Is your gear irreplaceable?

[BassinCT]

I have two electrics. One is a personal build that was a weekend-only project over months and cannot be replaced. If I had $$$ to spend on basses, it would easily cost me over $3k to have someone else make a comparable replacement.

The others- a "parts" P5 bass that I would not be able to find in a music store. It is 7.7 lbs, finished w tinted shellac & French polished, black hardware- a rare bird that is a bit of a departure from tort/'burst/chrome.

 

[Anachronism]

I'm enjoying the responses, please keep them coming. There are a few things that stand out to me.

1. Different people emphasize different things when it comes to replacing gear. I expected this, but it's still interesting to observe. Some people focused on sentimental value, others on rare or custom gear, others on things they'd built or modded. Irreplaceable doesn't necessarily mean expensive.
2. Even on TB, which probably has a higher percentage of gearheads than bass players as a whole, most people (around 75%, based on current poll results) have gear that is mostly or entirely replaceable without much trouble. However, for many in the slim majority whose gear is only mostly easily replaceable, those irreplaceable pieces can be very significant.

 

[winterburn69]

3 of my 4 basses I regularly play are no longer in production and I have several rare, one-off and out of production pedals as well.

Replacing it wouldn't be a walk in the park, that's for sure.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

My '97 L2500 is one of a kind.
All others are customized to an extent, but could easily be replaced with the right resources...

 

[BAG]

You never know, once i've got the fretted neck on it I might want to keep it.....

 

[stringthrough]

Functionally, all basses are replaceable. The ones that are difficult if not impossible to replace are the ones you have an emotional attachment to or are truly special, i.e. gifted ones from people special to you, NAMM display units, prototypes, ones you assembled from parts and so on.

 

[Member8675309]

One night I got pretty drunk. I had just found out my wife was pregnant with a boy, and so I had a party to celebrate. Later that night I took a thumbtack and carved "It's a boy" into the finish.

You can't see it, unless the light hits it just right. Don't know why I did it, but I'm glad I did.

I had bought this bass from my brother, who was my guitar player for ten years until I lost him a few years ago. It's only a 2007, but has a beautiful amount of knicks and scrapes to give it character, but the neck is all chewed up from thousands of hours of playing this fretless with rounds. Won't replace anything on it.

 

[JMacBass65]

I said "a few that would be difficult to replace". I have three pieces, maybe four, that could be replaced, I've see n them out there, but the cost would be huge relative to what I initially paid.

1983 Fullerton made 62RI Jazz
1985 Rickenbacker 4003
1976 Ampeg SVT w/ 810 cab
1978 Fretless Precision

I paid $800 for the Precision four years ago, and not more than $500 for any other the others, decades ago.

 

[Ric5]

Pretty much everything that I own is a customized one off that would be difficult to duplicate ... not really expensive rare but rather more that each one is unique

 

[hombass]

Reading the tale @Mantis Tobaggan related about his hurricane experience last weekend got me thinking a bit. It's unlikely I'll need to flee a hurricane in Missouri, but my gear could be damaged, lost or destroyed in other ways. And reflecting on how I'd have to go about replacing all of it made me curious about how other TB folks stack up: if you lost your gear but got insurance money for it, could you easily replace it with stuff that would be the same or better?

Personally, my basses wouldn't be that hard to replace. The Rickenbacker 4003 and the Rick Turner Ren4FL would be pretty easy, though I'd miss the discontinued ruby red color on the 4003. My 4004Ci would be a bit harder to replace, but a 4004Cii could do the job (I would miss the 4004Ci neck profile). As far as amps and cabs go, the Verellen Meatsmoke preamp is still produced and the Mesa Powerhouse 112 cab has a close equivalent in the Mesa Subway 12. The difficult part would be replacing my Mesa Buster 15 combo. There aren't many of them out there, and the combo of the amp and cab really is special, at least to my ears. So other than the glorious-sounding boat anchor tube combo, I could get my setup back pretty easily if insurance paid up. What about you?

Dont know. I do know one thing insurance wants to step on everybody by devaluing your stuff to keep profitsup. The best way is to go search your stuff and see what the value is. As for me, i could replace some things but both my bassesa are one off beasts i built myself and i wouldnt be happy with anytbing commercially made, so idont know. Good question. Talk to your insurance agent. Dont go for an out of state cheapo company, get an agent you can go talk to face to face.

 

[D.M.N.]

It'd be a real PITA to replace a lot of my gear. Actually, pretty much all of it.
- Sunn 2000s
- Sunn 2o00s
- Sunn 1200s
- Sunn 2000s 2x15 w/ JBL D140s
- Sunn 2000s 2x15 w/ JBL K140s
- Sunn 2000s 2x15 w/ JBL E140s
- Marshall JTM 45/100 (only 250 of the 2005 reissue)
- 1962 Gibson EB-3
- 1997 Rickenbacker 4001v63
- 2007 Fender '62 AVRI Precision (beyond even just the sentimental value)
- 2012 Fender '62 AVRI Jazz w/ Daguet Guitars Dagstar pickup
- 1978 Greco Thunderbird II
- 2007 Gibson Zebrawood Thunderbird (only 400 made)

Those would be the hard ones. The Sunns because, obviously, they aren't made any more, and prices keep creeping up. The Marshall because there's only 250 of them (I also love making guitar players angry). The EB-3 because they are prohibitively expensive nowadays (especially the early Black bakelite pup ones, thank you broken headstock). The AVRIs because even they are becoming a really bugger to find. The Rick because they're getting pricier. And the Greco because they aren't terribly common any more. Overall, it'd be easier to replace my basses, at least most aren't old and have newer equivalents. The amps and speakers would be the real nightmare. There's a number of Sunns up on Reverb and eBay, but their prices keep going up, it's harder and harder to find the deals I got on mine. Things would be prohibitively expensive.

