Time to let go?

[drpepper]

I have a T-40 that I got in 1978 - well, my dad got it for me. It was my first "real" bass. I've always had it around.

After a 20 year hiatus, I've recently picked back up with playing. I've gotten some new gear. I play around with the T-40 periodically. I think it's kind of cool that I've had something since I was 13 and I suppose it has sentimental value.

As I get more involved with playing, I don't see using it, other than to pick it up and fool around with it every now and then.

Although I've said I'm going to keep it, I keep feeling temptation to sell it. Kind of like an inexplicable reverse-GAS.

It's not like I need to sell it. It would just make some room and make it a little easier to get some other things.

Do you keep gear for sentimental reasons?

Ever sell a bass that you had for a long time and then regret it?

 

[Danny Fox]

i've still got my first bass, a defretted Pbass copy. I'll never part with it.....i never play it, but i'll never part with it

 

[Marko 1]

I’d keep it; maybe hang it on the wall in the music room.

Why take the chance of regretting it?

 

[bovinehost]

What can you get for a T-40 now?

Probably not worth it in the long run. Keep it.

 

[millsbass5]

YES!!! There's many a bass that I've sold,that I wish I still had. I would maybe bet my bottom $$ that as soon as you'd sell it,you'd need it for that certain "sound".

 

[TheBasicBassist]

i sold my first bass a squier jazz and i miss it.
but i've kept my first good bass, a fender jaguar for sentimental
reasons even though i've gotten quite a few good offers on it.

 

[Flatty Banks]

I donated my first bass to charity. I'm just not a sentimental kind of guy, I guess.

 

[Pilgrim]

I have no intention of EVER selling my first bass. Keep yours or I'm sure you will regret it.

 

[spade2you]

If you have room and aren't hurting to funds, what's the harm in keeping it around? Playing music can come and go. I happen to be in a bit of a lull because there simply isn't anything locally.

I've kept all the basses I really enjoyed, although I've been half-tempted to sell some of my 5 strings since jumping to 6. I sold most of my early guitar days since it just wasn't made well or very playable.

 

[garp]

I no longer have my first bass. However, I bought it with my own money saved from delivering newspapers, and ended up trading it in (along with some cash) for my second bass, which I do still have some 23 years later. So no, I have no regrets about parting with my first bass.

However, had that first bass been a gift from a parent, I never would’ve parted with it. If there’s one common link between the various “regret” threads I’ve read here and elsewhere over the years, it has to do with musicians giving away or selling that very first instrument that was gifted by a parent — the one that inspired a lifetime interest in music. The quote often goes something like: “Mom and Dad are both gone now, and I wish I still had that crappy little Teisco/Silvertone/Five ‘n Dime guitar to remember them by.”

If you don’t need to part with it, then don’t.

 

[Rocky]

My first bass back in 84 was an Aria pro p-bass copy. It wasn't a bad bass, but I never missed it when I sold it. I was playing guitar long before bass anyhow and only switched because our cover band didn't need two guitarists' and I was more of a rhythm player. Now my first guitar was a acoustic Stella that I bought new for 40.00 (1972), and I do wish I had that for sentimental reasons. I'd say keep it you may want to give it to your son or daughter someday.

 

[kjpollo]

I dont miss my 1st at all, but my 1st was a POS P-copy with some horribly microphonic pickup in it. Your T-40 is lightyears better than what I had.
The 3rd one I owned was a T-40. Last year around this time, I took the plunge and bought one again. I'm glad I have it on hand because I think its really going to fit with some of the classic rock I'll be playing in my new band.

The good thing about T-40's is that there are still plenty of them around so you could always get another one if you wanted/needed to. Of course, it wouldnt be exactly the same bass, but it would still be a T-40. If you do sell it, just make sure you know what you're selling. You dont want to give away a nice sienna burst with rosewood fingerboard for like $200...unless you're selling it to me!

I do tend to be sentimental about things but generally not about basses. Except for the Carvin that I've owned since 92, about the longest I've ever held on to any other bass was maybe 4 or 5 years.

 

[elgranluis]

for the money you could get from a t40, id never sell it. If we were taling about a 64 seafoam J, then I'd say deff sell it.

 

[Baird6869]

What can you get for a T-40 now?

Probably not worth it in the long run. Keep it.

+1.

For the $200-300 it is worth, I would keep it.

 

[Krügmeister]

Besides the fact the T40's are great basses!

 

[Jefenator]

Might be worth having as a backup. Especially if you're not going to get a significant sum for it. (I've got a few items like that.)

Thinning the herd does feel good, though. (That would be a real pain in the butt if I still had all 28 basses I've bought!)

I just sold one of my longest-owned basses and the seller's remorse was pretty mild. Yes, it was a real cool, solid piece and it had some crazy authority on the last rehearsal I recorded with it. But over 16 years, for whatever reason, I just never quite bonded with it.

If it warms your heart at all when you think about an item, that might be a cue to hang on. But if you feel nothing, cut 'er loose.

