Pro gear is a business decision, unless you have the financial ability to take your hobby to that level. I've played off and on through out my child rearing years, enough to always pay for the gear, but I did wind up using my old peavy head and an Ampeg cabinet through out. So, get the small Ampeg amp back from your buddy, and raise your kid. If the music bug bites and you and they can mix it up great, otherwise go camping or do what ever. It is important to have hobbies, but the family and finances have to work.
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.
Coming to terms with gear vs reality
- Thread starter MicG
- Start date
Here is what I did, after being a full time musician ( only income)
I quit the road and settled down, full time job started a family. I held on to nearly all of my stuff, but not everything. I played as a studio musician for a while taking on people's projects here and there and I gave lessons.
After my kids were older (9 years since I quit playing live), I decided to join a cover band. I now have way too much gear to justify having it, but most came as gifts from my loving family. I have been doing the weekend warrior thing for 17 years this year. It has helped me in many ways, it keeps my mind sharp, keeps me in shape and gets me away from the realities of life for a few hours a night. Selling your gear is one you need to make on your own this was how I chose to handle it. Good Luck RTS
I quit the road and settled down, full time job started a family. I held on to nearly all of my stuff, but not everything. I played as a studio musician for a while taking on people's projects here and there and I gave lessons.
After my kids were older (9 years since I quit playing live), I decided to join a cover band. I now have way too much gear to justify having it, but most came as gifts from my loving family. I have been doing the weekend warrior thing for 17 years this year. It has helped me in many ways, it keeps my mind sharp, keeps me in shape and gets me away from the realities of life for a few hours a night. Selling your gear is one you need to make on your own this was how I chose to handle it. Good Luck RTS
I've been through this as well, if I were to tell my 5-10 year younger self something it would be something like this. "The gear is paid for and not costing you anything. Unless you are about to lose your house, lights going out, wait it out". Give it time, if you sell it for 60% what you bought it for and 3-4 years later have to buy it *again new* at 125% (normal price increases) what you originally paid for it you are coming out far behind. Market also fluctuates too, think of a Deep Impact and they went from $100 to $1,000 back to $300 or so, Eden Wt400 was $900 now at $350. Look at it this way, if you held onto your original gigging rig think of how much you would have saved in buying/selling/coming full circle.
Last edited:
@MicG , First, you are doing great and have your priorities in the right place. Our zombie economy notwithstanding, your best bet is to hold fast.
Presuming your bass gear is paid off (didn’t see that one way or the other in your post), the only reason to sell is if you are forced to liquidate by banks. Then, there just isn’t any choice. Otherwise, your best move is to do nothing and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
From your description, you will undoubtedly play bass again somewhere down the road. Again, presuming your rig is paid off, just keep it. Flipping gear is rarely a good financial decision; so, don’t go down that road unless no other options.
Your best protection for your family is aggressive re-education. Fields like Project Management continue to have high demand, while requiring reasonable additional educational certification. Look for something like that. Anything that can be applied to the Medical field is reasonably reliable.
Leadership in the USA fails to understand the dynamics that create healthy economic platforms. The lessons are in the history books; but, Washington remains oblivious. Which is odd, because most Poly Sci programs claim to include history as a field of study.
I was fortunate enough to have a family while we still had a healthy economic platform; that being the semiconductor / high tech industry, which had been initially underwritten by the race to the moon. Moon rocks never did anything for us; but, the country reaped rewards in multiples for the investment indirectly in the manufacturing base that was created. That same pattern actually plays out several times since the Civil War for any who care to study it. Anyhow, the timeframe for such large scale economic platform creation is 10+ years from funding injection to free market success. No way to shortcut that, since it is based on infrastructure. The problem is that Washington won’t engage in that kind of timeframe, because the initiators never realize the benefit. Sigh. Also, every single previous example was driven by war; when we had our backs to the wall.
What all that means is that things are unlikely to change soon. Your best defense is a good offense, which means education in fields that need warm bodies.
Best of luck. Stick to your guns.
Presuming your bass gear is paid off (didn’t see that one way or the other in your post), the only reason to sell is if you are forced to liquidate by banks. Then, there just isn’t any choice. Otherwise, your best move is to do nothing and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
From your description, you will undoubtedly play bass again somewhere down the road. Again, presuming your rig is paid off, just keep it. Flipping gear is rarely a good financial decision; so, don’t go down that road unless no other options.
Your best protection for your family is aggressive re-education. Fields like Project Management continue to have high demand, while requiring reasonable additional educational certification. Look for something like that. Anything that can be applied to the Medical field is reasonably reliable.
