ksdaddy Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I have always swapped, sold, bought guitars. I am not a collector or a hoarder. I have ONE Tele, ONE LP, etc. I've almost never had more than one of something and if I did, I very quickly sold off the one I liked less so I could replace it with something I didn't already have. Quite often I am not in a financial position to outright buy another instrument and that means selling off another one (or many) in order to have the cash in hand. If i truly do not like a particular instrument then there's no harm done. However sometimes I justify selling off a guitar just because it doesn't get the use I think it should or it's current market value is such that I really should drop it like it's hot. I'm getting sick of that. From now on I'm going to make every effort to hang on to my guitars even if it means less traffic. I'll just have to live with that. Of course I have the mindset that 'all I need is this next one....' which is pure steaming poo and you all KNOW it. (It's an SG in case you were curious, but check back next week, it could be a Japanese Domino Vox teardrop copy.) And what brought this on all of a sudden? Ehh... I miss my L6S. And a couple of the dozen Strats I've had in the past 10 years. Never should have sold that L6S but it was collecting dust ya know.... *idiot!* (punches self in face). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I give you the male, Mid-Life crisis... I guess it beats hot flashes... or so my wife tells me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 In 1988 I returned to playing guitar after a three year hiatus. I bought a used 1974 Yamaki Deluxe and immediately replaced the folk heads with a good set of Grovers. Shortly after, I got a call from the previous owner's family. The guitar had been traded in by a brother who really didn't own it in the first place and the original owner, this man's dad, had recently passed away. The daughter, distraught, wanted daddy's guitar back - but I refused to sell it to her. My reasoning was simple: If the guitar went back to her, just to sit in a closet and rot, it would be a total waste -- and it had been rotting long before the brother traded it in on a new Norman ( total disrespect ). By finding me, the guitar became my daily busking special and it went around the world for three years until it was completely played out and played to death. I earned my living and my life experience with that guitar and put it to rest after restoration in the hands of a new owner who was just learning to play guitar -- a gift. I wonder -- is your L6S having more fun with its new daddy than it was going to have with you? Is there really anything to lament? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peiplayer Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Well ksdaddy....I dunno. You're obviously good at stuff and seemingly happy and contented in buying, fixing up, selling, on to the next project etc......I think maybe you'd miss it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eots Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 My first guitar was an L6. Regretfully sold along with a crybaby,and memoryman flanger for $100 all told...DOH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerpopper Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I recently had a similar experience. After going on a small, 3 guitar buying binge, I found the absolute, be-all, end-all guitar to complete my collection. The object of my affection is a Firebird Custom and my local shop has one in stock, at a 45% discount, no less. I love my guitars very much, but I love my wife more and well, let's face it, it's important to keep the peace on so many different levels. So I figured I would sell a guitar or two (electrics) to cover the cost of the Firebird Custom. Pulled 'em out, photographed them for auction and the whole nine, but when it came down to it I just couldn't part with them. So the Firebird sits in the shop, two blocks from my house and my hot little hands. My instant gratification gland is very irritable right about now, but I made a promise to my wife that no Firebird Custom will cross the threshold of our home prior to March 15, 2010. No buyin', no sellin', no tradin', no nothin'. There's getting good at the buying and then there's getting good at the playing, which is what I'm going to focus on for the rest of this year and the first 74 of next year. I'm gonna miss it for sure, but it's for the best...and damn, I got some great guitars this year. Plus, my wife assures me that come next March, finally getting the Firebird will be that much sweeter. Sadly, I admit that she is most likely right... Which brings me around to my point that the year of waiting is much preferable to the seller's remorse I would otherwise experience. Having said that, I only regret selling a few guitars over the years. An SG '61 Reissue and a Fender Custom Shop Nocaster, but those are electrics and I wouldn't play them much anyway. Wish I hadn't sold my first 1990 Taylor 710, either, but she'd probably be gathering dust too, so I can't complain about my embarrassment of riches. Besides, I've hardly seen two guys as happy as the ones who bought my SG and my Nocaster, so I'm sure they went to good homes and the 710 went to Mandolin Brothers, so how bad could things be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 The only guitar I wish I'd never sold was my '72 Les