Talk me down

Denverdave

Denverdave

Resident Ragamuffin
Last March while I was in London I visited Denmark Street - which is London's music store row. It was walking distance from our hotel so I kinda had to.

Predictably I bought a guitar - an absolutely kill Lowden S-30. Used but in dead mint condition. I had a Baggs Anthem pickup installed and a great setup done. This guitar plays sooo freaking nice and sounds incredible.

The issue - I'm barely playing it. I also want an octave mandolin. I can sell the Lowden for probably about $4000 - $4250ish. With that money I can get a very nice Octave and another high end acoustic (like a nice Eastman or Larrivee). And have cash left over.

I don't really need a $4000 acoustic. But I'm trying to be be very slow on doing this because it is highly unlikely I will ever have the cash to get a guitar this nice again.

Decisions - Decisions.
 
DO NOT sell the Lowden...period...

I had an absolutely amazing Taylor limited edition 314ce that I sold because I temporarily needed the money and I've regretted that moment ever since...
 
If you don’t feel a real connection to it, you probably won’t regret it and will be better off with something that you’ll get more use out of. Maybe give it some time and see if you feel compelled to pick it up more, if not time to move it on.
 
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Aahzz said:
My rule is always this: if I'm not playing it, I move it along for something I'll play.
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This. No point in hanging on to something you don’t use. I’ll be selling my Eastman acoustic because even though it’s a nice guitar, it just sits in the gig bag. I’m just not an acoustic player.
 
Machinegunner said:
If you don’t feel a real connection to it, you probably won’t regret it and will be better off with something that you’ll get more use out of. Maybe give it some time and see if you feel compelled to pick it up more, if not time to move it on.
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Oh I feel a connection to it all right. But the fact is I really do not need a $4K guitar. I am considering that I can sell this and get two high quality instruments for the same price, or a bit less.
 
Are you playing another acoustic in preference to the Lowden or just not playing much acoustic right now? If it's the former, then you may have a point but I strongly suspect you'd regret selling the Lowden. Not only is it top end, it was also the circumstances you got it in. If it's the latter, then keep it as at some stage it'll come round and you'll play more acoustic and appreciate you have it.
 
If you sell a guitar that you’re barely playing to buy two other instruments will you just end up with two instruments you won’t play?
 
I have guitars I haven’t played in a couple years. My Danelectro for instance but, I got it for stupid little money. I know I’ll never find another as good as it for less than $150. So it sits until I take it out and wipe it down and see if it needs anything. Probably have a dozen like that.
 
Chicken Man said:
Buying and selling guitars is an endless cycle and will bring you neither enlightenment nor happiness. Get rid of it if it's not for you, but if the motivation is further acquisition you're just perpetuating a fruitless cycle.
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This is very solid advice.

Buying a new guitar can provide a little extra motivation for playing and it can provide a little extra inspiration. But that motivation and that inspiration is fleeting and peripheral.

That’s putting the cart before the horse.

If you want to play more, then play more. Don’t spend time around at Reverb and stay away from GPOTD. Spend of little time thinking about what material you’d love to learn with that guitar.

You don’t wanna be the clichéd kid who begs for a new puppy and promises and insists that you’ll walk the dog and feed the dog and take care for the dog… but 6 months later…

Don’t be that kid. You made a commitment. What’s worse, though, is that you’re the kid who’s thinking “y’know, this is a really nice dog, but I haven’t connected with the dog enough to want to take care of this dog, so maybe I should return the dog and get another dog instead…”

Yeah. Don’t be that kid. Don’t be the kid who’s wasted thousands of hours on Reverb looking for the perfect Lowden that’s purple and flames and sparkles.

Start looking for your project, your goal, your next song, your new technique, your new style, etc.
 
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I'm solidly in the camp that sells things I don't use. Can't say I regret selling a single guitar that I wasn't playing.
 
Do you play octave mandolin? Seems like a niche instrument and unless it is a core part of what you do, I’d be disinclined to launch a dream guitar to buy something else and something else in hopes that that will get you playing more/differently.

I’m never fond of keeping stuff that I’m not playing just because I think I should keep it. But a very nice acoustic seems like the sort of thing that should be useful for all sorts of applications.

I recently spent years on the guitar-go-round because I was dissatisfied with my electric guitar situation and basically decided to own two of everything before settling down again. My preferences, habits, playing style, needs, fussiness, etc. all changed during this period—and I was playing, writing, and recording more than ever at the same time. And it was that process that largely drove the shopping—I in fact downsized and pulled cash out of the gear pile and I still have what is more than enough. Also, guitar shopping is a drag when you’re actually trying to make good long-lasting decisions. People should avoid it whenever possible.

To echo @Flamencology — set some goals and do some stuff and wait til you hit the wall before you go shopping.
 
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A lot of wisdom in these replies, and I have little to add. Some years back I decided I'd figure out what exactly I wanted to do with music, and then figure out what I needed to achieve that. It's not that I'm now some kind of monk gear-wise, and I haven't stopped window-shopping or asking for advice here, and I watch a lot of gear stuff on YT, but I have a lot less stuff I don't need that just makes noise in the back of my head, and mainly I'm a lot more focused on doing the stuff I enjoy doing.

In addition, I've found that my dissatisfaction with this or that pedal or plugin or whatever is often down to my own incompetence, and rather than looking for something new and better that'll fix it, I try to work on my chops and production skills instead and/or accept the limitations of the stuff I use. I suppose I record nine out of ten takes/tracks using the same guitar, and that's it. So, basically I guess I've shifted from the what question to the how question.
 
To be a bit clearer.

I'm not a gear flipper (any more - I used to be). I love the Lowden, and I do play it, but I am considering whether I need a guitar that is that nice when I do not play any acoustic very much right now. I hope to play more acoustic this year, but part of me thinks I will be just as well served with a $2k acoustic as I am with a $4k acoustic. I have played Octave Mandolin in the past and would like to take up the instrument again, but I do not want to spend the $1K+ to get one from our present budget.

I am thinking I will hold on to the Lowden for now, but I am not against selling it down the line for the reasons stated above.
 
Denverdave said:
To be a bit clearer.

I'm not a gear flipper (any more - I used to be). I love the Lowden, and I do play it, but I am considering whether I need a guitar that is that nice when I do not play any acoustic very much right now. I hope to play more acoustic this year, but part of me thinks I will be just as well served with a $2k acoustic as I am with a $4k acoustic. I have played Octave Mandolin in the past and would like to take up the instrument again, but I do not want to spend the $1K+ to get one from our present budget.

I am thinking I will hold on to the Lowden for now, but I am not against selling it down the line for the reasons stated above.
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This isn't your first time down this road w/ selling off a really nice acoustic to turn that cash into something else, IIRC. I'd be asking myself how this time would be different than the last.
 
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