chris_b Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1350538898' post='1840153'] ....I feel I`ve suddenly grown up.... [/quote] You can gain wisdom with age but you never have to grow up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I go through phases like this Lozz and then I think "what the hell". I'm 66, worked hard for years and now semi-retired so why not enjoy life and indulge a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I'm 38 and wished I'd put more into my pension when I was younger. I should have paid off a lot of my mortgage but haven't etc. etc. I've come to realise that GAS is fun but not the actual aquisition part. I love looking, learning, researching etc. but once I've bought something I feel like I've actually lost something and the actual act is not the point. that's why I'm selling tons of stuff I've bought over the years and jsut living a simpler lifestyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1350552611' post='1840325'] After having a MIJ P bass for 15 years, then selling it, I can say they are lightweight, but unless you mod those pups, you won't be 100% happy. [/quote] Well it has a Nordstrand NP4 in it, but I`m already in the process of aquiring a US pickup - my faves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1350547471' post='1840233'] ... Anyone with high interest credit card debts and a low interest mortgage on a house with sufficient equity should be thinking about increasing the mortgage to pay off the credit cards. [/quote] That's not very good advice IMO. If you still have many years to run on your mortgage you could end up paying more. If you do this you should increase your mortgage repayments to a level that makes this advantageous. Do the maths first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlfer Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Lightweight head and cabs Lozz, way to go fella. Basses, different matter . For me the reality is I need 1 head, 1 cab and two basses. Failing on the basses bit! Spookily enough, gig last Friday, the realisation that despite everything, what I was using was plentiful and superb. Your Schroeder 410BMF, GB Shuttle 6, 17 year old Yam Att Special. Perfect sound, loads of vol to spare, 2 trips to the van. My Fenderbird was in it's case, just if I broke a string. Your realisation of gigging NEEDS is spot on. Good luck whichever way to go, you are a top dood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Unless you are in ill health 60 is very early to retire. IMO. Most people I know are semi retiring at 65 but still working at least part time at 70. Depends what your job is I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I'm in the process of selling all of my gear apart from my one "cheapy" bass. The idea was to get rid of a load of stuff I don't use to free up a stack of cash to buy some new stuff (mainly a Chapman Stick to replace the one I sold a few years ago). Now I find myself with a good few thousand quid at my disposal & all I can think is "what's the point of wasting this money on more stuff I'll hardly ever play?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1350554532' post='1840366'] That's not very good advice IMO. If you still have many years to run on your mortgage you could end up paying more. If you do this you should increase your mortgage repayments to a level that makes this advantageous. Do the maths first. [/quote] Agreed. I thought it was obvious to increase mortgage payments accordingly, but the bottom line is that both are forms of borrowing and mortgages usually have the lowest interest rates. If someone can afford to pay the interest on a credit card they'd be better off transferring the balance to a mortgage but still keep paying what the credit card was costing thus helping to pay down the mortgage capital instead of just giving money away to the credit card company. It's funny how people seem to think of mortgages as a different sort of debt to other forms of borrowing, leading them to leave equity tied up in their house and taking out an expensive car loan, or running up and servicing credit card debts. It's the sort of thing that leads people to have a savings account at the same time as a mortgage and getting a warm felling about having, say, £5k in the bank as a 'nest-egg'. Well, that £5k in the savings account would be put to better use by paying off a lump of the mortgage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1350556997' post='1840402'] It's the sort of thing that leads people to have a savings account at the same time as a mortgage and getting a warm felling about having, say, £5k in the bank as a 'nest-egg'. Well, that £5k in the savings account would be put to better use by paying off a lump of the mortgage. [/quote] Depends on rates and personal situation, if you've 5k in savings that you may need in an emergency then you can get it, if you pay of some Capitol it's a whole load of hassle, expensive and may not be a given to get it back from the mortgage company Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Fair point, but I've always thought of credit cards as the things for an emergency. A lot depends on the mortgagedetails . The last one I had had the facility to make lump sum repayments of up to 10% per year with no penalties. I found that doing this would instantly reduce my monthly repayments, making it easier to make another lump sum repayment the following year. It's surprising how this sort of thing can make a big difference and we got our 25 year mortgage paid off in about 15 years. My current mortgage is completely flexible and I can simply phone up to borrow as much as I like up to the agreed amount within a couple of days, with no arrangement costs. Pretty handy for emergencies and is the only reason I haven't actually redemmed it completely because the outstanding balance is under £1000 and costs me a whopping £1.70 per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Basses come and go Lozz, it is better to have loved and lost....etc. etc. I have quite a business like approach to bass equipment acquisition. Each bit of gear I buy has to pay for itself before I will replace it or buy something else. Depending on how many gigs I do there's usually a few months between purchases. I also won't sell something on unless it has paid its dues (except when its so awful it has to go). So at the moment only one piece of gear owes me, that's my 5 string which I have not gigged yet. The rest I could sell tomorrow and whatever I get is a return on investment. Personally, in your situation I'd keep one of the Precisions as a workhorse and an investment - I think the value can only increase. That said, you cannot go far wrong with a Japanese Fender, and the older ones of these are creeping up in value now. I recently discovered my 80s Jap Telecaster is worth far more than I paid for it just 5 years ago. So even if you do go the whole way its not an unwise move at all. The lightweight stuff goes without saying mate, its a no brainer for those of us who are getting older and whose backs are getting weaker. Your health should come before wealth. Whatever you do I'm sure you'll be happy in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I know how you feel to an extent Lozz, few differences - such as being told by a doctor that I'd been wasting my time with a pension, I won't make it that far (only one way of finding out though). But life can have events and changes of heart which you reassess things on. I'm offloading one of my guitars to a collector this w/e. My two electro-acoustics are on long-term loan to my niece, if she chose to keep one of them I wouldn't mind. Most of them have been gathering dusts for too long. Other side of the coin is that it makes space for a couple of other projects that have been on a back-burner for too long, for as & when they go onto a "front burner". