging, and even if you do you could probably limp along for a gig or two with your old combo and use the funds from that to get a Rumble or a cheap (heavy) old rig.

 

[Scott Baiowulf]

You’re not alone! I’ve had to sell gear to cover medical debt before and also just when I needed the cash. Different gear that you’ll enjoy in different ways will come along later when you’re in a better spot. Ease that burden and unload it to help your family, it’ll come back to you down the line.

 

[N4860]

Life will always get in the way of other desires. That’s normal. It costs a lot more to replace something tomorrow that you sell today. Keep your gear if you can but do what you have to do for your family.

I agree with this. If you need the money, definitely look to sell the equipment, but otherwise just keep it for the future when you have a bit more time. My wife and I now have 3 kids since 2016 and I was fortunate to find a good deal on a Mesa PH610 and Mesa M6 Carbine for my ultimate gigging rig, only to be able to use it a handful of times each year, but I'm not going to be selling it anytime soon. It'll be great to have one my bandmates and I get through the phase of having young children around.

 

[DJ Bebop]

If you need the money, sell it all. If you don't need the money, sell one of the 2x10 cabs and keep the WD and one cab. If you feel like you might gig again soon, keep it all.

 

[juggahnaught]

Hey man. Introspection is a hell of a thing, especially when it's alongside life's hardships.

At this point I'm just one voice in the choir, but you know what? At the end of the day, gear is just gear. You want to keep it because you already have it (the endowment effect) and you don't want to lose it (loss aversion), but there will always be more gear out there for you to pick up if and when you need it.

If you've already got a combo sitting at a friend's place, yeah - go get that back, if you can, and keep playing. If you have an opportunity to jam, it'll work for you. If you have a gigging opportunity, you can always improvise; DI, or mic it, or borrow a rig from a friend, or something. The limiting factor for you playing out won't ever be your gear; it'll be you.

So yeah - keep your bass, dump your gear, get something that fits your current use case. You can always improvise if that condition arises later on. Good luck with everything.

 

[Alper Yilmaz]

If I were in your shoes, I would get rid of anything extra like a second bass, a backup amp or speaker; but would hold on to what I have as my main (and only) rig. Of course, unless financial needs dictate the other way around; that's a different story. Buying and selling, as much as it can be fun, take a lot of time and in each transaction you tend to lose a percentage of what you have originally paid (in most cases).

Also, these are life-time investments. New models and makes of amps and speakers are coming out day after day (better or worse), but a decent rig like Mesa (the one you have) would serve you pretty much all your life. So, I would say why worry. Again, if finances are tough and you need even what you can get from selling your rig, that is a different story...