Leadership in the USA fails to understand the dynamics that create healthy economic platforms. The lessons are in the history books; but, Washington remains oblivious. Which is odd, because most Poly Sci programs claim to include history as a field of study.
I was fortunate enough to have a family while we still had a healthy economic platform; that being the semiconductor / high tech industry, which had been initially underwritten by the race to the moon. Moon rocks never did anything for us; but, the country reaped rewards in multiples for the investment indirectly in the manufacturing base that was created. That same pattern actually plays out several times since the Civil War for any who care to study it. Anyhow, the timeframe for such large scale economic platform creation is 10+ years from funding injection to free market success. No way to shortcut that, since it is based on infrastructure. The problem is that Washington won’t engage in that kind of timeframe, because the initiators never realize the benefit. Sigh. Also, every single previous example was driven by war; when we had our backs to the wall.
What all that means is that things are unlikely to change soon. Your best defense is a good offense, which means education in fields that need warm bodies.
Best of luck. Stick to your guns.
Lol, just... no.
If the gear costs $1000 new and the used value is currently $600, it would be highly abnormal for the used value for the same gear to be $1250 in 3-4 years.
100% this. As much as I’d like to own a Rig like the OP’s and a wall of basses, my 12” mark combo and P bass does everything I need (and then some.) Then I can save or spend my extra cash on my family.
EDIT for typos
Last edited:
I'm not sure that a %25 price increase in 3-4 years is particularly normal for new gear either.
My point is simply it won't be less, name your %, they don't go down is my point and the gap between what you paid and pay a second time only further suggests to stay put. I have seen smaller increases, I have also seen greater increases. Meanwhile gig pay hasn't moved much in 30+ years. If you enjoy it, keep it. You won't come out ahead on the selling, rebuying game is all.
Prices for gear very often goes down after it has been replaced by newer and better models. Look at the Powerhouse cab value after the Subway line came out. And the last sentence is only true given harsh time constraints. You can always list high and take a long time to sell, then wait patiently for a good used deal to pop up. I've made a decent amount of money over the years buying gear then selling it for a profit, and aside from a custom bass and maybe one or two obscure items could've replaced what I sold for the same or less than what I sold it for.
one of your last few words says it all..you said you would like to keep playing.........we all reflect back to try and justify our lives..looking for the meaning of life..but rarely finding any answers...so many forks in the road would have taken us down different paths..but each of us are who we are with our own likes and dislikes..abilities and shortcomings..................the amount of money you have in your gear is not going to make you or break you ..so you should just keep it..you just have to adjust your mental attitude as to the things you accept and reject in life............life is short..have fun with it..
As long as your bills are paid, keep you rig. This gear will last you a lifetime, you already got it, keep it. Never say there will NEVER be another band down the road.
I do not understand people that sell off gear just because a band breaks up... there will always be another band when they're ready.
I do not understand people that sell off gear just because a band breaks up... there will always be another band when they're ready.
By selling the rig, it may help you out a little this month, but what happens the next month, and the next after that? I don't know what your level of skill as a musician is, but if you can get involved in a band playing regular paying gigs, you'll be further ahead; consider it a part time job.
In my eyes, my bass rig is nothing more than a tool to get the job done; not a collectible, and not an investment.
It's certainly expendable if I no longer need it, or it's no longer worth repairing to keep it working. If you don't have any aspirations to continue playing, you may as well sell it and wash your hands of the whole thing.
In my eyes, my bass rig is nothing more than a tool to get the job done; not a collectible, and not an investment.
It's certainly expendable if I no longer need it, or it's no longer worth repairing to keep it working. If you don't have any aspirations to continue playing, you may as well sell it and wash your hands of the whole thing.
Unless you really need the $$$, sell one of the 2x10's or sell both and get a Subway 1x15'. This gives you lots of options; headphones for silent practice, jamming with friends and the ability to gig.
It costs money to keep up with the latest and greatest, and the latest isn't always found to be the greatest after it's been tested for awhile. Then you find yourself spending more money to obtain something better. If what you have works, better to just keep using it, from an economics standpoint.
Similar situation (12 days NICU) minus the debt (socialized healthcare).
My kid is about to turn 7. Although I still feel guilty about doing things that don’t involve my family my wife actively encourages it. In my case, she says I’m more tolerable to be around when I have outside friends and activities to get me out of the house.
