What made you sell your stuff?

[DaytonaRik]

I've been lucky - I always liked the sound of Ashdown gear when I was a guitarist so it's what I went straight for as a bass player and still have, although I've traded from a combo and cab to a head and a pair of cabs.  Bass wise, I still have the Bass Collection I started with, had a Schecter Diamond series Jazz for a while (wish I still had that one actually)  before finding Thunderbirds.

Moved to a couple of P basses (Limelight and Tokai) for my stint in a Thin Lizzy tribute for a few years before moving back to T'birds a couple of years ago.  I only added a Steinberg Spirit for smaller stages and an unplugged acoustic rock trio for a less imposing visual statement!

I don't use pedals so no constant merry go round of those things, my rack tuner I've had for years (20 maybe!) and I've only just changed my wireless because I thought it had developed a fault (turns out it hadn't) so I'm pretty settled in my setup.

I was the same with guitars - I still have a '96 Patrick Eggle bought new, a 2006 SG Standard, a BC Rich Assassin from 2002 and a Godin Acosticaster from the late 90's.  I had a Marshall JMP-1/9100 rig with a Rocktron Intellifex Ltd multi-fx for years too - if it works and creates the sound I want then I stick with it.  I don't feel the need for constant experimentation or change for the sake of change

Edited September 11, 2020 by DaytonaRik

[Newfoundfreedom]

Poverty. Keeping a car on the road to get to work was more important than a bass I didn't play, because I was too busy working. 

Also, being homeless puts a bit of a damper on your bass collecting aspirations. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Newfoundfreedom

[stu_g]

i am supposed to be driving to cornwall next week and i just noticed a pool of oil under my car when i parked it ,i could sell some gear but i dont think im going to have time to sort it all out,the missus will not be amused she is a nurse and has really been looking forward to this trip,hopefully i can get it sorted in a few days,im gonna sell my gear due to never using it all and i dont want to shift amps next time i move just to put them in a cupboard again.

 

[Simon.]

Sold my first ever bass (Jim Deacon!) to raise funds for my first 'proper' bass - Fender P Lyte, which I still have.

Only sold one other bass, which was very closely tied to a band I was in, but departed from in very messy circumstances. Couldn't stand the association, so the bass had to go.

Currently having on/off debates with myself about shifting my ACG, but that's only because I'm not playing much these days, and it seems daft for it to be sat there, not being used... In reality, I just need to get myself in gear and play more! Plus Mrs Simon. would kill me if I did sell it. Always a bit of an incentive!

[miles'tone]

Because I'm very impulsive and have the attention span of a gnat crossed with both a magpie's eye for shiny things and Steptoe's eye for crappy looking relic stuff. 

Had I been a banker I could have easily caused the global financial crash single-handedly.

Edited September 12, 2020 by miles'tone

[AndyTravis]

30 minutes ago, miles'tone said:

Because I'm very impulsive and have the attention span of a gnat crossed with both a magpie's eye for shiny stuff and Steptoe's eye for crappy looking relic stuff. 

Had I been a banker I could have easily caused the global financial crash single-handedly.

This 

[Nail Soup]

I hardly ever sell stuff. 

I only buy a limited amount of gear, so don't need to move it on. I only buy budget gear, so there is not much money tied up in it. I am reaching the maximum amount of space now, so If I did get a new bass or acoustic guitar I'd probably dispose of the old one. 

[Matt P]

Space, I only have room for what I have now, about 15 instruments in total (guitars and basses) if I want something new then something has to go first to make space, I have only ever had one bass amp at a time and since I went to markbass and barefaced I haven't had any amp gas. My guitar amp collection has been slimmed down considerably and what is left isn't going anywhere. 

Matt 

[paul_5]

Space - big cabs do not make for domestic bliss, also they’re really heavy!

[Thunderbird]

In the past I've sold stuff as I needed the cash but a few years back I sold everything as I just became disinterested with playing and wasn't very well 

I have got a fair bit of gear now and only really sell stuff to buy or try new things out 

[alyctes]

Lack of job.

Lack of money.

Lack of space.

[uk_lefty]

In my twenties I wasn't in gigging bands. I sold off a Warwick Steamer LX and Warwick Sweet 15 amp together to pay for a training course my employer wouldn't pay for on my behalf. I often think I could have done more with that bass. 

Other times it's just the processing through of gear. Buy something, it doesn't do what I need so I sell it for something else. I took ages to decide to sell my MIJ P Bass but haven't regretted it for a minute. I got a good price and invested in a jazz that suits me a hundred times better. I now have an 80s Aria that I'm not sure about keeping so will see how that goes and maybe move it on but not sure I need four basses at all. At the moment I feel guilty about the amount of gear and am selling bits off with no solid plans of spending the money... Yet. 

[Johngh]

Tinnitus.

The amount of Basses I got through was frightening now I look back, Had a least 5 custom made Status Graphite's made 4,5 and 6 string. I had a Shuker 6 string headless made, had Dingwalls, Alembic Mark King x 2 one only lasted a week as I couldn't get it set up right. Ricky's, Stingrays, Warwicks, Yamaha, Sei, the list goes on, all in the name of trying to find the perfect bass. Didn't own them all at once you understand !

Used to smuggle them into the house at one point :-) 

I also owned the Status S2 Classic "Miss Myrtle" that is beyond doubt one of the nicest Status S2's ever made. Sold it as I couldn't get it setup how I liked it.

Last bass i owned up till recently was a Fender Jazz Deluxe 5 string. Then I ended up with bad tinnitus that I've now had 24/7 for the last 5 years. The Jazz sat unused for 2 years so I sold it.

Not played at all for 3 years, but recently bought an American Jazz Deluxe 4 with an East Pre in it. Now I'm back on here trawling the basses for sale forum again, so God know's what will happen.

