How Do You Prevent Regretting Selling A Guitar?

[JTI]

No
They're made from corpses of living things, even after several decades of development they're still like a preschool science project, they go out of tune, necks bend and twist, frets ware out, electronics rust, pots crackle, strings brake, they buzz, and they get dings!
They're all crap. I hate them all!

floyd flashback

 

[Gearzilla]

Think about it for a few more weeks. See if you feel the same or differently then. Rinse, wash, repeat.... When it's really time to move on from a guitar(if/when it occurs)you'll know.

 

[jellodog]

More seriously, though... I tend to have a "6 months rule" for most of my belongings. i.e. If I've not used, seen or thought about an item for 6 months or more, then it is considered "ripe for purging" and promoted to that status.

I may already purge the item at that point, but if I'm still not sure then I make a mental note and then leave it until a year has elapsed. If at that year point I still have not used, seen or thought about the item, then it is definitely gone very soon after that.

 

[la szum]

Marie Kondo has entered the chat......

 

[Fireproof]

Maybe I could start with this POS PRS SE Tremonti, and see how I feel.
Then the Takamine acoustic, yeah, that one wouldn't be a problem.
Then maybe the 12-string Taylor I bought really only to be able to play Hole Hearted.

That’s so funny. I almost bought a 12-string for Hole Hearted, LMAO. Great song and Nuno rocks!!

 

[Fireproof]

Here’s my take:
- if you like them, but just aren’t playing them, then keep ‘em. Your interests, moods, preferences, may change, and it’s always nice to have others to play with. Example: I thought I had too many LP Standards. Let one go for a really good price (for the buyer). Regretted it. It was a great guitar and now would cost more to replace which is irritating.

- if you don’t like them, move them. Why keep something you don’t like and will likely never play? Example: I had a Strat with a 7.5” radius and hated playing it, but I kept it because it was cool. Finally sold it and don’t regret it one bit. Also had a Revstar that was cool, but was my only guitar with jumbo frets, and I hated having to be careful of fretting chords out of tune on that thing, so I never played It. Sold it and don’t regret it.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I have 19 guitars and play maybe 4 of them but I do rotate out here and there. For me it doesn't help that I refuse to ship guitars and they are all left handed. I did a small test once and put a MIM Fat Strat on craiglsist for 200 bucks. Loaded with a 920D custom pickguard that has Seymour Duncans throughout. The loaded 920D set up cost me 450 dollars alone.

Not a single nibble in a week. Took it down. Not even a flipper contacted me.

 

[Sleezy E]

I have 7 electrics. 2 I keep for sentimental reasons

The other 5 are all different... Strat, Gretsch, Sheraton, Parker, Jtv59

I do mostly home recording these days so I like to have different flavors at my disposal... once I find the right Tele, I think I'll be set.... maybe...

I had a PM going with the guy on the Fractal forum (he recently bought a brand new Silverburst and posted pics- it's gorgeous!), and I told him the stories behind my guitar..., the time the cymbal stand fell and the edge of the cymbal cut a little slit onto the neck binding, how it got the buckle rash from a friend when it was brand new... Sigh

My thinking was if I did sell it to him, I'd want its back-story to go with the guitar. These pieces of wood and metal are going to outlive us all.

My first bass has a ding from an NES controller.

I was sooo pissed when it happened, now every time I see it I smile.

 

[Sleezy E]

Oh... I forgot to answer the question....

I keep my herd tight and try not to give into GAS anymore... if you have everything you need, there is no reason NOT to keep it.

 

[Bruce]

Welcome to my world. As a general rule, I dont flip gear. I’ve made a few exceptions, but only a few and its usually something like a modeler because I got the new model.

I remember every guitar I ever flipped and I miss exactly ALL of them.

 

[Eagle]

One other consideration for me ;
I picked up quite a lot of my guitars because they are exceptional examples and I am trade so I paid way under market.
This leaves me in the position of owning 15 plus guitars out of my collection that I hardly play BUT when I feel like playing a (insert name) I have a very good one in the room already. The problem is prices have gone way high and a lot of these are now $5k+ guitars and there is no way I would pay that for one because I don't like them $5k+. I do however like them for the $750 I paid. The thing is if I sold them I wouldn't buy another because I only like them $1~2k but I would never be able to replace them at this price. So I have to keep them or resign myself to not owning another because they are not worth $xxxx that you would have to pay now (to Me). So I have a room full of guitars that I pull out and go "wow that's great" and then put back in the case for another year.

 

[Jarick]

Here's what I'd do...

Pack it up and put it away in a closet or something, then set a calendar reminder for six months out to sell the guitar. If you hit that calendar reminder and the guitar is still in the closet, go ahead and sell it because you aren't going to miss it. That's assuming you have a bunch of guitars and there's no sentimental attachment.

