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Why do you buy gear?

What is your motivation for buying new gear?

  • My current gear is not meeting my needs.

    Votes: 30 10.8%

  • I saw something really cool I had to have!

    Votes: 108 38.7%

  • It depends on the circumstances.

    Votes: 141 50.5%
  • Total voters
    279
#61
I always THINK it's option 2 for me, but I know it's because I'm trying to fulfill some other deficiency...so I usually just hold off for a while and it goes away.

Though of all the times it got me and I have in, my recent fretless acquisitions have been well worth it. Totally opened up my world.
 
#62
I used to think Option 1 was the answer but eventually realized the strange need to fill every possible square inch of my music room from a subconscious desire to build a larger room. Then I built a larger room and...well...you see the pattern here....
 
#63
As always, @Dr. Cheese has started a thread that has led me to much introspection.

My vote: it depends.

In reality: I don't need any of the gear I buy and I got way past the needing gear stage pretty much in the mid 90s. I buy gear because I like gear! And I like having gear, especially more gear, even better!
 
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#68
the honest answer................. I don't know. I guess I think it will be useful or was to good of a deal to pass up. Today a large box with a road case showed up on the porch, it had to cost most of what I paid for it just to ship the thing. Did I need it ? maybe, will I use it ? perhaps, its built like a tank, a true flight case if ever there was one. It was a hell of a deal, what can I say. I got one if I need it and it didn't cost $3-400.00...........so there's that
 
#72
The dog told me to buy it!
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#75
Generally it's a series of refinements. I like the feel of this bass but the string spacing isn't as comfortable, I like the tone of this cab but need a smaller version to fit it more easily into the car, etc. The longer I play, the better I know exactly what I want. 20 years ago I would only know that a bass was hard to play or easy or a neck would make my thumb sore or not, etc. Now I know the reasons for almost everything and the specific refinements that will work best for me. Once you own some very nice instruments, it's usually just a matter of personal preference that leads you to sell and trade them for other nice instruments; it's usually not a matter of stepping up any longer.

Generally the only real "improvements" to my gear come from pedals and MIDI controllers (and occasionally amp stuff) where the technology simply wasn't there yet for certain things, or the products I envisioned just hadn't been created.
 
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#76
Coming from a modest upbringing, I actually named a rat, whom I considered a pet... of course, after naming him, we bonded...

... I'm at a point in my life where owning several vermanachi is, how do you say... cliche? I have had to obtain a second job just to maintain their cheese 'addiction'. Their very existence forces me to divert my attention to something more substantial, giving me purpose, each and every day...

... the four string bass, and every derivative, thereof...

... I want... them... all.
 
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#79
For the most part I only buy gear when I need it. I never really thought about buying gear until I joined TB. So in the 3 years I've been a member I've purchased a Hartke LH1000 w/the hd410 and hd115 to replace a Peavey TNT 115 that weighed a ton, I've added a passive Jazz and P bass as I already had a P bass with an Aguilar OBP 3 preamp, and I purchased a Fender Rumble 100 as a practice amp. I'm a tight wad. I actually wanted a Ampeg SVT 4 Pro but I saw the Hartke and the price difference (although, I recently had the pleasure of playing through that Ampeg and a 410 ampeg cab and it was phat). I also have a Boss RC300 Looper that I love and MXR EQ and MXR Bass D.I.
 
#80
I was buying gear for years because of the excitement of new tones, new basses (the way they play and feel) and having a collection of really cool stuff. But then eventually (after I had acquired my dream basses) the money ran thin, the excitement wore off and I realized that besides my four mainstay basses, I couldn't possibly need anything else (but it wasn't really about "need", was it? Lol!). And I started getting more serious about my playing and technique. At that point I realized that I have all the gear I could ever need to carry through any gig. Couldn't say the same about my chops.

So now my obsession is improving my working knowledge of theory and technique. Needless to say my wallet is thanking me every day!
 
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