Baxter and Jonathan talk about that inevitable moment when you decide it is time to sell some guitars. What is the best way to go about it and how do you pick which ones are on on the chopping block.
My friend was pretty proficient at 16 years old, some guy noticed his talent and invited us over to show him his guitar collection. My friend played at least 20 guitars and really fell in love with a USA Telecaster. And the dude let him HAVE IT. Have it AND a 2x12 Vox hybrid amp. He took this amp and guitar to music school, and 20 years later, it's still his daily driver and teaches with it.
@@palidiciovermingagurainia1760 His guitar collection looked like a guitar store. Wall to wall guitars and on floor standing racks. At LEAST 40 guitars.
Re: recycling less expensive guitars. I take in junkers all the time, set them up and make them useable then I pass them along to a kid who needs a guitar starting out. Takes almost no effort on my part and really helps someone out
Yep. I have alot of stuff but miss what i sold. freakin' Estey Magnatone,,,,i haven't seen anything like it since. Everything else is probably out there.
Yeah I let go of a black face bandmaster with the big ass two twelve cab with the tone rings. I haven’t heard a more beautiful guitar sound before or since. Sold it to buy a BF super…not even close.
I bought a custom shop strat in 2019, at that point I sold all my other guitars about 8 and bought two more custom shops, another strat and a tele. I now have 3 number ones and keep them in perfect playing condition. I don't regret it at all, I like to have three number ones as opposed to 7 great guitars and 1 number one. I did the same on bass.
Nice but when i played more, i wanted every color on the pallette. Have that now , s, t, semi, lp, p90, sg, off set, all cheap but good stuff. I wouldn't change a thing even though i went from playing 20 hrs a weekend to maybe 20 hrs a month ( apt life ). Last 6 years ....not great.
My problem is when I think about selling a guitar or amp I try it out again and I fall in love with it all over again and don't want to sell it anymore 🤷🏻
You guys are hitting all the interesting topics of guitar life. This is a very sophisticated way to sell guitars because you are communicating to the guitar community that you know how they feel. Kudos on this approach. I don’t need to see anymore guitar demos and your conversation is relevant and entertaining to me.
I had a couple old Ovations from the 70's that had cracks in them... but they still played and sounded very well. I donated them to a local school music program. They were very grateful.
10:32 Lots of warm fuzzies from this section... you guys are great! Personally, I'm a minimalist and my brother-in-law is a hoarder. He couldn't even name all of his low-end guitars and amps; I know he has amps that he hasn't used in 3+ years. I'm always on him about it until he gives a student a guitar from his pile, whereupon I feel like an ass.
Love this and am moving and have been thinking about this a lot, I am gonna release a video I've been working on next monday covering well, sorta on this. I'm thinning the line down as well. Moving is my motivation. keep on keeping on.
My first guitar was a Sears Silvertone from the 60's. As a teen, I saved for 2 years and got a Les Paul. I torched that Silvertone! I kept the case, because it was one of those that had an amp built in, but that guitar was set on fire a' la Hendrix.
I'll be in North Carolina in November and I will make it my business to visit your shop. I love your content. You guys see really chill and a cool hang. Keep up the great work.
I learned long ago to appreciate what I had...not coming from anywhere near "money" My parents always provided what they could for the family ....so that Christmas of '71 they got me the fender guitar ...that was the only thing I wanted .....fast forward all those years they are long gone now but that guitar is still with me to this day....it means the world to me would never let it go
Hey guys love the channel. What about talking about the guitars you regretted on trading and selling or gear you feel you made a bad deal in. Keep rocking!
i second this. when i worked at music go round 15 years ago i made some deals the owner chewed my ass for, but the pieces ended up selling within days, so i won.
I’m good with two at a time. I had an Epiphone and Gibson LP then sold both and now have a PRS Silver Sky maple and a relic’d MJT HSS Strat style rosewood.
I dreamed of a birth year guitar, or a Custom Shop, but the funds have never been there. Instead I got a Fender Vintera 50s road worn Strat and I love it. I never want to set it down, it plays so well. But that freed me up and now I can sell my lower end guitars. I don’t think I’ll regret the move.