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sorry to hear about it Loz. Smaller gear is always a plus tho. Glad you're looking at the future with a retirement age in mind . Tbh , the 'proper ' way of doing things ( work hard, join pension, buy a property) has gone out the window years ago. I'm 2 years older than you, always in constant employment( less than 6months unemployed). It looks like part time / temp work is the future . And of course , wages are coming down while cost of living is sky high. I think it's obvious pensions will be tampered with by any gvt we have in power( I hate all parties). At least you have a fairly good pension to tide you over till the gvt one, Try to keep your best stuff tho as you deserve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoVeryTired Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 One thing to consider in adding credit card debt to your mortgage - you're turning unsecured debt into something secured on your house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sympathy to you but word of caution. I went down the light weight Bergantino cabs and found they lacked a bit in rock band set up so ended up buying the heavier HT322 cab from Karlfer. Sometimes its good to have a back up plan just in case. Have you tried the exercise route first and strengthen back muscles. Save losing your well earned gear Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1350561560' post='1840481'] Sympathy to you but word of caution. I went down the light weight Bergantino cabs and found they lacked a bit in rock band set up so ended up buying the heavier HT322 cab from Karlfer. Sometimes its good to have a back up plan just in case. Have you tried the exercise route first and strengthen back muscles. Save losing your well earned gear Dave [/quote] Its the NEO factor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 My approach is simple. At 50 , I have what I damn well please. Manual labour , of course , is not something that pleases me - so I have people do that for me whenever possible. Usually takes the form of our drummers son and our extremely valuable roadie - Marc. In order to save space - rather than weight - I have bought a smaller rig recently though. I'm sure that many middle aged players give up because of the humping and dumping rather than the playing. I would suggest all of us do all we can to make sure that's not the reason we eventually hang up our basses. It's just not the right reason. Folk bleat on about the Stones playing at their age etc. 'How do they do it?...eternal youth' etc etc. Bollocks. When was the last time Mick Jagger humped a 4 by 12 up a fire escape at 1 in the morning in the pissing January rain?? There's your answer. When you think about what gigging players do....... it's equivalent to a studio flat move twice a night with a gig in the middle. Moving home is supposed to be one of the most stressful and uncomfortable things you can do... we choose to do it every weekend !!! I too am contemplating early retirement from 'work' - and am preparing for that assuming I'll still be around. I'm also aware that shrouds have no pockets. So - as with anything in life - balance is key. As for retirement from playing...... I just don't know. I expect Doc B is closer to the end than the beginning but maybe we'll morph into something different - something less physical. Maybe I'll do a lounge duo or something. Who knows. All I know is that when it ends I want to be in control. I want to choose to stop gigging rather than the stresses of gigging force me into doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1350561763' post='1840489'] All I know is that when it ends I want to be in control. [/quote] Amen to that - and not just the musical stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Well said Dr Dave, (although I can't help but read all of your posts in the voice of George Cole!) My Dad is well over 60 now and he's got diabetes which has affected his feet to a degree where he can barely walk 100 yards without stopping for a rest. Still he manages to do 4 or 5 gigs a week! He has settled on playing mostly jazz gigs where he can sit down and get away with a lightweight 1x10" combo and a lightweight bass (hence my small collection of 70s Musicman and Fender basses). He knows one day he'll have to stop doing gigs, but he says he's doing as much as he can in the meantime, enjoying every minute of it. Since he 'retired' he's been busier than ever. He says the trick is not to stop or slow down, once you do that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1350563581' post='1840529'] He says the trick is not to stop or slow down, once you do that's it. [/quote] Yep, I reckon the day people have a Stannah stirlift installed is the day they become incapable of climbing stairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sadly my dad has virtually got to the 'stairlift' point since his health has been in serious decline over the last few years. This is partly what has prompted me into looking at how soon I could realistically get away with retiring and still have a good few active years that I'm not working full time! Since I moved house nearly 5 years ago I've barely saved anything at all, any excess money I have each year gets thrown at additional payments on the mortgage since the % interest that is costing me far outweighs any % interest I would earn in an ISA or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1350538898' post='1840153'] Anyone else encountered/suffered the same sort-of experience with their gear? [/quote] Yes, Lozz it was whilst i was at the doctors trying to get my back sorted. Had a bit of an epiphany on the doctors couch (ooooh err missus) and wondered why i was lugging the equivalent of a large Fridge Freezer around at all times of day and night when i was only using a fraction of it. Most of the time my amp was barely on. Now got a Markbass/TC Electronics setup and a trolley - go to the gym 3 times a week, bit of Pilates and eat well. I was a bit younger than you but the good life catches up with you in the end. Its obvious you love your P - Basses but apart from sitting down during the gig, which I imagine wouldn't suit The Daves, what can you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I had to slim down my rig because I moved into a first-floor flat in an 18th century building and I couldn't get a 410 up the narrow stairs on my own. Fair enough if some people find compact neo cabs to be lacking, but if you're going through the PA anyway it doesn't really matter. If you consider your backline as your on-stage monitor then you realise it's actually beneficial not to be swamping the stage with a load of bass. FWIW my rig is currently a Shuttle head, Schroeder 212 and a pedalboard. I can carry all of those plus a bass and bag of cables from the car in one trip. It's a bit awkward and involves some shuffling, and hopefully no doors, but I can do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1350550823' post='1840293'] As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to play until my hands seize up completely through arthritis or my brain turns so spongy I can't remember the notes (or where I put the bass in the first place, or what a bass is) [/quote] Hoi! I resemble that comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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