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Does anyone else have a hard time getting rid of gear?

Tnavis

Tnavis

Feb 25, 2003
622
741
Minneapolis, MN
#1
As I'm swapping my new "gig amp" into my rack, I noticed that I'm accumulating quite a pile of bass heads. They're all still totally great heads, and I should certainly keep at least one as a backup, but I just can't bring myself to actually sell the ones I don't really need. Case in point; I still have my first "big amp" head, a Peavey Mark IV from like... 1992? It's just quietly sleeping in a shelf in my garage. I keep telling myself "but what if I need to keep a bass head in a super sketchy rehearsal space?". For some reason, I haven't had this problem with cabs. I've bought and sold close to a dozen at this point.

Anybody else?
 
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#4
I've played for over +30 years with modest accumulation/need of equipment, keeping most and selling the rest, some quickly, some not... what I don't try to do is check later to see if what I sold went for more, but it happens... no regrets on getting rid of the equipment, itself, though...
 
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#5
It goes in fits and starts. I hang onto some stuff for too long, way past it's best if used by date. Did Ampeg while the Class D amps came out, got cheap and plentiful. And then I sold all my 4 Ohm stuff and bought 8 Neo's.

Pedals are the weirdest things. i've pedals that I haven't used in years and I never think to sell them, go figure?
 
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#9
I have 3 bass heads right now. An Acoustic 370 I bought in 1976. A Music Man 130 I bought in 1975. An Acoustic B600H I bought in the mid 2000s. It's a good thing I keep them all though. My Acoustic B660H is currently in need o repair and I am using my Music Man for gigs.

I can't seem to part with the Acoustic 370 even though I don't use it.
 
#11
Tnavis said:
As I'm swapping my new "gig amp" into my rack, I noticed that I'm accumulating quite a pile of bass heads. They're all still totally great heads, and I should certainly keep at least one as a backup, but I just can't bring myself to actually sell the ones I don't really need. Case in point; I still have my first "big amp" head, a Peavey Mark IV from like... 1992? It's just quietly sleeping in a shelf in my garage. I keep telling myself "but what if I need to keep a bass head in a super sketchy rehearsal space?". For some reason, I haven't had this problem with cabs. I've bought and sold close to a dozen at this point.

Anybody else?
Click to expand...

Nope. It's just stuff and I have no real connection to any of my gear. As much as I love what I have, I know there is a lot of great equipment out there.
 
#12
I didn't realize I had a problem until I showed up to a rehearsal with my amp, completely forgetting that I already had one there. I will sometimes fall in love with a pedal and buy another for "home use" because I am too lazy to unpack my board. I'm not sure that this has anything to do with getting rid of gear. I just needed to say it out loud.
 
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#13
If I can't get a decent return on a sale, and I still feel the gear is useful, I won't sell it. I'll sell something I truly will never use again at a substantial loss just to move it out, or more rarely something I still see as useful but can get a good price for it. But I won't take a bath on something that I feel I could still use. Better to hold on to it. I never want to be replacing something I sold at a loss, that's a waste of money and time.
 
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#14
sentimental attachment... or hoarding?

For me, I began to notice some things about myself that I was uncomfortable with. Once I realized my 'sentimental attachments', or the idea that maybe I would need that _____ at some future point was just a way of justifying my hoarding, it became very easy for me to part with everything.

There is a fine fuzzy line between being a collector and a hoarder.
 
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#17
Bass guitars I have a lot more of a hard time getting rid of than Amps/Cabs/Pedals, etc. Basses are much more unique, they all play, sound, feel, and look different.

About everything else is replaceable. Equipment like amps, for example, are all wired and put into boxes exactly the same way to try and achieve the tone that company is making it for, making them less special than guitars.
 
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#20
I have more stuff than I need, although it's not as much as I used to have. I'm buying stuff and trying to sell on a regular basis, but most of the time I take a big hit (loss) on selling. For some reason, I haven't developed the art of "buy low and sell high." I seem to buy stuff that wasn't worth what I paid for it then end up selling at a loss. I have a bass and a Carvin 1993 TL60 vintage guitar that's gorgeous, and I'm running it a second time on Evilbay. Seems like everyone wheeling and dealing wants top dollar for their stuff but doesn't want to pay 25 cents on the dollar for what you are trying to sell! :eyebrow:
 
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