I just traded a few guitars that I wasn’t 100 % happy with for my first custom shop Gibson! It was hard but after the deal was done I was so glad I did it
Since my high school days I've floated between like 5 and 36 guitars (currently on 36)... none are absurdly expensive guitars, a solid third are 70's-90's Ibanez Japan stuff (which I mostly bought 15 or so years ago), some Korean, Indonesian and a couple of recent Chinese Epiphones, a US and a Chinese Gretsch, couple of Japan Alvarez acoustics, Fender HH Tele in a one or two year only blue, couple of US Peaveys, and a local made Burch guitar (his brand name/builders last name)... I'm not a giging musician and I'm a cost conscious buyer, always buy at good prices and wait around for deals to pop up on models I want, so I'm in a good way on pretty well all 36 of these guitars currently. We recently got a bigger place with a half finished basement (half is for the cars which... is a whole different collecting problem, but we won't get into that). I'm at the point now that I could turn a really nice profit even on some of these Epiphones, but I've been picky about what I buy and I like all these suckers... so culling now is a tough one! Some of these things are "long time friends" at this point, especially my set neck Ibanez LP's and the Ibanez V. I've culled several times, went from like 22 down to 12 at one point I think over one year back when I was in college, sold some 70's Ibanez stuff I later regretted letting go of, same for a little Marshall Combo 30 solid state and a Peavey 4x10 Classic 50. Now that I've got more space for storage, like 16 guitars on the walls, I find myself playing more of these things in a bit of a rotation, and thankfully the wife is pretty chill about my case of G.A.S. (going so far as to buy me a Inspired by Lennon Casino for my 40th birthday this year), so at this point, I guess I don't NEED to cull, which is really the only reason I had done so in the past. Basically this is a long winded way of saying I appreciated your video here and I'm probably currently in a position that I don't really have a need to cull at the moment, unless I want to go after a "big fish" that I'm after or something. I appreciate you guy's content and I need to get by the shop at some point... I'm an NC guy, out near Concord.
Once you have about 10 guitars, it starts getting to be a burden to keep them all playing ready. I keep a handful in my small playing space and the rest are stored. When you get the itch for a new guitar I pull one out of storage an swap it in. I have a hard time selling guitars I have had a while as they are hard to replace.
Restringing isn’t a problem for me ..I only restring my 14 guitars once every couple of years or so …wipe them down after every six or so plays though 😎🎸
I have the ones that are sweet, the ones in that collection I love and the project guitars I build for fun. Some of those are sold, some are given to kids who need a guitar. Music is the gift that changes a person for the rest of their life. I think I could thin my herd down to the bare bones for a good deal on that 355 IF plays as good as it looks.
I finally got every guitar I ever wanted. Heaven! But it's too many and I have trouble keeping them all setup and ready to go. Seems like there are always a few that need tweaking or something when I want to play it. And there are the few that I grab all the time. So I'm thinning the herd now. Just because it was a dream guitar doesn't mean that it is my main ax. But it sure was nice to have them all. Totally worth it.
Dude! I am also a tin whistler. Tin whistle is the reason I got into guitar. I wanted to be able to lay down a guitar rhythm for my Irish music tunes (my brother said the piano in the background wasn't doing it for him). I was in the market for an acoustic, but that was the same time we got the game Rock Band on our XBox... so I changed course and got a Strat (Highway 1) instead. Still in the Fender camp to this day.
I have a Epiphone acustic and an electric copy of a 5150 im going to see if I can donate to a local School of Rock place in hopes some kids will enjoy! Love hanging in the shop with you guys!
I have over 20 guitars right now and am selling the ones I don't play. Currently, I have a Rickenbacker 330-12 in Jet-Glow 1988 going up for sale. It's kinda Beatlesque and a really cool collectors piece. When I took it out of the closet and tuned it up to play it I discovered that Rick sound again! I have a Line6 JTV-59 that can make the same sound with the turn of a knob.
My biggest downsize was right after lockdown (I make my living playing shows so had to make a hard evaluation). Brought a big collection down to 3 (what I considered essential) - nocaster reissue, 1970 335, Gibson r6. I’ve since added back a strat, a jazzmaster (kept in open C) and a super funky old harmony (nice to have a character piece). I’d take others like any other guitar player but that’s all I need.