Paul Recording. I gigged it in bars from Mesa Arizona, to Lake Charles Louisiana, to here in Illinois and wore the frets, and the paint, off it. 14 years from about 1981-1995. I didn't know anybody to fret it, and was starting a Country project, and sold myself on the idea I needed a Strat. The Strat's gone too, but I don't miss it.......... Great topic. Murph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmith9509 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I haven't sold a guitar since the el-cheapo Alvarez that I learned on for the first two years. I am, however, an incurable tweaker; I love to mess around and mod my instruments to improve tone and playability. This is probably not great for resale value, but I don't care- I plan to keep them all. It also probably costs me a lot less than constantly trading instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebee Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 A few years ago I had an opportunity to play a Santa Cruz dread. At the time I made a conscious decision to make every effort to obtain one. It took a while, as you know they are not inexpensive, and now whenever I get the GAS that inevitably flows from these forum reads, I pick up the Cruz and "relieve" some GAS. Aint nothing like the feel of expelling GAS...puts a smile on yer face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumps Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 well... I'm sure we can all relate in some fashion my first nice guitar was an '84 fender american strat - sunburst, white pickguard, maple neck. loved it. sold it in college to round up the cash needed to finish the semester with money. also sold a mic and mic stand, original whah whah pedal, and some other stuff... yeah I miss it, but to be honest, the bridge was retarded and made string changing a PITA, plus I really needed the money 3 years ago I sold my most prized possession - a pop up camper - because my wife spent 4 days in the hospital and the co-pays were overwhelming and in the thousands. Me and the kids hated to see it go... yeah I missed it, but to be honest, it was showing some wear, and I really needed the cash, it beat paying rich hospitals and rich doctors with credit, plus I got a good price. just one of those things. look forward... :-) I bet NO ONE ever wistfully misses their ex-wives. ex-guitars and ex-campers, maybe, but never ex-wives :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 '84 American Strat? Top loading FreeFlyte tremolo? No football plate? Yeah, those were winners, weren't they? They show up on ebay and most are missing the tremolo arms, which are impossible to buy. The one good thing about some of the 83-84 ones was that some had 1-3/4" wide necks, which was kinda cool on a Strat. Not for everyone but roomy and comfy sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr newhaven Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 this is a funny topic because this exact premise came into my head before i bought my guitars a couple of years ago. basically i saw a bunch of people who were buying guitars that they could afford as opposed to the ones they wanted. they kept them, played them, loved them, and then sold them...oftentimes for 60% of their value just to jump onto the next one. when i decided that I wanted to take up guitar again...I made a list of guitars that I wanted just in terms of "coolness" as opposed to playability... -les paul -strat -tele -casino -acoustic and then i looked at each category and tried to find one of each that really appealed to me. the strat was a no-brainer...i wanted a '62 AVRI...I could have bought a MIM or even a used MIA strat but i waited about 3 more months and just bought the one i originally intended on buying. like KSDADDY, i dont consider myself a hoarder or a collector...just someone that loves guitars...and i have no intention of selling any of my guitars...i just wanted to make sure that i wouldnt grow tired of them or get guitar envy over a newer/higher end model! my L-00 i love even though originally i wanted an LG-2. i still would like one but i dont know if i could trade my L-00 for one. i think it would hurt too much! i wanted to get guitars that were more than what i needed so that i can grow into them and stretch out my skills with them! i also wanted to cover different types of sound with each guitar i got. i didnt want 2 strats for instance because they would sound very similar *i know pickups change this as does about a million other factors but i'm just talking general terms here my strat sounds different than my VM which sounds different from my Melody Maker which sounds different than a hollowbody...and i figured that if i could cover a different "genre" of guitar or even a different period of time i can have my cake and eat it too... **ie...a guitar suited for rockabilly or classic rock or blues or jazz or grunge...etc... the idea is that i have at my disposal the proper tools for all different kinds of sounds! looking back now i am very happy i just didnt get that MIM strat that was $600 cheaper than mine...because i know if i did it would probably be gone by now and i still would have bought my AVRI... buy what you love...and love what you buy! if not you will have regrets too! **now if only i had the 4-6k needed for a custom shop all rosewood tele....yummmmmmmmmmm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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