Which one to keep.. read further

[FishDub]

So looking for some opinions on this one and perhaps many here have been in this situation. You have a bass that’s not as rare or collectible but you love playing it and has some sentimental value. You also have the same model bass that is way more rarer and far more collectible fetching huge pricing. You don’t play it as much and still is a great bass but you don’t enjoy playing it as much. I don’t have to sell one but what are the thoughts on this one?

 

[Minimalist]

Will it likely go up in value and beat inflation? If yes, keep it, if no, sell it.

 

[FishDub]

Will it likely go up in value and beat inflation? If yes, keep it, if no, sell it.

I’m very confident it will increase in value with time

 

[MuseChaser]

Sell the valuable one you don't play, and use the dough to buy something that begs you to play it every day.

Caveat/confession: I almost never play my most valuable bass (an Alembic). I've finally come to terms with the fact that I really only am driven to play acoustic jazz, and my Azola BugBass II has ended up being my constant daily driver.

 

[musicman556]

Are you in need of cash? Sell it.

Are you financially comfortable, and enjoy collecting basses? Keep it.

Could you find another piece of gear you would enjoy more with funds from the sale? Maybe sell it.

I had a bespoke/custom bass that I dumped a LOT of money into. I finally admitted I just never jived with it. I got out of it what I put into it and bought 3 other basses that I REALLY enjoy playing so much more.

The value of the bass I sold keeps going up, and I have watched it trade hands 3x since selling it, each time for more $ than the last. I'm not mad about it, and I wish each owner of it well! I'm just down here having a blast with a bunch of new Japanese Fenders, lol!

I am 41, and dealing with the decline of my parents. My Dad is now in memory care down the street, and I am trying to help my Mom deal with life essentially on her own now, after 53 years of them being together. My Mom is a pack rat, and I am seeing now how holding on to so much crap because "It might be worth something one day!" has really sucked so much joy out of her life... not just in the past, but the present and whatever time she has left, too.

I have the same hoarding tendencies she has, and am really trying to come to terms with all of it. I want to maximize my positive impact on those around me, grow my relationships with family and friends, and get the most enjoyment out of my hobby stuffs. I am working to save enough that hopefully I won't need my bass values for retirement. I'm seeing that I already have some unnecessary stuff that weighs me down, and I have made my wife so proud with how much stuff I have gotten rid of, haha! It is freeing and a breath of fresh air every time another pile of stuff disappears! A couple weeks ago I gave a box full of about a dozen lower-priced (like $40-100ea new) guitar pedals to a budding guitar player I know. I hadn't used them in years as I've moved on to better/different stuff. Sure, I could trade them in at GC for a pack of strings, or deal with the nightmare that is FB marketplace... but the joy of helping him get to learn and play with new gear was so much more rewarding to me.

Phew... detour, sorry. Back to the equestrian at hand: if you enjoy owning it, keep it. If it's just sitting there and you could get better/more life fulfillment if it were turned into another form of value (another bass, a vacation, new/classic car, or doing something great and meaningful for a friend or loved one) then do that! Let the retirement account handle that side of things, and let your hobbies improve your life.

 

[FishDub]

Are you in need of cash? Sell it.

Are you financially comfortable, and enjoy collecting basses? Keep it.

Could you find another piece of gear you would enjoy more with funds from the sale? Maybe sell it.

I had a bespoke/custom bass that I dumped a LOT of money into. I finally admitted I just never jived with it. I got out of it what I put into it and bought 3 other basses that I REALLY enjoy playing so much more.

The value of the bass I sold keeps going up, and I have watched it trade hands 3x since selling it, each time for more $ than the last. I'm not mad about it, and I wish each owner of it well! I'm just down here having a blast with a bunch of new Japanese Fenders, lol!

I am 41, and dealing with the decline of my parents. My Dad is now in memory care down the street, and I am trying to help my Mom deal with life essentially on her own now, after 53 years of them being together. My Mom is a pack rat, and I am seeing now how holding on to so much crap because "It might be worth something one day!" has really sucked so much joy out of her life... not just in the past, but the present and whatever time she has left, too.

I have the same hoarding tendencies she has, and am really trying to come to terms with all of it. I want to maximize my positive impact on those around me, grow my relationships with family and friends, and get the most enjoyment out of my hobby stuffs. I am working to save enough that hopefully I won't need my bass values for retirement. I'm seeing that I already have some unnecessary stuff that weighs me down, and I have made my wife so proud with how much stuff I have gotten rid of, haha! It is freeing and a breath of fresh air every time another pile of stuff disappears! A couple weeks ago I gave a box full of about a dozen lower-priced (like $40-100ea new) guitar pedals to a budding guitar player I know. I hadn't used them in years as I've moved on to better/different stuff. Sure, I could trade them in at GC for a pack of strings, or deal with the nightmare that is FB marketplace... but the joy of helping him get to learn and play with new gear was so much more rewarding to me.