Thinned my herd to a classical, 000 body acoustic, les paul, telly, and strat. Two amps. I couldn't give up my 335-type and GS mini so I gave it to my young daughter. :)
Buy, sell, trade has always been a part of the journey as long as I consistantly own at least 4 electrics I'm happy. Same with amps. Nothing wrong with variety just be wise when on the search for something different. Try not to lose money! The good deals are always on craigslist or offer up for me just takes time for the right one to come along at the right price. Never buy new in a music store. Depreciates the second you walk out the door.
Happy with my herd….but I have slowed. I’m to the point I have all the things I would want except for maybe a custom shop someday. Love my amps, my pedals…not much left to ad (till you did the video on the player plus).
I used to work at Tacoma. My meager keeper is a '82 Ibanez AR-50 Artist that i bought used about 5 years ago. This guitar was someone's workhorse. Scratches and some dings. Bridge plating has been sweated off,. Binding has yellowed. All original and still plays right. It retains that post lawsuit mojo and will remain my set-neck, solid body of choice until the end or until my back gives out
I did the consolidation thing over that last few years as well. I was playing guitars because I felt guilty I hadn’t touched them in weeks. Like they were lonely. So 17 mid-high end guitars went down to 3 Fender CS Strats and 2 CS Teles and something nice for the wife. I still have too many amps…
Shape. I like unusual shapes a lot. (Sadly they're hard to come to buy without spending a decent sized penny) but like, the SX Liquid, Guild Tbird, even the Gibson/Epiphone Firebird, stuff like that. Pickups its equipped with also helps. Already have the humbucker and single coil. I'm looking at something with p90s or mini humbuckers now.
For me it depends if the guitar is unique. If it's a stock guitar, then it's not painful to let it go because I think I can get another one. If it's a one-off, or has a special history, then it's a keeper. I once asked a Scottish dairy farmer if he would swap his cattle prod for an electric guitar. He said to me "Och no laddie, I prefer acoustic"
I've done this a lot. I only regret selling 1 guitar, an 87 Strat Plus. I'm finally down to just what I want, AO 60s Tele, Strat and green Clapton, CE24 Semi Hollowbody and a Les Paul Special. I've given up some 70s Strats that I liked, but in the end, I wanted something different.
This video comes at the perfect time for me. I am doing "The Great Boil Down" to 1 Strat, 1 Tele, 1 Paul and 1 ES. So far I think I have my Strat. I had 3. Now I have 2 and am struggling to pick which one to keep "forever." It's so hard. Maybe 2 strats? ...
When a friend of mine was selling his old P-Bass because he only wanted to play 5, 6 and 7 string basses, his wife said "Nope, the house will buy that bass from you and you can't sell it without me agreeing to it". "The house" still has it. I wish my wife had thought of that when I sold my '75 Strat back in 1989. She still mentions that guitar from time to time (it's 2023 when I'm typing this). I'm down to 5 guitars and 2 basses (from about 20 guitars and 11 basses). Might still be too many, but I'm staying put for the time being. Of the guitars, one was purchased in 1977, one in 2005 and the other 3 in 2017. The basses are from 2002 and 2008 or so.
I have a fake fender from the 70s that my dad handed down to me. Learned on it in the 90s and that is probably the guitar that will never leave my humble collection.
@@NikkenMagboy Odds are very good that’s what it is. I have 77 Yamaha Les Paul copy that stands toe-to-toe with any Gibson LP Standard from the same time.
There will be no thinning of the heard, but there will be moving to a larger place to accommodate the gear. In all seriousness though I did get rid of an ES335 Studio that I never bonded with and bought a Player Series Tele. I lost money on the deal, but I got something I actually play and hopefully the 335 will go to a good home where someone will appreciate it
I sold a Ibanez artist 8 string bass 35 years ago and always regretted it . I've seen one at CME a couple of months ago ,tried it ,remembered why I sold it! 😊
Funny, regarding the title “Thinning the Herd - What’s Your Strategy”, I honestly was expecting a strategy on how to decide on which is the next guitar to buy!😊
Some of my guitars I will never get rid of; namely my 1993 Ibanez RG470. That was the first "real" and brand new guitar I ever bought (got it in 1993) with my own monies. Over the decades, I've had soooooo many guitars in and out of my collection. In the last two months alone, I've cleared out 11 guitars... though that was mostly to fund my new obsession with PRS guitars, haha. Currently, I'm down to only 10 guitars in my collection ... for now, at least. ;)
Going through this myself right now. Deciding factor was when my daughter moved back in and had to move the gear to storage. Not fun paying to store them. They gotta go. Getting down to 5 now.