Edited September 23, 2020 by Johngh

[uk_lefty]

On 12/09/2020 at 15:12, uk_lefty said:

I now have an 80s Aria that I'm not sure about keeping so will see how that goes and maybe move it on but not sure I need four basses at all. At the moment I feel guilty about the amount of gear and am selling bits off with no solid plans of spending the money... Yet. 

Well that didn't last long! The Aria has gone. It spent more time in pieces waiting for repair with me than it did working. Try as I might it just didn't give me what I expected and crucially it couldn't compete with my Stingray or Jazz, I just couldn't see me using it in any situation. It got sold this weekend. Now, you know I said I was feeling guilty about having 4 basses and so on... I've never had a semi hollow so don't be surprised if there's a lefty NBD with a Hofner or Warwick Star Bass or something in the next few weeks....!

I'd also been hanging on to a Badass Bridge thinking I would put it on my jazz but really, it was worth enough to sell and it funded a vocal effect pedal I wanted and left me with change. No regrets at all. I am even considering booting out my acoustic guitar and Telecaster and having just one electric guitar. 

[Skybone]

Things change.

Tastes change, requirements change, situations change, times change.

 

 

[Nobatron]

Usually I sell stuff when there's something I want to buy.

I don't like accumulating much stuff and I'm very aware that I have a lot already. I currently have 3 basses and wouldn't want to have more than 4. So if I see something I want I'll usually move something out to make room for it. It also helps me to think about whether I really need whatever shiny new thing I'm currently infatuated with when I have to let go of something else. Otherwise it would likely get out of control.

[gjones]

I do love playing and owning basses but I also see them as an investment.

Good quality bass guitars/6 string guitars, are one of the very few things that hold their value over the years.

So when I have spare money, that otherwise would be just frittered away, I buy a bass guitar instead. I always buy secondhand, as they've already depreciated from their new selling price and are unlikely to depreciate any further.

I have about a dozen USA and MIJ fenders, plus a Stingray in the 'Bank of Bass'.

So far I haven't had to sell any of them but, it's good to know, if I did end up needing cash I could put them on the market.

 

[Marvin]

Space,  if I don't like what I've got, or I'm not using something I've got.

Space is the big factor. I've only got a smallish house so can't have lots of gear around the house. I've never had more than 3 basses, at the moment I've got 2.

There's gear I'd still like to have, but to be honest I'd not use it now. There a couple of bits that I really regret selling. One was a 1991 Squier P bass, made in Korea. The other was a Fender Rumble 500 combo.

I sold my last amp and cab about 18 months ago because I wasn't in a band and had no intention of being in one, so it was surplus to requirement. I didn't sell my 2 basses, I just can't. They're not expensive or anything really special to anyone else, but they are 2 basses that I really like playing.

I did buy an amp a few weeks ago. But with modern amps, they're not difficult to store. And although I'm not likely (like many of us) to be gigging any time soon I am looking to get a cab. It'll have to be small though.

[Dan Dare]

I rarely sell stuff. When I do, it's because I have replaced it. I rarely buy stuff, either. I kept the same bass for many years (and still have it). I've picked up a couple of others to keep it company, but only have 4. Had a bit of a flurry of amp and cab trying, buying and selling in recent years when I decided to go lightweight, but have settled with what I have now. Haven't seen or heard anything that makes we want to change thus far. Never say never, of course.

[LukeFRC]

Originally- when I realised I could sell things I wasn’t using to buy things that I wanted and upgrade stage by stage.

then I have a fairly short bucket list so I would buy and sell to work my way through that list of things I wanted to try. Tried pretty much everything I wanted and crucially worked out what I liked.

then recently it’s been accidental buying things to try... and then finding I prefer them to what I had. I got up to four basses and wrote on here that I could sell them all as I was so happy with the Jazz I had. It wasn’t hyperbole and a year later I had sold half of them. The last “extra” Might go and I might blow all the money in 2-3 basses on a nice old P bass. 

im genuinely happier with less basses as I play music more and think about basses less

 

[ProfJames]

On 11/09/2020 at 18:42, Saul Panzer said:

Injury, I couldn't do the work I used to and had to pay bills while I recovered (being able to limp your way to a 20 minute job center appointment equaled being capable of 12 hour manual labor shifts to the government so no financial help there).

Luckily I had a decent collection of regular guitars/saxophones to sell which supplemented the bits of cash in hand I was able to do.

I had 22 saxes and 29 basses.................. now.....one Martin Master Typewriter alto and seven basses........

Edited September 25, 2020 by ProfJames

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, ProfJames said:

I had 22 saxes and 29 basses.................. now.....one Martin Master Typewriter alto and seven basses........

I spy a lot of Peavey love 

[ProfJames]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

I spy a lot of Peavey love 

Yes, I had a few T40, T45, G bass, Zephyrs, etc.  Very well made, consistent, Cirrus is superb.  Plus a few Fenders, MM4HH, 4003s.............now I'm a Sandberg man mainly............

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 11/09/2020 at 17:41, Painy said:

Divorce! 🙄

This.

Also cost me 30 years' worth of vinyl LPs, a lovely hifi, half a house, all my amps & cabs..

Sold them all to make ends meet. 

Managed to keep the very best couple of instruments. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Lfalex v1.1

[bassbiscuits]

For me it's usually been cos I needed the money and had gear I wasn't using that was ripe for flogging.

I've sold some basses for being uncomfortably heavy, and others because I'd bought them on a whim and not really liked them enough.

In terms of effects, gadgets and gizmos, its usually because after the initial flurry of interest they go back in the drawer and get forgotten about.

There's a few bits of kit I wish I'd kept, but then again I've mananged without them, so probably would have flogged them by now anyway.