If selling your gear = food on the table than absolutely sacrifice it. If not, it’s a pretty short term solution to a long term problem. It might help you out this month, but what are you going to do next month? If paying for groceries this week isn’t an issue then my focus would be on figuring out how I’m going to get by month to month for the next period of weeks/months/years.
Alternatively, if selling your gear is part of a larger effort to liquidate assets to pay down debt in a larger lump sum to make things more manageable, then go for it. Done right, that potentially turns your long term problem into a short term huccup.
As for getting out and playing, the internet is your friend. I’m not sure what the US has, but Canada has a site called BandMix where I have an artist profile and can browse “looking for” ads organized by genre and geographic location. Although I’m currently in a band and not actively advertising I still periodically get requests from people who’ve browsed my profile. I’ve also had success using hooking up via forum and friends have used Kijiji (a local variation on Craigslist).
As a bass player it’s never taken me more than a week or so to find a new gig.
My kid is about to turn 7. Although I still feel guilty about doing things that don’t involve my family my wife actively encourages it. In my case, she says I’m more tolerable to be around when I have outside friends and activities to get me out of the house.
If selling your gear = food on the table than absolutely sacrifice it. If not, it’s a pretty short term solution to a long term problem. It might help you out this month, but what are you going to do next month? If paying for groceries this week isn’t an issue then my focus would be on figuring out how I’m going to get by month to month for the next period of weeks/months/years.
Alternatively, if selling your gear is part of a larger effort to liquidate assets to pay down debt in a larger lump sum to make things more manageable, then go for it. Done right, that potentially turns your long term problem into a short term huccup.
As for getting out and playing, the internet is your friend. I’m not sure what the US has, but Canada has a site called BandMix where I have an artist profile and can browse “looking for” ads organized by genre and geographic location. Although I’m currently in a band and not actively advertising I still periodically get requests from people who’ve browsed my profile. I’ve also had success using hooking up via forum and friends have used Kijiji (a local variation on Craigslist).
As a bass player it’s never taken me more than a week or so to find a new gig.
Sascha Erni
Making things go whoomp, whoomp since 1994
Good morning MicG,
this will be a lengthy one, too; there's a TL;DR below.
Yesterday night, I cast my vote for your Keeping the rig. Then I slept over it. I re-read your post in its entirety, the two passages I quoted struck a particular chord with me. I changed my vote to selling your rig and getting a (headphone) practice amp. I'm coming at this from a different angle than most posters here did, as I don't have kids and paid off my debts a long time ago. But naturally what they said applies – family comes first, always.
No, what resonated with me was the time span between gigs, in conjunction with the gear you own. Because that's where I had been as well, in the early 2000s. I gigged pretty steadily until, say, 1998, 1999. Then due to circumstances our band dissolved, and rather than immediately looking for another gig Life Stuff came in between. By 2006, after five years or so with no playing out, I sold my rather expensive Trace Elliot rig (SMX preamp, power amp, 115 cabs). I kept one bass and a combo.
… and was full of remorse by 2019, when out of the blue our old band got back together and is now gearing up for a full come-back. My band mates got most of that child-rearing stuff behind them by now; add a spell of midlife-crisis (everybody wanting to re-live their late teens and early twenties), and there you go. I kicked myself in the metaphorical butt for having sold off my Trace gear back in the day. It was paid off in full, I had the space to stash it, it didn't make much money when I sold it, and NOW I would be glad to have it back. By now I got a nice Orange rig instead, but still. That's why, yesterday night, I opted for "Keep the rig" in your poll.
But well, after sleeping it over, I also realised:
- In the approx. 20 years since "last gig with the Trace" and now, my back got a LOT worse. I wouldn't dream about lifting one of those 115 today, don't even get me started on that huge power amp I used back then.
- Technological advances might slow down but doesn't stop; e.g. my complete current Orange rig weighs less than one of those 115 did.
- It's also a lot less expensive than my old rig was. Taking inflation into account, the preamp alone cost me about as much as my current head and one of the two cabinets combined.
- If you're thinking in decades rather than years, there's strong trends and flavours in both technology and usage. Back in the 90s, on our level and in our region it would have been unthinkable NOT to use a big bass amp. In-ears etc. was for pros only. Then came the Class-D boom. And nowadays, going direct from a pedal preamp with no amp onstage is becoming more and more common even around here in rural Switzerland. Heck, I've even seen amateur rock bands using in-ears last year, amps onstage were just for show, they told me later.
