Yesterday I sold 5 guitars. A Martin (Acoustic), an Ibanez (Jazz guitar), a Hohner (Jazz guitar) an RJ (Electric M16) and a Mandolin (No idea what to do with that!). Feels good. The Martin I wouldn't play as I was scared I'd damage it and the others were just surplus. I didn't get a great deal, but it was fair. They're going to a friend to be used in a music club and / or put on the walls for show. There's an empty space on my wall (sigh). Still, they've gone to a good home.

You can fix that easy. Buy more guitars

I did sneak in a Taylor travel guitar. Very nice and very easy to take on planes etc.

Congratulations. Instruments need to be played.

Of course, it's always hard to part with an old friend, so there is a conflict.

And I hope you find a new friend to fill the blank spot on your wall.

Notes

There's something to be said for a person who has the intestinal fortitude to sell his musical instruments. I can honestly say I've never been strong enough to part with any of my instruments. As a result, I have amassed way too many instruments over the years. I try playing all of them from time to time, but I have my favorites and they usually take precedence when I'm playing. It sounds like you did the right thing. Next time you plan on selling instruments please let us know so we can get a shot at them.

Kajun Jeaux

Some playing "damage" just adds character to a Martin unless it is a pristine high dollar collectable model. Janice's 1943 D-18 looks very rough to some folks but to us it just screams "I've been there...done that!"

Bud

cool... so now you can annoy the passengers all around you by practicing scales from NY to LA.

I'm a hoarder, and I tend not to get rid of things. Having said that, I've given away a lot of instruments over the years. I gave my nephew a cheap electric guitar when I realised I was never going to get any good at playing it, I gave my beloved Yamaha B20R organ to a church group, my 1880's upright piano to my niece (who still has it.) I also gave her a Yamaha portable keyboard. I threw away a 1975 Moog synthesizer, and also a Roland synthesizer. However I kept the piano accordion that I got second hand in about 1967 (I used in in the first band I was in) and I still have my Roland electric piano - my first - that made me a lot of money over the years. I don't think I could ever get rid or that.

If I ever get to America. More likely Hong Kong to Manila or those endless delays at the airport. I'll annoy my wife the most! If she notices from behind her iPhone.

I sold off 90% of my gear to buy the RV and it felt GREAT to clear that room and turn gear that sat idle into a down payment on an RV that I will use!! Live in, in fact!

Reading thru the thread its safe to say there's more than one way to look at this topic. But I tend to think like Eddie. Life changes. What we want and need at 65 may not be what we wanted or needed at 25.

If you can let go of the past and sell the toys of your youth it can be liberating and empowering. It also frees cash to pursue whatever interests you in the current stage of life.

Or not. I think everybody's mileage varies on this one. Be whole-hearted in whatever direction you take.

I'd like to sell some of my gear, but I have a musician son who would probably feel slighted if I don't will it to him, so my ability to make a whole-hearted decision on the matter is somewhat compromised.

I've given a couple of cheap acoustic guitars away to older children. I checked first to make sure they weren't valuable first though.

I've been playing sax for a long time, and when I bought saxes in music stores (before the Internet killed that business) I always traded in my old saxes. I traded in a Conn "Fireworks", Selmer Mark VI (which is now a collector's item and worth a fortune), and a Selmer Mark VII. I sold the Couf Superba on the Internet when I bought a new one from WWBW's website.

I keep 2 tenor saxes. The older one for playing outdoor gigs near salt water and it's also my back-up horn, and the newer one for indoor gigs.

But saxes aren't like guitars. Sax players tend to collect mouthpieces, but I've never been one of those. I find one that fits with my horn, and stick with it.

But I'm also a believer that the notes you choose, the dynamics you use, your phrasing, and the nuances you apply are much, much, much more important than tone, as long as your tone is 'in the ball park' for the music you are playing. If Hendrix had a tone like Santana, it wouldn't have mattered much.

Insights and incites by Notes.

Amen.

