I've enjoyed selling my instruments
 

Middle age is a funny thing.

When I was in my 20's, I wasn't terribly materialistic; however, I really did want to upgrade my instruments from the crummy gear I had. Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I feel like I'm going through a "been there, done that" phase with instruments. I just sold off my Taylor, which was the best guitar I've ever owned, and one of the best I've ever played (and I've gotten to play quite a few). I've sold off just about all of my drum sets (I play drums semi-professionally) except for two that I actually play (I have had up to 6 drum sets at one time). Over the years, I've sold two really nice dulcimers, a mandolin, and a number of guitars (I'm down to one now). I have a PA I'm getting ready to sell soon. I've used a lot of the money to pay down debt which really makes me feel better than owning "stuff" ever could. Between selling things and playing A LOT gigs this year (about 40 gigs so far), I've been able to pay off my car, two credit cards, a medical bill, and bought new tires for both vehicles. Also, I was able to pay down our house enough to where our PMI went away.

I guess I've reached a point where it takes a lot for me to be impressed by any instrument these days because I've been exposed to so much. A lot of the mystique of higher-end instruments is gone now even though I play more music now than I ever did whenever I was actually pursuing music full time.

I don't really regret selling anything which has led me to believe that maybe there's something to simplifying and getting rid of almost everything you don't need. I'm not really chasing any sort of tone or sound anymore. I don't really care about visiting music stores like I used to until it's time to buy sticks, drum heads, or any other "breakables." I'll poke around to "see what's new," but I'm really content with what I have.

It's a pretty good feeling. :)

Congrats. I've recently gone through a period of restructuring in which I sold off all of my wooden acoustics (seven Taylors at its peak) plus three Rainsongs and a Strat in order to pare down to the carbon fiber guitars in my signature (plus a MIM Telecaster). No need to worry about temperature and humidity this winter, or ever for that matter. Although my path has been different than yours, it really feels right to me as well...

I'm going through that phase right now. I used to be a collector of instruments, not a seller. Just this year, I have started to sell off some of my collection because my wife started complaining about too many instruments. After thinking about it, I realized she was right. I have sold 4 instruments, and next week will sell # 5. It feels great!

I’m age 52, and have started this process as well.
I just sold my Taylor GS Mini, and my Yamaha FG800.
I’m also selling my Fender Squier Strat.
My plan is to get to 1 electric and 2 acoustics.
Then I’ll be done. GAS no more.
The one I won’t let go of is my Taylor 114e.
That guitar is simply incredible.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve become more of a minimalist. It’s felt good to reduce the amount of physical items I own. The two exceptions to this concept have been housing (I want to be comfortable, but not cluttered) and guitars (I enjoy the variety of guitar body sizes and voices). But I try not to get personally attached to material items, so there may come a day, when I decide to sell some (or even all!) of them off.

I actually admire what your doing -
its making me think about what GAs really is .
tough to get rid of guitars -think i could sell off anything i own easier than my guitars -but its possible , get it down to 3 or 4 maybe
1 or 2 impossible

In the beginning, you own stuff. Eventually, the stuff owns you. At least that is how I feel these days. I came from a financially modest upbringing and worked my way through college. Once our careers were both established and we began making some money, it was good to acquire some nice things. But the sense of "been there, done that" has me going the other way now.

I have four Taylor guitars listed on CL right now, and sold one two weeks ago. There will be a core of three or four guitars and two ukulele left in the end, but there is a strong desire to simplify too.

I love selling stuff! I've got my beater old Yamaha for classroom and camping, and a real battle going on between my 000-18 and my OM...have no idea who's gonna win this one, but when a true winner becomes evident I will sell the other and be down to 2 acoustics. Love it!

scott

Yup, I always sort of sit back and watch as people sometimes gripe about how they have to humidify their 30 guitars every year. Granted, some people enjoy the process and "enjoy the gripe" I guess, but that's just not me. I have a good friend who, right now, owns tons of gear. He has about 15 drum sets, and quite a bit of PA gear. He enjoys getting together and jamming with people, but he doesn't gig. I used to envy him, but now that I'm watching him try to sell some of it, I don't envy him at all. With drum sets, he never ships whole kits (he will ship snares and single toms, but nothing too big), so he does the Craigslist thing. He doesn't have any kids or any major obligations, so he enjoys the process, but I don't. I call him "my dealer" because I've bought several kits off of him, and he always gives me a great deal on everything I wanted or needed. Also, he's a great resource of knowledge as well because he has owned so much. I think he's also getting to a point where he's looking to liquidate quite a bit of his stuff too.

I guess the overall message is that I used to really admire people who had these big collections of cool things, whether it was guitars, old/exotic cars, drums, other instruments, etc., but now I see the amount of money and time people spend on their "collections." For some people, it makes them happy, but I think at this point in my life, it would cause more stress.

I have one steel string acoustic, one nylon string, one bass, and three electric guitars. I may sell one electric. I played 56 gigs in 2018 and am at 44 this year.

My needs changed too once I stopped gigging. There are two electric guitars, two basses, and a few other things than need to go. Plus almost all of the PA gear. That has little resale value, so I night donate it a church or something.

Actually, I've kept an account of all the guitars and amps I've owned since I bought my first in 1964. The count adds up to 116 guitars to date, electric and acoustic.

Clearly I've enjoyed owning and playing a lot of different instruments. From 1985 to 2012 I played guitar in a successful 50/60's Oldies band around the San Francisco Bay Area. We got paid well and I treated myself to a lot of fine instruments, acoustic and electric.

At 74 years of age, I'm still buying and selling guitars and I enjoy it very much!

Craigslist has been my friend. I will not ship guitars, so every sale is local. I only deal in cash, so I reserve a room at my local bank or set up a meeting at our local Police Station. Makes everyone feel safe and it's worked very well for all parties.

In my mid-twenties I sold off all of my gear (guitars, bass, amp, pedals, recording gear, pro-audio etc.) and bought a cherry red Gibson ES-335 Dot and a Mesa Boogie Studio Caliber DC-2. But now look at where I am. It ebbs and flows and I'm really happy where I am now.

I have way too many guitars for my needs or desire. And a lot of other gear as well. I will start letting stuff go soon. I don’t need to as I am lucky enough to be comfortable financially and don’t need to sell them. And I have space for them so that I can play any one at any time. But most are getting very lite playing time . My plan is to sell them cheap to good young players that can’t afford them. Probably gift some of them. That is something I have done in the past but not with the “keepers”. A few I will keep for posterity. Only gonna keep playing a few of them.