TL;DR:
So I changed my vote. You can't know what the next 10, 15, 20 years will bring, either for your health, or your family, or your gigging, or bass technology and venue requirements. It's just stuff, you can always get more / other stuff if required. And chances are, you will be able to get better stuff, cheaper, once you're through with debt payments and child raising.
Just don't make the same mistake I did back in the day--I did keep a combo after selling my rig, yes, but after a while and due to circumstances I stopped playing bass entirely for nearly a decade. I'm still playing catch-up and trying to get back to where I was in the late 90s.
All the best,
-Sascha
this will be a lengthy one, too; there's a TL;DR below.
Yesterday night, I cast my vote for your Keeping the rig. Then I slept over it. I re-read your post in its entirety, the two passages I quoted struck a particular chord with me. I changed my vote to selling your rig and getting a (headphone) practice amp. I'm coming at this from a different angle than most posters here did, as I don't have kids and paid off my debts a long time ago. But naturally what they said applies – family comes first, always.
No, what resonated with me was the time span between gigs, in conjunction with the gear you own. Because that's where I had been as well, in the early 2000s. I gigged pretty steadily until, say, 1998, 1999. Then due to circumstances our band dissolved, and rather than immediately looking for another gig Life Stuff came in between. By 2006, after five years or so with no playing out, I sold my rather expensive Trace Elliot rig (SMX preamp, power amp, 115 cabs). I kept one bass and a combo.
… and was full of remorse by 2019, when out of the blue our old band got back together and is now gearing up for a full come-back. My band mates got most of that child-rearing stuff behind them by now; add a spell of midlife-crisis (everybody wanting to re-live their late teens and early twenties), and there you go. I kicked myself in the metaphorical butt for having sold off my Trace gear back in the day. It was paid off in full, I had the space to stash it, it didn't make much money when I sold it, and NOW I would be glad to have it back. By now I got a nice Orange rig instead, but still. That's why, yesterday night, I opted for "Keep the rig" in your poll.
But well, after sleeping it over, I also realised:
- In the approx. 20 years since "last gig with the Trace" and now, my back got a LOT worse. I wouldn't dream about lifting one of those 115 today, don't even get me started on that huge power amp I used back then.
- Technological advances might slow down but doesn't stop; e.g. my complete current Orange rig weighs less than one of those 115 did.
- It's also a lot less expensive than my old rig was. Taking inflation into account, the preamp alone cost me about as much as my current head and one of the two cabinets combined.
- If you're thinking in decades rather than years, there's strong trends and flavours in both technology and usage. Back in the 90s, on our level and in our region it would have been unthinkable NOT to use a big bass amp. In-ears etc. was for pros only. Then came the Class-D boom. And nowadays, going direct from a pedal preamp with no amp onstage is becoming more and more common even around here in rural Switzerland. Heck, I've even seen amateur rock bands using in-ears last year, amps onstage were just for show, they told me later.
TL;DR:
So I changed my vote. You can't know what the next 10, 15, 20 years will bring, either for your health, or your family, or your gigging, or bass technology and venue requirements. It's just stuff, you can always get more / other stuff if required. And chances are, you will be able to get better stuff, cheaper, once you're through with debt payments and child raising.
Just don't make the same mistake I did back in the day--I did keep a combo after selling my rig, yes, but after a while and due to circumstances I stopped playing bass entirely for nearly a decade. I'm still playing catch-up and trying to get back to where I was in the late 90s.
All the best,
-Sascha
Two things come to mind. 1, If you don't know what to to, do nothing. and 2, You have good sense and priorities. You CAN live with unsolved problems.
There has been so much support and well wishes in this thread it is overwhelming; I really appreciate everyone's good-wishes/feedback. I have been keeping tabs on the thread and I think I'm going to take some time to step back and really assess my next steps rather than jump to the market with all my gear right away. While the money from the gear would feel nice to have back in my pocket it is not necessarily the case that we are up against a wall just yet. I'm certainly not dying to unload the gear -especially the Mesa. Perhaps trying to be proactive and practical, maybe too much? I have some parts from unfinished projects to sell but am down to one (fully assembled) PJ bass that I am planning to keep.
@agedhorse - Thank you for the well wishes! My regards to you and the Mesa team, you guys build some awesome gear. TBH your presence on this site has had an influence on my decision to give Mesa my business from a customer service standpoint.
Didn't expect this thread to take off. I will continue to drop in w/ updates from time to time. Again, thank you!
Latest posts
-
-
-
Curious what the percentage of bass players use rounds vs flats is.- Latest: Bar Band Bassman
-
-