 

[coryt]

Nothing is really irreplaceable, it just just depends how long you are willing to wait, and how much you are willing to spend. Especially in this era of ebay, kijiji, reverb, craigslist, etc.
I searched 10 years to pick up this amp. Searched all the above sites on a regular basis, put wanted posts up on gear sites. Even put ads in the paper. I finally got it last year off kijiji. I don't think I will ever find another one for sale, so I think it's as close to 'irreplaceable' as they come.
It's a late 60's Garnet BTO Bass amp (B260D). They made lead versions (L260D) which are more common. But this is the more rare bass amp they made. It's an early version with the chassis on top. I love it.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Everything is replaceable.
Everything would be missed sorely.

 

[Honch]

The only thing I have that is irreplacable that I could easily grab and bring with me, is a stone pick. All basses, amps, guitars, etc can be found again. Believe it or not.

 

[twinjet]

Reading the tale @Mantis Tobaggan related about his hurricane experience last weekend got me thinking a bit. It's unlikely I'll need to flee a hurricane in Missouri, but my gear could be damaged, lost or destroyed in other ways. And reflecting on how I'd have to go about replacing all of it made me curious about how other TB folks stack up: if you lost your gear but got insurance money for it, could you easily replace it with stuff that would be the same or better?

Personally, my basses wouldn't be that hard to replace. The Rickenbacker 4003 and the Rick Turner Ren4FL would be pretty easy, though I'd miss the discontinued ruby red color on the 4003. My 4004Ci would be a bit harder to replace, but a 4004Cii could do the job (I would miss the 4004Ci neck profile). As far as amps and cabs go, the Verellen Meatsmoke preamp is still produced and the Mesa Powerhouse 112 cab has a close equivalent in the Mesa Subway 12. The difficult part would be replacing my Mesa Buster 15 combo. There aren't many of them out there, and the combo of the amp and cab really is special, at least to my ears. So other than the glorious-sounding boat anchor tube combo, I could get my setup back pretty easily if insurance paid up. What about you?

Vintage G&L basses aren't impossible to find, but I'd like to think a late 80s L-2000 is a bit tougher to find than a Precision Bass from 2005, for example. I voted rare, but replaceable.

 

[Petethebassman]

As a lefty bass player I have to answer yes, the only exception being the Hofner Ignition violin bass - Thomann has those in stock practically always.

 

[Gus Atoms]

Outside of sentimental value, i'd be fine. Even my "unique" gear doesn't have a premium in the collectors market. Then again, most of that stuff is premarital assets. Its mine. I'd be sad. But time is uninsurable. No need to be coy, Roy. Just listen to Hunraqan.

 

[baileyboy]

...could you easily replace it with stuff that would be the same or better?

Yes. As much as I love my rig/gear, it's just stuff and is replaceable.

 

[Hand slap]

Reading the tale @Mantis Tobaggan related about his hurricane experience last weekend got me thinking a bit. It's unlikely I'll need to flee a hurricane in Missouri, but my gear could be damaged, lost or destroyed in other ways. And reflecting on how I'd have to go about replacing all of it made me curious about how other TB folks stack up: if you lost your gear but got insurance money for it, could you easily replace it with stuff that would be the same or better?

Personally, my basses wouldn't be that hard to replace. The Rickenbacker 4003 and the Rick Turner Ren4FL would be pretty easy, though I'd miss the discontinued ruby red color on the 4003. My 4004Ci would be a bit harder to replace, but a 4004Cii could do the job (I would miss the 4004Ci neck profile). As far as amps and cabs go, the Verellen Meatsmoke preamp is still produced and the Mesa Powerhouse 112 cab has a close equivalent in the Mesa Subway 12. The difficult part would be replacing my Mesa Buster 15 combo. There aren't many of them out there, and the combo of the amp and cab really is special, at least to my ears. So other than the glorious-sounding boat anchor tube combo, I could get my setup back pretty easily if insurance paid up. What about you?

I use to have a independent policy I bought, that insured everything, no matter what happened, EXCEPT, at a gig, BECAUSE, it was a personal policy, NOT a legal business, anyways, that wasn't too expensive, I since dropped it, cause I sold my high end bass.

 

[BobKos]

There's ALWAYS something better out there. If I lost everything and was able to go out into the market with money to replace lost gear, I'm QUITE certain I would be able to replace lost items without too much regret. I am of the opinion that there has never been a better time to buy quality instruments and never been a more diverse selection of instruments available. I still have most basses I've ever bought. I have my very 1st bass - 70's Fender MusicMaster. But truth told I like my newer basses better than previous instruments I've bought. I dig my newer Warmoth, EBMM, Fender CS . They just keep getting better and better. I have a few rare models that are difficult to replace, but I think I would get over disaster pretty quick and move on.