2019 - The Year of *almost* No Gear
Dec 4, 2019 12:34:38 GMT
Wild Violet, ocarolan, and 7 more like this
Post by jackorion on Dec 4, 2019 12:34:38 GMT
Although there are a few weeks of the year left for this to change, 2019 has been my least ‘gear-y’ year for a long while.
Partly that’s down to the reality of trying to earn a living through music and journalism (ie I have no money!), partly it’s down to me getting over having worked in a guitar shop for so many years and the buying frenzy that can install, but mainly I feel it’s because I’ve gotten to a place where I know what I want from my gear and what I’m able to get out of it.
So this year I’ve sold my ’31 Martin 5-17t as it wasn’t getting played, my Rickenbacker 360/12c63 as it wasn’t getting played, and also my Collings OM2h ss vn as it wasn’t getting played as much as my other two guitars.
One of those guitars, the Rickenbacker, I swore that I’d never sell. Even though I hardly ever played it, whenever I got it out of the case I thought it was so beautiful and I’d spend ages looking at it before strumming A Hard Day’s Night for three minutes and then putting it away again for a month or two.
My Collings OM2h ss vn was a beautiful guitar with a great sound and it played so well, and sounded great plugged in as well. But the neck was a bit thin and I couldn’t quite find the right strings to play it in DADGAD and it wasn’t getting as much playing time as my two longer scale guitars.
What I realised was that I was expending a lot of mental energy on justifying those two guitars to myself - I’d dream up scenarios where I’d need the Rickenbacker in the studio, or a tour when I’d need three guitars (one for standard, one for DADGAD, one for Open C) and so be trying to convince myself I needed to keep them.
Then one morning as I was walking my dog I found myself in that mental space and I just thought ‘enough’s enough’ and I listed both guitars for sale when I got home. The Rickenbacker sold within a couple of hours, and I had an email from someone arranging to come and view the Collings. I put them both out at good prices (but also made a little on the Ricky and didn’t lose anything on the Collings) as I wanted them to move quickly and it was a relief when they did.
I’m lucky that I have three really nice guitars left - my Martin OM28v, my Collings OM2hT and my Fender Custom Shop Telecaster. Really I could get away with just having my Martin and my Fender but the Collings is so nice (and I think I’d lose a bit of money on it) that I’d miss it, even though there are times when having to chose between the Martin and the Collings for a gig still causes me some anxiety, but I also really appreciate having both guitars at times.
I have also purchased some things this year - namely the two second hand DPA mics I now use with my K&K pickups and an Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina mic - and I also spent about £400 getting my Martin refretted and setup with a new nut and saddle (the best money I’ve spent on guitar stuff in a long time!) but for the first time in many years I’ve made more from selling than I’ve spent this year.
I guess this post is getting a bit rambling now, and I don’t want it to be preachy about people buying guitars as I get as excited as everyone else does by a good NGD post, but I think I’ve got to a point this year where I realised that, for me, it needs to be about the music first and the gear second, at least for a little while.
All the gear I have (and I admit to being very lucky to have some great gear) exists now to allow me to write and perform the music I want to in the way that I want to and that’s a nice space to be in.
Anyway, I’m off to scour eBay for a second hand Fylde Oberon …
Partly that’s down to the reality of trying to earn a living through music and journalism (ie I have no money!), partly it’s down to me getting over having worked in a guitar shop for so many years and the buying frenzy that can install, but mainly I feel it’s because I’ve gotten to a place where I know what I want from my gear and what I’m able to get out of it.
So this year I’ve sold my ’31 Martin 5-17t as it wasn’t getting played, my Rickenbacker 360/12c63 as it wasn’t getting played, and also my Collings OM2h ss vn as it wasn’t getting played as much as my other two guitars.
One of those guitars, the Rickenbacker, I swore that I’d never sell. Even though I hardly ever played it, whenever I got it out of the case I thought it was so beautiful and I’d spend ages looking at it before strumming A Hard Day’s Night for three minutes and then putting it away again for a month or two.
My Collings OM2h ss vn was a beautiful guitar with a great sound and it played so well, and sounded great plugged in as well. But the neck was a bit thin and I couldn’t quite find the right strings to play it in DADGAD and it wasn’t getting as much playing time as my two longer scale guitars.
What I realised was that I was expending a lot of mental energy on justifying those two guitars to myself - I’d dream up scenarios where I’d need the Rickenbacker in the studio, or a tour when I’d need three guitars (one for standard, one for DADGAD, one for Open C) and so be trying to convince myself I needed to keep them.
Then one morning as I was walking my dog I found myself in that mental space and I just thought ‘enough’s enough’ and I listed both guitars for sale when I got home. The Rickenbacker sold within a couple of hours, and I had an email from someone arranging to come and view the Collings. I put them both out at good prices (but also made a little on the Ricky and didn’t lose anything on the Collings) as I wanted them to move quickly and it was a relief when they did.
I’m lucky that I have three really nice guitars left - my Martin OM28v, my Collings OM2hT and my Fender Custom Shop Telecaster. Really I could get away with just having my Martin and my Fender but the Collings is so nice (and I think I’d lose a bit of money on it) that I’d miss it, even though there are times when having to chose between the Martin and the Collings for a gig still causes me some anxiety, but I also really appreciate having both guitars at times.
I have also purchased some things this year - namely the two second hand DPA mics I now use with my K&K pickups and an Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina mic - and I also spent about £400 getting my Martin refretted and setup with a new nut and saddle (the best money I’ve spent on guitar stuff in a long time!) but for the first time in many years I’ve made more from selling than I’ve spent this year.
I guess this post is getting a bit rambling now, and I don’t want it to be preachy about people buying guitars as I get as excited as everyone else does by a good NGD post, but I think I’ve got to a point this year where I realised that, for me, it needs to be about the music first and the gear second, at least for a little while.
All the gear I have (and I admit to being very lucky to have some great gear) exists now to allow me to write and perform the music I want to in the way that I want to and that’s a nice space to be in.
Anyway, I’m off to scour eBay for a second hand Fylde Oberon …