How do you know when NOT to sell a guitar

[dead of night]

Perhaps there was a time in your life when you sold a guitar and then regretted it. You didn't know what you had 'till it was gone. Looking back, what were some signs about this guitar that might have indicated you should have kept it?

[WordMan]

I ask myself:

- Do I enjoy playing it?
- Would getting rid of it enable me to get something I enjoy playing more?

That's about it. The biggest twist in that is if the new guitar I am considering is a flash in the pan - i.e., I like it now, but over the long run, would likely prefer my current guitar. That can be a subtle thing.

[dead of night]

It's a tough situation. When in doubt, keep it?

[Guitar Josh]

I regret selling this V copy I got in a pawn shop for $75. It had a set neck, low action and mean nasty pickups. It screamed. I sold it for $100 to a friend in an industrial band. Many years later we were talking and I mentioned it. He said he'd gladly sell it back to me for the $100! I went over to his house...and saw what he did to it. SPRAY painted black (it was a nice gloss red) with significant damage, stickers galore and just did not play right from years of abuse. He said it was his "I don't GAF" guitar. It would have cost way too much to revive it, so I said goodbye to it. What a dumb move on my part.

[Brian Porter]

I've thought of selling some gutiars occasionally, but never could talk myself into it. I go through phases where i'll play one for a long time, then put it down in favor of my other one.

[smorgdonkey]

I regret selling a Takamine 12 string. It was a 400s with a solid spruce top. The thing that should have told me not to sell it was that it sounded beautiful. I guess at that point in my life I was afraid to get a mark on it and I would only play it for a couple of minutes then put it in its case again.

I should have kept it.

[stratzrus]

Hindsight is 20/20.

I had a Travis Bean Wedge that was rare and I knew would appreciate in value. It was a great rock guitar and had sustain for days.

It was heavy though, and in the Anvil case it came in, it was impossible to carry for more than half a city block.

At some point while recording I noticed that I could hear a note being sounded by the part of the string between my finger and the nut. This note, randomly generated, accompanied every note I played and was clearly audible.

Once I heard it I could not "unhear" it nor ignore it, and it ruined the instrument for me. As a result I decided to sell it and since I was living in NYC I took it to 48th street to We Buy Guitars (around 1988-89) and sold it for $200.



Now it's worth $5,000.

I should have known better than to sell it then, let alone for that little.

Hindsight is 20/20.

stratzrus

[Amplite]

I miss every guitar I've sold! (dozens) For most of us it comes down to money. When I was in my 20's (hundreds of years ago) The only way to "upgrade" to a Les Paul was to sell my 70's SG for $200. !! But the Cherry Sunburst Les Paul sounded much better and served me well for the next 10 years and was later sold for a much higher price.......$350.

George Carlin once said "If you bought land in California 100 years ago, today... you'd be DEAD!!

[Giraffecaster]

i always just ask myself "can this be replaced if I change my mind?"

Sometimes it's a certain sound of a guitar that only that guitar makes or a model that is no longer made and can't be picked up anywhere easily. If the answer is no then I hang onto it.

But if it's rare and sounds like a turd then I'll let it go.

[justonwo]

I nearly cried getting rid of my R6, but the road bike that replaced it opened up a whole new activity for me. In the end it was worth it.

I go based on usage. If you don't use it, it doesn't matter how "great" it is.

[franksguitar]

If we all talked about the great guitars we all regretfuly sold and never should have, I could have funded my retirement! We all have deep remorse since values have skyrocketed on vintage gear, when we sold for pennies on the dollar. I regretfully sold, a 59 tele, a 64ES345, a 56 Les Paul TV, a 63 SG, a 60's Gibson doubleneck, a Ric 12, a few Les Pauls, a couple Fender pre CBS black face deluxes, various vintage pedals etc.)

[surfshack]

good question.........the only guitar i regret selling was an all original '59 les paul jr. , i bought it in '97 for $1400.00 , and sold it a year later for the same amount. it was a great guitar , but i thought it wasn't diverse enough so i sold it. what i didn't realize was that it may have only done one thing , but it did that one thing better than any other guitar i've had since then. it was a screamer! and now geez , it's worth at least 5 times what i sold it for!