Phew... detour, sorry. Back to the equestrian at hand: if you enjoy owning it, keep it. If it's just sitting there and you could get better/more life fulfillment if it were turned into another form of value (another bass, a vacation, new/classic car, or doing something great and meaningful for a friend or loved one) then do that! Let the retirement account handle that side of things, and let your hobbies improve your life.

Good Points..I am not strapped for cash and dont need to sell it. But like you said, I often think of unloading it for something else or even something intangible like a trip, pay off our last car lol..

 

[Gervais Cote]

If you don’t need the cash and you don’t need another bass, I would keep it until its value goes up and then sell it at full price.
OTHO, for me, anything I don’t use on a regular basis just goes out the door rather quickly.
I don’t want my house to look like a museum or a flea market !

 

[NewJackBass]

Definitely keep it.

 

[lug]

Keep them both unless you need money and there is no local liquor store with poor security you can rob. Let's face it, a ski mask is a lot more cost effective than selling a bass at below value.

 

[ghoulcaster]

The title is “which one to keep” and in my opinion unless you need the dough, which does happen in life, to me it is a no brainer to keep the bass you love to play with sentimental value.
The other bass is a more complicated question, but if you really are not jiving with it and it happens to be worth a lot money, I think selling it to fund another bass (or basses, new amp, other hobbies…) is a good option.
That would also get rid of that nagging anxiety of keeping something you don’t like only as an investment!
Especially since it is the same model as the one that you do like

 

[sikamikanico]

Depends on the details. Why don't you like it as much? you can do a lot to make it more to your liking, so I'd exhaust all options first. Starting with string changes and setup tweaks, those can do wonders for sound and feel. I'd consider even bigger mods like swapping parts (and keeping the original parts for full restoration) as long as they're reversible.

If it's something you cannot change/reverse easily (e.g. neck profile), then consider if your preferences may change, or you get used to it. If unsure, you can give it a year or two to see, unless you need the money.

But if you know you will always prefer the other, cheaper bass, then definitely sell. I would never count on prices staying up, and if I can do better things with that money, I would.

 

[ravlin]

I don't have enough space, physically or mentally, to manage excess stuff. I'd sell that thing in a heartbeat, but I'm kind of particular / peculiar.
I had never played a vintage instrument until a couple weekends ago, but a guy had one on stage and offered to let me play with it for a minute. It was definitely old, an average player, it left me completely satisfied in my perspective that vintage instruments are just another gimmick.

 

[dalkowski]

#1: Can we please lay to rest the "musical instrument as investment" concept? Because they aren't. Selling the $$$ bass and even putting the proceeds in a CD will yield better result$ than sitting on it and waiting for the "value" to creep up. (If your $$$ bass will appreciate in value faster than the rate of inflation, then you're very fortunate.)

#2: I'd say keep the $$$ bass until you're ready to sell it. But I also wouldn't think of it as "in case of emergency" money, because who knows how long you'll have to wait for a buyer.

#3: Personally I'd sell the $$$ bass because lately I'm purging stuff I'm not using.

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

Heck, don't ask me! I can't seem to get rid of ANYTHING!

BBB

 

[Sparkl]

So looking for some opinions on this one and perhaps many here have been in this situation. You have a bass that’s not as rare or collectible but you love playing it and has some sentimental value. You also have the same model bass that is way more rarer and far more collectible fetching huge pricing. You don’t play it as much and still is a great bass but you don’t enjoy playing it as much. I don’t have to sell one but what are the thoughts on this one?

Are you a collector or a musician? If you answer this one the rest is simple to figure out.

As a musician I will never buy a bass off of a collector if that instrument hasn't been regularly played and has been sitting in some closet for who knows how long.

 

[kcducttaper]

Just sell the one you're not using and not attached to.

Gear isn't an "investment". Sure, there are some rare pieces that can be cool to own for the sake of just owning a niche piece of gear, but the premise of "securing your financial future by owning X piece of gear" just doesn't make sense. Historically speaking, dropping the same amount of cash in an S&P index fund will double the value every ~8 years or so anyways, which is absolutely magnitudes higher ROI than any piece of gear.

I own 3 basses and they're all right around the $1,000 neighborhood. I own 2 Schecters that are my daily drivers and an Ibanez that I don't play as much anymore, but I've dang near played the frets off of that bass in the past 15 years, so I've got a lot of good memories with it!

 

[Killing Floor]

Sell the valuable one as @MuseChaser said.

My reasons:

Even if that bass truly is gaining value YoY is it actually gaining ahead of inflation? You can estimate that easily.

The more rare it becomes the greater the likelihood you will need a broker/dealer to properly position it in the market. That impacts your return.

If it’s a collectable piece today that doesn’t guarantee the same demand in 5 years or 10 years.

If you don’t use it you are not enjoying owning it and it is not serving you.

 

[Polfuste]

Sell it and use the money to make something you enjoy Now. Life is too short.

 

[IPA]

I'm not into collecting things I don't use, so I say sell it

 

[creaturegods]

Sell any instrument you're not playing regularly.