• 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.

How do you feel with selling your basses?

#22
sam91 said:
Hey all - I've been pondering for a while now about selling one of my 70's p bass and get a jazz b instead to refresh my inventory (I own 3 p basses which each one has its own unique thing) - but for some reason, the thought of selling one of my basses that have been through a lot with me is very saddening...

How do you see about selling your basses? Does your bass is nothing but an instrument to serve your musical needs? or do you have any sentimental value to your instruments?

I think this question is even more relevant during COVID 19 era which a lot of musicians are having a rough time financially.

Would love to hear your thoughts!
Click to expand...
They're just machines to me. I don't have any kind of sentimental attachment. I do, however, have a financial attachment and won't sell them for less than I think they are worth. If I die with basses still in my possession, I won't really care what happens to them or have a say in their disposition because, you know, dead and all. I hope whomever winds up with them eventually feels good about having them.
 
#26
The bass that my father purchased for me in 1978 will never be sold ..it definitely has sentimental value to me. I broke my leg and was in a full cast for a few months. I remember the moment he gave it to clearly. A beautiful Hagstrom hollow body.
I have a few others that are excellent tools for my shows. When I stop playing they will be sold. I have a few vintage Fenders that will be left to family members.
I still enjoy buying and selling gear though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikewalker and sam91
#27
staurosjohn said:
After joining TB, in 2010, I was ‘inspired’ to pursue options to my RIC (which was my sole bass- from age 15 until then)... I realized I preferred J necks w/single pups. It took awhile to part with ‘my buddy’- but opened up a whole new world of options! , now, have gone thru a myriad of basses- settled on various FrankenFenders- which really ‘fit’ what I want to feel & hear... would have never discovered all this (+ developing a working understanding of soldering, setups, etc.) without ‘taking the plunge’! I have bought & sold a few basses/items during the current Pandemic...

Here’s a pic-o-my-RIC (circa 1978ish) + a pic-o-my current FrankenFenders ;) The RIC, basically, funded my ‘build excursions’ :woot:

View attachment 3987747 View attachment 3987748
Click to expand...

Nice Acoustic rig lurking in the corner, too
 
  • Like
Reactions: staurosjohn
#28
I hear you. Sometimes I look at the classifieds and just know when it's hard for someone to let go of something they want to keep. For the most part I think of my guitars as things but there is 1 that I would not part with for a lot of reasons. There are some things I'd sell if I needed. And there is a black Kubicki ExFactor that I soundly regret selling to this day. But all of these things are still things. I grow attachments but try to keep them from becoming obsessions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: staurosjohn
#30
I have been pretty fickle the past 3 years; a lot of buying, selling, sampling and trading. A few regrets, but overall it has been a search to hone in on my preferences.

I just sold a bass and amp, bought a cab; and bought and promptly returned or flipped 3 Basses. Just ordered the “last” piece of the puzzle. Hopefully the waters settle after that and I can enjoy playing everything.

Ask me how I feel a year from now!:woot:
 
#31
Not gonna lie, it does bum me out a little. I just have to remind myself I decided to sell it for a reason, and it was a reason I decided was good enough to warrant selling it. For me, the reason is generally because I don’t use it enough or I know it will never be a gigging bass. Once I decide to sell, I try to fall out of love with it as much as I can before I list it.
 
#36
I have some sentimental attachments to the basses but it's liberating to sell the closet basses and focus on the playing, or the de-populated roster. It's an evolution for me, ultimately I will have the best 3 or 4. Well maybe be 17 or 23.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bassb66
#37
I make it a habit of trading up. I rarely get rid of instruments without replacing them. I have the most sentimental attachment to my acoustic guitars. They have the most meaning to me. I have 5-6 of those that I will (hopefully) never get rid of- basically the top row of the picture below. The one in the middle will have to be buried with me. Perhaps instead of me.

A4A020ED-64BF-49E6-9597-EC14938F4CDD.jpeg


I have two basses that I will never get rid of. One is the Brubaker in the pic. Another is a Brubaker fretless.

As far as electrics go, I will likely never get rid of the PRS and the Gibson in that pic. I have a Parker Fly that won’t leave me either.

So, of 20 instruments I own, I won’t get rid of about 10 of them. The others, I would only trade up. For instance, I have a Dingwall ABZ 5er that I love. I would not get rid of that, except for another Dingwall of better quality. I have a Lakland as well, that I just got, that I likely wouldn’t trade, except for another Lakland of similar quality, perhaps for a 5 string version.

When I get rid of something, it’s always to fund another purchase. Here’s how I made it from my first Squier to a Brubaker.

Squier- $150, sold for $200
Washburn XB500- $400, sold for $450
American STD Pbass- $400, sold for $600
Warwick FNA- $800, traded for EBMM Bongo $800 in trade value
EBMM Bongo- $800+$150, sold for $875 (I think)
Modulus Quantum Q5- $1000, sold for $1800 for fund Brubaker (post purchase)
Brubaker Xtreme 6- $3200

So, for a bass that costs about $8k new (I bought it used on here), I have in about:

$6900 - $4725 = $2175

Now, that’s quick math and that’s not entirely accurate because those first basses were in dollars from the 90s, so their cost was more in today’s dollars.

So I say all that to say, selling and throwing in a few hundred bucks each time makes a big difference. You should also tack on another couple hundred for shipping I probably didn’t account for in selling a couple of basses.

All of those basses except the Bongo and the Brubaker were pawn shop finds.

TL;DR- I like to trade up. I have some basses that mean a lot.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: sam91
#38
When it's time for them to go, it's time. I feel like I was their caretaker for a while, we had our fun, and it's time to move on. Certainly got closer to some of them than the others. But I've never been sentimental about them. While they may truly be Good Stuff, they are, nonetheless, Stuff, and I can always buy (and unfortunately usually do . . . .) more Stuff.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back