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The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gear?
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:32 pm
by PanicProne
Or several pieces in one purchase. Also, obviously we need to know what it was. Did you end up keeping it or not? Yes/no? For how long? Do you regret the deal? You got any rules for buying/selling? Do you always stick to them? Have they changed? So many horrible questions...
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:07 pm
by JTurbide
So far the most I paid for a single piece of gear is around $3.5K CAD for a Vox Ultrasonic. Sold it for the same price.
Now I have a custom guitar on order that will most likely cost me a little more than that and will not be able to sell for even close to what I'll pay if I ever want to get rid of it ...

Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:57 pm
by dubkitty
most i ever spent and most i ever got was the same instrument: the black Rickenbacker 360. paid $1600 on Reverb, got 1200 in trade value from Atomic Music in Maryland which turned into a Guild Aristocrat and a Squier Jazzmaster with $75 in store credit left over. i could have done better in the open market, but fell in love with the Guild and just had to have it, and the Rick was the only thing i had that was worth liquidating.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:50 pm
by Achtane
I bought my MIJ Jaguar Bass for like $550? It's my baby.
I sold a Peavey VB-2 for $500. I miss that amp all the time, it was bad as fuck and now they're super rare. I didn't really "need" it at the time, and don't currently, but still.
I wouldn't spend more than $300 on any piece of gear anymore.
I will burn an equal amount of money customizing a shitty plywood guitar, though. So there's that.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:04 pm
by retinal orbita
The most expensive thing I ever bought was a Fender Super Reverb for $1000 CAD.
I sold it for exactly the same price a few years later.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:09 am
by dubkitty
i missed the codicils. no, obviously i didn't keep it. yes, i regret it...i hadn't ever played one before i bought it with pictures of Peter Buck and Neil Halstead in my mind, and had over $1000 tied up for 3 years . my only selling rules are "can i live without this?" and "how much you giving me for this?" i can get something worthwhile out of most guitars, but Ricks are unique in how much they demand that you adapt to them...they really don't like anything other than a very precise, accurate style of play which i just couldn't do with my technique.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:10 am
by Schlatte
8k€ for a custom made bass trombone. I do not regret a single cent spent on that. It rules. And it is my baby. And if I ever needed money, I could always sell it with minimal losses, those handcrafted brass instruments pretty much keep their value.
For guitar gear I think it was about 500€ for the Fender Telecaster I had for a while, before selling that for exactly the same amount and getting a Jazzmaster.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:43 pm
by friendship
I paid $1150 for my first big boy amp. To say it was way more amp than I needed is an understatement--it was one of those Mesa Boogies with a million channels and modes and output options I never used. Sold it a couple years later, and now my main amp cost me about $300-$350 or something.
Most I ever paid for any instrument (guitar, bass, keyboard, synth, anything) is about $750.
Most for a pedal was $240 for a RV-500 this year.
I've been fantasizing about getting a very nice Gretsch though, which would cost me around $2,500 if I ever go through with it. I've always wanted a fancy boy guitar, even though I am not a guitar wizard and music is just a hobby at this point.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:41 pm
by dubkitty
the Gretsch White Falcon has been haunting me ever since i first looked at the sleeve to 4 Way Street by Crosby Stills Nash & Young back in 1970. but i could pay off most of my existing debt with that $3000, and if you amortize it to my likely remaining lifespan i can't make it pencil out.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:45 pm
by friendship
Best to get rid of the debt imo. I would not consider spending that much on a luxury hobby commodity if I still had debt to service.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:38 pm
by dubkitty
yeah, exactly. it would almost even be affordable if i didn't have the credit and car loan payments i'm currently working my way out of. not to mention that it's more valuable than my five most expensive guitars put together, and if i did/do get one i'd probably just use it to wank around playing Stephen Stills shit. the problem with getting a guitar that's intimately associated with someone you admire is that it's tough not to just to play that guy's shit. i figure i'm OK with the Fender Lead II because i can't play like Roger Miller if my life depended on it.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:44 pm
by Benn Roe
I think I paid around $1200 for my SVT. I don't think I've ever paid more for any musical gear than that, though I'm sure my Tele will ultimately have cost more than that if I ever finish building it. The Quad Reverb was around $600 probably, and I've paid around that or a bit less for various other amps or cabs. I've definitely dropped $300+ on a few pedals, but I don't think I've ever eclipsed $400. I honestly don't own many guitars or basses, but they've all either been cheap or very generous gifts. I have my eye on some very expensive gear, but I doubt I'll ever pull the trigger.
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:13 pm
by sutarappa
Good goddamn time to talk about yon avalanche of cheap whiskey!!! First Robot World, gaaaaajh!
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 4:53 am
by coldbrightsunlight
Schlatte wrote:8k€ for a custom made bass trombone. I do not regret a single cent spent on that. It rules. And it is my baby. And if I ever needed money, I could always sell it with minimal losses, those handcrafted brass instruments pretty much keep their value.
For guitar gear I think it was about 500€ for the Fender Telecaster I had for a while, before selling that for exactly the same amount and getting a Jazzmaster.
Haha yes classical instruments are where it's at... My double bass is easily the most expensive piece I have but... I didn't technically buy it, so.
I've paid around £1000 for a guitar 3 times. First a vigier bass, which I sold to fund the Fender Tony Franklin I have now. And a Nelson which was pretty reasonable till you add shipping and all the import taxes which took it to the £1000 mark.
That is not something I do often or plan to do much again, having any piece of gear that expensive feels weird to me (looks at eurorack

). All my amps were 3-500, don't think I've ever spent more than 300 on a pedal (again, import taxes will get ya).
Re: The most you ever paid for and/or got for a piece of gea
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:25 am
by ognoy
With todays currency exchange rate I paid $2100 for my EGC.
After that there is probably some around $1000 guitars.