For me, unless you're a professional musician or a collector (a real collector, not someone hoarding cheap guitars), there's probably not much reason to have more than half a dozen guitars. You can cover a lot of ground with a handful of different styles.

 

[DrewJD82]

You are right there is no magic in them.... unless and until we put it there with our blood, sweat, and tears.
Then there is stardust and love and longing and memories and hopes and dreams coursing through them
there sticks and wires.

I am a pantheist, though, who believes there is spirit in all things---and name my cars and appliances,
so what do I know.

Yeah, I’m with ya on this one.

While I don’t play my JEM nearly as much these days, that guitar took a lot of abuse back when I was off the rails, like whatever I couldn’t handle or didn’t have the capacity for, it got taken out on that guitar in one way or another and it’s never let me down. I’ve slept on that guitar case more than once when I was couch-surfing (or carpet surfing), so many times in my younger years where I felt alone and completely f*cked in the head and that guitar was the only thing I could ‘communicate’ with, there’s a ton of sentimental value in it 25 years later.

Once I write something on a guitar, I tend to form a bond with it. Another reason I’m willing to sell the PRS’ I never wrote a single thing on that guitar, despite the 9 months of playing it nonstop. My SZ and the Gilmour Strat are close under the JEM for sentimental value, for different reasons.

They’re definitely more than just wire and wood for me, I can understand how they’re viewed that way, but they’ve provided way too much support/an outlet for me over the years for me to view them as just physical objects.

 

[Devin]

By not selling it lol

 

[Baba]

Here’s my take:
- if you like them, but just aren’t playing them, then keep ‘em. Your interests, moods, preferences, may change, and it’s always nice to have others to play with. Example: I thought I had too many LP Standards. Let one go for a really good price (for the buyer). Regretted it. It was a great guitar and now would cost more to replace which is irritating.

Exactly this, for me.

It may not be true for you OP, but, I don't currently play half my guitars, because the band I'm in right now has different needs than my previous bands, BUT, I still like those guitars, and the kinds of music you can play on them, so, one day, later on, when I get into a different band, or wanna jam with some friends, and those guitars are the better choice, I'll have them at the ready.

Also, to Fireproof's other point, EVERY one of the ones I'm not playing right now, are either somewhat rare, (like my Ibanez RG410 in Cherry Ice, or PRS Custom 24 Artist Package with rosewood neck, or Carvin Contour 66 with spalted maple top), and don't pop up for sale that often, or, would cost a good amount more now, than they did when I bought them, to replace, and that would REALLY bother me.

 

[Stratzrus]

For years, decades really, I didn't sell my guitars. Over time they grew in number.

When I had a large apartment with a large walk in closet I had space for them but when I moved the majority of them had to be stored. In time I realized I was paying to store guitars that I wasn't playing and wasn't likely to play. When some other priorities emerged I decided to let some go.

I ended up selling almost half of them keeping the ones I really enjoyed playing. I knew that finding replacements for them would be difficult if not impossible and even if I could I'd have to pay twice what I'd paid for them years ago.

So I let go some really nice ones; my USA Custom Shop Korina Dean Z and V, my Fender Elites, my 1991 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Custom 400, a StingRay five string, an American Deluxe bass and a few others.

But I still have some really nice ones that more than cover the bases of what I want to play (see this post in a different thread: https://thegearforum.com/threads/current-guitar-lineup.280/page-3#post-32345

I have no regrets about thinning the herd but I do miss looking at some of them even if I wasn't playing them. Ultimately it came down to the decision to stop holding on to guitars I knew I wasn't playing and wasn't going to play. I'm better off for it and the funds were put to a better use after I finally decided to let them go.

 

[Steinmetzify]

I basically only keep guitars for a scale length/tuning.

I bought a certain guitar that was 25.5” for drop C and it turned out to be much better than the guitar I already had in that scale for that tuning, so the latter got given to a friend that needed a backup for a tour.

The only exception to this rule is I have an ESP Viper in 24.75” for drop B, and I have a custom built LP same scale for same tuning. Viper isn’t a better guitar but is easier to play.

The LP was a joint thing between my wife and I when we really couldn’t afford it, and was built by a friend of mine. It has different specs than any other LP Standard, and he’s since quit building guitars and it can never be replaced so it stays. Was my main guitar for 9 or so years but I haven’t touched it in two except for maintenance. It’s not going anywhere.

Long story long, if I don’t need it it’s gone, unless there’s a personal reason.

 

[DrewJD82]

I discovered this morning, as my PRS was delivered to my best friend, that buying 2 more guitars will completely make you forget about the one you sold! He’s going to keep it, but when he joked about selling it I really couldn’t have cared less, I’m all wrapped up with LP’s now.

Kinda like ‘nothin’ gets you over your ex like getting on top of someone else”