I've had dozens and played them all out on gigs. I've downsized and when I sell each one, it comes with a picture and a story. They were all special but the most special was PLAYING them! I'm not a Trogley sitting in my bedroom jerking to the woodgrain. I play. I perform. I USE the Bigsby!
hey,whats that ES335 custom looking thing in the background, i always see that vibrola and side way one on SG , is normal ..?but i never see that vibrola on ES335 semi hollow, and im not really a guitar player,just curious.
I just culled a third of my collection. In my experience, it doesn’t hurt as much when you buy used - I can almost always get what I paid for a guitar, if not more. If I lose money, I just consider that a rental fee.
You did it !! Made it through an entire show without sinking into talking about the morass of movies. I've turned off nearly every episode in the past month when that starts happening. Today, hallelujah !!! You talked about guitars the whole time. PLEASE continue down the "straight and narrow." I really enjoy guitar talk and have no use for movie talk. Peace.
I think that Baxter cleverly weaves in "movie talk" or "book talk" into the guitar or music topic of the day. To me it augments the conversation and it clearly shows how intelligent and cultured Baxter is. I appreciate it, but I understand it may bore others who come just for the gear and music topics.
Sitting on 22 right now and literally used this term " thin the herd " today. I found I play 5 or 6 regularly so I may reduce down to just those. It is just so hard to let the collection go....
i have 18 & lately have seriously thinking about unloading some. in truth, there's a few that i never play, the others i had & didnt play i gave to my son. i think i could comfortably get down to 4 or 5. my hangup is fear that they could be worth a lot of money one day & im leaving them to my family ya know. the struggle is real, friend.
Had about 22 4 years ago and now down to 6 electrics-1 bass-1 acoustic. All high end guitars, 1 model only allowed and I’m much more focused and content. Too many was giving me A.D.D and felt guitar guilt not sharing the love all around! That’s me! Just recently sold off some vintage pedals and trying to just have about 4-5 pedals for either of my 2 amps I choose. Lonestar guitarist Michael Britt was quoted as saying ‘ keep the ones you love and sell the ones you like’ Wise words me thinks! Everyone on different journey but this did make a difference in mine( plus I gifted some to my kids so can always borrow if needed lol)
I only have 16 guitars...but I hang them all up...play all of them frequently...I found if I keep them cased I tend not to play them all because i don't want to interuppt the "flow" of the jam sesh just to uncase a different guitars. Now I'll switch in the middle of a jam sesh for fun.
Some 30+ years ago a sold my Les Paul firebrand to get my not yet wife a cheap diamond ring. In the ensuing years she she seldom complained about guitar purchases (I never had more than 10 and never had a problem with selling them) and actually encouraged a couple. She passed away in January and about a month later I took took myself to guitar center just to get out and maybe improve my mood. I grabbed an acoustic and played it for like 45 minutes hanging it up a few times and grabbing it again. I finally took it home because I could imagine her sayin “If you don’t fucking buy it I don’t wanna hear about it later!!!”. I tend to move them on if I upgrade or get one that does something better than one I have but I do have a core of guitar that it would take destitution to sell.
I have 5 electrics although 1 is a Squire "Frankenstrat" that I bought for $35 and like to experiment on with various pickups, so for all intents and purposes I have 4 that I play (Fender HSS Strat and Tele, Gibson LP Studio, and Gibson SG Special). I also have a bass and an acoustic. I've had 8-9 others that I eventually sold. The guitars I said goodbye to were either redundant or I found something I like better. 15 yrs ago I sold a Strat and P-bass because I had drifted away from playing and they were just collecting dust.
I have half a dozen. Go in streaks but generally play one at a time for weeks on end. I wonder if I shouldn’t consolidate all of them and all my extra amps to get one Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul?