 

[JxBass]

I've had a bunch of basses that I thought I would keep forever, but after owning them for several years I felt it was time to let them go and allow someone else to enjoy them. Luckily I haven't looked back or regretted it. But if it was a bass my father gave me as a kid I'd never let it go.

 

[yellofury]

it depends on circumstance I guess
I had a Korean Squier II Stratocaster that my mom bought for me when I was 16 which was almost 20 years ago. It wasn't the greatest guitar in the world but I learned my chops on it in my bedroom growing up then to my dormroom and then the various apartments I lived in.

I had moved on to bass and mess around on the guitar every once and awhile.
So at the age of 35 I still had that Strat sitting around not being played all to often
Well earlier this year I saw that this kid at my church that plays in the other band stopped bringing in his guitar with him for Sunday service. I asked him what happened to his Yamaha and he told me that the electronics were broken and he had to use the loaner guitar at church. Around the same time his mom got laid off and there was no way she could afford to repair the guitar. The great part was he had loaned this younger kid at church his messed up guitar because HE wanted to learn to play too.

Well this got me thinking
I had inherited this junky guitar from my brother and I had this strat that I had since I was 16. The strat certainly had alot of sentimental value but it had served its purpose by helping me learn to play in instrument and later using those skills on bass. It was time to serve a NEW purpose. So one day I went to church and I GAVE the Squier and my first combo amp (a little CRATE G-20 when they were still owned by SLM) to the first kid and the I gave the junky guitar to the other kid.

It just felt right to do
So like I said it all depends on the situation
I wasn't using it and it went to a good cause
I did feel sentimental but I felt better knowing I was helping someone

Well later that year (whihc was this year)
my wife bought me a brand spanking new MIM Fender Strat body for my birthday
and I had a MIM neck that I bought last year for my Squier and now I got a kicking strat again!!

 

[skywalkerla5]

it depends on circumstance I guess
I had a Korean Squier II Stratocaster that my mom bought for me when I was 16 which was almost 20 years ago. It wasn't the greatest guitar in the world but I learned my chops on it in my bedroom growing up then to my dormroom and then the various apartments I lived in.

I had moved on to bass and mess around on the guitar every once and awhile.
So at the age of 35 I still had that Strat sitting around not being played all to often
Well earlier this year I saw that this kid at my church that plays in the other band stopped bringing in his guitar with him for Sunday service. I asked him what happened to his Yamaha and he told me that the electronics were broken and he had to use the loaner guitar at church. Around the same time his mom got laid off and there was no way she could afford to repair the guitar. The great part was he had loaned this younger kid at church his messed up guitar because HE wanted to learn to play too.

Well this got me thinking
I had inherited this junky guitar from my brother and I had this strat that I had since I was 16. The strat certainly had alot of sentimental value but it had served its purpose by helping me learn to play in instrument and later using those skills on bass. It was time to serve a NEW purpose. So one day I went to church and I GAVE the Squier and my first combo amp (a little CRATE G-20 when they were still owned by SLM) to the first kid and the I gave the junky guitar to the other kid.

It just felt right to do
So like I said it all depends on the situation
I wasn't using it and it went to a good cause
I did feel sentimental but I felt better knowing I was helping someone

Well later that year (whihc was this year)
my wife bought me a brand spanking new MIM Fender Strat body for my birthday
and I had a MIM neck that I bought last year for my Squier and now I got a kicking strat again!!

Sweet! Gotta love me some strat love. Also what goes around comes around in wages.

 

[bassplayer8953]

it depends on circumstance I guess
I had a Korean Squier II Stratocaster that my mom bought for me when I was 16 which was almost 20 years ago. It wasn't the greatest guitar in the world but I learned my chops on it in my bedroom growing up then to my dormroom and then the various apartments I lived in.

I had moved on to bass and mess around on the guitar every once and awhile.
So at the age of 35 I still had that Strat sitting around not being played all to often
Well earlier this year I saw that this kid at my church that plays in the other band stopped bringing in his guitar with him for Sunday service. I asked him what happened to his Yamaha and he told me that the electronics were broken and he had to use the loaner guitar at church. Around the same time his mom got laid off and there was no way she could afford to repair the guitar. The great part was he had loaned this younger kid at church his messed up guitar because HE wanted to learn to play too.

Well this got me thinking
I had inherited this junky guitar from my brother and I had this strat that I had since I was 16. The strat certainly had alot of sentimental value but it had served its purpose by helping me learn to play in instrument and later using those skills on bass. It was time to serve a NEW purpose. So one day I went to church and I GAVE the Squier and my first combo amp (a little CRATE G-20 when they were still owned by SLM) to the first kid and the I gave the junky guitar to the other kid.

It just felt right to do
So like I said it all depends on the situation
I wasn't using it and it went to a good cause
I did feel sentimental but I felt better knowing I was helping someone

Well later that year (whihc was this year)
my wife bought me a brand spanking new MIM Fender Strat body for my birthday
and I had a MIM neck that I bought last year for my Squier and now I got a kicking strat again!!

+10000 to helping the kid(s) out. I hope the Strat you're putting together is all the guitar you hope it will be.