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When should it end?

Dr. Cheese

Dr. Cheese

Supporting Member
Mar 3, 2004
57,327
120,635
Metro St. Louis
#1
I am really enjoying my Sadowsky Modern 5 Metro Express, but I am strongly considering a Metroline or used Japanese Metro Sadowsky when retire this fall. The one thing that is giving me pause is my age. If I am statistically average, I have less than nine years to live. My health is good, but I know in old age, things can change quickly. I could put the money on a nice on a trip or home improvement that my kids can own after my wife and I pass. I owned a lot of high end basses at a different times in my life, so it’s not like I have never had done the boutique or high end factory thing. Finally, it’s not like I don’t get joy playing what the basses I already own. I know there is no right or wrong answer. I just want feedback.
 
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#5
Bass Viking said:
You know what theTalkbass answer will be. ;) Will the Metro be different from your current model? e.g. pickups, number of strings. If so I say go for it. If it's another 5 string Modern the answer is more complicated as the Metro Expresses are really good.
Click to expand...

It might be another Modern 5, but I think a Jazz of sort would make more sense.
 
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#6
Jeff Scott said:
I'd say you've done and owned plenty of nice instruments over your life. Time to let all that go and just enjoy what you already have.
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There are a few of trips I would to take. One would be to Churchill, Manitoba to see the Polar Bear migration. Going to Lesotho to see the snow in Southern Africa would be fun, and I would like to see Zanzibar too.
 
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#7
With all you've shared over the yrs and i'm sure you got some decent gear that will last till end of days...quality time with fam/kids is important later in life. I'm happy with all my FSO's and would love to own a good spector bass, but in my 60's that need has dwindled a bit as i'm happy with my tone/bass/gear...
 
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#9
Dr. Cheese said:
I am really enjoying my Sadowsky Modern 5 Metro, but I am strongly considering a Metroline or used Japanese Metro Sadowsky when retire this fall. The one thing that is giving me pause is my age. If I am statistically average, I have less than nine years to live. My health is good, but I know in old age, things can change quickly. I could put the money on a nice on a trip or home improvement that my kids can own after my wife and I pass. I owned a lot of high end basses at a different times in my life, so it’s not like I have never had done the boutique or high end factory thing. Finally, it’s not like I don’t get joy playing what the basses I already own. I know there is no right or wrong answer. I just want feedback.
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OBOY. I go through this sort of thinking everyday. Statistically, I have 7 yrs left.

I started having multiple basses when I found that each instrument encourages me to play differently. Each individual one is a different kind of delight.
If it inspires you at all it is worth it. When I was around 12, a mentor I had said (w respect to having books) If you get only one idea from the the book
it was worth it. At the same time, I am realizing more possessions just for the sake of accumulating stuff won't make me any happier. There is no goal
post or finish line of having enough stuff. Or money for that matter.

When my dad was in hospice with only days more to live he made a list of things he wanted to bring him from home. A notepad, a comb, his electric razor.
Why shave the day before you die? To feel even a little bit good. Thats why.
I am realizing that patterns of thinking can and will affect your health. This is a fundamental principle of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
To think there is a tomorrow improves the chance there will be a tomorrow. At least a good one.

Your kids can own your basses after you pass. Or sell them. They define you in memory better that a home improvement ever could.

This is turning into a rant. My point is, never give up and quit. Ever.
 
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#11
I'm not sure which instruments remain in your stable, but maybe you could buy a used MetroLine from a store with a good return policy. If you fall in love with it, sell other instruments to pay for it (or at least part of the cost), and take that vacation, too!
I've never owned a Metro Express, but I can tell you that my GAS has finally been reduced greatly now that I'm using a MetroLine P/J for a lot of my gigs and practices.
 
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#12
I remember visiting my father in the hospital when he was dying of cancer. I asked him if he wanted his pocket knife and he said no. I was just thinking of things he always carried. Later when I saw his doctor, the doctor told me how my father had told him I was working on my Ph.D. That still hits me hard every time I think of it. He was dying and he was talking about me in school! I am a parent now and I think I know how he felt. I guess I am saying I know a time will come when material possessions will mean nothing to me.
 
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#13
I retired this past February. I’m having similar musings as you are about my basses, playing music, life expectancy, etc.

I’m 70, in good health. I very aware of the stats because once one starts mapping out retirement and talking to financial planners there’s a lot of discussion around those numbers. What I’ve decided is that none of it matters. Like, at all. I never focused on lifespan before, so I’m not going to start obsessing about it now, or let it influence decisions that have very little consequence in the larger picture.

And basses are of very little consequence in the larger picture. I recently began considering a custom MTD build, and realized that it doesn’t matter if I’m going to be a couple years older by the time I get it; I’m going to be a couple years older anyway, whether I order it or not. At the same time, I don’t feel a real driving desire to buy/build another bass.

Damn the statistics. You could end up living another 25-30 years. Buy a bass, take a trip. Do the things that give you joy. (Or better yet, visit the Warwick factory during your trip to Europe and pick up a new Sadowsky. Win win. :thumbsup: )
 
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#16
Dr. Cheese said:
I remember visiting my father in the hospital when he was dying of cancer. I asked him if he wanted his pocket knife and he said no. I was just thinking of things he always carried. Later when I saw his doctor, the doctor told me how my father had told him I was working on my Ph.D. That still hits me hard every time I think of it. He was dying and he was talking about me in school! I am a parent now and I think I know how he felt. I guess I am saying I know a time will come when material possessions will mean nothing to me.
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Understood. I just had a big birthday and was thinking of buying myself a nice bass. But with all the nice basses I already have, it seems pointless and wasteful. I'm still in two bands, though, so ya never know ...
 
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#19
In the comments on personal finance videos there's usually one comment that says "but I could die tomorrow" and my thought is "but what if you don't?" The problem with average lifespan is it's shorter than the typically expected lifespan - the longer we live, the longer we're likely to live because we're balancing the average with those who died prematurely in accidents or due to carcinogenic work environments that we've not been exposed to.
 
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