I am definitely someone with a "you might need it someday" thrifty attitude, but in reality, there isn't much gear I've sold whose loss became an impediment to me making music. There are some things I miss because they were cool. Also some things that were a good investment that I guess I regret. I'm trying lately to not get hung up on resale value and to think of gear as simply a creative tool.

This might be rhetorical/commiseration more than anything but do you ever get a piece of gear out, give it the ol' test to make sure it's in working condition and you just think "fuck man there's no way I can get rid of this..."

...even though it maybe has not been getting used and is just sitting with an entire mountain of other gear not getting used?

FML so stupid I'm selling it anyway even knowing I'll regret it.

Garth wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:00 pm This might be rhetorical/commiseration more than anything but do you ever get a piece of gear out, give it the ol' test to make sure it's in working condition and you just think "fuck man there's no way I can get rid of this..."

...even though it maybe has not been getting used and is just sitting with an entire mountain of other gear not getting used?

FML so stupid I'm selling it anyway even knowing I'll regret it.

This is me every time I think about selling my JTM45. Every. Time.

Garth wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:00 pm This might be rhetorical/commiseration more than anything but do you ever get a piece of gear out, give it the ol' test to make sure it's in working condition and you just think "fuck man there's no way I can get rid of this..."

...even though it maybe has not been getting used and is just sitting with an entire mountain of other gear not getting used?

FML so stupid I'm selling it anyway even knowing I'll regret it.

This is me with about 95% of what I own.

Really take a look at what you're using, how much space you actually have to to work with and how the things are impacting your life - sell some things, invest the money and have fun watching that money grow against the stuff you kept. It'll probably outpace it, but you never know.
I feel great knowing amps I bought for 200-300 bucks that are now worth $1000, are also something I can play whenever I want. Meanwhile my cash right now is losing value to inflation. So I have a lot of gear I don't use on a regular basis, but it makes me happy! I loan it to friends all the time, I learn about different things and sounds - I think I have a healthy relationship with it.

Virtually any of this stuff you can almost certainly always get back so if it's not adding to your happiness, get rid of it - it's just more money, which isn't terrible - it's a very 'known quantity' problem to solve.

Kind of a case by case scenario, depending on each specific piece of gear, but in general I'm a huge fan of paring down possessions, and would recommend it. Have been an on-and-off eBay member since the late nineties and got back into it again this past year to sell off things (mostly records, but a few pedals, and various odds and ends) I don't want or need anymore. This has helped me acquire a few things I do want/need.

Am also regularly in the habit of donating all kinds of stuff to the Goodwill. A big part of this is just a strategy to reduce clutter here, but the other component is that I think it's "good karma" (or something similar) to pass potentially useful things on to others. Realistically if you'll never use something, instead of having it continue to take up space and collect dust, you can let it go and someone who will benefit more from it can have it. (For a more poetic take on this, read Lewis Hyde's The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, which I haven't delved into in maybe twenty years, but...it deals with the positivity in circulating things.)

As far as owning loads of guitars/basses/etc., I won't judge others exactly, but can't imagine needing more than half a dozen at a time, which is more than I've got currently.

[Edited for spelling.]

My whole thing came about from recording at the entry level back before everyone could just DIY it. Worked w/ a lot of young bands, punk bands, etc and gear-snobbery aside, often they'd come in w/ stuff that was impossible to make sound passable so it made sense for me to have stuff they could use if their amp wasn't working or they had a hand-me-down drum kit with the original factory heads on it and 8 layers of duct tape - and even then I'd do my best to capture it if it still sounded good to them or that was what they wanted (st. anger jokes aside)

And of course as my client base grew and grew, folks would frequently want to trade gear or get rid of gear and I'd come upon deals. Then add in all the "crazy" deals I'd see on the local Craigslist and here I am 20 years later with Gear Mountain out in the garage.

Now I'm firmly entrenched in middle age and the idea that I have the time to pursue every crazy wild-hair-up-my-ass sound idea is clearly much farther-fetched than ever. Plus I'm just not musically creative or productive anymore. I've become no different than the redneck with a yard of junk car projects with grass growing through the wheels that they'll die leaving behind others to deal with. *sigh*

I think another huge part of it is just letting go of the idea that I'm a musician and not just a privileged punk dude who likes making noise. Further know in large part this is me and my adult-only-child (+ the dangerous double-income-no-kids) version of collecting all the neat playsets and toys, which I know is absolutely entrenched in my psyche. *double-sigh*

I just need to move into action towards the destination I guess.

Garth wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 11:25 am I think another huge part of it is just letting go of the idea that I'm a musician and not just a privileged punk dude who likes making noise. Further know in large part this is me and my adult-only-child (+ the dangerous double-income-no-kids) version of collecting all the neat playsets and toys, which I know is absolutely entrenched in my psyche. *double-sigh*

oh shit you got me

TylerDeadPine wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:22 pm

Garth wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 11:25 am I think another huge part of it is just letting go of the idea that I'm a musician and not just a privileged punk dude who likes making noise. Further know in large part this is me and my adult-only-child (+ the dangerous double-income-no-kids) version of collecting all the neat playsets and toys, which I know is absolutely entrenched in my psyche. *double-sigh*

oh shit you got me

acceptance is the key to serenity

I have 3 or 4 mostly not valuable (and modified) electric guitars that I basically don't play anymore. I have no problem 'letting go' of stuff but dread the mountain of work and even money to get them into a state where others would want them. Maybe I'll just drop 'em off in a Goodwill bin and speed off..

Wishing I could go back 20 years and just buy one really nice Tele or Strat and that could've been my guitar for life, instead of weird hodgepodge crap I thought made me 'stand out' or whatever at the time. I'd rather prevent the cumbersome and embarrassing estate sale while I'm here..