Biggest thing for me was that my instruments just sat. Most of you actually play them, some so much as it's your way of making a living. I got into "museum piece" mode for a while, where I got onto a guitar collecting kick. Strat, Tele, Les Paul, PRS, Ibanez, Ibanez bass, Epiphone Dot, Fender Bullet, and 2 Applause acoustics (black and red sunburst). And the most utility I got from them was when I sat them into individual stands and took a picture for nothing more that "Look what I have!!" (And you don't. The nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah was implied.) And there was the infamous "Help! I am trapped in a keyboard cage" picture where I was in a pit of 8 keyboards.

And now most of that stuff is in the hands of people who are actually using them for their intended purpose. Actually feels better to know they are being played. Especially the PRS and the Les Paul. Though the Les Paul went to a woman in That State Up North, who, to increase the severity of the injury also lives in the shadows of That School Up North. (Only college football fans will get that joke. O-H ) But she is also a Navy veteran, so it balanced out.

That hardest part was to resist the gear [*****] urge to look at that space and say "Man, I have room for ALL NEW STUFF!" Thus the RV purchase even knowing that it will sit in the driveway until at least spring. No funds, no gear [*****]!!

Just make sure you check the manual that you stored inside the case, that said "store it in a cool dry place"

The guy I sold them too has over 80 guitars. I feel liberated. I've got issues with gear. I buy it and then never use it. Insane activity and I'm not cured yet. I just had to have a looper and the stupid Boss looper has sat in it's box for 3 years! I still haven't got the Voicelive 3 Extreme out of its box, but I will and I will use it. My wife actually monitors my behaviour and fear/marriage/responsibility has limited my habit severely. She's actually now trying to stop me sell stuff. I think she's nervous she'll have to shift some handbags and shoes!

It would be fair if a wife shared the responsibility of unloading possessions that haven't been used in years. But it's been my experience that when the wife says "WE need to get rid of some stuff..."

... she means YOUR stuff!

;-)

POLITICALLY INCORRECT-O-METER
0_______________________/_100

It's never discussed anymore, but I'm leading by example.

Haha! Definitely!

I'm hard on my instruments. I use them, and although I don't abuse them, they are tools, and I don't keep them anywhere near museum condition.

I play one-nighters for a living, and one-nighters are notoriously hard on equipment. When it's time to replace one, it's pretty well worn.

But having a musician for a wife (I know, I'm lucky) it takes self-discipline to get rid of something. If I ask Leilani about getting rid of an instrument, she will probably say, "Are you sure you want to get rid of it?"

In fact, a few years ago when she saw me drooling over the Parker Dragonfly when it first appeared in the Sweetwater catalog, she said, "You need a better guitar." I now own two. One production model and one custom.

Unfortunately, you can't get a USA built Parker anymore. Great guitars, but bad marketing and they couldn't crack the Gibson/Fender/Ibanez mentality.

I gave away an Epiphone to a needy student when I got the Parker. I probably could have gotten a hundred or two for it, but this made me feel good. The kid was a talented and enthusiastic student of a friend of mine who taught. He is from a poor family, and was playing a junker. My friend let him skip payments when he couldn't afford the lesson. My friend passed on a year or so ago and I haven't heard anything about the kid since, but that's OK with me.

When we get one of those "Christmas Trees" for charity at a local Elks club that we play at, we try to fulfill the wish of someone who wants something musical. This year we bought a First Act for a kid, last year a microphone. It's a small thing to give back for all the years music has made my living.

Insights and incites by Notes

Neil,

Very timely post as I sit here looking at 11 guitar cases that have to be moved next week to the new home. But I did manage to make my oldest grandson very happy this morning as I handed him a never played (1 of 3) Gibson Blues Hawks that Mr. BB King autographed personally for me one night in his dressing room at the New Orleans House of Blues.

Another was donated and auctioned off for a local charity I was involved with a few years ago. The remaining one will be displayed in a glass case on the wall of my new Long Beach Mississippi home and will eventually go to my youngest grandson.

Of course the remaining 9 assorted instruments are played on a pretty regular basis, and will go to other family members when I get that big booking "In Da Sky."

Later,

I hope not for a long time Danny! You streetjelly fans would never get over it. Your grandsons are very lucky.

Thank you Neil,re: streetjelly you might also want to check out Krue.tv and mysonglist.com

Later,