I only own guitars that fill a need. I have about 10, and they all have a very specific purpose/sound. If things change, and one guitar doesn't work in the team, it may go down the road. Guitars are awesome, and I love them, but ultimately for me they are tools to do a job, which is make music. I don't keep tools around that don't work for me, and I don't tend to buy them either.
Amps atleast seem to be around with the exception of Dumbles and the like, guitars are more like hens teeth spec wise....a 68 fender, for the most part is a 68 amp....guitars can be a 1 of 1 depends on specs or custom orders....ive been playing 25 yrs, I just got my first tube amp, a fender pro 4, love it
The last time I sold off guitars was 1992. I made the mistake of selling a '73 Strat and 2 mid 80's Kramers. The regrets from that experience makes me very hesitant to sell off any guitars again.
I sold 2 gibson sg standards to fund getting my 1961 Les Paul Jr. Now I have the Jr a les paul traditional, an Explorer and a Flying V. All gibson. Id sell the others for another vintage Jr in a heartbeat
Turning 68 this year, been playing for 60 years. I was up to 24 guitars in my collection, all had a "purpose "...yeah...right. so I went through them all selling off the ones that I rarely played now since I have stopped gigging. Brought the herd down to 8. It felt liberating at first, less maintenance and lots more room in the studio. Well, I couldn't shake the G.A.S....I'm back up to 14...it's a sickness I tell ya!!! LOL
It’s not my main instrument so it’s easy to part … easiER to part w them… also I look for deals even if I have to drive 2-3 hours to make good deals happen. I’ve leveled up to some cool things (tone king imperial 2, John Mayer strat, 56’ reissue strat… didn’t own these all at once though 😔)
Well, I'm kind of there now guys. My office walls are lined, as well as my two 7 slot racks in the bonus room. In addition, is the under the bed stash. The 30+ cases alone have become a storage issue. Thus, I'm now letting a few go to offset.....yes, another purchase of a beautiful Heritage H-555.
Ah blow it up! Day off from school - back in elementary school days. Friend and I spend the afternoon building a model boat. Place in bathtub full of water. Insert fire cracker - light. Close bathroom door. Kaboom. clean up bits of plastic before mom comes home from work. Fun. (Mom always knows what we did though)
Currently sitting on 38 guitars… trying to hit 40 by year end. Yes all top tier gear. I think 16 amps… 17 soon with the new addition of a Two Rock. 🤟🏻 True… I can only play one at a time but I can play a different one every 20 minutes. 😂
Love it, seems like 15 for me is the magic number. This is where my wife complains and I start thinking about less is more and then I fill up the room again.
I keep buying stuff but I don't think I'll ever sell it now. I bought a Gibson goddess in violet burst in like 07. I was paying on a payment plan and couldn't afford it so I sent it back. I can't seem to find one now so I've kept everything I bought ever since. Also what's considered a high power rifle and what's wrong with owning one?
Yeah, the thing w/having ten electrics is keeping up w/the strings. I recently plugged on my '83 Explorer after not playing it for months & the strings were dead. It's just too much to keep up with. So I decided to sell some & I don't need the money, but it seems a waste & I hate for things to go unused & be a burden.
I literally just downsized to a FCS Strat, R9, and a Marshall 1974x. It just became too overwhelming looking at all the guitars, amps, and pedals I hadn’t touched in ages. For my style, if I can’t do it with this setup it can’t be done.
Tripping over a guitar and breaking your neck is the only way to get into Guitar Valhalla. But you don't get to have a guitar there unless you also break the guitar's neck too. So please plan your accidents carefully, people.
Re: Blowing it Up I found a Hamer double cut at the garbage dump once. It was pretty messed, so i gave it to my friend at his bachelor party... He got to light a guitar on fire and smash it, and it felt great to be able to give that to him haha
I got 7 electrics and 4 acoustics. I need a steel string acoustic and I'm done. I doing a build but I know I'm gonna get rid of at least 1 guitar, I'm looking at two when it's all said and done.
I've always rotated guitars in/out but never thinned....but one time if sold all my herd of pedals and a couple Luchbox heads I wasn't using and bought a used Toyota Pickup with the cash.
