Deals VS Dollars

[Rabidhamster]

What do you do when you find something that you’ve wanted for years, which provides a couple tones not already in your arsenal, for an excellent deal — but the price is still so (relatively) high it feels like a punch in the stomach with a possible sweep the leg to follow?

Do you grab that deal now knowing it will likely cost you more down the road to buy it then, if you get the opportunity?

Or do you heed that reluctance to spend so much money and talk yourself into saving the cash? You have other instruments, you can just be happy with them.

Or done another way: do you get that single instrument you want, or instead grab a number of other things for your “home studio” you don’t have, but that are also less challenging to obtain, and have some cash left over?

 

[BB Brian]

Are you currently still in a job?

 

[ejaggers]

I value things by appeal vs cost.

This is why I'll probably never own a Ric for instance.
They look pretty cool but cost too much for what you get.

I can appease myself pretty easy, so I'll buy something where appeal >= cost,
or buy cheap and mod the hell out of it.

Perfect example: I'm too cheap to buy a Gibson SG, so I made one out of a Epi EB0.

057912

 

[Killed_by_Death]

couple tones not already in your arsenal

My bass covers all the tones within its timbre.
I have no arsenal.

In case it's cryptic, I'll just tell you what I'm commenting:
Don't justify it just because it's there!

 

[Nashrakh]

Yolo. There, I said it.

 

[Bass V]

what sounds / tones are you unable to get with your current arsenal? are they worth getting?
if it's a hypothetical towards us then outside my overt curiosity for the vintage mudbucker bottom brutality they offer, I'm covered, and for criminally low costs. I've even got a 30k muddy waiting to go in my LB11 P bass (most likely), so expenditures for a costly old Gibson / Epi / Kalamazoo are needless, but still on the GAS list for Santa. doling out more $$ is generally not the answer for finding a fine basic bass, besides, I find the more you pay the further away you get from truly great tone.

 

[Guild B301]

I always save up the same amount of money that a bass costs before I buy it. For example, I save up $2000, in order to spend $1000. I’ve never regretted it. Unless it is a once in a lifetime bass and you’ll never have a chance at another, - save up first.

I can now afford to buy any gear I’d like. I got to this point by saving as I went. I’ve never had a day job. Just been a musician my whole life.

 

[B-Mac]

What do you do when you find something that you’ve wanted for years, which provides a couple tones not already in your arsenal, for an excellent deal — but the price is still so (relatively) high it feels like a punch in the stomach with a possible sweep the leg to follow?

Do you grab that deal now knowing it will likely cost you more down the road to buy it then, if you get the opportunity?

Or do you heed that reluctance to spend so much money and talk yourself into saving the cash? You have other instruments, you can just be happy with them.

Or done another way: do you get that single instrument you want, or instead grab a number of other things for your “home studio” you don’t have, but that are also less challenging to obtain, and have some cash left over?

There's that thing called regret. I let a few things go like a great deal on a Ripper, a Thunderbird and a Broadkaster. All in great shape and all with OHSC and I tried to lowball over just $50 each time and someone else bought it out from under me. True time capsule examples. And I still think about them.

If it is truly a great deal that you know you'll more than likely never seen again and it is something you've been wanting to have for a while I'd say you got to pull the trigger.

However, if you're a youngster with a paper route it's probably better to save up.

There's not much in your profile to determine where you're really coming from.

 

[J_Bass]

I did something similar.

I sold 2 basses to fund the other.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

What do you do when you find something that you’ve wanted for years, which provides a couple tones not already in your arsenal, for an excellent deal — but the price is still so (relatively) high it feels like a punch in the stomach with a possible sweep the leg to follow?

Do you grab that deal now knowing it will likely cost you more down the road to buy it then, if you get the opportunity?

Or do you heed that reluctance to spend so much money and talk yourself into saving the cash? You have other instruments, you can just be happy with them.

Or done another way: do you get that single instrument you want, or instead grab a number of other things for your “home studio” you don’t have, but that are also less challenging to obtain, and have some cash left over?

How much do you want the bass? If it is really special at a good price, and you have the money, get it. Buying something else does not make sense because you won’t be buying the thing that really has your attention. It would be better to buy nothing than to buy something you don’t really want.

The price might be rough, but it is better to take the hit if you honestly feel it is the bass you want. Having what you really want makes it easier to walk from temptation, or at least that’s how it works for me.

 

[wraub]

I only have one bass that I would do that for, but I never have the money for it, so it's not a big concern.

 

[Obese Chess]

What do you do when you find something that you’ve wanted for years,

This is the end of it for me. I'm a notoriously frugal (read: cheap) person but if I've wanted something for years and I have the opportunity to snag it without hurting my wallet too much? Yeah, I'm all in.

Part of the reason I bought my most recent bass was because, when the price was dropped, Facebook helpfully reminded me, "on this day two years ago you told the luthier you wanted this bass."

That clinched it for me.

 

[JW56789]

There's no way I could possibly know. I would offer, though, my first question for me is always ,'can I do this without disturbing, shorting, or missing any obligations that come first'? It's all well to get hot and bothered about this or that axe, but I'm not missing a car payment or going to the grocery store to get it.

You'd be surprised when YOU'RE NOT IN A SWEATY HURRY that next month or 6 weeks from now . . . . . 'there's ANOTHER one for $200 less than that one I got all crazy about ! ! ! '

 

[wraub]

Facebook... Always Helpful"

This is the end of it for me. I'm a notoriously frugal (read: cheap) person but if I've wanted something for years and I have the opportunity to snag it without hurting my wallet too much? Yeah, I'm all in.

Part of the reason I bought my most recent bass was because, when the price was dropped, Facebook helpfully reminded me, "on this day two years ago you told the luthier you wanted this bass."

That clinched it for me.

 

[micguy]

This is Talkbass. If you want an answer involving discipline, restraint, fiscal responsibility, or contemplative thought of any kind, you're in precisely the wrong place. We buy things we want at the drop of a hat. It's what we do.

 

[Matty Koff]

If it's not going to cause you or others to starve or be homeless or without a vehicle then it's okay to get the thing you want imo.

 

[CoffeeLove]

What do you do when you find something that you’ve wanted for years, which provides a couple tones not already in your arsenal, for an excellent deal — but the price is still so (relatively) high it feels like a punch in the stomach with a possible sweep the leg to follow?

Do you grab that deal now knowing it will likely cost you more down the road to buy it then, if you get the opportunity?

Or do you heed that reluctance to spend so much money and talk yourself into saving the cash? You have other instruments, you can just be happy with them.

Or done another way: do you get that single instrument you want, or instead grab a number of other things for your “home studio” you don’t have, but that are also less challenging to obtain, and have some cash left over?

If the funds are readily available, go for it, especially if it could be easily flipped with only a 10-15% loss (my bar for loss). While I never buy an instrument with the intent to re-sell, its good to break even, or come close. I don't buy new instruments for this reason. If funds are tight, or could become tight any time soon, then let it go.

 

[shadven]

But the bass.

 

[Killing Floor]

I guess it's better to regret something you do than something you don't do. But in any case it's better to make sure you're in a position where you can afford to do so. If you can afford it then do it if it brings you joy.

 

[Seashore]

As someone who almost never has the money to buy a new instrument, I'll say that the handful of times over the past 20 years when I've been able to pull the trigger on exactly what I wanted, I haven't ever regretted it, and I still have them all and use them a lot.