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Sell Sentimental Bass?
- Thread starter Lowbrow
- Start date
There were definitely some poorly put together boat anchors in that era, but I got a decent one, I think. I just almost never play fretted or four strings anymore. In no way is it worth $2-3k as a player, that much I know for sure!
Sorry, but this is a bandwagon I'll gladly jump on. Keep the bass, I sooooo regret selling some of my milestone basses. My SR500 that I played my first REAL gig with, the 1st SRX3EXQM1 (my current was bought used later on), my first modded Jazz bass...
Clean it up, beef it up, do something to try and mix it up a bit. Try different strings or something else to switch things up a bit. You may even dig it out and love it as-is. If you've got numerous P-basses, maybe something a little different will be a nice change of pace
Clean it up, beef it up, do something to try and mix it up a bit. Try different strings or something else to switch things up a bit. You may even dig it out and love it as-is. If you've got numerous P-basses, maybe something a little different will be a nice change of pace
My first new bass was a late 90s MM Sterling 4H that my late wife and late mother in law surprised me with for Yule. I’m all five strings for years now, but I can never sell it. Not ever.
No one lives forever, so we all let go of our basses at some point. If he's not playing it, it might as well be a chair or lamp, just sitting around, slowly decaying. Take a few good pics of it, or of himself playing it, and get rid of it. He could use the funds to buy another, new, shiny object that would provide some novelty for a while.
You know, I always keep instrument/music doodad sale $ in my PayPal balance just so it doesn't get diverted to the mortgage or some other nonsense like that.
This thing was the brightest white you can imagine when new. I was a fairly broke aspiring rockstar until age 34 or so, so this was my one-and-only for a great long while. It shows on its face, and definitely on its back!
I say sell it and use the $$ to buy what wil give you joy. It does nobody any good in a closet.
I sold my first bass, a 76 Fender P, to finance my first Dingwall, and have never regretted it.
I sold my first bass, a 76 Fender P, to finance my first Dingwall, and have never regretted it.
I have regretted selling a few things, but never for sentimental reasons. It might be a flaw in my character.
I really can't help out because I have the same issue. I love my jazz bass but I am really thinking of selling it with combine saved money to up my bass game to a better more "all round" for me. But it takes work and I have mixed feelings, the thread is helping me for sure. Best of luck to you friend though, whatever choice you make will be the right for you!
I've had basses that developed sentimental value long after I sold them. Kind've like an old girlfriend/boyfriend that you remember fondly while conveniently forgetting the reason(s) you got rid of it. (And yes, I realize that analogy doesn't entirely hold up; your bass doesn't wake up one day and say "I think I need to be played by someone else". )
I have a custom-built pre-Gibson Tobias Classic that was my #1 for many years, but even though I've moved on, I'm not quite ready to let it go. I still enjoy playing it on occasion. But someday, I'll be ready. And I know that when that day comes, there will be no regrets.
Letting go of sentimental things in our lives is a long process. Take as much time as you need.
)I have a custom-built pre-Gibson Tobias Classic that was my #1 for many years, but even though I've moved on, I'm not quite ready to let it go. I still enjoy playing it on occasion. But someday, I'll be ready. And I know that when that day comes, there will be no regrets.
Letting go of sentimental things in our lives is a long process. Take as much time as you need.
I have none that are sentimental, so take with a grain of salt. Selling a sentimental piece (that hasn’t been used in 30 years) and the regret that may come with selling it - don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’ve regretted selling many instruments, but the feeling almost always passes. I’ve bought back one or two similar models down the road if I couldn’t live without one. Own what you’ll play, play what makes you want to. They’re just tools.
they're only "sentimental" to me if i can use them with some success. and if they feel great playing = "keeper."
i voted, "gift it!"
i voted, "gift it!"
I have a beater (my first fretless) that I've sold 3 times. It keeps coming back. I don't play it, it's in storage, and it's inferior in nearly every way to every other bass I own. It just keeps yoyoing back to me.
Bought in '96, traded back to the same store in '98 for a 5-string, purchased back from that same store in '99. Traded (along with the 5-string and a Korean-built Fender) to another store in '99. Bought back from them 2 weeks later because I missed having a fretless. Sold in '06 to finance my first Birdsong for $80. The buyer heard the first part of the story and said "that bass is meant to be with you. Keep it AND the $80."
Anyone want a 1980s no-name PJ lined fretless with a sloppy black spray-paint job, phenolic fingerboard, rusty pole-pieces, and other quirks? I'll sell it to you cheap (and expect it back in my own collection with 2-6 weeks).
Bought in '96, traded back to the same store in '98 for a 5-string, purchased back from that same store in '99. Traded (along with the 5-string and a Korean-built Fender) to another store in '99. Bought back from them 2 weeks later because I missed having a fretless. Sold in '06 to finance my first Birdsong for $80. The buyer heard the first part of the story and said "that bass is meant to be with you. Keep it AND the $80."
Anyone want a 1980s no-name PJ lined fretless with a sloppy black spray-paint job, phenolic fingerboard, rusty pole-pieces, and other quirks? I'll sell it to you cheap (and expect it back in my own collection with 2-6 weeks).
I've had basses that developed sentimental value long after I sold them. Kind've like an old girlfriend/boyfriend that you remember fondly while conveniently forgetting the reason(s) you got rid of it. (And yes, I realize that analogy doesn't entirely hold up; your bass doesn't wake up one day and say "I think I need to be played by someone else".
I have a custom-built pre-Gibson Tobias Classic that was my #1 for many years, but even though I've moved on, I'm not quite ready to let it go. I still enjoy playing it on occasion. But someday, I'll be ready. And I know that when that day comes, there will be no regrets.
Letting go of sentimental things in our lives is a long process. Take as much time as you need.
Similarly, but differently--- I have regretted selling instruments in a moment of financial panic ( at university, two jobs, needed cash for tuition, gas , whatever) I sold a wonderful 1/2 scale German DB, my G&L L2000 fretless, and a 3/4 DB that was set-up for me perfectly. I miss the G&L, not out of sentiment, but because it was a wonderful bass. On the other hand, if I'd kept it, I would have 10 basses now, and I have switched to 5 strings, so I would just be propping it up against the wall anyway.
My suggestion to avoid regret is...donate it. There are a couple of places in my city that help young folks (in neighborhoods where their parents probably can't afford to help them) get started in music. I got started in music with a couple of instruments that my parents and the neighbors gave me, so for me it's partly paying it back. I've donated 3/4th of the instruments I've owned (don't worry, I kept a few really nice ones), and haven't had one twinge of regret ever.
Musical instruments are tools, but they are made for one reason - to make music on. If you've got one in a closet (for 30 years), it's high time to let go of it and let it (and some young person starting out) make music. You obviously don't need the money, or you would have sold it sometime in the last 3 decades. Set it free - you will absolutely feel better about it after that.
Musical instruments are tools, but they are made for one reason - to make music on. If you've got one in a closet (for 30 years), it's high time to let go of it and let it (and some young person starting out) make music. You obviously don't need the money, or you would have sold it sometime in the last 3 decades. Set it free - you will absolutely feel better about it after that.
